Blogs of Note

One of the blogs that I follow is bakerella and she was nominated in one of the categories for this year's Bloggies. I have never heard of Bloggies before, but I went to the page to vote for my dear bakerella because I love cake and she does excellent things with cake. There were several categories with nominees, so in order to make an informed decision, I spent the better part of my day (when I was supposed to be working!) checking out blogs. These are probably some of the best blogs out there for them to have been nominated. Some I liked and some, not so much. But, as you can see, over there to the right are several new blogs on my linklist. I am going to leave them there and see how many prove to be worthy on a long term basis. I must admit that for me to go through the trouble of adding them to the list, I think they are pretty awesome so it looks like I will be spending a lot of my time reading. But, reading is what I have always done so no biggie.

Voting for the Bloggies is over (I think) and they will announce the winners in March. Hopefully, Bakerella or one of the others will let us know who wins which categories. I wish everyone luck and if I never hear the winners, at least I have some new awesome-ness to follow.

Gesh, I really need to start working more while I am at work!


On another note - my running partner told me today that she is pregnant. probably won't be much running going on with her now. What did she have to go and get knocked up!? Just something else for me to use as an excuse! I am going to get my butt in gear really soon. I promise. Again.

My Turn Day

http://www.worldsuperheroregistry.com/

My mom always told me that there were angels walking around among us, but she never said anything about superheroes. According to the website, a superhero is defined as someone who wears a costume to do heroic deeds and has personal motivation, meaning they can not be a paid representative or work on behalf of any organization. I do not qualify because I never wear my costume out of the bedroom. (HA HA! OK - bad joke.)

This is a network of people that actually fight for justice and try to make the world a better place. In order to be added to the registry, you have to be a confirmed superhero either through media coverage or some sort of verification, which means that pretty much, your good deeds have to have made the news or some other notable source in order for you to make the cut. You also have to have performed your crime fighting or good deed while in costume. Personally, I have never, not once, seen a news story where a masked crusader or a dude in costume was the person that saved the day so I just have to take their word that these are real Superheroes.

This website is fun(ny) to look at and it is not really serious (I don't think!) but I think they are on to something. If you think about it maybe we should all be superheroes and try to make our world a better place.Tuesday, February 10th is My Turn Day. The premise behind it is to do a good deed or help a charity, preferably something that you have never done before, but anything will do. Or maybe it is not that big of a deal - maybe you are going to start recycling for the first time or knit socks for all your sister's kids or something.

On that day announce what you are going to do and then DO IT. I know a lot of us don't have a lot of time or resources, but most of us are in a position to do something. I know that with the economy the way it is everyone is trying to save and may not have much to spare, but I think that is even more of a reason to try to help out. Now, more than ever we can sympathize with needing some help or just needing something to feel good about for a change.

Leave me a comment and let me know if you going to try to participate and what ideas you might have. I am taking a page from Crystal Chick and I am throwing down the gauntlet - for every comment I receive about your intentions for My Turn Day, I will donate a can of food to the Food Bank (yes, they collect food all year round, not just Thanksgiving and Christmas!). So tell your friends and family and every other online buddy and get them to leave me a comment sometime between now and February 10th.

P.S. You are not required to perform your charity in costume, but if anybody makes the news or will send me a picture of you performing your good deed in a costume I will send you prize!

Upward and Onward

For the second half of the month at the dealership, I have not had a lot of sales. I have been kind of frustrated with it and was going to go in to work a couple of extra nights last week, but the wreck kind of got in the way of my regular life last week. I had to work Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Friday I just wanted to go home from my day job and go to sleep. I was not in the mood to go to work. I went in and got nothing. Ughh! I was so mad. Saturday we were so busy we could not keep up with traffic. Saturday, I got nothing. My husband, however, sold two cars on Saturday. I was so mad!!! I went home Saturday night, had a beer and ate ice cream for dinner. I was a big baby about the situation, really.

Normally, we are not too busy on Sunday so I went in with the attitude that I was going to go in and whatever happens, will happen. My husband and I even went to lunch about an hour after we got there because we just didn't want to be there. Shortly after we got back from lunch I sold a car. Whoo hoo! I took another couple of customers after that and sold another car. Whoo hoo x two!

I am back on the upward swing with my sales, it seems. On the other hand, still no workouts to really speak of. We tried out a new place to eat and it was so delicious we ate there twice over the weekend. We also ate out a couple of times in addition to this new place. As I mentioned earlier, I had beer and ice cream for one meal. Plainly, I am doing great with looking descent in Vegas in a few weeks. HA HA HA HA!

I know this has nothing to do with anything else I have written here, but let me just say that I love waking up next to my husband in the mornings. During the week when I have to get up early, I miss not being there to wake up with him. OK - enough mushy stuff. Have a good day!

So Many Thoughts...Not Near Enough Chocolate

I am living off of Ibuprofen and chocolate these days. Bad food, couch surfing and stress have been the only things on my menu this week. This was supposed to be my week to re-boot and start over. Unfortunately, instead of restarting my new lifestyle, I have restarted my original lifestyle that I followed for the first 25 years or so of my life.

I have had some bad stuff happen over the course of this week and I am stressing completely. I wonder if I were following my healthy lifestyle would I be handling these situations and conversations better. I acknowledge that running/exercising and eating healthy keeps me in better mental health as well as well as physical health. With the way things are right now I am back to wondering if my thoughts and viewpoints are those of a 'normal' person. Am I seeing things the way anybody else would? I am back to the point of questioning every move I make or every decision in front of me.

