The problem with LJ: We all think we are so close, but really we know nothing about one another. So I want you to ask me something you think you should know about me. Something that should be obvious, but you have no idea about. Ask away.

Then post this in your LJ and find out what people don't know about you.

Gamers, enjoy. *heart* Do you want to date my avatar?

Current Mood: happy

Yesterday was definitely a special birthday for me. So much love and friends and family made it one for the ages.

Thanks to Facebook I had birthday wishes from faraway friends as far as Sweden (former family exchange student), Ireland (my cousin's ex-GF, who I still keep in touch with), Arizona, Texas, Minnesota, North Carolina, California, and Indiana.

Spent the weekend at Lake Erie in a cute little log cabin by the lake, fished, relaxed, watched the waves.

Now to see where age 28 takes me. THANK YOU all for your love and well-wishes. It means more to me than you know. And I pray someday I will be able to return the favor and the friendship in kind.

PS: Tomorrow my dear friend Laura is opening a restaurant in Delaware, OH called "Dickeys Barbecue Pit". Keep her in your thoughts + prayers so it will be a success! They have worked so hard and it's a great restaurant chain, very yummy food!!!

Post from mobile portal m.livejournal.com

I'm sitting in a rustic, cute little cabin about 100 feet from Lake Erie, enjoying the "old timey" feel. They are newly built but made to look like 1950's - 1960's and it's very fun. We have an old 12-inch tv that gets 10 channels.

BUT...

I am giddy that in my little rustic cabin by the lake, I am able to pick up a rogue wireless signal so I can get Wifi. YAY WIFI!!!

Hey, I can only rough it so much....

In other news, my parents gave me a birthday present - a new fishing rod and reel! I have had the same one since I was 14 so it's nice to have a new one. And they chose a really pretty scarlet and grey model for cosmetic reasons. :)

Bright and early for fishing tomorrow!

Current Mood: happy

Just learned how to post to Livejournal on my blackberry. They finally got around to developing a BB-friendly site (http://m.livejournal.com). This means I can post more here now, but Facebook remains my haunt.

Packing for Lake Erie now, gonna spend my Birthday weekend there. Background music is old-school Tori Amos, from a cd Lainie made me for my bday.



Post from mobile portal m.livejournal.com

I got home last night and found a little package on my porch. It was a birthday present from a dear but faraway friend.

Just the mere presence of a box on my porch made me very happy (I'm like a child when it comes to packages. I was an only child) but the contents made me positively gleeful. Think Link in Ocarina of Time, the sequence when you open a treasure chest.

Seasons 1 thru 7 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Joss Whedon's epic masterpiece that I have never watched, but always wanted to. The whole entire show on DVD. He knew I would enjoy it.

And it's not just the gift, but the sharing of it. I know he's a passionate fan of it, so when you share something you love with someone who has never seen it, it's like experiencing it again through new eyes. It's the way I feel when I introduce someone to Firefly or Dr Horrible, or even when I share a piece of my writing or artwork with someone. It makes you appreciate it more.

There's no good way of thanking someone for such a special gift, but I just had to share the happy thought. And I know you're reading this, Adam...so read between the lines :)

Current Mood: giddy

Wonders if anyone out there knows what it's like to be a "0" in a world of "+1"'s.

I know that was random. Do you get it?

One holy sock in a drawerful of pairs. The only dish left of a broken set, a lonely cup with no saucer to make the set complete.

Just a random thought this evening as I lie in bed listening to the rain outside and thinking black thoughts.

Current Mood: moody

Work is happier. Still working hard, but not freaking out over 9 month review any more. It came and went and went better than we expected. Still got to keep up our app count, but I'm far more comfortable with that :)

I am currently performing a brain transfer from my old blackberry to my new one. Same exact model - Blackberry Curve 8330 - But Verizon decided to send me a brand new phone rather than replace my $5.00 Trackball, which I broke, probably from overuse. While waiting for the transfer to complete I found a bunch on Ebay for $7 - $12. COLORED ones even. So, after my old beloved Blackberry is on its way to a refurbishing center (where some tech will buff out scratches, drop a new wheel in it, and resell it), I think I may order a backup. Just in case. :)

