Poll Time!! :)

Well, I'm trying to get some good blog material going here, but I'm afraid that there are quite a few people that sound panicky when I mention that I'm going to post their picture on my blog (aka, from group events), so to be respectful of those folks who just don't "dig it", I'm kind of blog material empty right now. *sigh* So it goes. Really, though, most of my pictures are for me, anyway, and are just a record of where life has taken me. It's just that most of you don't get to partake in all of the cool experiences that I go through in life. Soon, I'll have pics.

For now, though, let's do a poll. I am seriously thinking of going "credit card free" in life and I want your thoughts on such things. You do NOT have to post your name with this one (for privacy purposes, of course) and I'm fine with a bunch of anonymous comments! :)

Here are the questions:

Do you go through life without a credit card? How do you manage? Isn't it kind of scary to not have a back-up plan (aka, credit card) in case a serious emergency arises?

Tell me your thoughts! This is a big decision for me and it's kind of nervewracking! Again, I am fine with anonymous comments!!! I just want to hear what your thoughts are and I hope you don't feel moved to avoid this poll. :)

Blogging Slump.

I've fallen into a blogging slump. I don't have much that catches the eye that I want to report, so that is why I haven't posted anything. Plus, now that my summer class is over, I just want to lay around and read books. *sigh* What's a girl to do? :)

As soon as I put together some post ideas (and actually get pictures taken), I will post it here. Until then, go and read a book yourself. It's really quite a lovely experience. :o)

Wow. This is AMAZING!!

Britain has an Idol show (like "american idol") and this was in a recent e-mail that I received. This man is truly amazing. I don't know much about opera, but this performace gave me goosebumps and had me thisclose to tears!!! Wow.

Happy Viewing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oxTy7KIAaA&eurl=

A simple reminder

I have tomorrow off of work, so I thought I'd leave you for the weekend with just a few words that were really refreshing to me today. I hope you enjoy them, too!!

The Love of God.

We can talk an hour about it, but not have it. No vessel can contain it all, no tongue can explain it all; for it is only explained by living it and retained by giving it. When we share it, then we have more than we had; withhold it and we have less. It has no competitors or equals. Death cannot claim it, but only proclaim it.

Persecution only brings it to the surface. It turns every experience into a privilege. It works best under pressure. It has no faults or failures. It can turn every living sacrifice into a reasonable service. It has been cradled in a manger, crucified on a cross, resurrected from a tomb, and carried into heaven. I admire it in others, I desire it from others, I require it for others, but I can only acquire it from God.

Oh to know good customer service!

ADDENDUM: Okay. I've changed my mind around a bit. It's not just a lack of customer service, but, in general, people do not have a heart for their fellow man. Most people have become so self absorbed and as long as their needs are taken care of, forget about the rest!! This is true anywhere you go...driving in traffic (people that cut you off or don't even let you into traffic), lines at stores, people in the workplace who will NOT help you nor do they consider "going the extra mile," etc. *sigh* It's so sad! I just witnessed a woman going ballistic because she moved the barricades to our parking lot (see post below) and she let herself in! When they stopped her, she just went off. I hope that worker that she went off on called the campus police because he is just trying to do his job and he does not deserve that kind of treatment. But it was all about her. SO...my mission for today...and then for tomorrow...and then the day after (see the pattern? One day at a time!) is to just treat our fellow neighbor with kindness and offer them help when need be. Oh, and try not to blow up on them when they won't let me merge into traffic. :) Now I know I'm not perfect, but maybe if I can change a bit, then it will encourage another to change a bit. I hope you'll feel the need to change, too (unless you're already doing okay and kudos to you! :). After all, there certainly isn't much love or care for our neighbor anymore.

Okay, folks. Here is is. The defintion from dictionary.com of "customer service" says this:

Definition: assistance and other resources that a company provides to the people who buy or use its products or services

So why is customer service disappearing at such a rapid speed anymore? I had two negative customer service experiences this morning before 7:30 AM and one more before 8! What!? The parking lot outside of my office is closed for the day. I called over to the Physical Plant to find out if they were painting the lot or what their agenda was and how long they'd be at it. I like to know these things especially because there will be people that ask about it! So, the lady at the Service Desk (I wonder if she realizes that's the title of her station?!) says, "Well there was an e-mail sent out to the campus about it." I said that I didn't get it and that the last e-mail I got from them was in May. She responded, "Yeah. It was in that e-mail. Maybe you should have kept it to know what was going on." Excuse me? The point of this... I am calling you to find out what is up because, obviously, I don't have any information. Regardless if I screwed up and deleted the e-mail, it doesn't mean you have to get snotty! The other situations were similar responses. It's just like people do NOT care how they treat you anymore! Now, I realize that everyone is entitled to a bad day and I'm sure that I've had my moments of insanity when it comes to treating people politely, so I'm sure that I'm not one to talk.

