Quote of the Weekend

Back in the summertime, we taught/performed at a charity event. This was a small, grass-roots cause, but one we believe in, so we donated our time & talents, as did the band, the homeowner who hosted, etc. We all bonded over the experience & so, we were excited to get an invitation to the homeowner's Christmas party for last night.

My dance partner wasn't going to be able to come for the evening as his family Christmas get-together was last night, but since his cousin's house is only a mile or so away, he stopped in for a little while to say hello. When the band broke into a fun song, he and I decided to dance to it. For us, this was very low-key, nothing special about it dancing, but since most ppl in attendance didn't know us & most ppl don't actually dance with a partner (as opposed to in the same general area as another person), it was noticed.

I was highly amused when one woman came up to me later in the evening and told me:

It was like watching Dancing with the Stars...except you were wearing clothes.

Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas!

A Winter Wonderland

We were let off of work at 2:00 pm today. While quite nice, it presented a small logistical problem since the bus I take to get from the metro station to home doesn't start running in the evenings until 4:00 pm. Not wanting to just sit around waiting, I decided to take advantage of having my office near the National Mall and catch the holiday display at the US Botanical Gardens.

It was phenomenal!! The main atrium is filled with pointsettias in bloom. Nestled in among them are replicas of the major DC landmarks like the Supreme Court bldg, the US Capitol, the Lincoln & Jefferson Memorials, the White House etc., all crafted from natural botanic materials. After my recent photo shoot of the Capitol and the Supreme Court bldgs, I can say they did a great job recreating these landmarks!! Unfortunately, I didn't know I would be doing this today, so I didn't have a camera with me. The pictures above are courtesy of the US Botanical Gardens website.

Off the main atrium is the "Winter Wonderland" display which is an amazing area filled with different tableaux and 4 or 5 toy trains that crisscross thru them. There was "Castle Mountain" and "Fairytale Forest" just to name a few areas. By design, this display is viewable both from inside and thru the large picture windows, so it was fun to see little kids with their faces pressed up against the windows trying to get a peek.

It was the perfect way to start the long holiday weekend!!

Now, I'm off to wrap a few final presents and then head off for our traditional Christmas Eve activities. Merry Christmas Eve to one and all!

How to Beat a Speed Camera at Its Own Game

We Clean Up OK

This was taken at our dance gig a week ago.
That marble floor was a killer on the feet/joints, but the atmosphere was stunning!

Dancin' Granny

A friend sent me this video. She's my type of dame!! I hope to have her spunk when I'm 50, much less at 90+.

Enjoy.

As long as we're on the subject...

...of charitable giving, I wanted to make mention of iGive. For those who aren't familiar with it, iGive is another way to donate to charity, but this time, it won't cost you a single dime!!

iGive has partnered with more than 700 (and counting) online sites. When you make a purchase at one of these partners' sites, a percentage of that purchase is donated to your designated charity. You don't spend anything extra, you don't have to buy anything you weren't already going to buy, and yet, your favorite cause gets a little bit of much-needed funds. Not only that, iGive will keep track of it & provide you with a year-end summary for tax purposes. How cool is that?!

The participating online retailers run the gamut from high end (Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstroms) to lower (Kohls, Target) and everything inbetween. There are clothes (Ann Taylor, Aeropostale, Old Navy, the Gap), books (Barnes & Noble, Borders, Amazon),electronics (Best Buy, Abes of Maine, Dell, Apple), hotels (Wyndham, Hilton, hotels.com), gifts (iTunes, 1-800-flowers),etc. The list is really quite impressive!!

To have your purchases recognized, you can sign in at the iGive website & then click on the link to the vendor's regular website or you can download the iGive toolbar. If you choose the toolbar, it will recognize when you are on a participating site & will automatically register your purchase amount & direct the correct donation amount to your chosen charity. That means that you don't have to do anything different at all and yet you donate money. Again, I say, how cool is that?!

To see the list of participating sites and perhaps to sign up, click here.

(In the interest of full disclosure, the dog rescue group I volunteer with is my chosen charity and they will get a bonus for anyone who signs up via this link. It won't cost you anything and you don't have to keep that organization as your chosen charity, so I hope no one minds helping us out while heading on their way to helping their chosen charity. thanks!)

Charitable Gift Cards

Tiburon's post about receiving a goat for Xmas reminded me that I was going to post about an organization called Network for Good. Have you ever wanted to make a donation as a gift for someone or in someone's honor, but not known what charity they would most like it to go to? Network for Good allows you to make a donation and get a "Good Card" (aka a gift card) that allows the recipient to decide which charity or charities s/he wants that donation to go to.