My couple weeks of stress ruined my diet, but the scales say I didn't gain it all back (thank goodness) so I guess I'll try again. :) But I hurt my back pretty bad when exercising at the gym, and I'm supposed to see a Back Surgeon in April. I posted about thinking I had Sciatica but the X-Rays showed some abnormalities and my doc is sending me to this specialist. I'm hoping he'll say it's nothing and he can fix it by twisting me like a corkscrew. The x-ray techs said it was a "Bilateral Pars Defect" and that sounds pretty scary. I googled it and can't find anything but chiropractic journals and medical language. Something like a slipped disc in the lower back? It doesn't hurt nearly as bad as before but, like now, it aches and throbs every now and then. Figures I try to do something about my health and end up hurting myself :(

I've also had my sleep schedule totally screwed up. So, I'm off to try and reboot my sleep mode. 1:30 a.m. already and I need to wake up at 6:30 - 7:00am. I can't help it, I'm a night owl :)

That's all for now!

Current Mood: awake

I am so frustrated / bitter / tired / angry / numb. And right now I am destroying my diet by eating every sweet, carby, naughty thing in sight.

Yet another agency sales "challenge", but this time with consequences.

I can't do everything. I can't be everything. I tried once and failed miserably.

Three people, and yet I feel all the pressure squarely on my already overloaded shoulders. I have done everything I can. I have won awards, I have met goals, I have done all that is asked of me. Why not ask a little more?

Would just like to have a job come June. Would actually like to have a career for the rest of my life, but right now, just after June. KTHXBAI.

Current Mood: pissed off

...Because I forgot.

I did secure the "Top Gun" award in Auto Boot Camp. You may recall I was striving for it back in February. This means a lot to our agency - we beat 15 other Ohio agencies in raw new Auto policy production with 96 over a 20 week period. As a reward, we got a spiffy plaque, $100 bonus, gift certificate to the State Farm apparel store, and a leather portfolio with engraved nameplate. We were just ecstatic!

That is all for now.

Current Mood: working

I need a vacation.

Just been feeling sort of blah and trapped today. Been working a lot for a while. You know how sometimes you just need to get away?

I'm there.

Current Mood: restless

I've been neglecting you, my poor Livejournal, because you have no easy entry system for my Blackberry. I update Facebook 80x a day it seems. But here are 5 updates.

1) Waiting on notification of who is "Top Gun" of Auto Boot Camp - the one who sold the most autos over a 20 wk period. I think I had enough to be first, 96 new autos, but waiting on the official word. I wanted the title so bad not for myself but for Steve so he could tell the judges at his 9 month mtg that not only have we doubled our production, but we were able to sell more autos than 20 other agencies in direct competition.

2) I read where Krispy Kreme donut company could go under because of the economy. So go buy donuts, people! I did my part this morning; blew my diet on a creme-filled one. But I did my part to help the economy. Isn't that a great excuse?

3) Chuck in 3D = unique and fun, but bad for the eyes. Spent 2 hrs with 3D glasses on (watched it twice) and spent the next 2 hrs readjusting my eyes to the world.

4) Heatwave in ohia today; 50 degrees! Time for jackets and cooler clothes. After a winter where we had -20 degrees (that's twenty BELOW zero) in Marion, 50 makes me happy...maybe time to take my xmas decorations down?

5) Started my workout plan; 4 mornings a week at the gym. Nice so far. Will keep you posted.

Current Mood: working

Sending a congratulatory shout-out to Santonio Holmes, Super Bowl MVP, hailin' from THE Ohio state University.

Great game; I didn't really have a favorite but the underdog Cardinals gave the Steelers a tough one. I really thought they were going to pull it off.

I didn't know that a holding penalty in the endzone is considered a safety...that's a new one on me. :-/

....how long til the OSU Spring Game? 
 

Current Mood: sleepy

I'm working from home today. We got some nasty weather overnight and it's still coming down.

I posted a ton of pics in my Facebook gallery and left it public so you fair-weather folks can see :) 

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30231172&l=caf25&id=1439517177

Current Mood: working

Thanks to alexfoster451, and indirectly, kapunua, here's a blast from the past...the MANGLER!

