Rhett...

I know a little doggy who just fell in the pool and is now running around the house like an idiot. That's why you fell in the pool in the first place! 
(Don't mind my messy house - and the other dog shaking her head in the background for the first few seconds of the video.)

The Spaz: Take 2

So.

I spent that better part of an hour in the wee hours of this morning writing this emotion driven blog post all about Whitney Houston's funeral - of which I didn't get the chance to sit down and watch until last night.

Then you know what happened? My iPad ate it. All that emotion, all those tears. It ate them all. I can't find that damn post anywhere. So as I chatted this over with a friend on Twitter last night - we determined that the world was simply not ready for the awesomness that was my emotion driven Whitney Houston post. But I'll give you the highlights:

• I had been purposely putting off watching her funeral. I'd posted my lovely little blog post in her memory and I wasn't quite ready to process it any further than that. I was a total spaz during Michael Jackson's funeral - I knew her's would be worse. And it was.
• When they carried her casket out to her own voice singing "I Will Always Love You" it was quite possibly the saddest thing I've ever seen.
• I cried for 3 straight hours. My eyes are still puffy. Thank goodness I had nothing of major importance to go and do today. 

Now we can all move on from that...

I am still jobless - just to update you all on that situation. I am still not regretting my decision. Ask me again if I remain jobless much longer and my opinion on that may have changed. I have applied for every job I am qualified for and some that I'm not. I'm getting interviews but no worthwhile job offers yet. I could use some thoughts and prayers...

More than once the thought of moving has crossed my mind since this whole job quitting thing occurred. Which is ludicrous considering that I have no money for relocating and have no good idea of where I would go anyway. What's even more ludicrous is that I spelled ludicrous as Ludacris first - as in the rapper. My ghetto side has shown itself. I learned how to spell Ludacris before I learned to spell ludicrous. Don't judge me!

Let's see, what else... Well I think that's about it actually. If any of you have any ideas on how I can make money (no - prostitution is not an option) via freelance writing or anything else really - let me know. Not that I actually expect anyone to have any ideas - but it doesn't hurt to put it out there I guess.

Since we mentioned Ludacris - let's kick back with some Old Skool Luda and Albany, GA's own Field Mob.

Oops... my ghetto is showing!

Happy Singles Awareness Day!

Because you're single - and Valentine's Day makes you painfully aware of this...

Link your Valentine's Day posts! 

I've only had a "Valentine" for 2 of the 32 Valentine's Days for which I have been on this earth and both of them sucked royally. So I think it's safe to say that I am a pro when it comes to being single on Valentine's Day. How do I celebrate it? I don't... But this year, I'm going to. I'm going to celebrate it by being mindful of the things I love and the people in my life who make me happy. From the simple to the profound - and everything in between.
So here is a list of the things in my life that I love and appreciate - in no particular order...

• The beach. Florida beaches to be exact. White sand and blue water stretching for miles. The memories from my childhood when my family went to the beach all together and rented a house for a week. My teenage years after my grandparents passed away and we continued that tradition with friends. Sorry California beaches - ya'll ain't got nothin' on THIS:

• Thunder storms.

• Laughter through tears.

• Clean sheets.

• The beauty of purebred Arabian horses. My FIRST love. These majestic creatures taught me numerous important life lessons. The two most important being: 1) Don't look down. If you look down, you'll go down. Keep your head and eyes up. 2) If you fall off your horse, no matter how hard it is or how scared you are, you HAVE to get right back up in the saddle. If you don't, you won't ever ride again. My trainers throughout my horse career taught me the value of hard work and never let me forget that sometimes you have to shovel a whoooooole lot of shit in order to get where you want to go. And even when you get there, you may still have to shovel shit. That's just how life goes.

• Sleeping.This is probably the main advantage I have over all you not single people. SLEEP! No one interrupts mine (except the dogs - when they are hungry or thirsty... or bored). I can go to sleep whenever I want. I can sleep all day if I want! I have no children to care for, no man waking me up wanting to - you know - "be intimate" - and now no job dictating when and for how long I sleep (at least for now - so I better enjoy it while I can...) So this Valentine's Day I'm having a love affair with sleep. I'm going to do it all I want today - whenever I want! I may take two or three naps even...  

• My dogs. 

• My family.

Circa 1982-ish

Sea World San Diego 2009 

2009

2010

2011

• My Friends.

• My hockey team.

I would LOVE to hear about some of the things you love and appreciate in your life! 
*click on the pictures for photo creds. If there is no link - they are mine.

Music For The Morning: RIP Whitney

It pains me to write these words: Whitney Houston has passed away. 