Regular readers to this blog (all 3 of you!) know that my SO has been battling lymphoma. Even before he got sick, he hated clutter and having too much schtuff around bugged him. It's gotten even worse since getting sick and having to contemplate possibly figuring out what to do with his things should he get a bad outcome. In support of that, I decided that this year, all of the "little things" I gave him would be consumable or something that he could pass on when he finished with it & his big gift would be a charitable donation.

He has multiple charities to which he regularly donates. At first, I decided to find some new ones for him. He and I both like finding smaller, little-known charities that support causes we believe in/do good work, and where even small amounts can really matter. I did some research and found some new ones that I thought he'd like, but then started second guessing the whole thing. Afterall, it seems kinda presumptuous to just assume he'd like these new (to us) ones I found, or even if he did like them, perhaps he'd still prefer to donate more to some of the ones with which he's already associated.

Network for Good makes either option possible. I've done the research, so he'll get information on the new-to-us charities I discovered & perhaps he'll choose to donate the funds or part of the funds to them. Or maybe he'll send it to one or more of his already-favorite causes. Or maybe he'll find something else entirely....No matter which option(s) he chooses, he'll get to send the funds to where it means the most to him & afterall, what I really want is for him to be able to give to something that makes his heart sing!

Thankful Thursday

It's that time again -- time to take a moment to focus on gratitude and the things for which I'm thankful. This week, I'm thankful for:

• Getting the chance to get out with the camera and get creative for a bit. It felt good to rekindle my joy in photography and I'm very happy with some of the shots I took. Thanks, too, go to Will, a professional photographer from Colorado who I met as we were both shooting pics near the Capitol. He was kind enough to offer suggestions and pass on bits of his knowledge.
  


• Getting to see my nephews this upcoming weekend. The older of the 2 boys is 4 years old, so Christmas is pretty magical to him this year. I love getting to be part of that.



• Getting to spread a little holiday joy. Each year, we take a group of dancers to the Armed Forces Retirement Home's holiday party. It's a chance to dance with and for the veterans, spend some time talking to them, and in general, just spreading a little goodwill. It's one of my favorite holiday traditions & will take place tomorrow evening.



• The wonderful massage I got last weekend. As a dancer, I beat my body up on a pretty consistent basis. Last weekend was no exception since our gig on Sat night was 7 hrs long and we were dancing on a marble floor. I was most definitely sore after that!! But, since this wasn't the first time we'd done this event, I knew to expect being sore & scheduled a massage for Sunday. My last 3 massages really didn't do much to help; they were nice, but my muscles fight back/require a bit of convincing that they need to release & the past couple of massages I had never reached that point. This time, however, was different -- I went to a new place & this new massage therapist was fantastic!! I'm still feeling the benefits!! And, since this place was considerably less expensive than the other places I'd tried, not to mention more conveniently located, you can bet I'll be going back!!
  
  
• The adorable ornaments I got from Mindi. There's a music clef that represents my dancing and a beautiful bird that can either be hung conventionally or can be clipped onto a tree branch as if it's perching. Pics will be coming as soon as I change the batteries in my camera. Thanks, Mindi -- They are perfect!!
  
  
• Hearing that the package I shipped for my neices and nephews in Vancouver, BC arrived yesterday. Last year, it didn't get there until the 2nd week of January, even tho I shipped it around the same time. There's a strike going on in some of the Canadian postal system, so I was worried this year would be the same, despite being told 5-10 days when I shipped it. Glad to know it made it!!

So, that's my list today. What's on yours?

How Do You Gift Wrap a Bicycle?

That's actually a serious question. I'm giving my nephew a bike for Christmas and have NO idea how to present it. "Tradition" seems to be leaving the bike unwrapped, maybe with a big red bow on it, but not bringing it out until Christmas morning. If I lived in the same house as my nephew, I could do that, but that's not the case and I've got to bring it up to his house this Sunday when I go up there to spend the afternoon with my brother, sis-in-law, and nephews so we can "do" Christmas together. When he knows that I'm coming over, he is usually waiting, watching out the door for me to get there, so leaving it unwrapped would mean he'd immediately see it.

An internet search said to leave the bike in it's big flat shipping box & wrap that, but since the bike is second-hand, it's already assembled. (A charitable organization that my SO supports was selling an absolutely mint-condition kid's bike for $10 at their yard sale, so I jumped on it!! It even came with a helmet, so I couldn't resist.) I don't think I have a box big enough to put an already assembled bike in, so I don't think that's an option.

