FOBTY and Halloween

What Your Cute Monster Says About You

You are a simply happy person. You still view the world with a childlike innocence. You have an easy going attitude, and you value harmony. You love freely and inspire others to love. You inner demon is frailty. You are easily beaten down by life. People think you're cute because you are optimistic. Your outlook on life is charming.

The Cute Monster Test

Halloween is here and I get the excitement of wanting to see the little kiddies in their costumes. I do fear this year that I do not have enough candy. Will it be the madhouse it was last year considering that this year it is falling on a Friday? Will Jon end up eating the candy and then there's too little?
At work we are having a food day. Once again, I overdo it a bit - but at least Lois was looking out for ways to reduce what I signed up for. So I only made deviled eggs (supposed to be "bloodshot eyes, but it didn't quite work that way), Nana's apple cake, and 2 breakfast casseroles (one with bread, and one with hash browns), plus I'm bringing some apples because I bought way too many....

My Kind of Pumpkin & My Top 10 List

What Your Jack-o-Lantern Says

You tend to be a goofy, optimistic person. You enjoy Halloween more than anyone else you know. This Halloween be as silly as you can - dress up as a giant version of a small object The candy you should give out: laffy taffy

The Jack-o-Lantern Quiz

So that was for the FOBTY at the Sweet Shoppe. But on the boards, they are discussing "the list" - a list of 10 men (usually celebrity) that you would be able to kiss without getting into trouble with your hubby if the chance should ever come up (which is usually a snowball's chance in Hades). So here's my list of 5 out of 10 (not necessarily in order of hotness):
Matthew McConaughey
Hugh Jackman
Clive Owen
Ioan Gruffud
Keanu Reeves

Halloween candy quiz & the job hunt

Halloween Candy Quiz





You are a Chocolate Bar


Like the chocolate bar you are naughty but oh so good


Find out which Halloween Candy you are at Quizopolis.com

Is it really a surprise that I'm chocolate? Hahaha, no.

So the job hunt has officially started. I met with a recruiter yesterday and another today. My feet hurt because today's was downtown and I had to walk quite a few blocks in my 3" heels. Ugh! So, one step forward in the search. Now to wait to hear from either of them. The one yesterday, Messina, already thinks they might have a lead or two with one of my target companies. Crossing my fingers.....

Ice Cream Personality

This week's FOBTY is all about ice cream - yum!!! And you know, it wasn't too far from the truth...

Your Ice Cream Personality:

You like to think of yourself as a fairly modest person. And it's true that you don't talk yourself up... but you're also pretty happy with who you are. You are incredibly cautious. You rather miss out on something than make a mistake. No one would ever call you wild... but they would call you responsible. You are a fairly open minded person with a wide range of tastes. You are quite accepting of unusual ideas and people. You tend to have a one track mind. You prefer not to multitask. You can be a big dramatic and over the top sometimes. You are bold in every way

The Ice Cream Personality Test

Another job I'd fail at....

For the FOBTY this week, the topic is typing speed. I already knew that I was not meant to be a waitress (too clumsy and I have the track record to prove it) nor a teacher (I don't have patience for people who don't learn something immediately). Well now I know I am not meant to be a secretary nor any other profession that requires you to have fast typing skills. Here are the results from my typing test:

31 words

Typing Test

Yes, I suck.

FOBTY and What a Week!!

First, the FOBTY of the week. Vampires - yes, vampires. Really. Nice to know that I could be a vampire if I had to.

You Could Be a Vampire... If You Had To

Like most people, the thought of being a vampire has crossed your mind. But you're not sure if you'd do it, even if you could. Living forever doesn't sound half bad, if you could live forever with the people you love the most. But do vampires even love? And would the vampire version of you even be you? It's all too much to contemplate. Luckily, the chances of you ever becoming a vampire are astronomically low. What you would like best about being a vampire: Living forever What you would like least about being a vampire: Blood stained teeth

Could You Be a Vampire?