( Mangled Today - Last chapter of Alex's 'Path of Sins' )

Current Mood: nostalgic

Yanked from kapunua

This is the year-end meme thingie that's going around LJ. I like this one a lot. Feel free to pass it on!

1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
Stayed in a hotel for two weeks alone away from home.

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I've never made resolutions, but mine for this year is to lose weight. My Gym membership is a christmas gift.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nope

4. Did anyone close to you die?
My grandfather died in February. :(

5. What countries did you visit?
None, yet!

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
Someone who loves me, and I don't have to doubt it...who will be with me til the end, who believes in close families and warm relationships.

7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
St. Patrick's day. The last day at my old job.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Becoming State licensed in Insurance and becoming a Property & Casualty Specialist for State farm.

9. What was your biggest failure?
I'll keep that one to myself, but I know it very well. Invo

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I had to attend a psychologist because I was suffering from Generalized Anxiety Disorder and an explosion of ADD.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Tickets to the OSU/Michigan Game. Once-in-a-lifetime deal, and it was one to remember.

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
My friend Laura's son Christopher, who learned to go to the potty all by himself! (Hey, this was a big thing.)

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
So many of the people around the country during the election, who got nasty and dirty with false and misleadingi facts about BOTH candidates.

14. Where did most of your money go?
My home, probably.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Starting a new job! It was a fresh new start!

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
"Gravity" by Sara Bareilles  -  I listened to that song over and over again in my hotel room. GORGEOUS.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? FAR HAPPIER.
ii. thinner or fatter? Um, fatter. It's the PCOS.
iii. richer or poorer? Poorer. I've not been responsible with my money.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Exercise. 

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Wasting time.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
With my family, my mom, dad, aunt Kay, Uncle Gerald, and THREE cousins named Jeff. Oh, and Scarlet, my cat.

22. Did you fall in love in 2008?
**BIG GRIN** I'll say no....

23. How many one-night stands?
None. Not my style.

24. What was your favorite TV program?
CHUUUUUUUCK!!!!

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I try very hard not to hate anyone. I don't know of anyone I really truly hate. 

26. What was the best book you read?
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Sara Bareilles...an incredible artist.

28. What did you want and get?
Gonna go with Jules here - "Change. A really big change."

30. What was your favorite film of this year?
Despite the overuse of the F-Bomb, I really enjoyed Wanted. It's the one movie i'm wanting to see on DVD soon.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I went to the OSU/Youngstown State game with my cousin Jeff - sat in B-Deck in the shade - and then got to explore the OSU Press Box with a professional photographer friend of mine. I was 27.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
To have lost about 80 pounds.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Unique and Professional

34. What kept you sane?
My friend Adam, who knows everything I've been through this year, and never once told me to shut up. I appreciate that more than he knows.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Zachary Levi. I can't help it. He's adorkable.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Partial Birth Abortion.

37. Who did you miss?
All my friends from the old job. Especially Carri.

38. Who was the best new person you met?
Laura, who I've known as an acquaintance but when we were planning Jenni's wedding shower, we became great friends like we'd known each other for years. It's always great to make a new friend!

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:
Thank you Jules -- "Maybe I learned that it's never too late to start over. I think logically I knew that but somehow felt it applied to other people and not me. So I guess I can say that I learned that I can start over."  <-- THAT.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
"Could it be that it was all so simple then,
or has time forgotten every line?
If we had the chance to do it all again,
tell me, would we?
Could we?

Memories may be beautiful,
and yet,
those too painful to remember,
we simply choose to forget.
And it's the laughter
we will remember
whenever we remember
the way we were."

I know my friend Carri doesn't read this blog, but I wish I could dedicate that to her. I miss her.

Current Mood: nostalgic

...blew across the state on Saturday, and brought with it a magic that changed people into special versions of themselves, if only for one night...

( A Cinderella Wind at Easton Town Center in Columbus )

Current Mood: nostalgic

"What does that make us?"

"Big D@#N Heroes, sir."

"Ain't we just!"

Current Mood: nostalgic

...this clip CRACKED ME UP, although I think I'm the last person EVER to know about it...


MAL and INARA!!!

Current Mood: amused