H.E.L.P!!!!!! All ideas are welcome!!

Playing Tourist in my own backyard

I'm updating our website and my boss suggested using some pics to jazz it up a bit. He was willing to buy some stock photos from a couple of professional websites, but since we're so close to some of the famous landmarks, I suggested just giving me an hour sometime with the good work camera & letting me go play a bit. When I got brain-fried yesterday, I decided that was just what would perk me up, so I grabbed the camera & headed out.

It was a perfect day for it!! It was 60-ish degrees & we had a storm front on its way here, so there were some interesting cloud formations, as you can see. (I *much* prefer shooting on cloudy days to shooting in bright sun -- the results are always much more interesting!) In addition, I decided to do this a little before 4:00 pm & since it gets dark here just before 5:00 pm nowadays, that meant I had the "golden hour" of twilight to play with. I love how the colors change so much, from one shot to the next, in such a short time frame.

The ones I'll use for work are more "standard", but I also took some more artistic shots for myself. The ones on this post are some of my favorites from around the US Capitol and the Supreme Court bldg.

Enjoy!!

He Must Be a Master at Wii Fit

I have Wii Fit. On it, there's a game where you are supposed to head soccer balls thrown at you, while dodging other things thrown at you. One of those other things are shoes. I always wondered where the game developers got that idea.

After Pres. Bush's encounter with an Iraqi journalist, now I know.

The Worst 4 Words in the English Language

I think you could ask pretty much anyone over the age of about 10 or so what are the best words in the English language & they'd pretty much agree on those. (Well, except for a former dance partner of mine who postulated that the answer is gender specific. He said that for women, it's "I love you" but for guys it'd be "you're the best", but that's a comedy routine for another day.) But, I'm not sure there'd be consensus on the worst.

For me, there's no doubt: the worst 4 words in the English language are "Are you sitting down?"

2 years ago today, I heard those words and in an instant, my world changed. My significant other had had a cough that he hadn't been able to shake. There was the standard "winter crud" going around, so at first he thought nothing of it. But then it didn't go away, and then he started getting winded when he was working out. Anyone who knows him, knows that that's not normal for him -- I was the one with severe anemia at the time, so I was used to that happening, but not him.

At first, it was dismissed as being pneumonia, but he didn't buy it. He's an M.D., so he was able to press his case & get them to look further. They ordered an MRI just to appease him. It was a good thing they did because it turned out he had a baseball-sized tumor....at the time, they thought it was in the lung, which would have been VERY bad news. Luckily, it wasn't lung cancer, but lymphoma, sitting on top of the lung/between the lung and the chest wall. It had been compressing the lung, which is why he had had trouble breathing.

It took almost 3 weeks to get the diagnosis. Those were some of the longest days I've ever experienced -- I was lucky to get 1.5-2 hrs of sleep a night and the stress definitely took a toll; I started going to the gym in order to physically exhaust myself, hoping that that would force my body to sleep at least a bit more. In many ways, the uncertainty and the not-knowing were the most difficult part; at least once we knew what he was dealing with, we knew what treatment protocol should be followed and more importantly, he could get started with that treatment. Patience has never been my strong suit & it was tough to have to sit around, waiting, not being able to do anything & not being able to do anything to hurry it along.

Unfortunately, we are back in that same uncertainty. He had another PET scan a few weeks ago & it wasn't clear. He has 2 small spots that showed up. The good news is they aren't lighting up (which would indicate definite cancerous activity). The bad news is they are there. They could possibly be the tumor returning, but not yet reaching the threshold to be detected by the scan. Or, the better option is that it could be indication of tissue damage from the intense chemo & radiation treatment. (Who would have ever thought we'd be wishing for tissue damage!) We won't know anything until the next PET scan in 3 or 4 months. All we can do is wait & hope... No one ever tells you that might be a possibility -- it should be like being 'a little bit pregnant', y'know: either you have a tumor or you don't. This uncertainty totally sucks!!

If anyone out there reading this can light a candle, send a prayer, or otherwise keep a good thought for the next PET scan to be clean and for him to continue being cancer-free, we would both greatly appreciate it.

Thankful Thursday

It's been a while since I've gotten one of these written and it's long overdue. This week, I'm thankful for:

• Holiday goodies. They are starting to appear around my office & since I haven't gotten around to making any myself, that's a good thing!!
  


• Finally kicking the sinus infection that sidelined me for a bit. Good riddance!
  


• Cyber Monday. I was home sick that day & managed to pick up most of the remaining items on my Christmas list. Got some good deals on 'em too!!
  