So, what a week this has been. Friday and Saturday and Sunday morning was spent in front of the TV (when I wasn't out running errands) watching the coverage of Hurricane Ike hitting Galveston and Houston. As of today we have not heard from Jon's mom who lived over near the Greens Bayou section of Houston (on the East side). He did see there was a report on the Houston website that there was extensive damage to that section. His best friend April (who lived near the NASA area) evacuated before the storm and so was fine, his other friend waited it out in the Woodlands (and they should be fine), and my boss (up in the Northwest just outside Houston) made it out fine with only a day and a half of power outage.
So all the way up here in Ohio we were hearing about Ike and the damage it was causing, all the time unaware how we were going to get hit with Ike's fury. Sunday afternoon Ike hit with winds between 50-84 mph. We lost parts of several of our trees and had they fallen any differently we would have had some major damage to our house. But we didn't; instead, we were without power from 2pm Sunday afternoon to close to 10pm Tuesday night. Mom never lost power so we were able to put our frozen goods at her place but our refirgerator was warm by the time Monday morning hit and so we had to toss everything out. Thank goodness I didn't do the grocery shopping on Sunday morning like I had originally planned. But there was still a lot of food wasted. Ugh. We ended up getting a hotel for Tuesday night before the power had gone on again. We had a good meal Monday night (at my mom's place for my birthday) and Tuesday night (ate out at a restaurant thanks to being reimbursed by insurance), but the rest of the meals were crap - cheese & crackers for Sunday night dinner, a bagel for lunch, etc.
Yeah. So a happy birthday to me - spent dumping stinky food in the garbage, helping with tree & debris disposal. And I wasn't able to play with my presents. I got my Adobe PSE 6 and a companion book, but couldn't load the software because besides having no electric, there's something wrong with my USB ports on my computer. I couldn't wear the clothes mom got me because I wasn't going in to work. I couldn't log the stamps I got because we had no power and the stamp books were in the dark basement. And mom got me a salad chopper, which of course we have no food in the house to chop. At least it didn't top my worst birthday ever (my 27th birthday). And at least I got to play with my early birthday present - my new Zune player- which I am loving! And I did finish knitting my felted bag, though I couldn't wash it to do the felting yet. That'll be this coming weekend....

Will the Real Me Stand Up?

I am pretty much who I show to the world. Most of my co-workers know that I am a heavy-metal-loving, scrapbooking-and-knitting, messy (but not gross), smart but slightly ditzy girl. I am very open about myself, though I do hold back only on things that I know that they really don't want to hear - I wouldn't hold back though if they cared to hear. And most people are open with me because they know that I am open-minded and willing to accept and understand differences of lifestyles or opinions. That's why my staunchly republican co-worker is comfortable talking politics with me (but I don't hear him debating with anyone else) even though I'm primarily Democrat. He doesn't mind talking to me about his classes he's taking to become a Catholic advisor, even though I'm not in the least Catholic. And he knows I'll be open about my opinions but will also listen, truly listen, to his. And I'm that way with anyone. I do hold back with my husband sometimes, but it is only because a lot of times he gets bent out of shape about things and I just don't like to deal with the aftermath. And I am comfortable with who I am - there are a couple things I want to change, but they are things I want to change for me - not for anyone else.
So the FOBTY quiz results were no surprise:

You Are 85% Real

There's hardly a person on this earth more real than you are. You have no problem showing people who you are, flaws and all. For you, there couldn't be any other way. Because it's way too stressful to live an inauthentic life. You're very comfortable with yourself. And because of this, you're able to live an exciting, interesting, and challenging life.

How Real Are You?

Well, it's also the 7th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The more time passes, the more it seems like a distant nightmare, but I do still remember where I was and who was lost. I say a little prayer for my Mom & Dad's close friend who lost his brother in the attacks. I'll never forget it, but it isn't constantly in the forefront of my mind like it used to be. I can never forget all those who were lost from all walks of life, including the brave ones who knew what was going on and fought back only to lose their lives in Pennsylvania. Or those who went in trying to save others in the WTC and lost their own lives. People who knowingly put themselves in harm's way to save others, not just those who never knew what was happening. And I always shudder thinking of the moments that each of the towers fell, the iconic buildings symbolizing the end of a type of innocence for this country.
I have to admit it kind of bothered me this morning when I heard that there are some groups that believe that Al Quaeda did not execute the attacks on the US on that day, but rather the US did it to themseves to create an excuse to invade Iraq. I can understand why the sentiment exists though. Bush was just so eager to jump into Iraq even though most of the planners were (and still are) in Afghanistan because as Jon says "the Iraqis tried to kill his Daddy". But I think a more plausible conspiracy theory would be that yes Al Quaeda did plan and execute the attacks but the Prez did nothing to prevent it and they would give him the excuse to attack. Not that I really believe that's what really happened, but it is more plausible than the other. Honestly I think they did plan and attack us, we knew about it but that the hubris our government has (that we are invincible and all-powerful) stopped any action we might have taken to prevent it. And I think we attacked Iraq in part because of the attempt on GH Bush's life, part because of the proximity to oil, and part because of the embarrasment of being caught with our pants down (so to speak) with being attacked by people to whom we provided supplies and training. Our goverment (at least the current administration) refuses to admit that it makes mistakes now and then in their policies towards other countries and cultures. That is one of the things that makes other countries' people hate us (or just dislike us) so much. Why can't we say yes, we make mistakes but let's just fix it the right way? I love my country, but there are a lot of flaws to it. Oh well. I've spouted off too much, but isn't that what a blog is for?

FOBTY - Crayola Crayon Colors

So I took the quiz and according the quiz I am a coloring genius - even though I had 26 wrong guesses for the 4 colors (but doing the math each of them had 4 potential answers which means I had 10% wrong answers). The ones I mostly got wrong were those Kid's Colors - yikes! There were even a couple of regular colors that threw me for a loop - you know, like macaroni and cheese - I would have remembered that color if they had had it when I was a kid. Or one of the purple colors - I saw eggplant and remembered the Olive Garden (or was it Romano's Macaroni Grill?) had that color on their tables, so I guessed - and oops, wrong answer. I have to admit it was nice to see that some of the old color names have stuck instead of trying to make all of them "funky" or au courant.

Spelling Test - FOBTY

I'm usually pretty good at spelling - in fact I don't use spell-check and I'm usually finding spelling errors in my colleagues' and boss' work (in fact my boss Charles usually asks me to check his presentations for errors, in particular spelling, because he knows how meticulous I am). And if I'm not100% sure, I look it up in the dictionary (always handy). So I was a little surprised by these findings:

Your Common Spelling Mistake Score: 90% Correct

Your spelling is excellent. You don't fall for common spelling pitfalls, and you spell almost everything correctly.

Do You Make Common Spelling Mistakes?

Why am I surprised? Because that score would indicate I got 2 wrong. I went back and checked all the words in the dictionary against how I answered and I only got 1 wrong (which I would have looked up in the dictionary to be sure if I had actually used it). The rest I answered correctly - so I should have had 95% (I am also good at math). Now grammar (particularly run-on sentences) is a whole other story, lol.

Who was I in High School?

Well, according to the quiz:

You Were the Brainy Kid

In high school, you were acing AP classes or hanging out in the computer lab. You may have been a bit of a geek back then, but now you're a total success!

Who Were You In High School?

Truly, for me, the quiz is deceiving. First of all, I was not considered one of the "brainy kids" in my class - I was around 18th, but in a class of 28. And it was a prep school, so everybody was "brainy". As for popularity, I certainly wasn't popular, but my social stigma was mostly due to having both my parents working at the school, my father being the assistant headmaster. So I kind of was secluded, in my own little world. I think the quiz was geared more to public school students or those with larger class sizes, where there were social cliques (there weren't really any in my school - the most you could "clique" people into were those who were more involved with arts as extra-curricular, and those who did sports, mostly because they met at the same time so you had to choose one or another in a given season, and even sometimes those lines were blurred for some).

New Englander, through and through

For the From Our Blog to Yours, we have a quiz regarding accents. I know I have a New England accent, but not Bostonian nor New York City. Relatively neutral for a New England accent, you know? So here's the quiz results to prove it...

