November 26, 2007

Gratitude

I’m so very grateful that my old Buddy dog has decided that he’s going to stick around a while longer. I’m grateful for over ten years of loving devotion from him, and will repay it soon by helping him through that last dark passage. Not today, though. We still have some good times to share.

I’m grateful to all of my friends who shared my joy when I was able to cancel Buddy’s final appointment. Your support and fellowship mean the world to me. Mahalo!

I’m grateful for the two friends who shared Thanksgiving in my home. My ohana. Two of the dearest people in the world to me. They fill my heart and make me want to be a better person.

I’m grateful that my son has turned out to be such a great guy. I fumbled through his young years, making a lot of mistakes that he was able to overcome. His honesty, his morality, his infinite capacity for love thrill me. I love you, son.

I’m grateful for the group of women who have been the core of my online community for so many years. We’ve shared our daily lives for so long and so intimately that we know each other better than some of our family members know us. You help me stay centered and your friendship is one of my most valuable assets.

I’m grateful for the other online friends who have become a part of my life since I started blogging. You’ve become a part of my daily bread. I feed on your joys and triumphs, feast on your imaginations and intellects, am downcast by your miseries and am humbled that you share your lives with me. I’m also very grateful that most of you don’t seem to need drug rehabilitation.

I’m grateful that my Thanksgiving turkey this year was the best I’ve ever cooked. I realize that sets the bar impossibly high and that all future turkeys are likely to be very poor imitation, but I’m glad to have reached the pinnacle just this once.

I’m grateful for my little home. It’s not a palace, but it fills my needs. It gives me shelter, provides the boys with a place to rest and play and has room for all of my stuff - well, most of it. I’m well aware that many are not so blessed.

I am grateful that I have work that I enjoy, and that it is adequate to provide for me and the boys. Again, many are not so fortunate.

I’m grateful for this life I have. Many would find it a bit boring. That’s too bad. I’m content.

Technorati Tags: dogs, family, friends, gratitude, thankfulness

November 25, 2007

A Tale of Two Mamas

I can think of no more blessed event than the arrival of a new baby, and no time that is more exciting than the time leading up to that arrival. I’m baby-deprived (as you all well know!) and routinely subject myself to the rigors of WalMart just so I can flirt with OPB (other people’s babies) while cruising the aisles and standing in line. I also get regular fixes online by visiting mom blogs and soaking up doses of baby yumminess. A Tale of Two Mamas shares the life of two moms raising an adorable almost three-year-old daughter. They’re apparently enjoying the challenge because they’ve decided their little family needs to expand. This time they’re sharing everything from day one.

I really do mean day one! In The Seven Dwarfs they shared baby’s first picture - as an embryo! I remember my pregnancy over thirty-six years ago and marvel at how far we’ve come. How amazing is it that expecting parents today can know every little thing about their babies from conception to birth? Baby books today start nine months earlier than the ones we kept back in the dark ages and can include pictures of every stage of pregnancy. What an exciting time to be making a baby!

Embryos are very cool, of course, but they’re not proof-positive that a baby will be coming, so our mamas just had to share the good news when they knew one of their little dwarfs was going to continue the journey. They were clearly obsessed with being certain that the result of their pregnancy test was accurate, so they repeated it - again and again and again and again and again, lol! Then they lined up all of the pregnancy tests like a row of advertising pens and took a picture for their blog. Yeah, I could see doing that!

A Tale of Two Mamas is a pleasure to visit. The blog is nicely designed and efficiently organized, with slices of their everyday life filling the spaces between updates on their family growth. Their stories are mostly upbeat and cheerful, though little things like car trouble and insensitive utrasound techs are part of life, too. They don’t let those things keep them down, because the joy they experience through their daughter and the little bean keep them centered. Go check them out and make sure you vote in their poll: Will baby number two be a boy or a girl?

A big mahalo to Chuck Foxtrot for tipping me off to a great place to go when I’m jonesing for a baby fix!

Technorati Tags: blogs, family, pregnancy

Intranet software solutions

If there’s anything better than stuff, it’s free stuff. Whether for business or personal use, I’m always on the lookout for free samples I can let my readers know about. Epazz is offering a 30 Day free trial of their intranet software, BoxesOS, a hosted solution to your website content management needs. I just watched a flash presentation of the system in use and it’s quite impressive. At the administrative level intranet communications, email management and scheduling can all be handily accessed on one page, allowing for efficient work flow.