But is it me or does it seem like most people do not have an attitude toward good customer service anymore? Tell me your thoughts! What has been your worst customer service experience?

End of story.

Well. That didn't take long.

http://www.trib.com/articles/2007/07/17/news/top_story/doc469d89c6c03ef510960766.txt

What a terrible, awful story. Ugh.

This is JUST PEACHY.

Well, if any of you have been watching/listening to the news, you all know that we have a professional sniper roaming the area who shot & killed his soon-to-be ex-wife at a restaurant on Saturday night. She was on stage, singing, and he was parked out in the parking lot in his truck and he shot through the window and killed her. In Cheyenne! At a family restaurant! Here's an article that CNN has posted -- http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/17/singer.shot.ap/index.html

Here's some comments in the article about the man:

"Munis has been a member of the Wyoming Army National Guard since 2003, was previously in the U.S. Army and was a 2001 graduate of the Army Sniper School at Ft. Benning, Georgia, according to the National Guard. Apprehending a man with that kind of sniper skill and the weaponry he has available to him is an extremely dangerous type of proposition," Schulz said."

Nice. What tops the cake? He's hiding out north of Laramie, about 7 miles from town, in the wooded area known to some around here as Rogers Canyon (also known as north 9th street). Guess where I was at the potluck on Saturday? About a mile or two from this Canyon.

Lovely, people, just lovely. So, here we are with a man roaming our area who is trained to kill with the first shot. Ugh. My mom mentioned it and so did the CNN article...people like this usually end up taking their own life.

Then my coworker and I read that a man went crazy on Monday at the governor's office in Denver and was taken out by police (aka...killed).

What is going on!?!

A nice day for a BBQ

So, Warner & Crystal had this spectacular plan of having a BBQ today and it was just oodles of fun!! Amelia about sums it up with her smile in this picture: The afternoon was just chock full of...

Fun games (this pic is of Amadeus...he's trying to prove that he IS tall enough to get that balloon from Emily!):

Hanging out with cool dudes (this would be Dante (who just finished eating a powedered donut!)& his mom, Tessa):

Great visits (first pic, Amelia & Dante...and they were in a very serious conversation about the fish tank!; second pic, Ada & Marjorie):

And plenty of food! However, I didn't get a picture of that because I was too busy eating. :) Alas, the day had to end sometime, so we took our cue from Amelia and packed up to head home and take some nice Saturday afternoon naps!

All in all, we had a great time and a BIG thanks goes to Crystal & Warner for organizing this and for letting us use their house. On the way out, I just had to take a picture of the flag. It was a nice symbol of the freedom we have in this country to be able to meet together like this and have good times!

Now, THAT'S a good question!!

If you've never asked yourself these questions before...now is the time!! *heehee* Happy reading! Oh, and if any of you know the answer to ANY of these questions, feel free to leave your response in the comments! We'd all like to know! By the way...I did not think of these questions myself. I had help from Mr. E. Mail. :)

· Can you cry under water?

· How important does a person have to be before they are considered assassinated instead of just murdered?

· Why do you have to "put your two cents in"…but it's only a "penny for your thoughts"? Where's that extra penny going to?

· What disease did cured ham actually have?

· How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?

· Why is it that people say they "slept like a baby" when babies wake up like every two hours?

· If a deaf person has to go to court, is it still called a hearing?

· Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground?

· Why do doctors leave the room while you change? They're going to see you naked anyway.

· Why is "bra" singular and "panties" plural?

· Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?

· If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a stupid song about him?

· Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane?

· Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours? They're both dogs!

· If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, what is baby oil made from?

· Do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune?

· Why did you just try singing the two songs above?

· Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him for a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?

Musings

I've been pondering what to write about for a few days now but since there is nothing GRAND going on, I've just been pondering and not writing. :)

Most of you know that I am a big self-improvement seeker. I love reading articles, books, hearing speakers, etc., when it comes to the topic of self improvement. It's quite fascinating, really. What good does it do, though, if you never DO something about it?!? Yeah. This is where my musings have started.

