Bra Shopping

I went and did a dreaded deed today, I went shopping for new Bras, yeah the things I wear as infrequently as possible. With our cruise coming up here in about a month I needed a nice bra that would enhance all the lovely clothes I have, especially the clothes I wear to dinner and dancing at night.
Because I hardly ever wear a bra they are horribly uncomfortable to me and it's an oxy moron that the same discomfort is the reason I don't wear them.
I'll admit that I sure look a great deal better with one on, it definitely lifts and separates. OMG I sound like a commercial.
Bra was purchased from Soma a company owned by Chicos, which is one of my favorite stores. I decided to purchase just one and wear it, enough to see if I want to get another.

What Body Parts Get Your Attention?

I was reading a post at Monkey Fables And Tales about him being so entranced by a woman's boobs that he gave some money for a charity. Yeah-yeah, I know they look but they don't touch.....OMG guys, is that all it takes to get your attention? Have women been slaving away in kitchens and cleaning and ironing and having babies all these years when all it took was having big tits, or a shapely ass, or long slender legs??? Really?????
This made me think about whether I do this with men, do I look at the package between their legs, do I look at their chests, do I look at their legs, their ass?
I can tell you that I DO NOT and of course because I don't look, I cannot be swayed (well maybe if he was hung like a horse and walking around making a public display of this "thing").
What matters to me is whats between their ears, can he make me laugh, can he make me think longer and deeper about a subject than I'd thought before. AND whats in his chest, that thing they call a heart, how big is it, how true is it, how deep does it run.

I Love Your Blog Award

Is this cute or what? I so love the ingenuity of the design on some of these blogs, love, love, love them! I've always loved the drawings of children (ok, this may not have been drawn by a child but it has that feel).
Anyway, I want to thank Chilly over at On The Bricks for thinking of me. As always, I love everyone of the blogs I read (even when I don't agree with them) and therefore I want you to take this award each and everyone of you.

It's Time To Start Exercising

I was given the go ahead to start a walking regime from my PCP yesterday so today I went out to buy my first pair (in a long, long time) of walking shoes. He wanted to wait until I hadn't smoked in 12 months but gave in since I was going on 12 months............he wants me to start out walking for 45 minutes every other day and work myself up to 45 minutes daily..........hmmmmm. He said he would add activity as my lungs progressed.
He still heard some noise in one of my carotids and that has me agitated. I don't want them slicing open my neck but I also don't want to have a stroke - yeah I'm only 53!!! Damn cigarettes! I'm also hoping that I can loose a few pounds and tone up the other stuff that moves on my body - hahhaaaa
Of course I got the mini lecture about how the exercise would become a new addiction for me - yeah right, I could only hope. I do have a tendency for OCD so maybe......
Wish me luck!

**EDIT**

I'm back after huffing and puffing my way with my first walk. My dear sweet husband came with me, mostly because he was worried about two things, that I would keel over or quit (I would have probably done the later had he not been there as moral and physical support). My legs may hurt in the morning (or through the night) but I'm actually looking forward to a regime - OMG, the OCD is already setting in!!
I'm ready to hop into the shower and then eat some dinner.

Someone Thinks I'm Awesome (besides my husband)

I was bestowed this award by Ettarose , what a peach!! Go visit this blog and it's author, you'll love her as much as I do.
Everyone that knows me, knows that I believe everyone that blogs deserves an award so everyone, this one's also for each of you, take it and do with it what makes you happy.
You are all my friends and your support and friendship mean the world to me.

Entrecard Toolbar Beta

Have you tried this with the sidebar? It does everything I need it to do. Since it's in Beta it gets a little quirky sometimes but Wow, it sure makes a huge difference in being able to drop the way I like to drop. I'm finally able to do my drops throughout the day as new drops come into my inbox and it shows me what I've dropped on and what I haven't dropped on...........great stuff!!!
Here's the link - http://entrecard.com/docs/doku.php?id=firefox_toolbar

Rudy's Christening

The woman here in the white hair is me, I'm kissing Rudy's feet (my daughter is holding Rudy). Rudy is very ticklish and giggles like a school girl.

