This is how I want to do it

About online dating...it's not working for me. And I know why it's not working - for one thing, my heart's not in it. Readers of my blog and a few (very few) select friends know I've tried online dating. I know it's like the new way to meet people but I'm really not comfortable with the concept and deep down I've felt like if I did meet someone that way, I'd never want to admit that to the people who didn't know how we met - which is the mass majority of people. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with online dating if you want to do that - the problem is with me and I know that too.

Another reason it's not working for me is because I don't post pictures. I know men are very visual beings and with that whole "don't want people to know" thing working against me, I haven't been able to bring myself to post pictures. For a lot of men, that's a deal breaker - which is fine. But, here's the deal, I've been a paid member on two services and created a profile on a third (they still send you matches but you can't communicate with them). All three of the services have matched me with men I know. Yes, I know that that means they're signed up too but it still makes me uncomfortable and if they found out I had subscribed (I'm no longer a subscriber to any online service) to these services, I'd want it to be because I chose to tell them - not because they recognized my picture. Stupid? Yes, absolutely, but it's still how I feel.

But anyway, back when I was married, I tried to talk my then husband into taking ballroom dance classes with me but he refused. Shortly after we separated I started taking country western dance classes by myself. Then in 2000, I took swing and country western dancing with my nephew. And with Dancing with the Stars, it's really brought back the desire to take dancing classes. So anyway, a couple of weeks ago I pulled up Jessica Trapp's website and was looking around and was reminded that she belly dances (she's such a neat lady and so interesting!!!). Next thing I know, I'm googling "belly dancing classes Houston". I came across Dance Passion, a place that teaches not only Belly Dancing but also salsa, swing, country western, ballroom, hip hop and more. For me, I want group classes because private lessons are obscenely expensive and this school has group classes.

To make a long story short, a new session of classes started this week. I was interested in ballroom, salsa and belly dancing. The ballroom classes started on Monday but I was exhausted after work and couldn't bring myself to make the trek across town (no place near me offers classes - this place is 35 miles one way) for the class. I did, however, have the energy to go on Thursday for the belly dancing. It was immediately followed by the salsa class but I hadn't decided if I was going to do both. That is until I saw the big crowd waiting to get in to the salsa class. I figured if it was that popular, it had to be fun, so I signed up for it as well.

And here's where I get to the point of this post (yeah, I know, long way around)...they told us to find a partner. At the time I thought that would be the awkward part - the part where I felt like a loser because I didn't come with a partner. I didn't go look for anyone, instead, a tall, good-looking man approached me and asked me to be his partner. And for the next 30-45 minutes (before they made us start changing partners), he was my dance partner. He was nice. He was encouraging. And we had a good time.

But, the point is, we didn't have to fill out a 700 question compatibility thing or be compared on 29 points (or whatever it is) to find out we have something in common. We'd both signed up for the class of our own free will and without doing anything else, we know we have something in common. I like that - a lot. Is he going to be the next man in my life? Probably not. That's not the point. The point is, I don't have to do things that make me uncomfortable to meet people. If I just go out and do the things I like doing, I'm going to meet people with common interests without trying. All while having a good time to boot.

Bottom line, I think I'm done with the online dating thing. I know it works for a lot of people - and that's great - but it's not for me. I'd rather meet someone in a situation where we know off the bat that we have a common interest and see where that takes us. If it goes somewhere, great. If not, that's okay too. But in the meantime, I'm still having fun. And that's really what it's all about now, isn't it? :)

Recap of 2008

I'm stealing this from Alyssa, who stole it from Sarakastic who stole it from others, so this is far from an original post idea but it looked like fun and I'm nothing if not a follower (hey, the leaders gotta have someone following them, right? ;) ). Basically what I've done is taken the first sentence of the last blog post of every month. Then assembled the sentences in such a way that it might tell a bit of a story.

Here are the sentences:

January Well, Slime Boy (the probably married man that asked me out) got let go.

February The other day I had a doctor's appointment.

March Dear Muse, It was so nice to see you this weekend.

April Lately I've felt like I've been so behind on everything.

May I've been having some interesting dreams lately.