Take a look at what Epazz brings to the table:

Self Portrait Sunday for November 25, 2007

I spent some time over at a friend’s house this afternoon. She and her hubby own a business. No one does the office work. They’ve got about two years of filing that needs to be sorted through and have asked for my help. Since my own business hasn’t been full-time lately I happen to have some time available to work for them. They have a whole slew of rental properties, but none has its own filing system. I’ll need to create filing systems for each property, then sort through several years of documents and get everything into the proper file. Right now evertything is piled into boxes in no particular order. Building supply and labor receipts for repairs are mixed with commercial collection agency invoices and insurance bills, homeowner association documents are mixed with tax info and correspondance. I figure it will take a couple of months of part-time work to get everything in order, so that hopefully they’ll be able to find the things that will be needed to file taxes when that time rolls around. Taking this extra job will allow me to keep neglecting my own filing (pictured above.) Any excuse to not deal with my own clutter works for me! For the moment I’ll avoid my work by going to Digi-Cass and see what works for my friends.

Technorati Tags: meme, photos, self portraits

Posted by skeet @ 5:22 pm • Photos, Meme • 7 comments  

November 24, 2007

It’s a good day

I just called the vet’s office and canceled the appointment to have Buddy put down this afternoon. The prednisone he’s been on since Wednesday finally kicked in late yesterday and he was able to stand without assistance. This morning he’s walking around, wagging his tail, being his usual affectionate self. He’s strutting so proud you’d think he was surverying his own Arizona luxury real estate in smug satisfaction.

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Buddy just patrolled the house and yard. He didn’t run like he did when he was a pup, but he walked at a fast trot. He’s able to go through the doggie flap and take the step down onto the lanai without falling. He’s played with Lance today and is back into his old habit of following me every time I go into the kitchen, just in case there might be a tasty tidbit available. Well, duh! Of course there is! I’m still having to put fresh bedding on his little couch every few hours, because he doesn’t go from lying down to standing up quickly enough to avoid accidents. I can live with that. A little extra laundry never hurt anyone. Or a little extra mopping. The bed itself is waterproof and just needs a wipedown with something pleasant smelling each time I change the bedding.

Lance? He’s learned not to crowd Buddy’s space, but still rubs faces with him and follows along each time Buddy gets up to walk around. He lets Buddy decide when it’s playtime. He’s glad to have his pal for a while longer. I know that we’ve only bought a little time, but Buddy’s happy and comfortable, Lance is happy and I’m happy, too. This is my family. We’ll all stay together for just a while longer.

Technorati Tags: aging pets, dogs, euthanasia, family, pets

November 23, 2007

Day after - damage control

Why do we call them holidays, those days when we celebrate with family and friends and over-indulge in all the good stuff? I’m not asking that in the literal sense; I know the term originated with the ‘holy days” on various religious calendars. I’m talking of the way we use the word in relation to the other busy days of our lives. We use the term to signify “days off of work,” yet end up working harder for ourselves on these days than some of us generally work in our paid jobs. I have a termite inspection to do today whenever I’m ready to do it - it’s a vacant place on a lock box, so I didn’t have to rush out to meet someone for admittance at the crack of dawn. I have a lot of other work to do today, too, though, and it’s all within my own home. The geniuses who do market research tell me that many of you will spend today out shopping, taking advantage of Black Friday sales. How do you do it? I’ve never had time for anything other than cleaning on the day after a “holiday.”

My guests at yesterday’s feast washed dishes during the few minutes that I was back here in the office doing my apology post last night. I very much appreciate that, though I’m never really comfortable when someone else does the clean-up for me. As you can see, the dish drainer is full. There’s another whole load of dishes left to do. I’ll get to them shortly.

After those dishes are done, I’ll tackle the leftover pots and pans. There wasn’t even room for them on the countertop, so they’re still stacked on the stove. I’ll need to give the stovetop a good scrubbing, too. I’m a clean-as-you-cook kinda gal, but there’s so much going on during the preparation of a big holiday meal that it gets pretty overwheliming if I try to keep up with that habit.

Then there’s this. I loaded my guests up with as much as they could carry. I also issued an order that they’re to come back today or tomorrow and take more. I hope they took that seriously. I plan on de-boning the turkey later today - probably after I do that one little inspection I’ve got scheduled. I’ll get all of the meat into a couple of zip-lock bags and try to persuade my friends to take at least half of it. I might make turkey soup from the bones, but the freezer is full, too, so where would I put it? I bought the smallest turkey I could find (a little over twelve pounds) but it’s still way too much for two people to consume (our third is a vegetarian, so he’s no help with the excess.) Maybe I should give the boys a turkey dinner tonight instead of their usual kibble. Buddy is failing rapidly and won’t be with us much longer. Yeah, I think I’ll ignore conventional wisdom about “people food” just this once, and treat them both to a feast. The old boy deserves that!

Technorati Tags: chores, excess, family, holidays

November 22, 2007

Share some good stuff

Well, the good stuff has been going on all day in my house, as I know it has in many of yours. My holiday guests are still here and I have decided not to neglect them in order to put together a post. To those of you who shared some good stuff this week, your posts will be featured next week, along with any new submissions. I hope you have all been enjoying a happy Thanksgiving Day filled with family, friends, good food and good times. I also hope you’ll forgive me for placing those things above the entry you were expecting from me. I think most of you will. I’ll see you all back here next Thursday. Until then, keep looking for the Good Stuff. It’ll do you good!

Technorati Tags: apology, good stuff, holiday hiatus

November 21, 2007

Author House - Get yourself published!

We blog for a number of reasons, but I think it’s safe to say that all of us:

1. Are compelled to write
2. Want others to read what we’ve written

It’s probably also safe to say that many of us have have a book inside us that is wanting to get out. Author house can help you Publish a Book , even though you’re not acquainted with the ins and outs of the publishing world. Their AuthorCentric Self-Publishing Process will help you work your way through it and they’ll provide some seasoned professionals to lend their expertise. They offer dicounts on color publishing and will even help you market your masterpiece. Everything you need is there - except your brilliant words. Write! Then go check out Author House and get yourself published!

Technorati Tags: Author House, book publishing, self-publishing

NEW hidden object game! Agatha Christie: Peril at End House

It’s a good day in paradise! Big Fish Games has released a new, exclusive hidden object game to their Game Club members. Agatha Christie: Peril at End House, in the same vein as Agatha Christie: Death on the Nile, follows Hercule Poirot on an investigation. You, the player, collect clues for him as you move through various scenarios. Just a couple of quick screen shots and comments for now. Darn it, I have to go look for bugs in about an hour and I haven’t even had a shower yet.

The artwork is once again stunning. Hidden objects are cleverly but fairly concealed. You’ll have to work up a bit of a sweat finding some of them, but everything (so far - I’ve only played a few screens) is do-able.

Some of the screens require you to perform an action (move things around) before you can claim the objects you’ve found. In the first gameplay screen (above) you must find keys and insert each into the proper box before they are marked off of your list of items.

I’ve only played for about twenty minutes (blast having to work for a living!) so I can’t do much of an evaluation of the game yet, but I like what I see so far. You can only get this game by becoming a Big Fish Game Club member, but membership will give you up to 65% off on the price of any games you purchase. Well, duh! If you’re a hidden object game fan, why wouldn’t you?

Technorati Tags: Agatha Christie: Peril at End house, Big Fish Games, games, hidden object games

November 20, 2007

Gallery of Giving

I’ve always been of the mind that businesses have an obligation to give back to their communities and to the worldwide community in ways commiserate with their own success. It’s something I practice as a (very) small business owner and that I appreciate very much when done on any scale. The Gallery Collection is of the same mind and they are doing something magnanimous this holiday season. I live in an area that is heavily militarized. It’s a painful but pride-inducing fact that many of our neighbors will not be celebrating the upcoming holidays with their families intact. So many of them, even in my own tiny community of sixty homes, have family members who are serving active duty in the Middle East. This is a tremendous sacrifice on behalf of the military members in service and of each person who loves them and waits at home. The Gallery Collection has teamed up with Soldiers Angels to acknowledge these amazing people by seeing that every military member will get a Happy Holidays and Happy New Year greeting card that will also thank each one for their service. In addition, each care package being sent by Soldiers Angels will include a blank greeting card so that our military folks can send their own holiday greetings home. The packages and greetings will be going out to all branches of U.S. military service in appreciation of all that they do.

The Gallery Collection is the kind of company I like to do business with and I hope that you do, too. They carry a beautiful line of Corporate Christmas Cards that includes something to appeal to every taste. Their original artwork is stunningly beautiful and sentiments and greetings can be personlaized to make them your very own. I was especially impressed with an entire line of military themed greetings. The artwork is simply beautiful, tastefully blending our support of our service memebers, our longing for peace and the warmth that the holidays invoke.

If you’re tired of seeing the same old greeting cards - if you want to support a company that gives back to the community - if you want to send truely beautiful greeting cards to your friends, family, clients and business cohorts - you owe it to yourself to check out The Gallery Collection. You’ll be very pleased with what you find!

Technorati Tags: business greeting cards, greeting cards, holiday cards, public service, support our troops