Archive for November, 2007
Thursday Thirteen #2
November 29th, 2007
I was going to wait until after the holidays to get my blogging schedule in order, but realized that’s my own mode of perfectionism raising its head, preventing me from “just doing it.” So, here is my second Thursday Thirteen, only 3 weeks late.
November 8th (which was a Thursday this year), is my dad’s birthday. It’s also the birthday of a friend I’ve lost touch with. That made me think of those special people I really love who, for whatever reason, I’ve lost track of.
Thirteen People I’d like to see again
- Natasha N, the gal whose birthday started me thinking about her. She’s sweet and smart and adorable. And I wasn’t there for her when she really needed someone.
- Megan K. A friend from my Navy days. Really smart and extremely successful. But again, I wasn’t there for her when she needed me.
- Dennis H. Another Navy buddy. Last I knew he was on the fast-track to make Admiral. But that was ever his goal. He’s just very, very good at what he does.
- Celia L. From my grad school days at Michigan State. We were roommates and swimming buddies; but I think our best adventure was getting (really) drunk at a drive-in movie and getting lost after a trip to the concession stand. Or was it the bathroom?
- Nancy N. Another friend & roommate from grad school. We toured London together after my tour in Italy, and the Queen’s guard (I forget what they’re called), called out to her as we walked by.
- Dave J. I worked for him when I was in the Navy, but he also became a great friend. He maintained his delightful demeanor even as he faced some difficult crises.
- Ann K. A friend from my undergrad days. She could be a little difficult, and I once asked my mom why I liked her. Mom replied, “Because she makes you think.”
- Dave W. A fun biking partner. He helped me see into the psyche of the human male. And I ran screaming in the other direction.
- Pete H. Yet another Navy friend. He was a Navy diver and so rough around the edges, I was shocked to learn he was a Naval Academy grad.
- Connie M. My dad’s cousin and one of my very favorite people in the world. And she was actually listed in “Who’s Who” at one time. (But not for being one of my favorite people.)
For the final three, I haven’t lost touch with them, but I don’t reach out as often as I should. It’s a terrible shame because they are the most lovely, delightful people.
- Rich. He visited me a few years ago and we haven’t talked since. I hope he still thinks of me more kindly than his father does.
- Ted. Of these three, he’s the one most like me. And he gives the very bestest hugs.
- Kristen. I keep saying I’ll try to be better about staying in touch, but time gets away from me, and before I know it, too much time has gone by.
Maybe I can make a New Year’s resolution to reach out and try to find these people. Or perhaps I can just make the effort right now.
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The 11th hour… er, month review
November 28th, 2007
Since the year is nearly over, I thought I’d reminisce about how I’ve done in the blogging world so far. I made met a couple of my goals for 2007, but the majority fell short. Yes, I know I still have a month to go, but c’mon, that month is December and the holiday season, and I don’t think blogging is going to be one of priorities. Or at least it shouldn’t be.
- I did complete Lorelle’s WordPress treasure hunt. I even planned to go back and revisit some of the treasures and discuss them. But that never happed.
- I certainly didn’t blog more consistently. Obviously.
- Not only did I not consolidate my blogs, I actually added some. I got involved with LiveJournal and the Supernatural fan community there. It sucked me in and wouldn’t let go. I’ll talk more about LiveJournal in another post. If I remember.
- I did not complete my first WordPress theme. I did work on it and made some good progress, but I have a long way to go. The great thing, though, is that what I’ve done so far has really helped me with my CSS skillz. So, “yay” for that.
- I still haven’t found my niche, or
- incorporated tags, or
- learned anything about social bookmarking. sigh
- I did actually participate in the Blog Marathon in July, commenting on a few blogs. I didn’t do as much as I thought I’d do, but at least I remembered to do it.
- I did make a couple posts about getting my life in order. One was my plan to transfer my MS Money and bill paying from “old” to “new,” and get the laptop off the dining room table. Didn’t happen. I also made a “13 actions to complete for the holidays,” but I haven’t even completed #1 yet.
- Now, I did make timelines for my blogging goals. And I finished at least one on time (Lorelle’s treasure hunt).
There is good news out of all of this, though. I won’t have to think too very hard when it comes time to write my blogging goals for 2008.
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Go Navy!
November 5th, 2007
Pardon me if my typing & proofing leaves more to be desired (that usual). My neck has been hurting like gangbusters the past couple days. So I’ve taken a slew of Motrin and thought that red wine might help, too. So far I’ve had 2 big glasses, and am not anywhere near ready to quit.
Saturday I went to dinner with friends. All but one of the friends are Navy vets. When I got to the restaurant, one was checking out the Navy-Notre Dame football game on the tv in the bar. It was toward the end of the game, and the score was 28-28. Obviously the game would go into overtime, but it was time for dinner. So we went back to our table, enjoyed the meal, then checked back with the bartener. The game was over & Navy had won, but we didn’t know the score. Turns out it was 46-44. We thought, that’s a hell of a lot of points scored in an overtime. Turns out it was three overtimes!
Another one of the friends pointed me to an article in the Washington Post about the game. Please go read it. (It’s short.) It made me swell with pride. I think most of you know that I was a Navy officer. I have friends who are still in the Navy who’ve done quite well. And more who retired. The article talked about what makes a military academy different from other colleges. And while I didn’t go to the Naval Academy, I did withstand four months of the type of waking up at 5:30 a.m., getting yelled at by upperclassmen, losing liberty for carrying a book bag improperly, standing watch from 0001-0400 (midnight to 4:00 a.m.) then having to get up at 5:30 a.m. and go through a normal day of fast paced classes, inspections and chores. Everyone who has gone through this process will tell the academics and physical tests are nothing compared to the stress and difficulty of enduring the life of a prospective sailor.
I remember when I first saw “An Officer and a Gentleman.” I was stationed in Newport, Rhode Island (just a gorgeous as you’d expect) and went to see the film with 3 others, 2 of them fellow Navy officers. After the movie, the one “civilian” asked “Is it (OCS) really that difficult?” I think we all laughed and said, “Oh, it’s much tougher.” If you’ve never been through experience, you really can’t understand. As I look back on it, I’m surprised I actually made it; yet it’s one of the things I’m proudest of.
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Thursday Thirteen #1
November 1st, 2007
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Thirteen Actions to Complete for a Merry Christmas
Major accomplishment! (Especially since I totally ignored Christmas last year.) Yay! |
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FlyLady has a schedule for getting ahead of the holiday rush. While I don’t follow it to the letter of the law, I think it’s a great idea. So I have created my own Holiday Action List.
Thirteen Actions to Complete for a Merry Christmas
- Send new mother gifts to my niece, who had a baby girl in September. It’s not really a “holiday” action, but I want to get it out of the way before I get caught up in the holiday hubbub.
- Finish knitting projects for great-niece (or is it grand-niece?). I’m this close || to finished two really cute knitting projects. But since I’m a chronic non-finisher, I need to push myself into the home stretch. Again, so that I don’t lose site of it before the holiday rush.
- Make Christmas card list.
- Find Christmas cards. (Buy new cards if I don’t have enough.)
- Create Christmas website with the high tech version of the dreaded Christmas form letter.
- Write Christmas cards, complete with link to Christmas website.
- Make Christmas gift list for my “nibblings” (2 nephews, 1 niece, 1 nephew-in-law, 1 grand-nephew, 1 grand-niece). I stopped trading gifts with my friends last year. I don’t need more useless junk, and neither do they.
- Buy Christmas gifts for nibblings. I’ve already bought 3. Go me! \o/
- Find Christmas decorations.
- Sort through Christmas decorations.
- Put up Christmas decorations.
- Wrap Christmas gifts.
- Mail Christmas gifts—preferable before Christmas.
Major accomplishment! (Especially since I totally ignored Christmas last year.) Yay!
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