The good news is that I have not slipped back into a depression. Whoo hoo! I hope that is just a memory in my life now and not something I will ever go back to. I have also not had a drop of alcohol over all of this. I am not naive though, today is Friday and before the weekend is out I will probably have a beer or something. It will not be in direct response to me having a bad day or being depressed or upset. I find that to be a good step in the right direction.

Ambition or Greed?

I want to talk about aspirations and ambition. All my life I have had this need to make a lot of money and/or to be successful. If you just look at that statement it looks like I am a shallow person. If I were to have said, I am an ambitious person with aspirations to become the top producer in my field, that has a positive connotation that most people would not think twice about.

I have two jobs, not because I need money to pay my bills but because I want more money to do what I want to do. More than money, I want to be successful at anything I do. I want to be the best and I want the recognition for being the best. Furthermore, I admit that I have less respect for people that don't have dreams of being something more. I

When I read this back it sounds so snobby and condescending. I don't intend to come off that way, but I can't think of a better way to say it. This is not an issue of me not liking people who make less money. I like or dislike people based on their personality and how they treat people and things like that. I don't think I am better than someone who makes less money. I just think that people should always be trying to do a little better.

I am not only talking about finances or position, although it is hard to not acknowledge that finances and position get you a little more in our society than most other things. But, maybe it is being a better cook or having the best hair style. Doesn't it say something about a person if they have the gumption to try to be the best at something? That being said, if you want the best hairstyle you might have to put more money into it, therefore, you have to work harder or budget more to reach that goal. I do not condone taking the money that was supposed to be used for the baby's formula either. The goal is to work toward having enough money to pay for both. Or, to be creative and find another way to have your hair done. I am getting off track here talking about hair!

I know someone who says she wants a bigger house or a better car. But, when it comes time to work she is the first person to take a day off or to leave early. She doesn't want to do anything more than what she has been doing for the past few years. It is an inconvenience to work late and she won't take on any extracurricular activities - probably because it would require too much effort on her part. In addition to not really being productive herself, she has a boyfriend who does not work. For years he has not worked and she puts up with it and supports him. So, not only is she not productive, but one could argue that she is counter-productive by supporting another able-bodied person.

I guess this rant is mostly an eye opener for me because I have been slacking. I need to realize that I want more, therefore I have to work to get more. Some people do not have to work as hard because life has dealt them a different hand. But with the path I have chosen I have to work hard to get what I want. I can't change anything or anybody but me. In my mind, I think the world would be a different place if everybody had some severe ambition, which I suppose is why I hold people to higher standards. I know people whose ambition has diminished since I have known them. I do not deny that I have less respect and generally want less to do with those few people as a result. I don't like people to be content with barely getting by.

I would like to reiterate the fact that I don't like people less or think I am better than anybody who has less or is going through a rough time. I have a problem with people who lay down and take what they were handed as if it is their only option. As long as you are scratching and clawing to get better, you and I are just fine.

This is probably the worst thing I have ever written. Not only the subject matter, but the scatter brained thoughts that don't necessarily go together. Let me know if your opinion of me changes after reading this.

Something to look forward to

I never thought I would be this person - but I guess over the past year I realized that I am a long way from the person I used to be. Therefore, I guess I am not surprised. I have become someone who almost always obsesses over weight. I really look at my body and definition a lot more than I look at the scale so maybe I don't obsess over weight, but over looks (which is worse, really). Nonetheless, I am still one of those annoying people who is always counting calories and whining about how I didn't workout or how I didn't have the willpower not to eat this or that.

I hate that I am that person. The funny thing is that the success and results that I had is what drives me to be the annoying person! Now I know that if I work at it I can have the body I want. (I had a very nice body for a couple of weeks. Yea, short lived.) Therefore, I am on a never ending cycle to get it back. I know I can do it, but I have no willpower therefore I am defeated. I think about it all the time. Everyday. Every hour. When is my next meal? Why did I eat what I ate last? Did I run? Am I going to run? Why didn't run longer? Question after question! Aye!

Over the summer it was easy to work out and run because I like the warm weather, the days are longer and there were races to sign up for about every month. I had something to look forward to. Well, now I have something else to look forward to so maybe I can get back on track.

C wants to either go to Las Vegas or Mardi Gras in February. There are 2 weeks left in January so I am going to go full steam ahead. He gets in the way of me eating but he does not get in the way of me working out. That's all me. I use him as an excuse sometimes, but I know better.

It never fails. When a holiday or party or vacation comes up I always come up short with my looks. Not this time. I will have my (almost) ripped ab(s) and toned arms back. This is especially important if we go to Vegas. It is warm out there and I might end up in a bathing suit. I am not self conscious because I will never see any of those people again, but it makes me feel good to look good so I want to try really hard!

I know you will be glad when I do find something to motivate me! I will not whine near as much then!

Some Things That I Like

Yoga Running Watching College Basketball Working Sleeping My Dogs My House Pepperoni Pizza Chocolate Doublemint Gum Reading My Car Summer Time THE Beach Paintball Taking Pictures Sweaters Friends Thanksgiving Family The Color Blue Sunny Days Asparagus Shoes



These are just a few things that I thought of. I think I am going to add a lot more to this and frame it and hang it up in my living room or something. I have seen similar things in the store, but it is kind of therapeutic to do it yourself. This is ME specific and I like that. I don't mean that in a self centered way. I mean that it is not mass produced with a bunch of words put together; instead it actually reflects me.