Here's Rudy in overhauls.

This is Rudy in church waiting to be Christened. His little (BIG) noggin makes his bonnet so funny looking.

Anyway, I'm back and our California company will be departing in a few hours.
I'd like to thank everyone that continued to drop their Entrecards and post during this short hiatus, I really appreciate your friendship.

Changing Entrecard Dropping Habits

I've found that I'm just not a very happy person trying to drop 900 ECs a day, I like lingering on blogs and reading, I like having a life outside of EC, and I definitely need to give some attention to my housework and my husband (and oh yeah, I have guests in from CA right now and we haven't seen them in more than a year).
I have almost always dropped from favorites or bookmarks and recently I've started dropping from my inbox, although it's allowed me to find some new and interesting blogs, I don't like being surprised by hearing music - STOP WITH THE MUSIC, then there are the blogs where it takes forever for them to load (and I'm using 4gb Ram so my computer is super quick), or it takes forever to find the EC because it's hidden amoungst all the advertising. When I dropped from my favorites most of the blogs had their EC right up at the top of their blog, there was no music to contend with, and most of the blogs loaded quickly. This week I have turned in 2 hard core porn sites (and I'm no prude but I saw stuff I can't even describe here - like OMG!!!!!!!)

I won't be dropping at all during this weekend when we're going to Houston for Rudy's Christianing, and then I won't drop for 2+ weeks the beginning of October when we're on our cruise............guess it's time to start changing my dropping habits now.

To all my regular droppers, and those who purchase space for their Entrecard on my blogs - Thank You Very Much, you have no idea how much I appreciate your support and friendship.

How Do You Drop Your Entrecards?

Has the addition of Entrecard's Firefox toolbar changed your dropping habits?
Do you drop on Favorites or from your Inbox?
If you drop from your Inbox, have you requested through Entrecard that they add a "Not Dropped On" category?
If you drop from your Inbox does this penalize a "friend" when they are ill or out of town because they aren't dropping back (not in your inbox)?
Do you have a certain time of the day that you drop?
How many blogs do you drop for and how many do you drop for each blog?

MY RESPONSE TO THE QUESTIONS
I personally like the Firefox toolbar but would like to see the "Not Dropped On" category added and yes I have requested it.
I drop both from my Inbox and from Favorites, I do my best not to penalize a friend when they don't blog for awhile regardless of the reason.
I try to start dropping when the time starts the next day, I've been trying to drop 900 a day (3 blogs) and it's hard! I do my best to have my drops completed by noon.

College Presidents Wanting to Lower the Drinking Age to 18

What do you think about this?
Sounds to me like they want out of the liability of these kids drinking on campus.
Our local news brought up the fact that this will give high school principals even more liability if the drinking age were lowered to 18 as many high school seniors are 18.
What's the answer? Actually I heard a high school senior comment that the answer is in finding out why kids want to drink in the first place.
Why did you take your first drink and did you get drunk?
I was a sophomore in high school, it was ripple and I was drunk and sick, for days. I still cannot drink wine.

What Message Does the Olympics Send to Our Young People?

Does a competitive event such as the Olympics teach our children that anything but a Gold isn't good enough? Don't we need to teach our children and remind our adults that doing the very best you can do on any given day in any given endeavor is GOLD?
The Olympics is an athletic event, it isn't life, it isn't education, it's simply an athletic event, don't get so wrapped up in the outcome, and don't for a moment believe that coming in second, or even 8th isn't a triumph - it is, you went out and gave it your best try and you won.

Meme

I was tagged for a Meme by Garden Gnome Wanderings to tell you 6 unspectacular quirks about myself.
Before I go any further though I'd like to mention the rules of this Meme.
1. Link the person who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules.
3. Tell 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag 6 bloggers by linking.
5. Leave a comment for each blogger.