June I told a friend of mine yesterday that I'd blog about an eHarmony discovery I made.

July In less than 24 hours I should be in San Francisco.

August Okay, so you know that it took an online dating service for me to reconnect with a long lost friend (who I went out with once before a hundred years ago).

September Well, SCG and his family got here Friday around 10:00 a.m. and worked until about 4:00 p.m. - and we didn't finish the clean up! I

October Well, I went running last night.

November As most of you know, I did the online dating thing this past summer.

December Okay, this has to be a top 9 because well, there aren't 10 books that I feel that I can say I loved this year - of course that probably has a lot to do with the fact that I'm down from over 70 books read from last year to just over 30 this year, including audio books.

So, my mishmash, for what it's worth:

The other day I had a doctor's appointment. Well, Slime Boy (the probably married man that asked me out) got let go.

I told a friend of mine yesterday that I'd blog about an eHarmony discovery I made. As most of you know, I did the online dating thing this past summer. Okay, so you know that it took an online dating service for me to reconnect with a long lost friend (who I went out with once before a hundred years ago).

Dear Muse, It was so nice to see you this weekend. I've been having some interesting dreams lately. Lately I've felt like I've been so behind on everything. Well, SCG and his family got here Friday around 10:00 a.m. and worked until about 4:00 p.m. - and we didn't finish the clean up!

Well, I went running last night. In less than 24 hours I should be in San Francisco.

Okay, this has to be a top 9 because well, there aren't 10 books that I feel that I can say I loved this year - of course that probably has a lot to do with the fact that I'm down from over 70 books read from last year to just over 30 this year, including audio books. (Yeah, I know this one doesn't work but what are ya gonna do?)

Confessions of a Book Ho

My name is Lucy and I'm a book ho. It's been three hours and ten minutes since my last book purchase.

Hi Lucy.

Since the first of the year I haven't had nearly enough time to read for pleasure. It's mostly because I went back to school and then changed jobs - twice (in two months). Then the hurricane and everything else going on, it's been really hard to justify spending my free time on pleasure reading because I feel so behind on everything else. Never mind that I have 70+ books that I brought home from San Francisco. Or that I have purchased several books since then. OR that I LOVE to read.

But today I decided to screw responsibility and read. I think it was in large part due to the book trailer I saw today. Amanda Ashby had it posted over on her blog and, like her, I've never been overly impressed by book trailers but this one was an exception. I promptly called my local bookstore to see if 1) they were open (you'd be surprised at how many businesses are still closed because of the hurricane) and 2) if they had it in stock. Sadly they didn't so I was forced to order the book on amazon. And the thing about Amazon is that, if you buy so much in books, your shipping is free. Yes, I know they're getting you to buy more with that program but, being the book ho that I am, I overlook that. So now I have to wait. *sigh*

But, here is the trailer that got me to shirk responsibility and read. The Fidelity Files by Jessica Brody.

Fill in the blanks

I went to a training session today. It was the first half of an Administrative Excellence course (I took the second half last month). I'll start by saying that I really don't know what it had to do with Admin training but both sections were fun.

Anyway, we did a little exercise today where we had to fill in the blanks with something other than the standard cliches you'd expect. Something that would lighten things up and express your humor. The example given was:

He looked like something the cat refused to drag in!

Okay, with that in mind, I'm going to post the sentences here and I'd love to see your offerings in the comments - and then I'll post mine.

Here goes:

1. If at first you don't succeed _________________________.

2. She was mad as a ________________________________.

3. It was raining ____________ and __________________.

4. A penny saved is ________________________________.

5. A _____________ a day keeps the ________________ away.

6. His face was as red as a ____________________________.

Go to it. :)

Okay, I'll play

My Town Monday

So, I popped over to Alyssa's blog and she was following Travis Erwin's lead to spotlight someone - a celebrity - from your town. I knew (or believe anyway) that Jennifer Garner's grandmother lives here but, well, she's not the celebrity.

Anyway, in my google search, I discovered that Renee Zellweger was born in Baytown, Texas! That's right, born on April 25, 1969, Renée graduated from University of Texas, Austin with a BA degree in Radio, Film and Television.