I know this is not breaking news for any of you - but I'm still processing this. It's devastating to me - as I'm sure it is to so many of you as well. 
Whitney had a strong influence upon my early years. The Bodyguard was one of my favorite movies and I love the soundtrack of the movie even more. 
Music has always been my "escape". That's why music is such a huge part of this blog. 
So as you all are watching the Grammy's and enjoying that show - I am going to dedicate this post to a woman who helped shape my formative years. A woman whose voice took me to a place of peace and happiness. And I hope that she now is in peace. Free from the troubles that plagued her for years. Free from drug addiction. Free from troubles and cares. 
I don't feel much like watching the festivities happening in LA right now. It feels wrong. I am DVR'ing them and will hopefully feel more like watching them later. The only Grammy performance I want to watch right now is this one:
 
If I should stay, I would only be in your way. 
 So I'll go, but I know I'll think of you ev'ry step of the way. 
 And I will always love you.  I will always love you. You, my darling you. 
 Bittersweet memories that is all I'm taking with me.  So, goodbye. Please, don't cry. 
 We both know I'm not what you, you need. 
 And I will always love you.  I will always love you. 
I hope life treats you kind  And I hope you have all you've dreamed of.  And I wish to you, joy and happiness.  But above all this, I wish you love.
 And I will always love you. 
 I will always love you. 
 I will always love you. 
 I will always love you. 
 I will always love you. 
 I, I will always love you. 
 You, darling, I love you. 
 Whitney, we'll always, we'll always love you.
And I'll leave you with some more of my favorite Whitney Houston songs. The songs that helped shape my world. The songs that helped shape who I am. 
Whitney - you've paid the ultimate price for what you've given to this world and I for one, will be eternally grateful. 
May you now find peace...

 
 
 
 
 
 
*click on the photos for their sources

Tomorrow is a brand new day.

Today I quit my job. 

Trust me when I say, it was long overdue.

Today is over.

There's no going back.

Tomorrow starts a new chapter in my life.

Tomorrow I move on.

Tomorrow is a brand new day.

In strong Southern Women fashion - I accept this challenge. 

I trust myself and my decisions. 

I've made the right one.

Happy 1 year blogoversary to me.

All images via.

My "Best of Instagram" - This Week...

I had a crap week and I'm glad it's over... But you can't tell that from my Instagram photos! Here's some highlights from the week....

I am going to get my passport soon for my trip to Canada. I had to dig through my baby book to find my birth certificate so I can obtain said passport. While doing so, I came across some baby pictures I hadn't seen in a while. Here's one of my favorites - my sister and I on the couch. Apparently it was ok in 1980 to put your learning-to-crawl infant on the couch for crawling practice! No way that could end badly... I brought this up in passing to the Senior Citizen - who said: "Every baby needs to fall on their head at least once - makes you tougher!" 

No Dad... it causes brain damage and likely contributes to the dumbing down of our society. (For the record, he said I didn't fall on my head on this particular occasion. He had no comment as to whether or not I had ever fallen on my head as an infant.) 

Scarlett is shedding - as showcased in the photo below. My house is covered in her hair. And my robotic vacuum is currently screaming at me in protest. "Error - open Roombas brush cage and clean brushes." 

No Roomba - I didn't buy a robotic vacuum so that I would have to stop and clean it's brushes every five minutes. Figure something out. 

I had to go to the eye doctor and get my eyes dilated. On the way home I decided the sunglasses insert they gave me made for a good fashion statement.

I got a Kermit The Frog water bottle at the grocery store that I was COMPLETELY stoked about. It says "I Love Being Green" on the back. Apparently it also loves leaking all over the inside of my purse while I'm at the eye doctor. Of which I do NOT love. Here's a picture of it prior to the point at which I discovered it's flaws. Unfortunately, I doubt very seriously that Fry's will take it back... I will also not be placing water bottles in my purse again - even when the receptionist says "Oh um... you can't have that in here."

This is my iPhone's new lock screen. Found it on one of my many iPhone wallpaper apps. It makes me laugh... I will take slide to teleport for $500 Alex.

Just a Little Patience...

"Our ultimate freedom is the right and power to decide how anybody or anything outside ourselves will affect us." ~ Stephen Covey

I like this quote a lot. I read it in yesterday morning's The Daily Love email (which, if you haven't yet - you should sign up for!). It is true. We can't control what others say or do - nor can we control any other outside force in our lives - but we can control how we react to them. How we internalize them and how or if we learn from them. 

I haven't written a good "substance" post recently. I apologize for that. Quite frankly, there hasn't been much of "substance" to report. Life is... well - life. And I am dealing with it as well as I possibly can.

Sometimes things in our lives aren't as we would desire them to be - and in that very moment we don't have the power to change them. All we can do is take the steps we are able to take toward bettering our situations. We don't get to jump ahead in the process. Change sometimes take quite some time and doesn't happen overnight. Sometimes, it does happen overnight. I unfortunately, have not been that lucky. I keep taking steps forward and dealing with the present and my reality right now as best I can. I believe that as I keep working toward my goals, they will be reached - and exceeded.

But there's this little thing called "patience" that we need in order to make it through the times in our lives like these, I have patience but not for this. I am patient with my clients at work, I am patient with my friends, but when it comes to things in my life that directly affect me, I want what I want when I want it! 

But I'm working on it... And I continue to be a work in progress...

I'm certain this all sounds rather opaque to you all. I can't really explain it right now - but soon you'll be updated on my life in full, I promise :)

What are your personal strengths? Is patience one of your many virtues? 

I can't seem to get enough of Christina Perri lately. I purchased her latest album from iTunes and have it playing constantly it seems. I'm totally loving this song right now...



If you're a Twilight fan (I'm not, particularly - my sister FORCES me to watch ;) watch this version: