Friday, August 31, 2007

Too Good to Pass Up

... Or Odds-I'll-Retain-Child-Custody-ville
Britney Spears, asked if she had Broadway aspirations: I would rather start out somewhere small, like London or England...

Overheard by: Denise


via Celebrity Wit, Aug 31, 2007

Happiness Challenge-Day 31

I'm happy I did this challenge. It's made me think, each day, about happiness, what I'm happy about. It's been good practice for life.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Happiness Challenge Redux-Day 30

A Crazy Blonde's Sweet Dreams Can Be So Wrong
Jessica Simpson: I aspire to be Patsy Cline.

Overheard by: heffalumpalicious


via Celebrity Wit, Aug 30, 2007

Happiness Challenge-Day 30

I hear rain coming!

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Happiness Challenge-Day 29

A three-day weekend on the horizon. After the first few days of this work week, that's bordering on ecstasy.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Happiness Challenge-Day 28

As this is winding down to the end of August, I must admit there's been more than a time or two when I was initially stumped when trying to determine something to be happy about. And I reckon there's been a post or two that has come across as trite or silly.

But every one of them was true, in regards to my happiness, either for that moment or that day or even for the foreseeable future.

For today, I'm just happy. Happy to be here. Yep. Happy to be here.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Happiness Challenge-Day 27

I'm sure happy this work day is over. It's entirely too banal to discuss. And redundant, frankly, since most of y'all have jobs & I'm sure we've all figured out by this point there's crap at every job.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Someone

I'm proud as hell to call a friend.

Happiness Challenge-Day 26

I'm happy the cat-bathing ritual is over for the month. Actually, the kittie and I are always both happy with the outcome, it's the process that practically kills both of us.

Makes for a good aerobic activity, though.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Happiness Challenge-Day 25

It's raining! A nice, steady rain that is turning my yard to goop. Yay! Which means it's cooler, too. :->

There is

an itch, of sorts. A whisper, if you will, at the edges of my mind. The time is near for a decision.


Where do I go from here?

Friday, August 24, 2007

These


are the first of my 'preparing for fall' purchases. From JC Penney & they're even cooler looking in person.
I ordered them online & when I do that, I have the stuff shipped to the office. Which means everyone's all 'what'd you get, show us what you got'. I pulled them out & slipped them on, prompting one of the gals to say:
"You a ho."
They are a bit...much, but I don't think they're ho-much. More like, naughty secretary. Wonder what she'll think when I wear them with my new black pencil skirt & hose with the seam up the back. And a blouse or sweater, of course.

Happiness Challenge-Day 24

That silly Fruit-O-The-Loom commercial w/ Vince Gill where they croon "No castle in the South of France, but what we had was underpants." It tickles me.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Happiness Challenge-Day 23

My pay increase showed up in my check today.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Happiness Challenge-Day 22

I write for the local newspaper & I mostly cover town council meetings and hospital board meetings. It makes the geeky policy wonk in me happy to be able to boil a forty-minute report on a town's financial situation down to a crisp, well-written paragraph that gives folks in the community a snapshot of what their elected officials are doing with the tax money.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Happiness Challenge-Day 21

Braves win two in a row! Yaay!!

Monday, August 20, 2007

Happiness Challenge-Day 20

As the 100-degree days continue, I'm happy I have working air conditioning.

Sunday, August 19, 2007

The Chateau Elan

Sauvignon Blanc went down smooth with some oven-roasted salmon fillets & a black bean & shoe peg corn mixture.

I'd like it (the Sauvignon Blanc) to be a bit crisper, but it's got a nice, buttery texture of its own I'm really digging.

Happiness Challenge-Day 19

Yesterday I headed up the road* to Chateau Elan to meet up with some of my widda friends. It's a lovely place, great buffet at The Versailles. I can also recommend Paddy's Pub, where they are not stingy with the margaritas, and the Winery's Pinot Noir. I'll review the Sauvignon Blanc later...today.

Most of us there were at least a year or more out on this journey, but there were two fellows who were 5-6 months out. Both of them said they'd almost backed out, but made themselves come** and both said they enjoyed just laughing and being at ease in a group that could completely understand their situation.

How does this relate to happiness? Well, I was surely happy to get home after being in traffic with Georgia drivers (egad!) and I was happy to see friends I've made along the way on this journey and to make new ones.

*And thank you Mapquest for taking me down every country road in the vicinity of Athens, GA when I could have hit 441 and taken a straight shot as I discovered on the return trip--but it was some pretty countryside to look at.

**A feeling every one of us 'vets' confirmed to them. My first get-together was in Greenville last October & I had pretty much talked myself out of going by the time I rolled into G-town. Made myself go anyway and as Mr. Frost said, it has made all the difference.

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Happiness Challenge-Day 18

I'm happy to be home. More tomorrow.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Happiness Challenge-Day 17

This one made me laugh out loud, which counts, I think. I love everything about this. The incorrect and over-use of commas, the attempt at snarkery that only serves to make her look dumb and bitchy. Haven't we all worked with this chick at some point?

ETA: But then one surfs a bit further and discovers this. Don't suppose it's the same chick, do you?

Oh.My.Dear.God



Somebody please help this child.

[Photo: infdaily.com]

ETA: See, one of the first things I do when trying on an outfit is to test whether any bits show when I raise my arms (and by bits on middle-aged, roundly-figured me, I mean any portion of my tummy). Even with her arms down, there's a pretty good opportunity for folks to see London and France.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Happiness Challenge-Day 16

And maybe this should be filed under 'guilty pleasures' too.

Reruns of JAG on USA network every morning. Oh how I love that show. And while I dig me some David James Elliot, I wouldn't throw the Admiral out of bed for eating crackers, either.

ETA: Let's not forget the Gunny.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Happiness Challenge-Day 15

A new post from my friend poopie.

Oh, and a fresh manicure.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Happiness Challenge-Day 14

I'm happy that the fabulous Tim Gunn is returning to Bravo on September 6th. Gives a girl something to look forward to during these summer doldrums.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Happiness Challenge-Day 13

This may not be in the spirit of the challenge, but here it is. I'm happy the teachers/staff only come back to school once a year. Any more often than that & I don't think I could take it.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Happiness Challenge-Day 12

A nice cup of lemon ginger tea to sooth my poor sore throat.

If today was a work day, I'm willing to bet my laryngitis would make some others happy.

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Happiness Challenge-Day 11

Nice little storm moving in and a break in the week-long heat wave forecast for tomorrow. Yay.

Friday, August 10, 2007

Happiness Challenge-Day 10

Thank you for this day we have not seen before and will not see again.

Clearly a Movie I've

spent entirely too much time watching, let alone thinking about:

'The Devil Wears Prada', about life as an assistant to the icy, flinty, impossible editor of the fashion magazine, 'Runway', Miranda Priestley.

Now Meryl Streep? She is delicious* in this movie, from the way she quietly bites off "That's all." when she's done stripping the flesh from some poor underling to the sheer magnitude of her annoyance that is revealed when she purrs out "Why is no one ready?" drawling out ready until it becomes almost an epithet during a session to determine a magazine cover. She never raises her voice, yet she scares the poo right out of everyone. Including me.

Having said that, the protagonist, Andy, played with wide-eyed, dewy innocence by Anne Hathaway, needs to be slapped. She is the epitome of today's over-indulged, everybody gets a trophy 20-something who thinks they're supposed to be petted and their self-esteem bolstered every time they...do their job.

Don't get me started about her friends. Frankly, the best thing she could do is leave that bunch in the dust. Early on in the movie, she meets them for dinner, bringing a crapload of free bling she's scored from her job. Her girlfriend immediately knows the handbag is a Marc Jacobs and how much it costs, yet continually sneers at Andy's job and her increasing interest and fascination with the fashion industry. Two-faced, hypocritical snot.

And how does Andy leave this soul-sucking job that has robbed her of all of her integrity (petit larceny, to be sure)? By walking off from her boss during a work event and tossing her one assumes work-provided Blackberry into a fountain. After which, she scores a great job with a newspaper, because Miranda has sent the perfect reference for her. Gaa!

*I want Meryl's shoulders. And the perfect gray hair she sports in this flick.

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Happiness Challenge-Day 9

This site might not make me happy technically, but it sure tickles me.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Oh My

it's just miserable hot here. I've actually pushed the thermostat up, because my poor air conditioning system has been running about non-stop for the last twenty-four hours. And it's gotten rather warmish here in the house since then.

The word of the day? Still. As in: "I'm sittin' still. It's too hot to live."

Happiness Challenge-Day 8

Mmmm....Bacon.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Happiness Challenge-Day 7

How nice to come home to my pretty little calico kitty. She's waiting at the door for me every day.

Of course, she's also loudly declaiming for me to get it in gear and give her her afternoon share of Fancy Feast. But I like to think the first words out of her mouth are: "Hi mommy, I missed you." Followed immediately of course by "Now get me my treat, bitch."

Monday, August 6, 2007

Happiness Challenge-Day 6

My sporty little Chevy Cobalt came standard with a remote start. I can start the car from my office. This makes me happy in many ways, but on a day like today where it hit 101 degrees at 2:20 p.m., I'm particularly happy because the car was already cooling off as I got in to head home.

Sunday, August 5, 2007

I'm Ambivalent

The Braves have already won today; the Mets play the Cubbies in about an hour. If the Mets lose, the Braves move to three games back in the NL East. But Tommy Glavine is on the mound for the Mets and tonight could be his 300th win.

Even though Tommy's not in a Braves uniform anymore, I still love him & I want to see him get to 300 and beyond (partly because he may well be the last major league pitcher to get to that achievement, with injuries and the way they constrict guys on pitch counts these days. But not on a night when my Bravos could move up a game, with a three-game series against the Mets coming up on Tuesday.

Baseball was designed to break my heart.

8/6/07: ETA Tommy won! Which means the Mets won, which means the Braves didn't move an inch. But, Yay for Tommy!

August Happiness Challenge-Day 5

This happened yesterday, but I'm still right tickled about it today so it counts. Because I say so.

While at The Gap trying 18 blue million pairs of jeans (and as annoying, perspiration-producing & nose-running inducing as this task is, you realla gotta try on that many pair to get to the right ones), I demurred over a particular pair of jeans because I didn't think they were 'age-appropriate'. The sales gal who was helping me said, "Why would you think that? They're perfectly appropriate for a lady your age. You can't be more than 35*, right?"

When I told her I was 45, she appeared genuinely floored. And yes, I bought the rockin' jeans that probably are somewhat age-inappropriate. I think I look damn good in them.


*Maybe that's why I can't get a date with a guy I think is in my age range. They think I'm too young for them. Yea, that's the story I'll stick with for the next couple of weeks.

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Gave the new

FX show, Damages, a looksee this afternoon.

I was figuring it was a can't miss: Glenn Close as a flinty, take-no-prisoners lawyer, Ted Danson playing the CEO of a firm that financially imploded, leaving former employees broke a la Ken Lay/Enron, and Zeljko Ivanek as his lawyer (sort of John Malkovich-lite. Loved him ever since he played DA Danvers on Homicide).

Except, not so much. Spoiler Alert! if you've TiVoed/DVR'd it-stop reading now: There's a character who is key to Glenn Close's lawsuit against Ted Danson, but she won't roll over. Until she finds her puppy dead in her kitchen. Turns out Glenn's character had it done.

First of all, I don't do dead or mistreated pets (turned off Will Farrell's 'Anchorman after the totally not funny scene where Jack Black kicks the dog off the bridge-seriously, wtf? I'd have been kicking Jack Black's ass off that bridge) and second of all, way to ruin Glenn's character right off the bat. She can't win unless she's all underhanded and cold, evil bitch and crap like that? Lazy, lazy, lazy writing & plotting.

Happiness Challenge Post-Day 4

Scored two pairs of jeans that fit great! A pair from The Gap and a pair of Ralph Lauren (dressier, dark rinse) from TJ Maxx. Yaay!

Friday, August 3, 2007

August Happiness Challenge-Day 3

It's a 'school supply' sales tax holiday here this weekend!

Gonna indulge my 'office supplies' addiction. Been jonesin' for some new Sharpies.

And I'll probably buy some shoes. 'Cause you know, girls and shoes.


ETA: Saving this spree for Sunday: OfficeMax will be having a 15% 'fill-up-the-bag' deal. No Sales Tax and a sale at the office supply store? Makes my ole heart go pitter-patter.

Thursday, August 2, 2007

August Happiness Challenge-Day 1

Pretend I posted this yesterday:

My late husband had a 1-carat diamond ring in a yellow gold setting. It was too obviously a man's ring for me to get away with wearing it as it was. Besides, it was a little big on me and I'm not really a fan of yellow gold.

It's been in my jewelry box since he passed away & I got to thinking about here in the past few weeks. I had three choices: leave it hidden away in the jewelry box or sell it (because even if I ever do meet someone else, I wouldn't give it to that person to wear) or have it remade into something pretty for me to wear.

Which is what I did. I had the stone put into a white gold, filigree setting--I wanted something antique/estate ring looking and that's what I found. My jeweler did a beautiful job resetting the stone; he's really an artisan in his work. They called me Tuesday to tell me it was ready. I picked the ring up yesterday and have been wearing it ever since.

And how does this relate to a daily 'happiness' post? Because I've come to the realization in the past little while that I've been 'happier' since I've had the ring on. I moved my wedding band to my right hand May of last year and stopped wearing it altogether back in January*. There's something about this ring--I feel connected to my late, beloved husband without feeling as if I'm trying to unrealistically cling to something that no longer exists. Plus it's pretty.


*The only thing I can say about taking it off is...it was the right time for me. I've not given it a second thought since I took it off.

Discovered this

challenge in a roundabout way.

Of course, I'm already behind, but better late than never, so here's my first 'August Happiness Challenge' post...on August 2nd:

The Braves made some brilliant moves on trade deadline day, picking up Mark Teixeira and deepening the bullpen*. Mets & Phillies, here we come!


*I will save the comcomitant sadness in Julio Franco being designated for assignment & placed on waivers due to the trade for September.