Her family now lives in Katy, Texas. And in case I haven't mentioned it, I lived in Katy for four years. Both are relatively small towns on either end of Houston (Baytown is east of Houston and Katy is west of Houston).

So, there you go. Renee Zellweger is from the town I now live in. What celebrity is from your town?

Stupid "Announcements"

Lately I've been reading things that just seem stupid. Periodically (monthly, quarterly? I have no idea) my work sends these newsletters about health related matters. This month's(?) newsletter was about diabetes. In one article it was said that one million people (I think that was the number) have diabetes but didn't know it. The thought that went through my head in the instant that I read that was "well you obviously know who they are so why don't you tell them?"

It's like the census poll. They'll say x number of people didn't report their information. If you know that, just add them. Not to mention, why is a poll being done if the numbers are already known? Seriously.

But I also love the cautions on items. For example, I heated up a microwave dinner for lunch today. The instructions tell you to 1) take it out of the box (were there people who would heat it up still in the box???), 2) ventilate; 3) cook on high for so many minutes; 4) remove from microvave (um, has this been an issue for people?); 5) remove plastic cover (okay, I want the names of the people that warranted this addition). Then it has a caution...It will be HOT. Really? No kidding! Learn something new every day.

Thing is you know they have to add all those things because someone did something stupid and there were probably lawsuits involved. But it just cracks me up.

So what about you...read anything lately that made you wonder why those details were necessary?

P.S. To answer a couple of questions recently asked in comments...No I didn't dress up for Halloween (I know, I'm a party pooper). And yes, I am doing some writing.
Thanks for asking. :-)

Great Advertising

This Commercial came on during Dancing with the Stars tonight. I'd never seen it before but it's my new favorite commercial. Too funny!

Hairy Scary

I went a little over a week ago to get my hair cut and my eyebrows waxed. I went to Mastercuts. Now I know what you're thinking but I rarely have anything difficult done to my hair so I didn't see any reason NOT to go there - or to go somewhere else and pay $90 just to get the ends of my hair trimmed.

So that's where it starts. Well, maybe I should back up and tell you that the last time I got my hair cut I had a "long" layer put in and asked them to cut it so that it would curl under easily, if not naturally. Considering the curling under thing is done the same as a layer, just underneath, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that my hair chronically curled UP all the time - no matter what I did. And it didn't look good. I felt like an aging rock star that had a shag/mullet combo and didn't care that it looked awful. Except I did.

Anyway, when I got to Mastercuts I got a Hispanic hair dresser. I don't mind this except that during the course of my visit, I got the distinct impression that she struggled with the English language. Here's why:

She called me back and asked me what I wanted done with my hair. I told her that I just wanted the ends trimmed, a little taper around the face and cut so that it would curl under easily. I also told her I wanted my eyebrows waxed.

She said okay, then walked away to get the drape thing to cover me with. When she came back she said, "You want same haircut?"

Um, no. I just told you what I wanted, I thought. I SAID, "No. I just want the ends trimmed, a little taper around the face and I want it cut where it will curl under easily. I also want my eyebrows waxed."

"Oh, okay."

Then she starts cutting on my hair, and I swear she cut each one individually, using weird methods I've never seen used before. But I say nothing. Just when I think she's done she ask, "You want your bangs cut?"

My bangs were at chin level, which in my book means I do NOT have bangs anymore. I just looked at her and said, "No."

"Oh, okay."

Then she reaches in her drawer and pulls out something I've never seen before and aims it at my head. "Excuse me," I said. "What are you doing?"

"It's a razor."

Okay, not what I asked, and I'm even a bit more concerned. "What are you planning on doing with it?"

"It's a razor."

"Yes, I know. What are you going to do with it?"

"It give your hair texture."

"How? What does it do?"

"It's a razor."

"Yeah, I don't think we'll be needing it today."

"No? Oh, okay."

She put it away and then said, "That's all then?"

"I still want my eyebrows done." (Obviously I'm slow.)

"Oh, okay."

So we go over to the area where she's going to do my eyebrows. She doesn't ask me anything, she just starts applying wax. Not a lot you can do at that point. And really I was okay, up until she put it at the top part of my eyebrow. I said nothing because, really, what are you going to do? If it's munked up, it's munked up.

She worked on them for a while and then started tweezing the strays and she's spending a lot of time on them and finally hands me the mirror. I look at the right eyebrow...it looks good.

I look at the left eyebrow...it looks good too.

I look at them both...they don't match!!!!! I nicely point this out to her and she did fix them, as best she could. No one has said anything but I think I know why. Here's the deal, I can only raise my left eyebrow by itself (I can raise them both together but I cannot raise the right one by itself) and the left eyebrow is slightly higher than the right so I figure people think I'm giving them one of "those" looks. I'm not but that's how it looks - at least to me.

So if you see me and think I'm giving a look, I'm really not...it's just the result of a bad eyebrow wax. LOL

By the way, for fun posts (and entry into a contest), stop by here and post a comment. Tell them Lucy sent you. ;-)

There is no I in TEAM

But, as a former boss of mine pointed out, there is a "ME" in team. I work with a group of women who can come together when we have to but for the most part, everyone's out for themselves. Remember when I told you what we were going to do for bosses' day? Well, one staff support wasn't going to be able to make it on the day we'd originally scheduled it. She was disappointed but she was looking for the best interest of the group and still said she'd take care of the things she'd agreed to do. Her buddy, however, decided to boycott the thing. She didn't say it was because her friend couldn't make it but it was pretty obvious. And she made it very difficult for the rest of us for a while. To the point I didn't care if it even happened.

Well, last week, when I was pretty much at my wits end (I ended up taking off half a day Thursday and all day Friday of last week...before I went postal) when I received an email from the "difficult" one, instructing me to change the date. She wanted it to be tomorrow. I looked at calendars and it did actually look like a good date (October wasn't really a good month for any of the bosses - there was just the one day that I had booked), so I resent the meeting notice to everyone.

So okay, we're doing it earlier. Those that haven't started preparations had less time (the buycostumes.com site was pretty much sold out of everything we needed within days of when we'd made decisions a couple of months ago). And then Tuesday - three days before the event - the staff support that would have had to miss it on the original date comes to me and tells me she doesn't want to play the game. The fact that I didn't beat the snot out of her is a testament to my restraint (as well as the healing powers of the full body massage I got Thursday afternoon).

Anyway, we tweaked the game a bit and it might even be more fun now. There's only one thing I don't like about the new way but I guess it ensures we're all involved in the game so I can deal with it. Now the celebrities won't rotate around the tables but rather sit at the front of the room. There won't only be three questions asked - all ten will be asked (the staff support will be asking them and that's what I'm not happy about, but it's really not bad). It was thought that it might be hard to figure out some of the celebrities so we decided to help out by having stars on the walls with the possible guesses (with a few red herrings) printed on them. They're going to be brought (in character - we all bought costumes for our guys) back into the room based on the most right answers for a celebrity so doing the music like we originally thought we'd do is out. But I was looking for some music last night and found this for when the celebrities leave the room and the teams are "deliberating" their answers, and this for the time when the "ballots" are being tabulated and the celebrities are getting dressed - it's a bit fuzzy but since it's just filler, it doesn't really make that big of a deal. Everyone seemed to like the idea. Someone is bringing in a strobe light so that when the celebrities reappear it gives the illusion of flashbulbs.

Everyone gets a bit a prize and the winning table (most celebrities guessed - and we do have a plan in the event of a tie) gets meal tickets for our cafeteria (most the guys eat there anyway so they'd probably really like that).

Bottom line, for a while there I wasn't looking forward to it but I'm getting excited about it again. I even made potato salad this evening for forty. Do you know how much potato salad that is??? A LOT!

Anyway, hopefully I'll have pictures available tomorrow to be able to post but if not, early next week at the latest. I really think it's going to be fun. But if it goes as well as I'm thinking, I'm already wondering how we can top it next year.

I'm excited. Oh, but it's still a secret so don't tell anyone yet. ;-)

Sing Along

I want to make fun of people today. Before you go thinking awful thoughts about me (well at least about wanting to make fun of people), just know I'm going to give y'all something to make fun of me about as well.

