joannerenae

New Year

2011-01-02T13:44:00.002-07:00

Where did 2010 go? Amazing how time flies much faster when you are having fun all the time.
I really enjoyed 2010 after March was over. My life became mine and I got to do what I want with it.
I have lost 20 pounds in the last 8 months. I feel happier than ever. I can wear clothes that have not fit me for 3 or 4 years. I have so many wonderful friends. I feel very loved. I am alone, but I am not lonely.

Almost Christmas

2010-12-17T08:56:00.000-07:00

Random thoughts....
It is almost Christmas and I am not quite ready. I am about half done shopping. I dont know why always wait until the last minute. Silly me.
I have to work this weekend and next. I am not too happy about it, but at least I have New Years Eve weekend off. Should I go to Burts or to a house party? Or both?
I should go start my car so it is warm in 10 min.
Yes. I think I will.

It is winter....already?

2010-11-09T08:41:00.000-07:00

Holy cow! It was just Halloween a minute ago and it is already snowing. Well really it is Nov 9th, so I guess it is to be expected.
I had the most fun Halloween weekend I have had for such a loooooooong time. I enjoyed my freedom immensly. I had so much fun dressing up as a zombie and going to parties and to a bar to watch THE most entertaining band ever! DIE MONSTER DIE is so amazing. They dress up before going on stage, they play awesome music and put just a really fun show.
I took soooo many pictures. I think people probably thought I was a little obnoxious with all the pictures, but hey, that is how I roll.

It is SUMMERTIME!!!

2010-08-03T20:39:00.008-06:00

We had a really great BBQ on July 24 at Dad and Cris's house. Check out the photos!

Parkin Family Picnic

2010-07-12T20:29:00.009-06:00

Trip to Texas in June

2010-07-12T20:18:00.002-06:00

I almost forgot I had taken some pictures while I was in Texas in June. These were all taken from my hotel room window.

Self Pity and Pine Tree sex

2010-07-02T09:19:00.000-06:00

That last blog was supposed to be somewhat funny, but it came off with more self pity than I had planned.
Self Pity is never pretty. No one wants to read a blog like that.

My sister told me about her river trip and said there was this odd yellow dust flying thru the air while they were camping. She came home from her trip and on tv that night was an educational show about the yellow dust that comes off the pine trees....it is the male trees way of fertilizing the female pine cones. Ewwww! So that yellow dust that was floating thru the air and going up peoples noses and landing on thier food and beverages was pine tree come.

Hopefully that will make you think next time you want to go camping. Nature is dirty.

44, Single and Fat

2010-06-29T19:27:00.000-06:00

In 4 days I will be "44, Single and Fat". If they made a movie with that title, it might be a comedy.
A movie about a fat lady that works too much, has become super fat, recently broke up with her boyfriend of 9 years and has never had a date in her life (at least not like my friend Jen, who writes a blog about her wacky dating adventures, see www.axemurderersneednotapply.blogspot.com).
So this comedy might show Miss Single&Fat going to work, buying new clothes (that dont fit when she gets them home), and watching birds in her yard.
That doesnt sound like it will be a very good movie.
hmmmm.

Spring is HERE!!!

2010-05-07T14:35:00.002-06:00

Of course I have to take pictures of all the flowers and birds. I just LOVE them so much.

Feb B-day Dinner

2010-05-07T14:31:00.000-06:00

In February we celebrated Jennifer and Susan's birthdays. Here are some pictures.

Christmas 2009

2010-05-07T14:17:00.000-06:00

I just pulled all the pictures off my camera and realized I never posted the pictures from Christmas 2009.

Patty loved her new stuffed toy she got for Christmas. It only took about 10 min for her to completely rip it to pieces.

April already?

2010-04-09T11:39:00.001-06:00

YES, it is April already, amazing how time flies. I have been single for a month now and things are going well.
I have had some fun with new friends. I feel good because I feel like I can laugh and say what I want without fear of getting dirty looks or getting harrassed about it.
I feel like I can do almost anything.
There are times when I feel a dark cloud come over me and get discouraged that I might never be able to lose weight, but then I am able to push it away. Before I would have wallowed in that feeling because of the hopelessness I always felt. I still have my moments when I almost want to be self-destructive again, but I dont want to be like that, so I am making a conscious effort to change my thinking.
There have also been a couple of times where I feel very self conscious and nervous, but I think that is just because I was in the prescence of a guy I thought was cute and nice. It has been a very long time since I have felt nervous around a guy.
Anyways that is enough of my sappy "feelings" for now.
I will post some pictures soon, maybe.

It is already Jan 17

2010-01-17T11:50:00.006-07:00

Holy crap! I have not even posted my Christmas pictures yet and it is already half way through January 2010! Where does the time go?
These pictures are from Reanna's birthday party at Dad & Cris's house.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-31T14:45:00.004-07:00

Merry Christmas

Christmas Time

2009-12-20T15:52:00.004-07:00

It is 5 days before Christmas. I wonder if I will get my shopping done. I thought maybe I would go shopping today, but I just havent got myself out the door yet.

Here is a picture of my Christmas tree. Cute huh?

It is SNOWING

2009-12-05T13:50:00.003-07:00

I like it when it snows on a Saturday and I dont have to go anywhere. I love to watch the snow fall from inside the house. Everything is so grey and dead, the trees have lost all thier leaves. When the snow comes down and covers everything it makes it all fresh and pretty again.

P.S. I didnt take this picture. I will post my snow pictures soon.

Happy 2nd Birthday Ellie!!!

2009-11-16T19:51:00.002-07:00

Happy 2nd Birthday Ellie!!!

Trip to Escalante

2009-09-25T08:52:00.004-06:00

About two weeks ago I drove to Escalante to train the managers at one of our new customers restaurants. I have not had a chance to post my pictures yet. These where taken on Aug 8, 9 & 10, 2009.

These are pictures of Red Canyon, taken on the way to Escalante.

These are pictures of stuff on the way home from Escalante.

Fun Party

2009-09-08T08:51:00.003-06:00

Time Flies

2009-08-29T17:54:00.007-06:00

Wow, here it is August 29th, 2009 and I have not posted anything since Aug 6. Probably because I have been so dang busy with work.
I went to Logan for 5 days on Aug 14 to get the Beehive Grill installed with Aloha. It is a nice restaurant with really great food. Really great people there too. It required a ton of hours to get the database programmed with all thier food, employees and reports, then to help them learn the system in just 2 days, it was probably the fastest we have ever slammed in an Aloha system for someone before.
This past week I had to help install Aloha at the Naked Fish and then get another new restaurant called Vinto trained on thier handheld computers. It was a greuling 58 hour week.
I am hoping this coming week is going to be a little more relaxed.

Below are some pictures of my adventures in Logan.

Here is a picture of the Bluebird on Main Street in Logan, it is a cute little Restaurant that says it has been open since 1914. Here is a picture of the Persian Peacock, a cute little store on Main Street in Logan.

Here is a picture of the Cache County Visitors center on Main Street in Logan. It is a cool building.

Here is a picture of the cute little pink bathromm in my motel room in Logan, it made me feel like I was at home, because my bathroom at home has pink tile on the walls too.

Here is picture of the basement conference room where I did the training for the employees and managers of Beehive Grill in Logan.

Baby Quails

2009-08-06T07:23:00.003-06:00

Here is a video of the "Cutest Thing in the World".
You wont find anthing cuter, anwhere on any blog....well except on Jennifers blog. Where you will find pictures of Ellie, Allison & Wyatt.

Baby Veges

2009-07-23T20:29:00.002-06:00

Here is a picture of our 2 first veges of the season. A baby cherry tomato and a baby green pepper.
Arent they cute?

Here is an up close shot of them. Here is a picture of the baby veggies in front of an normal sized apple and onion, so you can compare thier sizes. Thank you for visiting my blog.

Happy Birthday to Judy, Jon & Joanne

2009-07-11T14:39:00.003-06:00

Jon

Karen, Paul and Judy

Thanks to Karen for putting together our picnic.

Katie the cutie with her doggie, Wolfie.

Steve, Nana and Marsha

Nana and Marsha

I love a picnic in the backyard. And Nana has a great backyard for a picnic.

Happy Birthday to 3 of us.

Happy Fathers Day!

2009-06-28T12:10:00.005-06:00

A lovely Fathers Day picnic party.

Dad got a fancy new hat.

Butch was worn out from Ellie chasing him around the yard. Ellie had fun looking through Dad's new red water bottle.

Ellie loves cake! And loves to help with the camera! CUTIE!

A funny card.

Happy Hungry Little Birds

2009-06-28T12:01:00.002-06:00

I bought an inexpensive bird feeder and found that the perches are too small for the birds to stand on and eat out of the feeder. So I put it on the picnic table and they went crazy. That feeder was full at the beginning of the day and by the end of the day, you can see how empty it was.

A Different Kind of Bird?

2009-06-12T11:45:00.005-06:00

On Tuesday while my power was out, I was sitting out in the backyard enjoying the birdies chirping and trying to get pictures of them eating the birdseed I had put out (on the ground) a couple of days before. While sitting quietly I noticed some rustling in the grass next to the bird seeds and prepared my camera to get a picture of the "bird".....here is what I saw.....