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Northeast   Judging by how you talk you are probably from north Jersey, New York City, Connecticut or Rhode Island. Chances are, if you are from New York City (and not those other places) people would probably be able to tell if they actually heard you speak.
Philadelphia
The Inland North
The Midland
Boston
The South
The West
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Make Me Happy

Well, I'm kind of down and out today. Yesterday I was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection and given antibiotics and cough syrup. Cough syrup works great, but I end up feeling worse because overnight a sinus infection kicked in. Can't a girl get a break? It's bad enough that it's painful to swallow, I can't talk above a low whisper and my shoulder is aching from all the coughing I've been doing. Need there be more? I will get better - I have to.
So what makes me happy even when I'm down & out? Thinking back to happy childhood memories generally makes me happy. Like this:


or this:


The other happy thing? Well, I've been doing a "Biggest Loser" contest for the last couple of weeks. Started slow since last week Jon and I were on vacation, but this week in spite of the illness, I have been going like gangbusters - I think I've lost 5 pounds alone this week. I'm certainly not going to complain about that....

Opinions Wanted

OK, I did my first set of papers and I also did one element this weekend. I'd been playing around with doing papers for quite some time and have done a few just for the fun of it. But this one I went for broke - I created matching solids and patterns. I really like them, well except for the paper with the multicolor flourishes - I'm not too fond of that one. I also created a little car element to go with it; maybe I'll create more elements, I don't know.
I did use for the papers commercial-use overlays by Amanda Rockwell to give them more texture, but the patterns are all me. I also used the gel effect from Atomic Cupcake on the car element.




At any rate, I would love anyone's opinion on these - what can I do to improve? Which papers aren't so great in your opinion and which are good? Would you buy these (not that I'm selling these). I'm of course looking for constructive criticism. Thanks!

Fridge Test

We are now doing a quiz at the Sweet Shoppe to see what our fridge says about us...

What Your Fridge Says About You

You like to be surrounded by things you love. You aren't exactly greedy, but you can be materialistic at times. You are a very thrifty person. You don't like to waste money... or food. You don't tend to be a very adventurous person, but you do surprise everyone now and then. You have a bit of a wild side. You try to be responsible, but you don't always succeed. Your heart is in the right place though. You are likely to be married - and very busy.

What Do the Contents of Your Refrigerator Say About You?

It's pretty accurate, I'd say...

Nerd Alert!!! I am Uber Cool Nerd Queen!

OMG! OK, so the FOBTY this week is Nerdiness score. I'd like to think of myself as somewhat of a nerd, not a complete and an utter nerd. Boy was I wrong! Per the test, I am a SUPREME NERD! Was it because I knew the scientists pictured or my periodic table or the fact that I took upper level college mathematics? Or is it because I know my IP address or think that "researcher" sounds like a neat job? Who knows. But, wow, I'm REALLY a nerd. Good thing they don't have a spazz test - I'd totally rock that one, lol.





I guess that's why I love watching "Revenge of the Nerds" over and over again. I get it, totally. And Gilbert was cute! Maybe I should get a life... nah, I like the one I've got. A lot of people went to school with must have been nerds too. My Dad certainly was - I know he would have known those scientists and his periodic table; he always got great grades (much better than mine), and he was Mensa material (I've tested well on those Mensa tests too).

Oh so I go back to the test and take the level 2 test to find out what kind of nerd I am. Here goes....

Vacation Needed

So Angela at the Sweet Shoppe is asking - if money was no object, where would our dream vacation spot be. What a tough question, because for me it would not just be one spot. Really, I would travel all over the place. If husband was in tow, it would only be to English-speaking countries (Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, South Africa, India, Australia and New Zealand). But if I had to pick one spot, I think it would depend on my mood. If I'm in an energetic let's do stuff mood/mode, I would say New York City. Expensive, but so much to do and see. If I'm in a let's retreat from the world and just utterly relax mood/mode, I think it would be back to a cabin in the middle of the Great Smoky Mountains.

Of course I realized last weekend that every weekend needs to be three days. By the time you do errands, housework, yard work, etc. the weekend is almost over - thus a third day is needed for the true relaxation. Of course this was a lazy weekend - didn't do much except scrap - part because we both expected it to rain all weekend (but it didn't). And I really should have gotten some work done. Oh well....

Memorial Day weekend! 3 Days off!!! Woohooo!!

I'm so happy I get 3 days off in a row - Yay!!!

Well, here's a kit that I think is great for Memorial Day:


I love the slightly untraditional shades of red and blue and the cool stars!

Color Test - Too close for comfort?