Have you ever been singing a song, loudly, where others could hear you, only to realize that the words you were singing weren't the actual words to the song? Think Phoebe Buffay (that's the right spelling...I looked it up) from Friends from an early episode when she thought Elton John was singing to Tony Danza instead of the tiny dancer. That kind of thing.

Or, the guy from my church when I was in high school. We sang a song quite frequently that had the words, "Thy loving kindness, is better than life." He thought the words were, "Thy loving kindness is better than wine." I mean, His loving kindness IS better than wine but it wasn't the right word. He said he was very embarrassed when someone pointed out his error.

Okay, so mine...I recently bought a Bon Jovi CD that has his song It's My Life on it. Now, I really do know the right words (well, I think I do anyway) but when I'm singing it? The wrong words come out - a lot. For Example:

Right way (we think): It's my life. It's now or never. I (ain't) gonna live forever.

Lucy's way (we know): It's my life. It's now or never. I don't wanna live forever.

and another passage...

Right way (we think): I just wanna live while I'm alive.

Lucy's way (we know): I don't wanna live while I'm alive.

Now I'm sure there's some subliminal or Freudian message I'm telling myself with the way those passages come out of me but I'm choosing not to look to closely at it.

But anyway, do you have any songs that the wrong words just want to come out of you when you sing them, loudly, where people can hear you? And if so, please share (I shared mine. ;-) )

The Secret's Out

Which movie heroine are you?

Rose DeWitt Bukater You are Rose DeWitt Bukater from "Titanic"! You are beautiful and trusting, with a hidden internal strength. Many men find you attractive, but you would only give your heart to someone who loves the real you. While you sometimes doubt your life's direction and your place in the world, you're open to see where fate takes you.
Take this quiz!








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Okay, that isn't the only secret that is out...my blog has been discovered. Alyssa Goodnight installed a statcounter on her blog and since I access her blog from this one, she found me out. I mean, she knew I had a blog but she couldn't remember the name of it. Guess that'll teach me...

Rules of Fashion

This past Friday I was digging through my closet to make a decision as to what to wear. I spied a white dress of mine that I haven't worn in year...years. My reasoning being that the "rule" is you can't wear white after labor day and that was going to be the last day I could wear it until after Easter - according to the rule. As I pulled it off the hanger I saw another white dress that I haven't worn in years. Well dang, I wasn't going to get to wear it until after Easter now! Oh well.

So, I was driving in to work, thinking about this "rule" about white. I've never really understood it because in this part of the country, we don't really have a fall or a winter. Our fall is like most other people's summer. And our winter is like most other people's fall. Winter is virtually non-existant (although we do usually get one overnight hard freeze a year...usually). Spring is my favorite time of year with great temperatures, low humidity but well, I'm getting off topic, now aren't I.

Anyway, even though I don't really agree with the rule, I've mostly followed it (except when I could fit in about two outfits, one of which was white...then I totally blew off the rule because I didn't really want to wear one outfit every day of the world). But I was wondering, as I drove in to the office...how does that impact brides that get married between Labor Day and Easter? If they wear white are they considered fashion disasters? And if they wear off-white, or some other color, are they considered little hoochies because they didn't wear white? (No offense to any hoochies or anyone who just didn't want to wear white to their wedding...it's all in fun here. ;-) ) Seriously, what is the protocol for brides that get married between those dates? Or is there one?

Although, it may all be moot. My co-worker told me that it is no longer taboo to wear white after Labor Day. However, when I asked her where she had heard this, she didn't remember. She also didn't remember if it was just for our neck of the woods or everywhere. It could be she dreamed it and it just had this lasting effect on her for all I know.

So, what I want to know is, was my co-worker right? Is it now okay to wear white after Labor Day? And if so, does that mean it's okay to wear white year round or is there another date now that white is no longer acceptable - in terms of being fashionable (and what is it?)? And if your answer was yes, I might need to know your source...you know, just to be thorough. ;-)

A Tisket, A Tasket

When I bought my house going on seven years ago, I decided I had to do some grown-up things to go with the grown-up mortgage. So I subscribed to the newspaper (which I only read on Sundays and only the comics, TV Guide and Dear Abby at that...I let that subscription lapse after about a year or so), and several magazines. One of the magazines I subscribed to was Good Housekeeping. I figured it could give me ideas on inexpensive decorating things.