After he was done having a snack he ran off down the driveway. We have seen him around our yard a couple more times since Tuesday. So I have cleaned up all the bird seed and will have to get a bird feeder to hang up off the ground and hope this stupid rat goes and finds a new place to feast.

Here is what I was really trying to take a picture of, sweet little birdies.

14 Hours Without Power

2009-06-12T11:16:00.003-06:00

At about noon on Tuesday 6/9/09 my power went out and stayed out until about 2am. We found out during the day of the outage it was due to a broken power pole on Third East. Of course I had to get pictures of it. Here is a bit of the broken pole still connected to the power wires just dangling after they cut the rest away.

Power guys working on the pole.

Here is the pile of the power pole pieces after they took it down.

This was taken at about 5pm. The pieces of the power pole are still smoldering. I guess it was on fire at one point.

You can see that piece of the old power pole hanging in midair still connected to the power wires while the power guys are getting the new power pole ready to accept the power wires.

A different walk...

2009-05-30T10:29:00.003-06:00

Sometimes when we take a walk, we go down to state street then through the bowling alley parking lot to second east and back home. It is a nice short walk that clears the cobwebs out of the brain. Here are some interesting pictures of things we see on this walk.One cool thing about this walk is to walk under the big bowling pin sign. You dont realize how big that thing is until you are right under it. Here is a video that will give you an idea.

5/17/09 Brads B-day Dinner

2009-05-19T21:09:00.006-06:00

My Dad, the BBQ chef!

Sorry you CANT see my sister, Bonnie's face very well in this picture, but she is beautiful!

My niece Ellie and my sister Jennifer enjoying some yummy birthday cake. Ellie is an adorable character.

My niece Teresa and her friend Scott are adorable characters too. Wyatt, my nephew is such a cute and sweet little guy!

My neices, Reanna and Ellie. Both are so sweet. My neice, Allison is so full of energy and what a crafty little cutie pie.

My Dad and my step mom, Mike & Cris, they are wonderful and generous people, I love them.

We cant forget my sister in law, Susan, what a fabulous person. Pictured here with Scott, otherwise known as Fluffy.

Caught In the Act...

2009-05-17T10:16:00.003-06:00

This is video of the robin caught in the act. He pecks at the mirror on both sides of the car and leaves his little gifts as he goes.

Karens Graduation Gift from a robin...

2009-05-15T21:26:00.012-06:00

While Karen has been in Mexico she left her car at my house in the driveway, but my little birdie friends either like it and are leaving "gifts" on the car or they dont like it and are trying to destroy it with poop.

The following pictures and videos show what is going on.

By Friday, the Robin had made a huge mess on Karens car. Now it sure doesnt seem like a "gift" anymore.

I was able to get video of the robin pecking at the mirror, but I was not able to get it uploaded to the blog. So check back and I should have it uploaded in the next couple of days.

Karens Graduation Party

2009-05-10T16:33:00.006-06:00

Karens Graduation Party pictures....what a great time we all had!

2009 Spring Flowers

2009-05-10T16:26:00.003-06:00

Thanks for visiting my blog page. Here are the first pictures of 2009 Spring Flowers from my very own back yard.

Questions answered

2009-04-23T16:18:00.003-06:00

Cris asked: Are there more casts in the future and how long does this one stay on and the brace?

Matt should not have to get any more casts. May 28 is when he gets both the cast and brace off and should be fully healed by then. He will be doing his physical therapy at home.

Green casts off, Black Cast on & Pin removal

2009-04-20T17:56:00.005-06:00

Here are some pictures of Matt getting his green casts off.

Ewww...these are the pins they put in his hand to get the bones to heal. After they took x-rays to make sure all the bones are healing correctly, they put his left hand back in a cast and then the right hand (that had the pins) just gets a removable brace.
Now he has 1 black brace and 1 black cast.

I hope you are not squeamish because this little video I have posted here shows Matt's pins getting pulled out of his hand.

Little Red Hen

2009-04-03T20:10:00.004-06:00

Here is my neighborhood little red hen. She follows the rooster around and they come to visit my yard every day.

And here is my handsome honey bunny with his two green casts...Rock On!

Today is American Diabetes Alert Day!

2009-03-26T13:41:00.001-06:00

Happy American Diabetes Alert Day!

The Friendly Neighborhood Rooster

2009-03-19T20:16:00.003-06:00

This is our colorful little neighborhood rooster. He comes over with his little brown hen and they peck around my yard looking for delicous bugs. I have not taken a good picture of the hen yet, but I will post one when I do.
Isnt the rooster cute?

A good blog to read

2009-03-07T22:46:00.002-07:00

I found a new blog that is very interesting. This blog lists recipes and info on how to make $5 meals and get the most out of the groceries you purchase.

Check it out!

http://www.5dollardinners.com/

Update on Matts Injuries

2009-03-01T10:04:00.004-07:00

Matt is slowly healing. That big scrape on his back is healing pretty well and his knee is starting to scab over.

We went to see the orthopedic surgeon on Thur and found out Matt has 2 fractures in his left hand, but since they are not on the joint he just needed a cast. He got a bright green one. The bad news is his right wrist IS broken on the joint where a tendon attaches and he does need surgery (with pins) to put that one back in place.

Wed Mar 4 is when he will be going in for surgery and because I have taken off a few days to help take care of him, he thinks we will be leaving town right after the surgery to go take a "vacation". He is so silly. I dont think he realizes how much pain he will be in after surgery. So the only place we will be going after surgery is home!

Here are some pictures of his wrists and hands after taking off the splints the emergency room put on.

Matt was in a motorcycle accident

2009-02-19T08:04:00.006-07:00

My boyfriend Matt took a header off his motorcycle on Wed 2/18 and is very lucky to just have a broken left wrist, broken right thumb, and some bad road rash on his lower left back, right knee & ankle. He is also very lucky that he had his helmet on because he hit his head on the pavement twice. He did have a good motorcycle jacket and big boots on so all in all we are glad he is going to be ok. The guy that rode his bicycle out into the road and stopped in front of a moving motorcycle is an IDIOT and should be in the hospital instead!

I am not a very good nurse so Matt is going to be in alot of extra pain for the next few weeks while I try to take care of his bandages.

Right knee got badly scraped. Lower back got bad road rash and left hip got badly bruised.

He finally got 1 hour of sleep in the 24 hours he spent in that hospital room.

Broken motorcycle tail light and plastic cover.

Dented and scratched gas tank.

Nicolas & Kiley

2009-01-25T12:24:00.004-07:00

Nicholas is Matt's son, he is 19 years old and is from Tooele. Kiley is his fiance, she is from Ogden.

They came to hang out with us on Saturday night and watch a movie. We all had a good time.

2009 Theme Word

2009-01-11T13:28:00.005-07:00

When I try to come up with a "2009 Theme Word", all i can think of are negative words; blah, sleepytime, pointless, apathy, disgusting, overwhelming.

These words come to mind I guess because I am not feeling very positive lately.

I dont want this to be an unhappy blog to read, so lets just leave it at that.

I know I need to make some changes in my life, so maybe my word should be "Change".

But then everyone will think i am copying Barak Obama, wasnt that his theme word?

I am going to think about it some more.

Maybe I my theme word should be Pineapple, just to be different.

Christmas

2008-12-30T20:55:00.005-07:00

I took some pics of my moms Christmas village on Christmas.

The big kids checking out their toys.

Snow from hell

2008-12-20T11:01:00.007-07:00

Gosh! How much snow does one city/state need? It has been snowing alot this week. It snowed on Wednesday and again on Friday. All this snow doesnt make it very easy to drive around to restaurants and get work done.
Last night, Friday, I was required to be in Park City at 4pm for a new restaurant opening. It took me an hour to drive from Sugarhouse to Kimball Junction, and then another 30 min from Kimball Junction to Park City. Normally from my house to Park City it is a 40 min drive total.
Parleys Canyon was so messy I didnt think I was going to make it. UDOT had alerts out saying chains or four wheel drive was required. And what am I driving? My little Toyota Corolla with front wheel drive and semi bald tires.
I drove 20-25 miles an hour all the way up and I only slid sideways 2 or 3 times. I came close to hitting a couple of cars but did not. The steep parts where the scariest. I could feel my tires slipping and the car would jerk when the tires could not grab the road/ice/snow. That was when I was really regretting buying new glasses instead of new tires last month.
I have noticed when I am in a stressful driving situation like that one, I hold my breath and stop breathing. I dont do it on purpose. In fact if I do notice I am doing it, I try to make a point of breathing deeply, but then I forget again because I had to concentrate on the road. One of these times I will probably pass out from not breathing, that would be so STUPID! No wonder I had a headache by the time I arrived in Park City. It went away by the time I left the restaurant at 11:30pm, but then I had a worse headache from driving home, even though the drive was not as bad because I-80 had been plowed somewhat.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T11:26:00.003-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all. I hope everyone is safe and happy on this Thanksgiving day. I am grateful for all my wonderfully fabulous family and friends that I love so much.

Happy Birthday to Ellie

2008-11-17T16:53:00.006-07:00

Happy Birthday to Ellie!!

Lots of SNOW!

2008-11-09T13:45:00.005-07:00

Lots of pretty snow fell this past Wednesday Nov 5th. I love it. Snow is very pretty if you dont have to drive in it.

Arent we lucky to have such pretty mountains?

My honey-bunny made me a bunny shaped pancake. How clever and cute!

Giraffes

2008-11-03T22:37:00.007-07:00

The funniest video I have seen ever.
Make sure when go to play this video you click on the PLAY button at the bottom of the picture of the video, not the big PLAY button in the middle (that one takes you to another window).

Hippy Helloween

2008-11-01T19:31:00.005-06:00

I had a Hippy Helloween, did you?

Successful FGT

2008-11-01T19:13:00.004-06:00

I have a successful attempt at making Fried Green Tomatoes. No applause necessary.
Good coating coverage.
Good browning and crisp coating.

I found that cutting the slices thinner than 1/2 inch worked much better because the tomato cooks better.

Too bad you couldnt have tasted these, they were pretty good.

Dont cook when hungover

2008-10-20T10:11:00.006-06:00

If you cook when you are hung-over, your Fried Green Tomatoes could turn out looking like this.
It is the result of reading the recipe ingredients but not reading the instructions.
I read the list of ingredients and threw them all in a bowl and started mixing and I realized this isn't going to be like batter to dip the sliced green tomatoes into....hmmm....so i read more of the recipe instructions and realized all of the ingredients are supposed to be all in separate bowls, to dip the slices into and get a coating on them.
It was too late for that, so I just decided to fry up the 'dough' I had in the bowl because i thought they might be good just fried. Not really.
So then I decided they might stick to the tomato slices and I could still fry the tomato inside the 'dough'. See the pictures for the results.
Not too good.
I did find that the fried 'dough' was good with red tomatoes, so that is how I ate them.

Thanks for reading my silly blog.

Tomato Overload

2008-10-12T12:49:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I was worried about losing alot of the tomatoes we have on the vine due to the pending snow storm, so I picked about 125-130 of the ones that are closest to being ripe and brought them in the house and put them on the window sills and in paper bags.

I covered the ones still outside on the plants, but I have a feeling alot of them may have gotten a little too cold.

If anyone would like some tomatoes or knows how to store them in jars, please let me know.

I think we are going to have WAY too many for us to consume. I am thinking about giving some to the food bank if I cant figure out a way to store them in jars (canning).

Quails

2008-10-12T12:36:00.004-06:00

Here is the last of the Quails for this season. These pictures were taken the last week of Sept 2008. Arent they cute little guys?

Thanks Mom!

2008-09-28T11:58:00.002-06:00

Is it too early for Thanksgiving?
I just want to tell everyone how lucky I am. I am so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends and I want everyone to know about them.

My mom is so helpful and concerned, she helps me with my doctor bills, visits, and health issues. She is also doing so much to help my sister who is going through a hard time right now.
She is also helping my other sister get through school.
My mom is the most awesome person I know!
Three cheers for MY MOM!!!

Also my nanna, she is such a great person. My sisters and I spent a lot of time at her house growing up, and I thank her for the things she taught us and how she made sure we always had lots of fun.

One of these days I hope to be just like my mom and nanna.
They are awesome and amazing women.

Fly-Juice-Air

2008-09-14T19:57:00.005-06:00

I do not like it when people swing a used fly swatter near my face.
It could get fly-juice-air in my nose or mouth.
What is fly-juice-air you ask?
You know when you smack a fly and the fly's juices get squished out?
Those juices are on the fly swatter and when you swing it through the air it makes FLY-JUICE-AIR!

Super-Fun

2008-09-14T12:19:00.004-06:00

We had a really fun time last night; Matt, Marci, Lori & I drank some beer, bbq'd some burgers, and played cards in the back yard.
We ate dinner then played Texas Hold-em, but we didnt have any poker chips, so I improvised with leaves from the tree. Everyone started with 20 leaves.

I didnt take any pictures, so you will just have to visualize the 4 of us sitting around our backyard table under the tree(the bank), under the stars and a full moon, playing cards and betting leaves worth $1000 each. It was hilarious.
I was laughing so hard, my face hurts today.

That is what I call Super-Fun Saturday night.

A good garden

2008-08-25T19:40:00.008-06:00

I have been meaning to update my blog but I really didnt have much going on to talk about.
So my exciting news is my garden. Here are a couple of pics of my very first homemade cucumber and one of my homemade yellow squash. There were both grown from plants that started as seeds. I am excited to really be able to eat veges (other than tomatoes) I grew myself.

I have grown tomatoes before and I planted 10 regular tomato plants, plus one sweet 100 plant. My tomato plants are out of control. They are so big the tomato cages are tipping over from the weight of the plants. I love them, they are awesome.

The picture above is of all 10 tomato plants I have planted next to my driveway. It is a little blurry but you can see a few red ones in between those leaves. I just love them.

Cute little guys

2008-08-02T15:29:00.003-06:00

This morning I was sitting in my living room drinking coffee and I could hear the little "chook-chook" noise that quails make when they are calling or warning their babies. So I went to the window and out in the drive way I saw 3 bigger quails with 3 babies. They are so cute I could not resist taking some pictures. Enjoy!

Trip to Ely

2008-07-26T09:59:00.008-06:00

On July 21, 2008 I had to go to Ely, Nevada to work on an Aloha system. Matt decided to go along with me.
This is one of the many preserved animals in the Hotel Nevada. This one is inside a plexiglass box, that is why you see reflections of the neon around the wolf.
The pool at the hotel we stayed at. I never got the chance to use it.
Matt enjoyed the hot tub and pool while I did my job.
You can see how the pool is inside the hotel just behind the casino area. It is a small hotel but it has alot going on.
Traveling home from Ely, Nevada. The road betweeen Ely and Mesquite is long and somewhat boring. The road between Mesquite and SLC has a few interesting sights. Like "The Tree". The leaves that fell from "The Tree".

July 4th/Birthday Pics

2008-07-09T15:55:00.006-06:00

I took some photos at a BBQ we had at my moms on July 4th, but more importantly I am posting the birthday card I got in a video, it is HILARIOUS!

Pictures of my "special" family members =)

Is that pineapple or an earring?

Mom is kicking up her heels!

Karen is a silly person.

Fun for all.

Cute little Auntie Marsha!

Snow White on mine and mom's birthday cake!

My trip to Georgia..

2008-07-04T20:32:00.010-06:00

My trip to Atlanta, Georgia was pretty good. The travel part was not so fun, but the time I spent there was fairly enjoyable. Radiant Tech Fest was the reason for going. It is 3 days of classes to learn more about Aloha software and Radiant hardware that we sell and support at POS Technologies.
The Westin Buckhead hotel I stayed in was very nice. My room even had a mini bar with liquor and snacks. The picture below shows the view of the Lenox Square mall out my hotel window.
The building in the picture below was also one that i had a nice view of out my hotel window and I found it to be very unusual and striking. I think it had trees growing on the roof.
The picture below is of the Lenox Square mall. It was a very high end mall with Macy's, Bloomingdales, Cartier, Crate and Barrel, and tons of other shops. It was huge AND it has Valet parking. HOly cow. I saw a Lamborgini parked out front along with lots of Mercedes and BMW's. Down the block from the mall was a Saks Fifth Avenue. So this whole area (Buckhead) seemed to be an affluent area. The picture below is of a statue in front of the Lenox Square mall. I thought it was cute. Below is a picture of the room at Maggiano's where we had our closing dinner for Tech Fest on Monday night.
Below are two pictures of interesting sculptures in the Atlanta Airport walkway. I think they are very cool.

Sad news

2008-06-18T09:24:00.004-06:00

Yesterday 6/17/08 my friend and co-worker, Centry went home for lunch and found his 17 yr old had passed away in his sleep. It was heart wrenching for Centry and his family, my heart went out to them.
Trek, 17 yrs old, has had some troubles with seizures in the past, but was on medication for it. They think he passed away at about 3am.
It is just very sad that he was so young with so much ahead in life.

My deepest sympathy goes to Centry and his family.

Anyone that reads this please say a prayer for the Kenyon family.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On another sad note I found out yesterday that a long time friend, Jason LeCates lost his 15 yr old daughter, Eleigh(Ellie) on 6/4/08.

I worked with Jason for several years at Charlie Chow and I attended his wedding to Brandi. Thier daughter Eleigh was almost 1 yr old at their wedding. She was so full of energy and grew up to be a beautiful girl.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Life is just too short for some people. And sometimes it doesnt seem fair.

Hi Bloggers

2008-06-08T18:30:00.006-06:00

Hi Bloggers out there in blogging land. I have not posted for a little while. What is new with me? I am going on a trip tomorrow to California. I will be working 12-14 hours a day while at the Restaurant getting computers setup and installed and then training the managers and staff. I hope to be coming home on Saturday or Sunday.
The weather there is supposed to be in the 80's and 90's, so it will be fairly hot there.
I am taking my camera so I should be able to get some photos of things I am working on and the people I am working with.

Today I went for a walk and got a couple of really pretty flower pictures. I took a cute picture of Matt too. =)

2008-05-31T19:05:00.003-06:00

Is six flower photos too much? I really like these flowers. They are so bright, interesting and beautiful.

But wait there is more!

I love the little birdies

2008-05-26T20:21:00.007-06:00

I think I warned you about all the flower and bird photos you would see here when I got my camera. Well, here are the birds I saw in my backyard today.

Arent they cute?

An Even Better day for a Walk!!

2008-05-25T21:26:00.006-06:00

It was a superb day for a walk. Oh my gosh, all the flowers were showing off thier amazing colors. Check these out. It was also a great day to look at the birds. I got a nice shot of this cute little guy.

A nice day for a walk...

2008-05-24T21:42:00.009-06:00

Here are a few pics that I took today with my new camera on our little walk around our neighborhood.

This really cool stone bench is facing the sidewalk, in just the right place for a little rest during our walk/skate around the block.

Matt is getting better at skating all the time.

Skating makes it fun for him to go with me for a walk.

My New Camera

2008-05-17T11:21:00.006-06:00

My new camera is coming soon. I didnt realize it is not a compact camera, so we will see how I like it next week when I actually get to use it.

This whole camera package comes with a printer/docking station.

It should be here just in time for me to take it on my trip to Stockton, California the first week of June.

I am going there to install some computers and train people on using thier new Aloha point of sale system.

MMmmmmmmMojitos

2008-05-15T09:54:00.005-06:00

If you like a drink that is refreshing and crisp, you should try a Mojito.
It is light and delicious. Here is the recipe.
In each of 2 glasses (recipe calls for 8oz glasses, I usually use 16oz or 24oz glasses), add 20 fresh mint leaves and 2 tsp sugar. Pound with a wooden spoon to coarsly crush. Add 5 tbsp light rum and 3 tbsp fresh lime juice to each, mix well. Fill each glass with ice cubes and about 5 tbsp chilled soda water. Garnish with mint sprigs. Makes 2 cocktails.

Yummy!!

2008-05-10T12:04:00.002-06:00

Tomorrow is Mothers Day, and I just have to say I have been blessed with 2 really awesome Moms. What a lucky person I am to have them both in my life.

It is a good day to plant my tomato plants in the ground.
I will post pics of the tomatoes when i get a camera. It will be soon, so look out!

Springtime

2008-05-06T11:29:00.005-06:00

I am back at work full blast agian. It is noticably slower at this time of year so I have time to blog while working. Really blogging is just thinking and putting it in writing, and most of the time I do not have time to think about my own life because I have to think about work. It is exciting sometimes to be able to think about my own life and things I want to do. It is like Springtime in my brain. I hear birds chirping.
On the other hand Spring is when I get some fairly bad allergies. I do not enjoy itchy eyes, runny nose and sneezing all the time. And that makes me not want to go outside because my symptoms will get worse.
I really would like to take some pictures and post them on my blog. Someday soon I will have a new camera to do this with and then watch out, because you will see lots of pictures of birds and flowers!
Thanks for reading.

Back to Work

2008-04-27T22:12:00.007-06:00

Well, I am back to work tomorrow. I hope I can wake up. I have been sleeping in for the past 10 days while on vacation and it was wonderful. Anyone that knows me knows how much I love my sleep.
Today on my last day of vacation I went for 2 walks around the block and then to a late lunch with my honey bunny. Our walks are really great, Matt gets to practice his skateboarding and I get to enjoy a leisurely walk through my neighborhood.
The weather was so nice today, the perfect temperature. There were birds chirping and chattering all over the place. I love the little birdies.

I still do not have a camera to load pictures so I drew a picture of a little birdy.

In a rut while on vacation

2008-04-22T10:03:00.006-06:00

Well apparently I am in a rut......even while on vacation. I got up this morning a little later than a work day BUT here I am in front of my computer going through my email and reading news on MSN, eating cereal and having coffee, JUST LIKE A WORK DAY. I am really quite lame.

I have thought of going to the Hogle Zoo, the Red Butte Garden or the Museum of Natural History, but all those involve alot of walking. And since my right foot still bothers me after about 30-40 min of walking I do not know if that is such a good idea.

I've Been Tagged

2008-04-13T21:49:00.006-06:00

I've been tagged by Cris! The rules are that you give 7 weird or random facts about yourself, then tag 7 more blogging friends, leaving a message on their site inviting them to play along.
I am tagging Marci and Susan! Okay, 7 weird or random facts about me:
Seven wierd things about me....
1. I sleep with a cpap machine strapped to my face at night.
2. I wrap the remote controls (for tv and stereo) in saran plastic wrap.
3. I have 5 pairs of the same kind of shorts (same color, same size, same material).
4. I dont like to get the bath rugs wet when i get out of the shower.
5. I dont like American Cheese, it tastes like plastic.
6. I bought a laptop in February for a training class i went to in Kentucky, but I have not used the laptop since I got back.
7. I have seven pairs of the same kind of pants (same color, same size, same material).
NOW who is crazy??? HUH???
=}

hmmm...

2008-04-13T21:29:00.002-06:00

hmmmm....what to write....I had a fairly decent day today. I went to have dinner at Dad & Cris's, which is always fun. I really enjoy hanging out with my family. Everyone of them is really interesting, intelligent, and fun to talk to. It got me out of the funk I was in from Saturday (a really bad day). One thing I did discover Saturday is I am going to lose it if I do not take a vacation from work. Now I just have to decide where I can go that is inexpensive and fun. BUT what is FUN? I dont have any ideas on where to go or what to do? How sad is that? I dont even know how to have a vacation. The last vacation I took I stayed home and slept in and just lounged about all day everyday, oH, and I bought a new bed. The one before that I went to Mesquite, which was fun for one night, then it was just a waste of money.
Does anyone out there in BLOG-LAND have any ideas for a vacation for me???
You can email me or you can make a comment to this blog.
Thanks for reading about my boring life. Love ya!
=)

Too many choices...

2008-03-22T10:14:00.000-06:00

Which do I want more? A new office chair or a digital camera? I got my taxes back and I must decide which item I want/need more. If I get a camera I can take and post pictures, if i get a new chair I can be much more comfortable while I work. Hmmm...what to do.
I think I would get a Kodak Easy Share camera, they are around $100.
I already know what chair I would get, and it is on sale for $199. Maybe getting the chair would relieve some of the pain I keep getting in my right shoulder when i have to sit at my desk for too long.

This post subject sure is boring. I am trying to learn to express myself, so please excuse the construction going on in my brain. =)

Autism Speaks

2008-03-19T22:33:00.001-06:00

My 5-year old nephew, Wyatt, is autistic. Until Wyatt I really didn't have much knowledge or understanding of autism. Unfortunately I am finding that this is more the norm than not.

On May 3 Autism Speaks is sponsoring a walk....”Walk Now for Autism” in SLC, Utah. We are trying to raise money for more research, education, and resources for Autism.

Here are a few facts about autism that you might not be aware of:
Facts about Autism
Did you know…
• 1 in 150 children is diagnosed with autism
• 1 in 94 boys is on the autism spectrum
• 67 children are diagnosed per day
• A new case is diagnosed almost every 20 minutes
• More children will be diagnosed with autism this year than with AIDS, diabetes & cancer combined
• Autism is the fastest-growing serious developmental disability in the U.S.
• Autism costs the nation over $90 billion per year, a figure expected to double in the next decade
• Autism receives less than 5% of the research funding of many less prevalent childhood diseases

• Boys are four times more likely than girls to have autism
• There is no medical detection or cure for autism

The Mission
At Autism Speaks, the goal is to change the future for all who struggle with autism spectrum disorders.
We are dedicated to funding global biomedical research into the causes, prevention, treatments, and cure for autism; to raising public awareness about autism and its effects on individuals, families, and society; and to bringing hope to all who deal with the hardships of this disorder. We are committed to raising the funds necessary to support these goals.

I am asking if you would be interested in joining our team and walking, forming your own team for walking or donating whatever you could to this worthy cause. Please visit my Autism Speaks page and learn how easy donating online can be.

http://www.walknowforautism.org/c.inKHILNqEmG/b.3615181/siteapps/personalpage/ShowPage.aspx?c=inKHILNqEmG&b=3615133&sid=ckLSJ9OTIoITL5PMIoH

I thank you for reading this blog post. My team name is Wyatt's Warriors...until Wyatt is able to speak for himself we will be his warriors and fight for the help so desperately needed.

Hello

2008-02-19T16:00:00.000-07:00

Hello Blog-world.
I am new, so I dont know exactly what i am doing here.
I signed up for this so i can post comments on other's blogs.
I do not have anything to say except complaints, so I will come back some other day when I am not in a negative mood. That might be in a couple hundred years, so dont hold your breath.