So I took this color quiz. The results were a litle close for comfort though I don't think the whole thing was accurate (I don't see myself as a "victim" that has been misled or abused or that my failures are other people's faults).

Leslie took the free ColorQuiz.com personality test! "Wants to make a favorable impression and be reward..." Click here to read the rest of the results.

Personality Type

This weeks FOBTY: your personality type. I know I've been more introverted than extroverted most of my life, so no surprise there. But this is what else Blogthings says my personality type is:

You Are An INFJ

The Protector You live your life with integrity, originality, vision, and creativity. Independent and stubborn, you rarely stray from your vision - no matter what it is. You are an excellent listener, with almost infinite patience. You have complex, deep feelings, and you take great care to express them. In love, you truly see relationships as an opportunity to connect and grow. You enjoy relationships as long as they are improving and changing. You can't stand stagnation. At work, you stay motivated and happy... as long as you are working toward a dream you support. You would make a great photographer, alternative medicine guru, or teacher. How you see yourself: Hardworking, ethical, and helpful When other people don't get you, they see you as: Manipulative, weak, and unstable

What's Your Personality Type?

scrapmonkey

A FOBTY I could go on and on about

So the FOBTY at Sweet Shoppe is pick only ONE kit that is your favorite there. OK, that is next to impossible. So I'm going to do a list:

Designer - Favorite Purchased Kit - Favorite Yet-to-Purchase Kit
Bree Clarkson - Altered Composition Book - Greeting Card File
Christy Lyle - Half-Tone Black: Neutrals - Birthday Calendar: Keyplate Album
Dani Mogstad - Family Roots - Spookable
Fee Jardine - Heart Felties - Pretty Girl
Heather Roselli - Key Ingredients: Steno - Christmas Cookies
Julie Billingsley - Wanderlust - Spin Your Wheels
Kristin Cronin-Barrow - The Luckiest Girl - Rugged
Lauren Grier - Will You? - She Loves To Dance
MandaBean - And I Quote...Fathers - Owl Love You Forever Boys
Micheline Martin - Amelie - Room A Zoom
Penny Springmann - LoveWorn - Game On!
Robin Carlton - See Spot Run - Space Invaders
Sara Amarie - In The Forest - Fall Frolick
Susan Bartolini - Tweet L Dee - Ichabod's Ride
Shawna Clingerman - Give Me More...Brackets - Capricious
Traci Reed - Urban Vintage - Teenage Wasteland
Zoe Pearn - Little Joys - Intergalactic

OK - So what is my all-time favorite? Probably "The Luckiest Girl" - it's such a close call between that, Tweet L Dee, Little Joys and Christmas Cookies.

Sweet Shoppe Username: scrapmonkey

FOBTY and some recent LOs

So I took the quiz over at http://www.guessthespot.com/
I was actually suprised at how well I did. I got 12 out of 16 right, which got rounded up to 80% correct. 80% = Global Know-it-All. Of course I would have had 90% right (Sweet Spot-er) if I had went with my instincts on the last 2 sites (no, I always have to second-guess myself....)

So here's some recent LO's I've done:

Spelling Bee, Geekiness & More

This week's From Our Blog 2 Yours at the Sweet Shoppe was a spelling quiz. Not surprisingly, I did well. Anyone who knows me, knows I am pretty anal retentive when it comes to spelling. I try with grammar, too, but my punctuation and run-on sentences hinder me. So, without further ado, here are my results:

Your Spelling is Perfect

You got 10/10 correct. Your spelling is excellent. You also have a great memory and eye for detail.

How's Your Spelling?

On that note, I saw another quiz at Blogthings that I thought was so me - My Geek Profile:

Your Geek Profile:

Academic Geekiness: High Music Geekiness: High Internet Geekiness: Moderate SciFi Geekiness: Moderate Fashion Geekiness: Low Geekiness in Love: Low General Geekiness: Low Movie Geekiness: Low Gamer Geekiness: None

How Geeky Are You?

And for more geekiness, would I still pass 8th grade math?

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 8/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

Easter Eggs and More

First, my answer for a "From Our Blog 2 Yours" quiz:

You Are a Speckled Egg

Artistic, alternative, and not exactly buying into this Easter thing.