I'm a list maker. I'm GREAT at making lists! A few times a year, I sit down and do some reflecting and I make a list of what I want to change or improve or grow in. Then the next time I feel that way, I take my old lists and make new ones. I'll add to or remove things from old lists or maybe I'll just start from scratch. I love making lists! :o)

Going off of that, I've been spending time thinking about what's really changed in me. It's not such an easy task, I'm learning. It seems like the more I ponder such things the more I feel like I'm just not sure of what has really changed! However, there are a couple of things that stick out and I find that I focus on those items the most. They go like this:

1) I don't have control over life. Sure, I have control over day-to-day decisions and how I respond/reach out to God but I cannot control the big picture events. According to dictionary.com, "control" is defined as "the act or power of controlling; regulation; domination or command". Yeah. When I was diagnosed with cancer, I learned right then and there that I didn't have much control over the big picture events. Anyone who has received devastating news (or otherwise) knows just what I am talking about. I've since realized that I also don't have much control over people or things, either. I am thankful, though, that through it all, I am learning that I can control how I respond to various situations.

I do continue to be amazed, however, at how quickly (once life is all good and I'm in the "safe place" again!) I fall into the mindset that I am in control again. It makes for some rough times. Some heartbreaking times, really. But that leads me to the second biggest thing that I've learned.

2) The best outlook to have is to just take things one day at a time. Let. Things. Go. Focus on the now and let go of the rest! It's amazing how freeing it can be when you truly let go and let God.

Obviously no one is perfect and while we will learn lessons about control or about other big things, it's not to say that we will NEVER battle that thing again. But we can be thankful, I think, for the bit of growth that we've experienced with the first situation we faced that taught us that lesson. It does make the idea of following through easier the next time, too.

It doesn't necessarily make us willing, though, does it? :)

They came...and they went.

Well, mom & dad are officially on the road back to their home again. It was so good to have them here even though it was for such a short time! I have to tell you, too, that it was way hard to see them leave this time. I guess I just get to look forward to our next visit!! :o)

We sure packed a LOT into the three days that they were here! They arrived on Monday morning after an overnight drive (a 17 hour trip!) and I went to work that day while they checked into their hotel and spent most of the day sleeping. Monday night we went over to Cheyenne to have coffee and dessert with some good friends of ours. It was a nice time visiting and it was good to catch up with them. Next on the list, for Tuesday, was a trip through Estes Park and the Rocky Mountain National Park. What amazing sites!! We crossed a pass that was around 13,000 feet up! It was spectacular! However, mom was not so thrilled to be so high up so I'm not sure that she had as great of a time as dad & I did! Below are a few pictures from the day. The first one is of mom & dad and I believe that we were about 11,000 feet up on one of the passes in the RMNP.

A pretty visual of the gorgeous flowers that we saw throughout the day. Of course, I wasn't able to catch some of the beautiful bold/bright flowers, so these quiet purple ones will have to do. :)

Another couple views of our sights during the drive. It was just amazing!!

And what would a trip like this be without some wildlife? :) Our first viewing was of a small group of bull elk. As we continued our drive up the mountain, we witnessed a herd of around 100 elk! It was so cool! For those of you who are used to seeing such sights, this might be a bore for you to read. However, it was really a neat sight for us and it was just what dad was hoping to come across as we went through the mountains. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to capture the entire herd on film, but I did get a nice shot of a bull elk.

As we continued on down the road, I commented to dad, "The day would just be complete if we saw a moose!" He looked at me like he wasn't too sure we could be that lucky, but lo and behold, along came "Lily"! :) The picture is kind of blurry because we were a bit too far away to get a good picture, but it's a nice enough one to post, so here you go!! :) I chose to name her Lily. :)

After a day on the road, we got back to Laramie and joined some folks at the park for a nice evening of grilling out and visiting. For some reason, though, I didn't take any pictures of it! You can know that we had a good time!! :)

On Wednesday, the 4th, we went to the park to enjoy some sites and music. The park here celebrates America's birthday with a "Freedom Has A Birthday" extravaganza and they have food, live bands, and a whole slew of stands that do everything from sell you stuff to teach you things (karate, for instance) to giving away free stuff! It was great! Below are some sights of the day.

Dad, Mom and I...

We were lucky enough to have Monique come along and enjoy a part of the day with us, so that was super nice, too!

One of the bands we caught was the Means Family Bluegrass Band. It was awesome!! Some of the band members have opened for other bluegrass bands in the past in Laramie so it was good to see them again.

After the day in the park, we headed over to Monique's to grill out and visit. It was great! We were glad we were inside, too, when a storm hit and it just poured outside! :) After supper, we went to meeting and then back to Monique's to get some dessert and head over to the fireworks show! It started a bit late, but was fun to see once it got going. A quick visual...

So, after two full days of activities, Thursday was spent relaxing and just giving mom & dad a break before they hit the road again today. We met up with a friend for lunch and then for supper we had an invite to another friend's house, so we got our share of visiting in, as well.

It was a super nice week that went too quickly! I did get some good use in with my new camera and I was so glad for it! I think we have a winner with this one!! :)

Now for the weekend...my plans are to catch up at my apartment and get things cleaned and organized. It's been awhile since I've focused on such tasks! :) I hope you have a great weekend!