• My job. It's rough out there. I know lots of people are out of work or facing potential layoffs. So far, things are stable here & I am profoundly grateful for that!
  


• The holiday specials. I admit it; I'm just a big ol' little kid when it comes to holiday specials. Charlie Brown, the Grinch, Heat Meiser/Cold Meiser, etc. all make me smile.
  


• Getting a break from teaching weekly dance classes. The place we teach isn't heated, so we take the winter off from our classes. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy teaching or I wouldn't do it, and especially with the last group of students we had as they were a lot of fun. However, I do also enjoy getting a break from it sometimes. We've still got events to perform at and other non-weekly-classes to do, but due to the economy, those are also lighter than usual this year, so it's the first real break we've gotten in quite a while and I'm greatly enjoying it.
  

How bout you? What are you thankful for today? Thanks to Tiburon for the new graphic.

Christmas Cactus

This has been brightening up my office. It started blooming back around Veteran's Day and is still going strong.

Late to the Party

I've got a confession to make. Up until a couple of months ago, I didn't have cable tv. (Yes, it is possible to live without it in this day and age.) I wasn't home enough to justify the cost (& it had gotten pretty darn expensive). But then, I switched internet carriers & got a bundled package back in the summertime & thus, I've slowly been catching up on all of those things I missed.

Like this:

Saturday night was the perfect storm -- my SO was in class all weekend (so I was on my own); we didn't have any dance gigs to do; and it was snowing (so who wants to go out in that). Sounded like a good night for a movie. I was about to pop a dvd into the player when I discovered that Disney was running not only HSM, but also HSM2 back-to-back. To top it off, these were the "What's What" versions, meaning they had little pop-up bubbles that contained fun facts, pointed out continuity mistakes or other movie quirks, etc throughout the movies. (The running tally of "who wore more hats" contest between Ryan and Kelsi for HSM2 was my personal favorite.)

Well, get me a plate of crackers & bring on the cheese!!!

And cheesy it was!!! However, I've already confessed to having been in musicals and occasionally rockin' a show tune or 2, so I can't pretend that I didn't enjoy the movies. I will just say that it's a good thing that I'm not lactose intolerant or it would have been a rough night!!

The Modern Christmas Card

This made me laugh.

See more here

Gobble Gobble

Happy Turkey Day!

Free Holiday Music...

Courtesy of Oprah...For 48 hrs, you can download any or all of the following tracks:

1. Faith Hill, "Joy to the World" from the album Joy to the World


2. Tony Bennett, "I'll be Home for Christmas" from the album A Swingin' Christmas


3. Il Divo, "O Holy Night" from the album The Christmas


4. Josh Groban, "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" from the album Noel


5. Brian McKnight, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" from the album I'll Be Home for Christmas


6. Amy Grant, "O Come All Ye Faithful" from the album The Christms


7. Harry Connick Jr., "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" from the album What a Night! A Christmas Album


8. Aretha Franklin, "Silent Night" from the album This Christmas

Go to http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20081118_tows_holiday/2 and follow the instructions written there. You can preview any track before downloading to decide if you want it or not.

Gettin' Ready

Like most places, DC is getting ready for the holidays. The Capitol Christmas tree arrived earlier this week and as I walked across the Mall yesterday, workers were busy getting it strung with lights and such. It will be lit next week. In addition, the US Botanical Gardens had their wreaths and lights up. One of the Metro stations I was in yesterday also had garland and ribbons and wreaths up. It'll soon be quite festive around here.

Unlike other cities, DC is also getting ready for the innaugural on January 20th. As I walked across the Capitol grounds, the scaffolding out on the steps of the Capitol was already being built.

I'll try to remember to bring my camera with me on Friday and get some pictures of everything. (Should be a quiet/slow day at the office.) I'll try to get some pictures. If I do, I'll post them then.

100 Things

I've seen this popping up on quite a few blogs lately. The rules are simple: copy the following list and highlight the ones you've done.

Here's mine:

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Totally copied a post from someone else's blog to your own

53 out of 100 - I guess that's acceptable. Many more I'd mark as "not yet, but I will"...

I'm Ba-ack

Work is still keeping me hopping, but it's the day before a holiday and they've already announced we're getting out early today, so I doubt much, if any, work is getting done anywhere in the office this afternoon. Given that, I decided it was time to break radio-silence and pop back in. Expect a few catch-up posts this afternoon.

M.I.A.

I've got a gazillion posts running around in my brain, but have been crazy-busy lately, so haven't gotten the chance to make any of them coherent, much less type them out and post them. I'll be back soon.

Thankful Thursday Friday

Traveling this week has left me scrambling to catch up, so I'm a little late, but thankful none the less. This week I'm thankful for:

• Being home -- I like traveling, but I'm always glad to come home.
  
  
• Those things Washington DC has to offer like great museums, wonderful theatre & arts, etc. I'm reminded every time I go away how many nice things this city/area offers.
  
  
• My dogs --it's so nice to see how much they've missed me whenever I go away. Makes me feel special. :-)
  
  
• A great cadre of volunteers --without their help, we couldn't run the dances we offer. This is especially noticeable this week since I was gone for much of it and couldn't have managed the details even if I'd wanted to.
  
  
• My dance partner -- who did keep things running while I was gone. Teaching classes or filming a partner-based dance show is not easy to do solo and he had to do both this week. Thanks, darlin', you're a gem!
  
  
• Making 2 new friends at work -- this trip, I was paired up with 2 ppl I'd neither met nor worked with before. Given the nature of the trip, one spends long hours (14-16 hr days, or even longer) as a team, most of the time in one car, so there's no getting away from one another if personalities clash or you just aren't a good fit. I was paired with 2 wonderful people with great senses of humor. Within a very short time, we were laughing and joking with each other as if we were old friends. It made the very long work days a lot nicer than if we hadn't really clicked.
  
  
• Being healthy -- Last time I had to do this type of work assignment was a couple of years ago. I was not well, so those 16-hour days really were trying. This time around was a MUCH better experience.
  
  
• Our veterans. And the troops currently serving our country. They deserve our thanks & more! Take a moment or 2 this upcoming Tuesday to at least honor them, if not doing something to actively thank them.

Props to Tiburon for the great new autumnal graphic & the original idea for the Thankful Thursday posts. Feel free to take the idea and the graphic and play along.

A Chicken Krispy Kreme in every pot

In case you haven't heard, there's an election taking place today. If you haven't yet done so, don't forget to go vote. Even if you don't do it because you care about the election or doing your civic duty or for any of those good reasons, go do it because if you go to Krispy Kreme today with an "I voted" sticker, you'll get a free donut.

On the Road Again

I'm outta here bright and early tomorrow. Or, actually, dark and early tomorrow since I'll be up and out before sunrise, even with the time change.

I'm supposed to have internet access at the hotel. If it works, I'll hopefully be able to pop in & say hi from Texas, but in case either it doesn't work or the 16-hour days I'm expecting leave me too tired to remind you:

Go vote on Tuesday if you haven't already!!!

Boo!

Thankful Thursday

This week, I'm thankful for:

• The upcoming time change. It's so hard to get up for work when the sun's not even up yet. I also have a way-too-early flight next week, so I have to be out of here at o-dark-thirty. At least it will seem not quite so unbelievably early thanks to the time change.
  


• A working keyboard. I sorta knocked mine off my desk last week & broke it. It's very hard to check email, surf the web, or even do work-stuff when you don't have a functional keyboard.
  


• Running water. Another one of those things we take for granted. While I get to go to San Antonio (ish) for work next week, a co-worker is being sent to a *really* remote area where he may not have access to running water for part of the day. I'd say I got the better deal on this one!!
  


• French fries. I know they aren't good for me, but they're soooo good!! I think someone should come up with a study showing that French fries are actually good for you, the way they've shown that about chocolate, coffee, red wine, etc. Just sayin'.
  


• Kind & caring neighbors. We had some really fierce winds the other day. I didn't realize it, but they blew the gate open in my yard. One of my dogs discovered it & unbeknownst to me, he decided to go off exploring on a little walkabout. I found out this had occured when I got a call from someone a couple of blocks away telling me they had my dog. They'd gotten my number off the tag on his collar. How wonderful of them to make the effort/take the time!!

So, how bout you? What are you thankful for this week?

Vote

Only in DC!

You may have to enlarge the image to get all of the funny details -- my personal favorite part is the small print about how if no one is declared the winner by Nov 5th, contact them and they'll tell you which location is hosting which group.

Thankful Thursday

This week I'm thankful for:

• Having a few minutes before my next meeting where I can actually make this post. It's been rare lately to find those few minutes.
  
  
• A friend's new baby. Megan Rose is currently 2 days old and she and her momma are doing great!
  
  
• My crock pot. Dinner ready when I get home? Yeah, I'm down with that!
  
  
• Halloween candy. Who doesn't like chocolate on sale?!
  
  
• Going out to dinner with a friend tonight just to catch up.
  
  
• Finally figuring out my Halloween costume.
  
  
• Getting to spend time with my nephews this past weekend. Even better was hearing how excited the 4-year old had gotten when they told him that morning that I'd be coming over. I just love having my own personal groupie!
  
  
• Finding out I'll be going to the San Antonio, TX area for work in a couple of weeks. (If anyone has any suggestions of fun things to do or don't-miss-places, please leave the info in the comments. I won't have much free time, but might be able to carve out a dinner somewhere or book my flight back for late enough in the day that I can find an hour or 2.)
  
  
• The Christmas cactus in my office is starting to bud. If it's anything like last year, it'll bloom early, so it'll have flowers from around Veteran's Day to Thanksgiving. It's so pretty when it's in bloom.
  

There's plenty more, but time is up so I'll stop here and run off to my meeting. Feel free to take the banner and the idea and make your own Thankful Thursday post.

Hide & Seek

Work is kicking my butt at the moment & will continue to do so for the next couple of weeks. My extra-curricular schedule is just as crazy. It's all good, but it's keeping me away from the blog for now. I'll be back soon.

Thankful Thursday

Wow, I'm even going to get the chance to get this written & posted on Thursday this week....

In no particular order, I'm thankful for:

• Having session #2 of the training class I set up (and to which my boss came) go off smoothly.
  
  
• Eating lunch at a favorite restaurant in Chinatown before that training session since it was held right around the corner from the restaurant.
  
  
• The first signs of color in the trees.
  
  
• Watching the gentleman who hands out newspapers at my subway stop become more comfortable & confident in his English. When he first started, it was a small, shy nod. The nod became a 'hi'. Hi turned into 'Good morning', said with a smile. Now, it's a smile and a 'Good morning' oftentimes coupled with 'Have a good day' or 'Have a nice weekend' if it's Friday.
  
  
• Good, supportive co-workers.
  
  
• 3-day weekend coming up.
  
  
• Really fun students in the series of dance classes we just started.

What makes you thankful this week?

Win a Free Handbag

Ladies, Handbag Planet is giving away 24 handbags in 24 hrs. Click here to enter. I picked this one:

Mad props to Tiburon for the 411.

Four and Four

I saw this on Tiburon's blog and thought I'd play along. The rules are: Go to your picture folder, open the 4th folder, select the 4th picture, post it & talk about it.


In my case, the 4th folder is my "Blog" folder & the 4th picture is my blog header:


The photo in the header was from a spread in Life magazine in 1943. The gentleman in the picture is one of my teachers. His name is Frank (Frankie) Manning. He will turn 95 years old this coming May. He was one of, and arguably the most important of, the originators of the Lindy Hop. Lindy is considered the grandfather of all the swing dances. He was the first person to do an air step in swing dancing: if you've seen anyone pick up/throw their partner, you can trace that back to Frankie.


He was one of the original Whitey's Lindy Hoppers who made their home at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem in the 1930's. He was the lead dancer and principal choreographer for the group. You can see their work in the Marx Brothers' film A Day at the Races or in what is probably the greatest Lindy Hop performance ever put on film in the movie Hellzapoppin'. Another personal favorite is the troupe doing the Big Apple from Keep Punchin'.

He has been featured on 20/20, ABC's World News Tonight, National Geographic Explorer's episode on Jitterbug (I'm also in that one), among others. He is a Tony-award winner (for Black & Blue), an author, a dancer, an ambassador of American culture & most importantly, one of the greatest, most-humble, most-genuine people you'd ever want to meet. I'm very honored to be able to call him my friend.

Tag, I'm It

Saw this on Mindi's blog & since she tagged anyone who was reading and wanted to play along, I decided to give it a go.

Seven Random Facts about Me:

1. I collect polar bears. One of my guest rooms is designated as "The Polar Bear Room".
   


2. I'm only 5' 1" tall. (And at that, I'm the tallest female in my immediate family. Scary, huh?)


3. I love chocolate and orange together. Preferably dark chocolate.


4. I've been dog sledding. With my own dogs.


5. Even tho I'm a native Washingtonian, I've never been in the US Capitol or the White House. I'd graduated from high school before I ever made it up the Washington Monument.


6. I've been underneath the Lincoln Memorial.


7. I love ethnic food. If I'm the one picking a restaurant, I'll choose a Thai, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Afghan, Ethiopian, Greek, etc. place over a steak house every time!

I'm supposed to tag 7 people, but I'm going to play this the same way Mindi did: if you are reading this and want to play along, please do so. :-)

Thankful Thursday

Yeah, I know it's not Thursday, or even Friday anymore. It's just been that type of week, but as the old saying goes, 'Better Late than Never'. So, in no particular order, this week I'm thankful for:

• Gorgeous weather. It's really been spectacular around here lately.


• NOT being named Employee of the Month....wait a minute, first you were & now you're not? And you're happy about that? Yup! Turns out the award I'm getting is much bigger than that. It's part of the annual awards for my division, so it's a much bigger deal than I originally thought.


• Having a big training class for work that I helped plan, organize, and execute come off without a hitch.


• Acupuncture. I have a great practicioner who helped me delay that surgery for at least a couple of years. I hadn't seen for a little over a year (just before my surgery) but went back this past week. 2 sessions and I already feel better/less run down/feel like things are more balanced or clicking on all cylinders. I have no clue how it works, but it's definitely given me great health benefits and I now swear by it!

So, how bout you? What are you thankful for today?

Don't Vote

I don't care who you are voting for. I just care that you vote. And if you haven't registered, what are you waiting for?

Squidoo

Squidoo is an online organization that helps raise tons of money for various charities. They are having an $80,000 giveaway. All you have to do is click here, choose a charity from their list of partners & submit your vote. You don't have to register with them or even give them your email address & it won't cost you a single dime. They'll give $2/vote for every vote submitted by October 15th, up to the first 40,000 votes. You can only vote once, so go on over & vote and then tell a bunch of friends and family about this so they can go vote too. Believe me, the charities you select will be most appreciative; afterall, it's free money!

Squidoo has partnered with a lot of different charities. Whether you want to support health research, children's services, animal welfare or anything in between, there's probably a charity that will match with your passion. I personally voted for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society since my SO has been battling Lymphoma. Feel free to choose them or to pick another organization that you feel is a better fit for you, but either way, please go click & then tell others how they too can get in on the action.

Wanna Win an iPod?

Tiburon from Shark Bait is approaching her 1,000th post. To celebrate, she's giving away an iPod shuffle. Yeah, you read that right -- an 100% gen-u-ine iPod shuffle!! To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on her blog. In fact, the more comments you leave in the month of October, the more chances you have to win. (Comments must be on different posts. Don't even try to cheat by submitting each word of your comment in a seperate entry. Ain't gonna work!)

If you aren't reading her blog, you really should be. She's got a wicked sense of humor and is pretty much guaranteed to at least leave you smiling, if not downright laughing out loud. Go on over & show her a little love and you could just end up the proud owner of a new iPod. How cool is that?!

Riddle Me This...

Why do days where we have to film our tv show and really bad hair days always coincide? *sigh*

Wordle

Make your own here.

Loss of a Legend

I've said before that I've always been a sucker for an intelligent man with a good sense of humor and a set of piercing blue eyes. Obviously, that description perfectly sums up Paul Newman. Good grief, you can't miss the intensity of those eyes even in the black & white photo!!

Not only was he a great actor -- from Brick in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof or Cool Hand Luke to Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid or The Sting -- add in the fact that he was such a humanitarian, giving more than $200M to charity via his Newman's Own foods, and there really isn't anything not to like.

Robert Redford, a co-star and long-time friend said of Newman that "this country is better for his being in it". With the legacy that he leaves behind, I'd have to say I agree.

God speed, Paul Newman!

Woo Hoo Part Two!!

I've mentioned a couple of times in my Thankful Thursday posts that I've got a great boss & a job I really like with some interesting projects I've been working on lately. My boss just pulled me aside & told me I'm being recognized as the "Employee of the Month" for October for the work I've been doing on some of those projects.

This comes as a TOTAL surprise to me. I really hadn't ever even thought about it or thought that what I was doing was that spectacular. I do sometimes have to finesse my way through it all since some of my clients can be a bit "prickly" at times & my boss wanted to recognize the efforts it takes to successfully navigate through the potential minefields and the fact that I successfully do so to make everything happen.

It feels really good to be recognized. I've worked at different jobs where things like this NEVER happened. You hoped NOT to be recognized because it was never a good thing: you could never be right, you could only be wrong & anyone who did anything well was considered a threat to the Powers that Be and had to be beaten down. It's great to work for someone who WANTS his people to shine and who realizes that the more we all do, the better we ALL look.

Doesn't hurt any to know that there's a cash award that comes with it!! Gotta love that!

First the Redskins beat Dallas & now this -- I haven't smiled this much on a Monday in a long time!!

The Birk Economic Recovery Plan

NOTE: I don't know if the original author of the following was serious or not, but I have posted the following as a joke. If you do the math, the numbers don't actually add up......

Hi Pals,

I'm against the $85,000,000, 000.00 bailout of AIG. Instead, I'm in favor of giving $85,000,000, 000 to America in a We Deserve It Dividend. To make the math simple, let's assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+. Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up.

So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billion that equals $425,000.00.

My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a We Deserve It Dividend. Of course, it would NOT be tax free. So let's assume a tax rate of 30%. Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes. That sends $25,500,000, 000 right back to Uncle Sam . But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket.

A husband and wife has $595,000.00. What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family?

Pay off your mortgage - housing crisis solved.

Repay college loans - what a great boost to new grads

Put away money for college - it'll be there

Save in a bank - create money to loan to entrepreneurs.

Buy a new car - create jobs

Invest in the market - capital drives growth

Pay for your parent's medical insurance - health care improves

Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean - or else

Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces.

If we're going to re-distribute wealth let's really do it...instead of trickling out a puny $1000.00 ( "vote buy" ) economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President.

If we're going to do an $85 billion bailout, let's bail out every adult U S Citizen 18+!

As for AIG - liquidate it. Sell off its parts. Let American General go back to being American General. Sell off the real estate. Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up. Here's my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn't. Sure it's a crazy idea that can "never work."

But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party! How do you spell Economic Boom? I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion We Deserve It Dividend more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC .

And remember, The Birk plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam . Ahhh...I feel so much better getting that off my chest.

Kindest personal regards,

T. J. Birkenmeier, A Creative Guy & Citizen of the Republic

PS: Feel free to pass this along to your pals as it's either good for a laugh or a tear or a very sobering thought on how to best use $85 Billion!!

Woo Hoo!!

When you grow up in Washington, DC, you root for 2 teams: the Redskins & whoever's playing Dallas. When those 2 are one in the same, it takes on even bigger meaning. "Dallas Week" is always a big deal around these parts -- even if you aren't a Redskins fan or even a football fan, you can't miss the fact that it's Dallas week. Pretty much every local newscast has at least one mention of it, oftentimes not even as part of the sports report. I saw quite a few "man on the street" type of spots this past week w/ the upcoming football game as the focus...For those of you who aren't from around here, it's sort of like the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry on steroids.

Going into the game today, expectations around here weren't so hot. Washington was an 11-point underdog. However, anyone who lives in either of the 2 cities knows that that doesn't mean much. Even in years where one team or the other was downright awful, the one game they'd win all year would be against the other.

Shows you what the so-called "experts" know. Final score: Washington 26 - Dallas 24.

It's gonna be a fun week around the office. All of the 'Skins fans will be in a good mood and the couple of (normally obnoxious) Cowboy fans will do their best to be invisible. Hee hee

Thou Shall Not Covet

Got home from my nephew's bday party & caught "A League of Their Own" showing on tv.....I *want* Geena Davis's wardrobe from that movie!!! They don't make suits like that anymore!!

Thankful Thursday

It's that time again. Wow -- I even got it written & posted on Thursday. That's 2 weeks in a row. It might even be a trend! :-)

This week I'm thankful for:

Veterans -- I meant to include this last week b/c the big dance performance included a salute to the veterans. The association whose annual meeting was the reason for the event invited some of the residents from the Armed Forces Retirement Home here in DC to be their special guests, so we were able to thank the ones who attended personally. For all the rest who weren't in attendance, a heartfelt thanks!

Fall -- It appears to finally be making an appearance around here. The weather has that little tang in the air & the first crop of locally grown apples is appearing. Won't be long before there's color in the trees.

Getting to attend my nephew's 4th birthday party -- Even tho they live nearby, I haven't seen him (or my brother, sister-in-law, and my other nephew) in a little while, so this gives me a good excuse to hang out with him for the day. My nephew was really disappointed that Grandma & Grandpa weren't coming to his birthday party -- he doesn't understand that they live in Florida & it's too far to drive for the party -- but he got over it immediately when he was told that I was coming. That kid sure knows how to get to me!!

Being able to help someone -- I got a plea for help via the dog rescue organization I volunteer with. A woman was having issues with her dog & was thinking about giving him up. None of the issues were surprising given his age (adolescent) nor that difficult to manage if one had the right tools or skill set; since training is one of my specialties, this was right up my alley. Luckily, the woman was very receptive to what I had to offer her/what suggestions I made and has started implementing them. So far, so good, leaving us with one happier (and more hopeful) owner and one happier dog who is that much more likely to stay in his home/not need rescue's help. That's what I call a win-win!!

So, how bout you? What are you thankful for today?