What Kind of Easter Egg Are You?

So, I've been working on one layout for the last several days. I can't seem to come up with a good title for it. I guess I scrapped too many 'dogs in snow' photos, LOL. I need spring to truly come so I can take new pics of the dogs and actually go places like the markets, etc. and take other new photos. I think I'm in a rut. I probably need to start doing heritage layouts again.... I probably should get cracking on my Dad's album and stop procrastinating. Ugh!
At least this weekend I'll be doing some paper scrapping. I have to make Lois her "reward" for getting to a 10 pound loss first - a nice decorated recipe box, to match her decor, at least what it will be in the future (she's re-painting her kitchen and dining room soon). I also have to finish the project I was supposed to do for last month's "Book of the Month" class. I might even need to do my project for this month's class, but I've got to pick up the kit first. Maybe I'll go do that in a few.
I can't wait until my mother moves here in a few months. I think life will get more exciting when she does and I'll be able to do things that I haven't been able to do with Jon. We'll see....

Not So Girly-Girl Names

Meghan at the Sweet Shoppe is having a baby in a month (Yay, Congratulations, Meghan!) and is starting to sweat about the name of her future girl. So she asked the sweet guests at SSD to give her a few suggestions...

OK I've never had a child (yet), but I'd always thought of names I would want my girl to be called.

Bethany - I don't know why, but I just plain like the name. I guess it's not too old fashioned nor is it too out there or "popular"

Melinda (nicknames could include Mel, Linda, Lindy, Millie and Mindy) - I love the number of nicknames for this as different nicknames have different personalities (Mel is a tomboy, Lindy is funky and fun, Millie is old fashioned, Mindy is the best friend next door, etc.)

Ashleigh (my DH liked that one so much he named his car that)

My best friend named her daughter after my aunt, just because she liked the name - Sydney - it's a nice unisex name as I also have a great uncle Syd as well.

And of course my name, Leslie, is a unisex name - though it's becoming more of a "female" name, I often get items sent to Mr. Leslie... It has been historically more a male name, especially when nicknamed "Les". I guess "Les" is more.....male, that is, LOL! I know, bad joke.

For unusual names/spellings, my in-laws take the cake with their daughters: Caylyn, Shyloh, and Acacia (Blue). While Acacia Blue Creek sounds like some bottled spring water, the meaning of Acacia (an extremely hard wood) was appropriate at the time - considering she was born at 26 weeks, she needed strength to survive the most. And survive she did (nearly six years so far).

Well, that's all I can think of for now!

Sick Questions, Man!

wow! four times in one week - that's a record for me!
So, today's Sweet Shoppe "From Our Blog 2 Yours" deals with sickness and how we handle it. So, without further ado, here are the questions they want answered...

1. How often do you get sick with a cold? The flu? Something else?
Cold, once a year. Flu, once every few years. Other, not frequently; usually it's a migraine and that's about once or twice a year now (used to be more frequent)
2. Are you the sort of person who goes to work or school no matter how sick you are or are you willing to stay at home when it gets bad? I usually go to work (and school back in the day - in fact I had perfect attendance in Junior high/high school). It's different now because if I'm sick with a cold, I can stay at home and still work (I connect into the office remotely). But if I'm spending a LOT of time in the bathroom or my head is so sick I can't think in a straight line, I will not work.
3. How do you like to treat a cold? What remedies do you like and why? Do you go to the doctor willingly? If it's a basic cold or flu, I get lots of liquids in, especially grapefruit or orange juice. I try to keep up with my vitamins too. If I catch a cold at the very beginning, I'll take Airborne. I will go to the doctor willingly, but only if it has symptoms I'm not familiar with, are very serious (like blood when I have diarrhea), or I've had it for an extended time.
4. What do you do to keep from getting sick in the winter? Take vitamins, eat healthy veggies, drink juice daily and stay away from sick people.
5. What is your favorite thing to do when you stay home from work or school? If I'm not sleeping, I will catch up on my DVR'd shows or do puzzles (if my brain is working) or surf the net while listening to music. If it's a bad migraine, though, sleep in a quiet dark room is the only thing I want to do.