Happy Monday?

Well, Monday it is, but has it been a good one for you thus far? :) My day started out a bit slow (too many social activities this weekend and they just wore me out! But they were fun!!) :), but as the day has progressed so has my attitude -- in a positive way! :) My folks arrived this morning and as I write this, they are at their hotel catching some zzz's. They drove all night long after they had to postpone their original departure date by a day. A close friend of our family was tragically killed in a car accident on Thursday night and her viewing was yesterday afternoon. Originally, mom & dad would have arrived yesterday morning (Sunday) but they wanted to go to the viewing so they stayed for that and then drove all night. They're here until Friday now (originally it was supposed to be Thursday), so there's not much of a change in their plans. However, we are going to do lots of stuff while they're here...Estes Park, 4th of July festivities (all day and into the evening) and just some "tourist" shopping around the area. It will be a nice three days. So, with that, I am going to leave you with some facts about ME. :) Just what you wanted, eh?! :) I will post again on Friday or Saturday with pictures (I hope!) of our week together! Until then...

If you read my comments from a couple of posts ago (6/27), you know I was "tagged by Dr. BA (if you EVER wonder about her nickname, just read her bio on the left hand of the page. It's a hoot! I'm sure it wasn't fun for her at the time, but it's fun to read her description of the experience!). I've debated "tagging" others, but I'm just going to let YOU play in the game if you should choose! :) It would be fun if we ALL did it! We could learn a bit more about each other! :)

Here are the Rules:
1. Players start with 8 random facts about themselves.
2. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts.
3. Players should tag 8 other people and notify them they have been tagged.

So...here are 8 random facts about me. More than you might want to know. :)

1. A huge pet peeve of mine is when people clip their fingernails in public (in the car, at their desks, in a restaurant, wherever. Yes, I've witnessed it in all of these places.). It drives me nuts!! To me, that act is similar to the irritation people experience when someone scratches their fingernails on a chalkboard. Chewing fingernails also falls into this category of pet peeves. Seriously, people…think of what's under there!!! Ugh...I shudder as I write this!! Oh, and if you're thinking, "I wonder if I've done that when I was around her?"...well, just don't worry about it. Do you really think I keep your name written down in order to remember "that time" when you clipped your nails in public? No. :) ADDENDUM: I've been asked to post the truth here. I was at a softball game tonight (7/6/07) and I had a hangnail and so I clipped it off. A friend of mine caught me in the act and told me that I had to post on here that I was caught doing that exact thing which I hate. There. It's done. Isn't it the truth, though? That which often bothers us is in us? Ugh. I'm going to have to be more aware of this one!

2. I am not a morning person. I made a good, solid attempt to change that a few years back and it went so-so. I've, obviously, reverted back to my old ways. I seriously love to sleep. I LOVE to stay up late and I LOVE sleep in the next morning. Love. It.

3. When I was in second grade, I wanted to purchase a backpack that had our high school name and logo on it but my parents wouldn’t let me. So I took matters into my own hands. I stole a check from my mom’s purse (I threw the carbon away so that no one would *EVER* know!) :), wrote the check out and then I gave it to my friend to give to her dad so he could order me a bag. Yeah. We made it as far as daycare after school (where we had to pick up my brother) before I was busted. I just couldn’t figure out how they knew! :) I still have the check (thanks to mom & dad for keeping it!) and I look at it now and LAUGH. I had most of it down correctly…except for the scribbles and the child’s handwriting! :)

4. I do not like touching wet paper towels. It completely grosses me out. You’d think I was doing an aerobic workout every time I accidentally touch a wet paper towel. Blech.

5. I had thyroid cancer. It sucked. But I survived. I would never wish it on anyone.

6. Everyone close to me tells me I’m high maintenance. I like to think that I just know what I want and I know what I feel comfortable with and I won’t settle for less. :)

7. My favorite candy is tootsie rolls. I could eat a whole bag in one day!! I try not to do this, though. It’s better if I don’t explain why. :)

8. Well, I decided to re-do this 8th fact about myself. The first one I had (if you were "fortunate" enough to catch it!) was a little personal. It may have been a bit too personal for the blog. The fact that my conscience continued to be bothered by it means that it's time to change it. So, my new 8th fact is: I am not a cook. I just do not receive any joy from cooking! I'm not sure as the real reason for this (laziness?) but I do feel like it's a lot of effort for little result and I always feel like I could have done something more productive. So, most times, my main meal is...cold cereal. I love, love, love to eat cold cereal! All kinds. Healthy to sugary, I just enjoy cold cereal. In fact, I just had some cheerios for lunch. :o)