And I did get some ideas. Like the one about getting a basket for your bathroom to hold all your "toiletries". I went out almost immediately and bought this cute little basket and came back and filled it with all my "stuff". It's an idea I really liked and really worked. It also saved time when cleaning because rather than having to remove all your "stuff" from the counter, you just had to move the basket, clean and replace the basket on the counter. Easy-peasy.

Okay, so a few months ago I went out and bought two more baskets. I wasn't really looking for baskets (actually, I was at the store looking for work stuff) but I found these two I really liked and they just happened to be on sale, so I snagged them. Didn't really have any idea where I would put them or how I would use them. They're both bigger than the original one I bought and a lot deeper.

So fast forward to yesterday...I was cleaning my bathroom and realized that I've kind of outgrown the original basket. It overflows. So I decided to try out one of the bigger baskets. I started being really neat about it...putting all the Mary Kay stuff on one side and and the Estee Lauder stuff on the other. I put all the hotel lotions and soaps in there. But the more I put in there, the more I'm finding in the smaller basket. It was like it had a false bottom or something. Anyway, by the end, I'm just chunking stuff in the basket (guess I don't have a lot of patience for organization and stuff). But, the good news is, it held everything, with no overflow. Plus it looks good on the counter, and I still have two baskets to play with.

I was thinking about the baskets last night and thought I could fill them with the books that won't fit on my new book carousel. I could also put the smaller one in the guest bathroom (now that I've cleared the plants off the counter) for guest toiletries. We'll see.

All this talk is making me feel like I need to renew my Good Housekeeping subscription. But my question to you is, have you ever gotten a really good decorating idea from a magazine? And if so, please share! :-)

Also, do you have baskets and what do you keep in them? Inquiring minds want to know.

A little silly

My step-father sent me this and I thought it was fun. Hopefully it will work. And if it does - you might want to set any drinks you have aside. ;o) (It's popping up in a separate window for me - just so you know.)

Can you keep a secret?

I've mentioned before that this is my secret blog. . . no one knows about it. I have one person that I don't know from RWA that knows about this blog (and only one person from my local chapter - and she doesn't know the name [I did tell her once, she just didn't remember it - which I'm okay with]), and I trust her with all my secrets so it's okay if I put this post out there.

At work we're getting ready for boss's day. Last year we dressed all our bosses up as pirates and the everyone else had to guess which pirate they were supposed to be. It was fun and all but at the time, I suggested we do a 50s theme this year. They all said okay and them I'm sure they promptly forgot about it. But I didn't.

So a few weeks ago we had our monthly Staff Support (SS) meeting and I brought it up again. I threw out the 50s theme again and they all liked it, but then started leaning towards Elvis and wanting to dress all the male bosses as Elvis from different times in his career. The lone female boss was going to be dressed up as Priscilla. Okay, we have a starting point.

Then, a co-worker and I decided to see where we could find Elvis "costumes" for cheap (because we pay for all of this out of our own pockets) and ended up at buycostumes.com. From there we went to their adult wig selection and we went off in another direction.

I sent an email to all the other SS telling them what we'd found and we scheduled a meeting for today to discuss further. I'd come up with an idea for a game, which was a starting point but after we started brainstorming I think what we decided was even better. We made a lot of decisions and I think it's going to be so much fun. We're going to dress up eight people (we're doing more than usual). We'll have Elvis, Donald Trump, Bill Gates, Dean Martin, Jeff Bagwell, Marilyn Monroe, Sonny, and Cher.

Now, you may be saying "Didn't she say the lone female boss?" but then probably disregarded it because I also said we're dressing up more than usual. But you'd have been right the first time. We're dressing one of the men up as Cher (his SS doesn't particularly like him so her wanting to do that to him is more out of spite but we all agreed it would be fun - and we like him so. . .).

Anyway, I worked up a little "program" today creating a tri-fold document. On the outside it tells them what the event is called and other miscellaneous information. When you first open it up you see the "rules" of play (which I'll go into in a minute). When you open it further you have all the bosses' names, with a blank beside it (for their guesses), the questions they're allowed to ask and the menu (the SS make them lunch too - and we've already decided on that as well). Everyone seemed to like it.

But the rules - we've decided not to dress them up from the beginning this year. Instead, they're going to come out as themselves, having only an index card with numbered answers on it. The group will be broken up into teams and each of the "celebrities" will visit with the teams. The team will say, "I want the answer to question 5 (or whatever number)". They won't read the question. The celebrity won't know the question - only the answer (they're not going to know who they are either - at this point anyway). Each team gets to ask three questions from the list, of which there are ten, of each celebrity. Then they have to make a guess at who they are supposed to be.

At the end of it all, the teams turn in their program with the answers and the team with the most right answers wins. (We're going to get them a little something but that hasn't been decided on yet.) While they're turning in their answers, the celebrities will be leaving the room and will be asked "who are you?" to see if they know. Then we'll dress them up as their character and they'll come back into the room - to music.

Elvis will come in to "Love Me Tender", Sonny & Cher to "I've Got You Babe", Bill Gates to "Money" (I don't know if that's the name of the song but I sang it for my co-workers and they knew what I meant.), Marilyn to "Happy Birthday Mr. President", Jeff Bagwell to "Take Me Out To The Ballgame". We haven't definitely decided on Dean Martin's song and Donald Trump will come in with pink slips saying "You're Fired!"

I'm already looking forward to it and it's a good two months away! I think it's going to be a lot of fun and I'll have pictures to prove it! :o)

But don't tell anyone - it'll be our secret. ;o)

The Dating Game

Last night I was watching The Bill Engvall Show (caught it accidentally - didn't know it had premiere'd yet) and the parents were getting ready to go out to a ballgame with a friend of theirs. (He'd gotten lost on the way, even though he'd been there a gazillion times, because he was following his GPS's instructions.) So while they waited they sat down with their kids. One of them said they had to write a history paper and the topic was "How did people meet each other before the internet?". (I found that amusing. :o) ) So the parents told their story.

But it got me to thinking, meeting on the internet is big business these days. But it's one of those things I just don't get - not really. I did actually meet someone from the internet once and we went out for a while but there were things that troubled me, not the least of which - we met online. He was okay with that and told anyone who asked he'd met me that way. I, on the other hand, chose to tell people "we met through mutual friends" which, truth told, wasn't entirely a lie (if you were okay with stretching the truth - out of shape even) but it sure was walking a fine line there. I knew if he ever met my friends and family, he'd spill his guts and so we never took things to the "meet the friends and/or family" stage. Plus, I couldn't see myself telling my kids one day, "Your daddy and I met online."

But I can see the advantage to meeting online because you have the opportunity to get to know someone without being judged on looks. This is assuming, of course, who you're getting to know is being honest - but then you can meet liars and skanks without going online too. I just don't think that venue is how I want to go about meeting someone though.

So anyway, the big question of the day is - how did you meet your significant other? Was it a blind date? Office romance (which was the case with me and my husband - I was his father's secretary)? Automobile accident? Visitor's day at the prison? What?

Inquiring minds want to know. :o)

The Theatre

I'm a big fan of the theatre . The first time I remember going was to see Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr in The King and I back in 1982. It was either later that year or the next year that I went to see Debbie Reynolds and Harve Presnell in The Unsinkable Molly Brown. LIVE and in person! There's nothing like it.

Over the next many years, I went to the theatre with a regularity. When my ex-husband and I separated and divorced, I started taking my nieces and/or nephew with me before I made it a solo act, ocassionally deciding to go on the spur of the moment.

Only once was I disenchanted with a play I saw.

Anyway, back in the early '90s my mother and I went to Las Vegas. Debbie Reynolds had a hotel there at the time (off the strip) and we went to see her show which, in my opinion, is the best show I've ever seen in Vegas. She, in her show, commented that her fans were "of an age", suggesting that younger people didn't much care for her. Well after the show, she talked to and took pictures with anyone who wanted to chat or have their picture taken with her. I, of course, have a picture with me, my mother and her in it and made a point of telling her I (in my early 30's at the time) was a huge fan.