Belated St. Valentine's Day Trivia

The February 8th Sweet Shoppe "From Our Blog 2 Yours" featured a V-Day quiz they asked us to take. I did surprisingly well, considering I guessed on half of them, LOL.
St. Valentine's Day quiz
Correct! Your final score is 8/10. Thanks for trying the quiz.

This was the last question...
10. Mixed messages
In early nineteenth-century Britain, a new type of valentine became trendy. Nicknamed the “vinegar valentine”, it was characterized by a particular type of message. What type?

A) An apology
B) A break-up message
C) A lecture on the evils of alcohol
D) A series of insults ü

One vinegar valentine began, “Miss Grey hairs and wrinkles, don’t look quite so cold.” Age was a favorite target, but anyone was fair game — teachers, spinsters, barbers, bakers, doctors, lawyers, cooks — anyone you disliked could be targeted by your “vinegar”. Until the advent of postage stamps in 1840, there was financial injury to go along with the insult, for postage was paid by the recipient!

Very interesting!!!

Me, Politically

So the most recent "From Our Blog 2 Yours" at Sweet Shoppe Designs is about your political beliefs as a woman. I think that this little quiz has me dead on...

You Are a Moderate Mama

You're not overly political, and your views fall more with the American mainstream. In fact, it may be difficult for you to decide who to vote for at times! Your approach to politics is reasoned and well though out.

Are You a Liberal Lady or a Conservative Chick?

Yeah, we have the Democratic vote next week and I can honestly say I'm relatively undecided. I'm tending towards Obama, except that I'm not sure about his foreign experience (I know Hillary has some experience, albeit somewhat limited). Decisions, decisions...

Me and my Job

So, I'm catching up on a few challenges on "From Our Blog 2 Yours" at the Sweet Shoppe. This one is about our occupation and how we spend our days. I could go sweet and simple or long and brutally honest with this. Hmmm...
My job title is Senior Financial Analyst. Most people think that what I do is analyze the stock market or business trends. But I really don't do that. My dad always had trouble understanding what I really did, I think because it is hard to understand coming from the academic/non-business world. My days consist with different kinds of tasks depending on the time of the week, time of the month or time of the year. During the last couple days of a month and the first couple days of the following month, I work on closing the books for the areas of the company I'm responsible for. Currently the two areas I support contain 20-25 accounts; that's a lot compared to my peers, but they are smaller than the majority of what my peers have as well. Closing the books entails reviewing the numbers and how they match against expectations, making sure there's nothing missing that needs accounting entries for and making those entries, and providing explanations for differences between the actual numbers and what was expected. I then also give the reports each month of the numbers and explanations to the service managers so they can see how their accounts performed.
At various times throughout the year, I need to make forecasts and provide budgets for each of the areas and accounts. This means having to look at the trends as well as trying to predict where the customers will be months or a year or more from now. This is hard giving the changing economic and customer environments.
Other things I do for my job are creating pricing for new or renewing customer deals and contracts, review prospective changes to employees or other impacting costs, track how our accounts receivables are doing for each of the customers and assisting to pacify any potential issues there, and doing ad hoc reports for the company at various levels (German corporate, US corporate, service management, financial management, etc.)
There are things I like about the job, especially being able to help managers run their business and solve issues for them. But there are times I don't like the job, particularly when we do the same basic report ten times ten different ways because of a lack of standardization and communication.
So if you haven't fallen asleep by now, that's my exciting life... Now you know why I scrapbook!! Got to do something interesting each day, LOL!

Busy Busy Busy

I've been very busy at work. Busier than I've been in a long time. It started in November and it just seems non-stop. Yet I want to play, play, play and sleep, sleep, sleep. Ah, well.
At any rate, I've decided to do this photo-a-day thing, now that I've got a brand new camera for Christmas - a Canon Powershot A560. Woohoo! And this is my first shot for this - a sweet photo of Memphis yawning....



Also, I want to give a shout out to my new favorite challenge over at the Sweet Shoppe Designs, the Paper 2 Digi challenge. I like the variety of the challenges over there, but I think this is my favorite because I used to be a paper scrapper and I'm fascinated still in paper LOs just as much as digital. I used to scraplift when I was doing paper and I can do it again but "re-create" in the digital format now. Here's my latest LO for the challenge:



And my favorite: