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?!