But, back to the theatre...I haven't been much in the last five to ten years or so. Something I keep telling myself that I will remedy soon.

At work this man who was transferred out before I arrived (over a year ago) occasionally gets mail from a theatre in Galveston...The Grand 1894 Opera House. It's what I've always pictured in my head when I read historicals and they talk about going to the theatre (although, when it tells you a seat is "obstructed", they mean it! Just so you know.). It's this quaint little place - very nice. Well, this man from work received another brochure this past week and Debbie Reynolds is going to be there this coming March. She's hosting a dance thing but I think I'm going to have to go. Galveston is less than an hour away so it's definitely doable.

It's almost a year away and I'm already excited about it. How silly is that? LOL

What celebrity would you like to see come to your area to perform?

Changes

Ever since my dog, Harley, took out my cable, I've been thinking about something. Those two days where I had no reception forced me to focus my energy otherwise (that is when I wasn't striking a pose to get in better television reception) and I realized how much time I waste with the TV on. Like now, the TV is on but the sound is muted - and I do that a lot. What's the point?

So, my thought was, I should try to go without cable during the summer. I went so far as calling the cable company to see what I would have to do and what it would cost to have it reinstalled (turned back on - whatever) at a later date. And they offered me "options". Right now I have the digital cable with a gazillion channels (I watch approximately 3 of them, but who's counting) and pay out the wazoo, what with the "extended cable" box in the bedroom and the DVR in the living room. I could cut back to the standard cable (channels 1-80) for about 1/3 of what I'm paying now (not including the DVR, which would add ~$16 back). Or I could just keep the cable line (aka basic cable) on to give me clear pictures on my local stations (and we already know I don't get reception for crap here on the local stations) for under $20.

If I do away with cable altogether and later want it reinstalled it will cost me ~$29 for the first connection and ~$19 for each additional (I currently have three lines - two in the living room but I like the option of being able to move my furniture around).

On the "basic cable" option it would cost me a one time fee of ~20 to fully upgrade - all lines.

With standard cable there would be no charge to reconnect/upgrade.

But here's the deal. I feel certain I will want my cable back when the fall line-up comes back on. Most shows I could watch online but I wouldn't be able to vote on Dancing with the Stars (unless I struck a pose at least once a week - which I could do if I had to!).

Actually, that's not even the whole deal. The reason I posted this entry tonight was, I was reading someone else's blog entry and they were talking about participating in Jessica Trapp's "100 days" and now adding a daily workout to go with it. Someone responded that they just never have time to work out anymore and that kind of hit a note with me. In Weight Watchers when they talk about exercise they bring up the things we did when we were growing up - things that we enjoyed. Things that we no longer indulge ourselves with because "we don't have time". Working out is no longer considered fun, like it was when we were younger. Instead, it's just one more thing on the long list of things we have to do and it's more like a chore. Only it's one we don't have to do, so it's one of the first ones we eliminate.

Personally, I want to make time for things. I want to read more. I want to write more. I want to start working out again. Walking the dogs (only not in my neighborhood since I'm only allowed two dogs and I have three). Yes, TV is something I sometimes enjoy but I think I indulge in it too much. And too much of a good thing is not good!

Anyway, I don't know if you've picked up on this but I think I'm talking myself more and more into getting rid of cable - at least for the summer. But I'd love to hear what others think. So if you don't have a TV or if you don't have cable - or if you know someone like that, let me hear from you and tell them to come on over and tell me why and what-for.

And for those that have TV and cable, could you give it up?

Because I made someone cry today...

Someone at work did something today that ticked me off and I let them know it ticked me off. Now, I thought I was being diplomatic in my wording but considering she burst out crying, I'm thinking I might have been able to handle it better so...

I thought I'd share something that might put a smile on some faces. I'm totally stealing it from the Jaunty Quills so if you frequent over there, you may have already seen it.

Okay, here goes...

Go to Google
click on "Maps"
type in "New York to London"
and then scroll down to direction 23 (or may be 24)

Enjoy! :~)