Old & New

Her Hair!

I love it! 
I also thoroughly enjoyed the dancing in this video.

Life imitates art - or vice versa...

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Current Obsession:

{well - its morning to me at least. night shift - nuff said}
Current Obsession:  P!nk's new album The Truth About Love I've always loved P!nk & her music - she's gotten me through some bad times and some good ones. I have to admit though - this album title boasts a hefty claim. The truth about love? I was hoping to gain some insight into the subject... I didn't. 
Oh well.

I think...

I think if I could have any job in the world, I'd want to be an old time Saloon Girl... Or maybe just play one in a movie. Yes, that sounds like a much better idea.

Music for the Morning

Stand.

1000 miles seems pretty far...

 

We all want the same thing...

I'm on a Rihanna kick again. 

Which happens frequently, as you'll know if you read my blog often. I already played you my favorite song from her new album. This one has emerged as my second favorite. 

It exudes a sense of universal human-ness. We all want the same thing - we all want love... 

We all 

We all 

We all 

We all 

We all 

I can pretend that I'm not lonely but I'll be constantly foolin' myself 

I can pretend that it don't matter but I'll be sittin' here lyin' to myself 

Some say love ain't worth the buck 

But I'll give every dime I have left 

To have what I've only been dreaming about 

Everybody wants something 

Gotta want something 

What are you living for? 

Everybody needs something 

Fighting for something 

I know what you're fighting for 

('Cause we all) 

We all want someone there to hold 

(We just want somebody) 

We all wanna be somebody's one and only 

We all wanna be warm when it's cold 

(Yeah yeah) 

No one wants to be left scared and lonely 

We all 

We all 

We all 

We all 

We all 

We all want the same thing 

We all 

We all 

We all 

We all 

We all 

We all want the same thing 

We all 

We all 

We all 

We all 

We all 

We all want the same thing 

Everybody wants something 

Gotta want something  

Yeah yeah 

We all want love 

I'm able to close my eyes yeah 

My heart's not so blind 

I feel so entitled 

Love owes me 

I want what's mine 

And some say love ain't worth the buck 

But I'll give my last dime 

To have what I've only been dreaming about 

Everybody wants something 

Gotta want something 

What are you living for? 

Everybody needs something 

Fighting for something 

I know what you're fighting for 

('Cause we all) 

We all want someone there to hold 

(We just want somebody) 

We all wanna be somebody's one and only 

We all wanna be warm when it's cold 

(Yeah yeah yeah) 

No one wants to be left scared and lonely 

We all 

We all 

We all 

We all 

We all 

We all want the same thing 

We all 

We all 

We all 

We all 

We all 

We all want the same thing 

We all 

We all 

We all 

We all 

We all 

We all want the same thing 

Everybody wants something 

Gotta want something 

We all want love 

Yeah yeah 

We all want love

Penguins.

when an emperor penguin finds a mate 

they stay together forever

if one is to die 

the other will never want another...

 

will you be my penguin?

love stinks!

Happy Monday! 
I was just bitching on Facebook about men - then I saw Ms Dolly's tweet about her MMMM blog hop and I thought - I haven't been able to do that in a while, I should do it today... 
And what do you know - today's theme is wedding songs! 
*grumbles*This is how I really feel...

But hell, I'll play along! Here are some songs you might hear at my wedding...

For my bridesmaids entrances:

When I was a teenager, I swore this song would always be on my wedding playlist... It probably still will be - because it will more than likely irritate the CRAP out of the poor chap I decide to marry.

Had they not played this song in that Twilight movie, I'd totally pick it for a wedding song. But the whole Twilight thing ruins it for me...

And this song - I just LOVE this song!

I LOVE HER!!!

I go through phases of music fixation, typically fixating on certain artists. I just recently went through Adele, Rhianna and Sugarland fixations. Now I'm onto Carrie Underwood. Not only is her music amazing... 

So is her hair:

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And her fashion sense:

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This one is my all time fav. She looks like a PRINCESS!!!

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Plus she has fantastic taste in men. Hockey players are my favorite too, Carrie!

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Right now I'm completely obsessed with this song. Yes, it's older... but my music fixations know no time limits. Nor do they care what is popular at the current time... 

*whew*

I am so behind on everything right now that I hardly know my ass from a hole in the ground....

First let me catch you up to speed:

• I am down to only one job now - at the hospital. They have offered me a full time position on my preferred shift and I gladly accepted. Driving all over creation and working more hours a day than not is definitely not my style. I like to have my "me" time.

• My hockey team just advanced to the 2nd round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. They haven't been past the first round in the playoffs since they arrived in Phoenix. In fact - the last time they made it to the 2nd round of the playoffs was in 1987 - when the team was still in Winnipeg and I was 8 and had no idea hockey was awesome yet. So - yah, it's kind of a big deal... 

• I have also been able to catch up on my reading a bit and have finally gotten to finish reading Tara Brooke's Beautiful Ambition. What a fabulous read! I'm happy to be able to offer some of you a copy my friends! My review and giveaway post will be up within the next few days. So be on the look-out for that.

• My Canada trip had to be postponed. The whole job thing made it difficult to do. I'll just get to go later in the year instead!

I think that pretty much sums up the highlights... Now for some music! I think I've found my summer soundtrack... Jason Mraz's latest - Love is a Four Letter Word. Here's a preview:

First & foremost m'dears...

Happy Cadbury Creme Egg season! 

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Look - you can even make cupcakes out of them...

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Tell me that ain't epic... 
I think I just had a creme egg-gasm. Heh... gross.
Anywho. I have exciting news - as if Cadbury Creme Egg season wasn't enough - I have a surprise for youuuuuuuuuuuuu.......

I have FOUR copies of this book to giveaway to you lucky Belle of The Desert readers! It's kinda my way of saying thanks for reading my nonsense regularly :) 
Now, as soon as I get these two papers written, complete my quiz for this week, and find some time in between my two full time jobs to sit down and read this book - I will review it and we'll have a giveaway! Sleep is for the weak, eh?
Now, if you'll excuse me - I've just gotten home from job numeros dos and I am exhausted. So in typical Belle of the Desert fashion, I'll leave you with a song... Music for your morning - which happens to be my evening. I think... I'm working such crazy hours these days I don't know what is what! Good night/morning loves! I'm off to write a paper!

 

Porcelain in a Paper Cup World

Note***That title has absolutely nothing to do with this post. But it's my favorite quote from the song below. Whatch the video. It's epic.***




My first week of work went quite well. In fact - it went unexpectedly well. The company I'm working for is sooooo much better than the last one! They care about their employees and their clients. It's quite refreshing after what I had to put up with over the past 4 years. There's potential for growth and far more room for personal creativity. There's also no helicopter boss. That's the best part. I'm free to do my job and I do it well. 
The 2nd best part is that we don't accept Medicaid. These people are responsible for paying for their own drug addiction treatment. This means that most of them are there because they actually WANT to get sober. Not because they've been court ordered to get sober or because the heroin supply is running dry. We have a few exceptions - but for the most part the clientele is far better. After 4 years of entitled Medicaid patients, I am overjoyed to be working with a different population. 
Now don't get me wrong - I don't have a problem with people who are on Medicaid... temporarily. But I DO think that it would only be fair for the government to drug test them before they are approved for it. And randomly tested from there on out. I have to be drug tested before I can get a job to pay my taxes to pay for their Medicaid. Fair is fair. What's that you say? They are protected by the Americans with Disability Act? I have a disability too. I'm fucking crazy. But I still get up and go to work every day. 
Now that I've gotten that out of my system... How about some music?
  

I best tidy up my head...

I am contemplating cancelling my trip to Toronto in May. At least, I'd like to anyway...

I purchased the non-refundable airline tickets. I anticipated myself wanting to cancel this trip and I was trying to head myself off at the pass. 
In retrospect, that was dumb. REALLY dumb. 
Why put myself into a position in which I have no choice but to go see a Boy who appears to be completely unconcerned with whether I come to visit him or not? There's the yoga retreat of course - which is the reason I wanted to go in the first place. But what am I going to do with the rest of the week? 
I don't want to go. 
Instead I could go to some gorgeous tropical island and have a cabana boy bring me fruity drinks in coconut shells with pretty pink umbrellas... or go home to visit my family back in Georgia... and take them all to those gorgeous Florida beaches I am missing so much... or better yet - take my niece to meet them all AND go to those gorgeous Florida beaches I am missing so much... or buy myself a new friggin' wardrobe... or go on a cruise... 
But no, I get to spend my week of vacation time this year in Toronto. Like it or not. With or without The Boy. I'm leaning toward without.
Now I think I may be spending some time on the phone with the airline trying to convince them to give me my money back... 
I simply don't think that I should spend so much money and time going on a trip to see someone who seems to simply not that care much either way... 
I have far better things to do with my time and money.

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.