MY 6 Unspectacular Quirks

1. I sneeze through my mouth - I'm afraid if those huge sneezes were to come through my nose, the little bit of brain I have would come out (seriously).

2. I only shave my legs when it's absolutely necessary. I'm not trying to impress anyone, I've been married for 31+ tears and second, my skin is very dry and this makes them even scalier.

3. I seldom wear a bra, they are hot, I get chafed, and the shoulder straps are always falling down.

4. Since I quit smoking, I'm afraid to be in social situations.

5. I'm most comfortable with routine and any deviation causes me to have panic attacks.

6. I don't like mole hairs, they have to come out!


Who I'm tagging (because I want to know more about them):

Random Ramblings

Buzz Nutter

SpicyBugz World

Original Grits

It's a Blog Eat Blog World

Communication Exchange


There are way many more people that I'd love to learn more about and I hope that these people will find some other people that may be on my list.

WTF, now it's the hot water heater, shit I tell you.....SHIT

Here I am bitching and moaning again, this time it's about the hot water heater. We had it serviced on Friday, nothing wrong, just preventative maintenance - today I take a shower after the old man and what do I get, luke warm at best. We have a 50 gal tank and I'm a hot water kinda gal, like it hot when I shower, hot when I do dishes, hot when I wash white clothes - this just isn't going to do, I'm not at all happy. I'm screaming and cursing my heart out cause I'm wet and there isn't going to be enough luke warm to suds up - aint going to happen, I'm not sudsing up and then needing to rinse in cold water, nope, I'm going to stay stinky.
The old man turned up the heat but damn it I have to wait for it to heat up and damn it I shouldn't have happened in the first place.

I've got out of town guests headed here from California and I need HOT WATER. We'll all be headed to Houston to see Rudy be Christianed this coming weekend.

Green Beans Make Me Gag

Rudy has shown you what makes him gag, what makes YOU gag?

Exersaucer Photos

These are the newest photos we have of Rudy using the new Exersaucer that his Nana and Grandpa recently sent to surprise him.
I have such a good DIL to keep sending me these photos and generally keeping me up-to-date on Rudy's progress.
This is such a great little toy, so much stimulation, color, sound, and learning.



As you can see below here, Rudy doesn't quite fill out the seat yet but he will shortly I have no doubt.


Patch is looking on wanting to be a part of all the excitement.



Hey little man don't grow up too fast, it seems like just last month when we celebrated your birth and already your playing! I Love You Rudy!!!

EEOC Conference - Different Generations

My sister and I were talking about the differences the 9 years between us (she's younger) makes and she sent me something she got from an EEOC Conference she attended (she works for an attorney). It's so hard for me to believe that someone needs to teach people about different generations and that they are treated differently because of the generation they were born into....

Traditionalists (1925-1945)
Practical, Patient, Loyal, and Hardworking, Respectful of Authority, Follows Rules
Also referred to as Veterans, Builders and The Silent Generation
Many are at or past retirement age, but staying in workforce longer.
The hold deep respect for rules, authority, frugality, self discipline.
Tend to value conformity and see work as an obligation of adulthood, rather than personal fulfillment.
They typically feel that electronic forms of communication are cold, impersonal, complex, confusing.
When it comes to receiving job feedback, they feel that no news is good news.
Strongly value being "respected as elders."
They are often stereotyped as somewhat rigid, autocratic and behind the times, especially when it comes to technology.
Taught to save rather than spend.
Influenced greatly by growing up in the shadow of the Great Depression, the horror of Pearl Harbor and the call to arms for both WWII and Korean War.

Baby Boomers (1946-1964)
Optimistic, Teamwork & Cooperation, Ambitious, Workaholic
Major influence on American culture.
Many grew up during a time of dramatic social, political and technological change.
Saw the introduction of the birth control pill, creit cards, a man land on the moon and the birth of civil rights. Experienced first-hand the misery of the Viet Nam war.
Currently dominate more senior ranks in organizations and politics.
Boomers are characterized by core values such as optimism, involvement, respect for power and accomplishment as well as "paying your dues."
Many boomers are competitors who believe that success is only achieved through hard work, long hours and by getting along with others.
Work tends to be a source of personal identity and fulfillment that is rewarded with advancement, job title and tangible rewards.
Most boomers have developed some technological savvy because they know it is necessary for progress.
Willing to give whatever it takes to succeed at work - LIVE to work generation.
Many tend to be workaholics, politically sensitive, idealistic and often lack appropriate balance between work and their personal lives.

Generation X (1965-1981)
Skeptical, Self-reliant, Risk-taking, Balances work and personal life.
Were raised in a prosperous, materialistic culture created by boomers.
They have been significantly influenced by divorce, 2-income households and more gender, ethnic and racial diversity than any previous generation.
Core values are self-reliance, results-oriented, informality, skepticism and individualism.
Tend to see work as a "contract" - to deliver results in exchange for compensation, rather a source of identity or fulfillment.
A common attitude is, "tell me what you need done and when you need it 0 but don't tell me how or where to do it." Freedom and flexibility are the best rewards for achievement.
Their communication style and work pace tends to be fast, direct, immediate and technology based.
Are not prone to working extensive overtime or on weekends. They want to get their work done quickly so they can leave and get on with their personal lives.
Occasionally, people in this group are criticized for being impatient, cynical, self-centered, disloyal and alcking a more traditional work ethic.
Historical events that shape their world view are: Tylenol Scare, 3 mile island, oil spills, Challanger Disaster, Shooting of Ronald Reagan, Fall of Berlin Wall and Bill Clinton Scandal.

Generation Y (1982-2002)
Hopeful, Meaningful work, values change and diversity, technologically savvy
First generation to read fewer books, in favor of having computers as toddlers, hundreds of TV channels, web sites to surf and downloads. The often have i-pods and cell phones before they hit puberty.
Core values tend to be self-confidence, tenacity,, inquisitiveness, extreme informality, and social-consciousness.
Work tends to be something they do between weekends - it should be FUN.
Millenials care less about promotions, don't necessarily want more responsiblity at work and don't want to work extra hours.
FAST is the key word! They have little patience for slower, less-efficient pace of those who are older. They demand options and choices and expect attention and feedback.
Multi-tasking through multimedia isn't a tool or strategy - it's a way of life.
Concepts like commitment, traditions and dress codes are pretty much irrelevant when it comes to "doing the job you hired me to do."
Millenials are often perceived as spoiled, impatient, egocentric and technology addicted.
From work, they want: to work with positive people, to be challenged, be treated respectfully, learn new info & skills, work in a friendly environment, have flexibility in their jobs and be paid well.

I guess I've been out of the workforce for a few years.

Ahhhhhh, Look - Someone else is thinking about me

There is a funny story about this award, which incidentally came from a dear friend at SpicyBugz.....she had seen me post something about other awards I'd gotten and wanted to know why I hadn't posted the one she had given me (but didn't tell me about, guess it's one of those hunt and seek kinda awards - hahaaa). Anyway she gave me plenty of razz about it all so I finally went to her blog to hunt it down - Thanks Sugar!!!

Friendship Award

I was given this Award by my friend Chilly at ON THE BRICKS

Thanks Chilly but my policy is that everyone who blogs daily or almost daily deserves each and everyone of these awards.
I've made way too many friends online to choose only a few. Y'all know who you are, grab this award along with a great big HUG from Mamaflo.

When Did This Happen? How Could This Happen? What Does This Mean?

When did Baby Boomers go from being Hippies to being Grandparents? I was thinking about how big of a deal this is and what this means to society, not just us becoming Grandparents but us entering that senior realm, the sheer number of us out there that will be eligible for Social Security/Medicare.

Have you thought about where you'll live when you just don't need as much space as your current home provides? Do you want to live in a smaller home, a condo, an apartment? My husband and I have been discussing this more and more frequently as we see our aging home needing repairs and updating - do we really want to invest a lot of money in this or do we want to look at moving as soon as the market is stronger? How much space we really need depends entirely on how that space is laid out. I think we'd like living in a senior development of some kind, somewhere that doesn't allow young adults or children to live. I love my grown children (see that operative word - grown) and I really love my grandson Rudy but I don't want them living with me (just like they probably don't want me living with them - I've had nightmares of my daughter taking me in a wheelchair to the top of a big hill like those in San Francisco and just letting the wheelchair go...........not a good ending :)). I'd like an environment that would be safe and I wouldn't have to worry about getting out of my car in the dark and getting mugged (gated, controlled community). I'd like an environment where when we get much older where we would have the availability of assisted living, or nursing care.

Since most of us boomers are women and we all know that most men die earlier than their wives.....would you consider living with another woman to share expenses (even if you didn't financially need to)?

I personally don't feel like I'm as old as my parents were at 53 and 57 and not near as old as my own grandparents were at this age - they were much older looking and thinking.
I'm wondering if every generation feels this way - don't you think your own children will feel much younger than we do?
Is this like when you go back to where you grew up and see a hill that you used to play on and remember how huge that hill was when you were a kid and see it now and it's barely a hill, that's a weird phenomenon.

I love being in my 50's and I love being a Grandma, and I love that I still have my husband with me and that we're planning our senior years, together.

I'm Kicking Ass!!

I've been awarded the "Kick Ass Blogger" award from Cindi over at Moomette's Mama Mentor Blog and did you know that she just became a new Grandma on August 5th - Wow there are a lot of us ladies becoming Grandmas. I told Cindi and I'm telling everyone else that's creative, we need a Granny Award to give out.

Thanks Cindi!!

I Just Need To Talk This Through

I'm having a rough day today wanting a cigarette, I've noticed that my addiction is triggered when I eat something that is exceptionally sweet (I made rice krispie squares today). I know these tuggings won't last forever but I've had them last for days at a time without subsiding and once I had a tugging last for 3 weeks and struggled every single day for those three weeks. My gum chewing doesn't help much when I get these intense periods, deep breathing helps some and so does getting up and changing gears often, and of course sleep helps, I was never a smoker that got up during the night to smoke.

In less than 2 weeks I will celebrate 11 months without smoking and I'm still amazed that I was able to accomplish this goal. More than the amount of time or the amount of money saved, I'm flabbergasted at the number of cigarettes I haven't smoked (and this is on the low side) in this almost 11 months...........6,534 cigarettes - OMG, I really was killing myself. I'm also more aware of how nasty I smelled cause when I come near a heavy smoker I'm overwhelmed at how they smell like a wet ashtray - YUCK! When I pass near a smoker, I'm still drawn to the Ahhhhh feeling.

Even The Squirrels Have Something To Say

Yesterday I was sitting outside (before it got past 100 degrees mind you) and brought along my camera should there be anything interesting to appear and all of a sudden I heard a squirrel squawking so loudly that I was startled and maybe just a little frightened (yeah it was that aggressive). Anyway, he continued to be so animated and even allowed me to walk right up to where he was perched so I could take photos (probably 20+) and every time I even attempted to walk away he would start talking to me and as soon as I gave him attention he shut up.

More Photos of My Precious Rudy

My sweet DIL just emailed me some new photos of Rudy and I wanted to share them with all my friends....
He has found his toes and just loves reaching for them.



He always looks like a deer in headlights


Grabbing for those tootsies


Wow, I'm thinking maybe he'll be a gymnast

Rudy Eat's Big Boy Food

Everyone knows that Rudy is my first (and only) Grandchild and I love everything about him....well, he's still being breast fed but they have started him on baby food and this is a video of him eating and oh boy does he enjoy food!!!
I hope this video makes you giggle and feel good.

Results: The Poll On What You Use To Drop Your Entrecards

Considering the number of people that drop on my site and the number of people that comment, I was a bit puzzled by the low number of people that responded to the survey.
Anyway, there were 18 responders with 3 stating they use bookmarks and 15 stating they use Entrecard's Inbox.............I was one of the responders who chose bookmarks but now I have to say Entrecard's Inbox, kinda, it's actually the favorites from the new toolbar. I like the new toolbar and I think the potential is phenominal for expanding this concept - Go Entrecard!!!!

How Many Times Do I Have To Complain?

We have a service that comes and treats our lawn (it's better than messing with/and storing the chemicals ourselves), it's pricey and it hasn't been doing the job. We've called them back when the weeds continued to show up in large amounts, they would come back out and treat again, but now it's happened yet again with the weeds showing back up and I called one final time - stop the service!!! The woman tried offering me anything and everything until I told her in no uncertain terms, if the weed killer didn't work, what else is not working that you've treated for and I've paid for - I want the service stopped!!
If you want to give your customer something, give them what they paid for and stop apologizing when you don't deliver, take responsibility for your crappy service.

I find that we're having to make these kind of calls more and more often when you would think with the dwindling economy that business owners would do the work personally if that's what it would take to satisfy a customer and keep their business.

Awards

I've decided to begin doing a joint listing of any awards gotten during a 30 day period into one blog entry. I do not mean to trivialize anyone's kindness and generosity.

I have been bestowed 3 different awards from 4 different friend's blogs and I'm very pleased to be able to publicly thank these sites and their authors.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH for counting me amongst your blogging friends!!

I have met so many brilliant authors during my short time blogging and trying to decide who to give these too is just too daunting of a task......every single blogger deserves these awards, they are given out to recognize the time and talent you share every day.


The Brillante Weblog Award
Random Ramblings
On The Bricks
Magic & Moments from Dragonfly Cottage


Blogging Friends Forever Award
AZ Blogging


Albert Einstein Award
Midlife Misfit

What I've Been Up To

Holy Moly, the new additions to Entrecard are phenomenal!! I'm hoping EC is going to continue getting more and more sophisticated - shit, I spend enough time using it!! No further need for the bookmarks I set up and tried to religiously use. What do you think is next? I think SezWho has fizzled out, I don't see it on most of the blogs I visit, do you think they are revamping this?

Hubby and I have been in the pool most of this afternoon, laying on floats, listening to music and talking about our upcoming cruise (which is now less than 60 days away). We are however a little shakey on what could happen with our flights which are the same day as our cruise and both are suppose to be straight through flights........all the airlines are saying that there are huge changes coming after Labor Day. We have already decided that instead of taking two check on bags each, we'll only take one each and each take a carry on, him a backpack and me a wheeled suitcase for things such as medicine, jewelry, cameras, computers, binnoculars (there will be one set in our cabin but we have these celestial ones that are so much better and then we'll each have a set).

I've been trying to spend some time with my camera and the manual that came with it, I want to experiment and learn how to use it before our cruise.

Yesterday afternoon someone broke a window in my FIL's car (he's 83) while it was sitting his his driveway........he has no idea if anything was stolen, he keeps so much crap in that car and he's so old that....well, you get the picture. We drove over there, called the police who came and took a report so that the break-in could be reported to the insurance company. He has an old car so when my husband called to have it replaced, they said it would be at least Monday afternoon before they could have the part/glass.

Essentially, there is so little time outside of my computer and my camera and, and, and (somewhere in those ands is my husband, housework, cooking, and laundry and oh yeah, some occassional shopping) that I want to add about 12 hours to my day or perhaps just not sleep unless I fall asleep at the computer.
Don't take this as complaining, I'm not complaining one little bit, I love life!!!

We (my husband and I) officially retired 2 years ago today - YIPPPPEEEE!!!!