A to Z Challenge: G

G = Goodreads

Goodreads is an awesome site that I just thought I'd go ahead and plug. I first learned of it a couple of years ago, and quickly became addictive. If you love to read, this site is for you. Not only will it help you find books you'd never even heard of by all sorts of authors, but it will help you organize your reading. I've often had the problem of hearing about a good book and wanting to read it. But, when I was ready for a new read, I could never remember what I had wanted to read.

Enter Goodreads.

You see, I can – and do – use their site to keep track of the many (many, many) books I want to read. By default, there are three "shelves" (basically lists) for their users: currently reading, read, and to-read. You also can create more shelves to further help you keep track in whatever way you might want to. I have created a "want" shelf for books I want to own whether or not I've already read them, a "library" shelf for books I've gotten there, a shelf for each of the book-touring sites I am a part of, and many (many, many) more. As a book blogger, this a HUGE help. But even before the book blog, just as an avid reader, I found Goodreads to be a resource I just could not do without.

So, if you're a reader and you're not there already, check it out! While you're there, look me up. I'm ham1299 on there.

Some of what I've read

Heather's favorite books »

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A to Z Challenge: F

F = Favorites

As I have previously mentioned, I follow a blog called That's My Answer. Yesterday, it just so happened to ask a question I thought would work for today's post.

What are 10 of YOUR favorite things?

1. God/Jesus ~ My Faith is an integral part of me. It's so fundamentally part of me that there's just no separating me from it. God has always been faithful to provide what we need, whether it's money or a job or guidance. 
2. My family ~ I felt guilty when I realized that for "A" I didn't use Abby! :-( I can't believe I did that. But, that doesn't mean anything regarding the status of my family. My husband and children are the best things I've ever done with my life, the best gifts God has ever given me. 
3. Books/Reading ~ Just check out Proud Book Nerd, if you don't believe me. That is ALL me. I do that 100% by myself.
4. Music ~ It's probably equal to books/reading. If I had to choose between sight and hearing, I'd probably pick hearing. While I love reading, I can always listen to an audio book if I was unable to read.
5. Cats ~ I waxed poetic about them for my "C" post. They make me happy! :-)
6. Thunderstorms ~ I'll settle for any old rain, but thunderstorms make me especially happy. I've no idea why. They just make me think of God's awesome power, I guess. I love the smell of rain, the sound of the thunder, the way the grass is BRIGHT green after the storm is over. 
7. Starbuck's Birthday Cake Pops ~ OMGosh! Those are SO GOOD! I have to get less of my chai simply because if I stop for that I have to get one of these, too!
8. Dr Pepper ~ I don't do coffee. Can't stand the stuff.
9. Skillet ~ My absolute favorite musical group. I saw them in concert last year and the year before that, and they were phenomenal!
10. Lilacs ~ They are my favorite flower because of how fragrant they are. It's a shame they don't last longer in the spring!

A to Z Challenge: E

E = Egads!

Yes, egads. As in, "Eek! I don't know what to write about!" There are all sorts of things that start with the letter E, but I just cannot come up with anything inspiring. So, I thought just writing about how nothing's coming to mind would be fun. Probably boring for you – the reader – but that's OK. I forgive you if you don't read this whole post! ;-)

In my efforts to come up with something to write about, I ran through a list of things that start with the letter E.

Easter. It's coming up, but I don't really wanna write about that at this point. We're not sure what we're doing. I know what I want to do, but that's not what we usually do ... feelings could get hurt ... families can be so messy.

Eggs. YUM! Love 'em. Especially deviled or in egg salad! Good stuff. But, still, not blog-post material. (Maybe if I had a recipe to share, but I don't.)

Elephants. Abby loved elephants when she was in preschool. They were her favorite animals. She had elephants on her clothes, elephant stuffed animals, etc. I have no idea why she loved them, but she did. Nowadays, she says she still likes them but they are not her favorite anymore. She prefers dragons.

I remember having seen a special on PBS about elephants, called Unforgettable Elephants, and it was fascinating. Absolutely fascinating. It's about whether elephants experience emotions (ha! another E word ...) and evidence that perhaps they do. I never gave elephants enough credit before then. I found a new respect for them.

Well, I guess the letter E wasn't all that bad! I can't wait to see what others have come up with! (To see other A to Z Challenge posts, just click on the "Next Blog" or "Surprise Me!" buttons on the top of the right-hand column of this page.)

A to Z Challenge: D

D = Dr Pepper & Dan

This is a pretty easy one for me. I lucked out! ;-)

Dr Pepper is my drink of choice. You see, I don't drink coffee. HATE it. Tea is OK, but the only tea I like enough to drink in place of Dr Pepper is Chai tea latte. Those are not so easy to make at home, so they're an occasional treat. Dr Pepper is my coffee. In fact, I made the little button you see on the right for the facebook Pieces of Flair app. It was fun! :-)

Dan. (That is an old photo, from 6 years ago, but it's one of the best ones I have.) That's my hubby's name. I like calling him Mr. Ham on here, just because it's kinda fun! LOL We've known – or at least known of – each other since at least junior high. We grew up going to the same church. Somehow (long story), we ended up going to the same high school, and started dating our junior year. We both attended the same college, and got married during winter break of my senior year. (He graduated a semester early, so we decided that was good enough! LOL) We celebrated our 12th anniversary last January. He is one of the best things I've ever done with my life. I don't doubt for a moment that God brought us together. Sometimes we have issues, but we're mostly a perfect match. We compliment each other and more often than not are on the same page for almost every issue we've faced. He is a wonderful man, husband, and father to our kids.

Top 2 Tuesday: Music

This Week's Topic: Top 2 Songs on your Ipod

My Response: TWO? You want me to give you TWO? So not possible! I can't even tell you my top two ARTISTS. I just love music too much for that. But, I'll give it a go.

1. I'm Still Yours by Kutless ~ What can I say about this song? I can't listen to it enough. (Technically, I don't think it's on my iPod yet, but it will be – when I get around to copying it off the CD.)

2. How to Save a Life by The Fray ~ Love this song.

Only sharing two is somewhat painful for me. I often say that music is my passion, and that's really not an understatement. I LOVE music.

If you wanna play along, there's a linky HERE.

A to Z Challenge: C

C = Cats

Our newest kitty, Jasmine. We adopted her last fall.

Cats, because I love my cats. We currently have three, and I've always had at least one cat since I was in kindergarten. My very first cat was a calico named Sissy. My parents were not quick enough to get her "fixed" ... and there were many litters. I have fond memories of many of those kittens.

I can't remember the largest number of cats I've had, but I always want at least two around. They need the company of other kitties – especially for times when the humans aren't around. Or when the humans neglect them because they're too busy with human activities.

We currently have Zeus, Huckleberry, and Jasmine. The boys are about 9 years old now, and Jasmine will be 1 in July. Abby attended a birthday party at the county animal shelter ... and we brought home a souvenir. Much to the hubby's dismay. He threatened to take her back, and I told him over my dead body. While he'd probably never admit it, I do think he's warmed up to her. She's quite the character. And the boys are old. I had forgotten how much fun (and mischief at times LOL) kittens are! :-)

We have a dog, too – unfortunately. Mr. Ham had a dog growing up, and we got the dog for his sake. This experience has confirmed that I am most definitely a cat person. I'm fine if we never get another dog after Sawyer, but I will always have at least two cats. Always.

Cats make me happy! :-)

A to Z Challenge: B

B = Birds & Buds

I'm on a spring kick. I'm so, so happy that it's finally here. I'm so, so glad to hear birds in the morning – and throughout the day. I'm so, so glad to see that our trees are FINALLY budding. LEAVES will be here soon! PRAISE GOD! I am so done with winter. So done with the barren trees, dried grass, and quiet landscape.

While the calendar generally tells us when spring "officially" begins, I don't consider it spring until I see signs of life. The squirrels are coming out, becoming more active, daring me to hit them with my car ... birds are singing their praises in the morning ... our perennials are starting to push their way through the soil, and we know that soon there will be flowers ...

Oh, how I love spring! While I'm a summer girl, I think spring might actually be my favorite season. I love the life, color, and sounds of nature that re-emerge every year. I love watching – and hearing – the world around me come to life. I'd like to say it's little by little, but it seems like it doesn't work that way. It's more like: BAM! Spring has arrived!

I don't actually think it happens that way. I've been mildly aware of an occasional bird song and some squirrel activity over the past couple of weeks. I've been looking at the trees, hoping for signs of life, and noticing that the tulips, irises, and daffodils are coming in for a couple of weeks, too. Today was the first day I saw very distinct tree buds. FINALLY!

A to Z Challenge: A

A = April Already

How is that even possible? How can the first quarter of 2011 be over already? It seems like Christmas just ended and we just celebrated the new year. How can it be that we're already into the fourth month of the year?

Don't get me wrong. I am so ready for spring. Spring couldn't be here soon enough this year. But, still. How is it April already?

Maybe if the weather was more springlike it wouldn't be such a shock that we're already into April? Whatever it is, I just cannot believe April has arrived.

Blogging from A to Z April Challenge

I have hemmed and hawed at whether I should attempt this. I have decided to go for it. As you know, if you've followed me at all recently, I've been struggling with wanting to kick-start this blog. I can't think of a better way to do just that.




The A to Z Blogging Challenge is hosted by many blogs, but was born on Tossing It Out. I am excited to participate, and hope I can complete this challenge.

And yes, I'll be back shortly with the A post ...

Crying at Work

I follow this interesting blog that offers a question of the day, which can be used to prompt a blog post. As you know, I'm struggling to do much of anything with this blog as of late, so I decided that when I see a question that piques my interest, I have no excuse to ignore it. The blog is called That's My Answer.

Question: Have you ever cried at work?

Answer: Yes. I know it's considered unprofessional – especially if your boss is there – but sometimes you just can't stop the tears from falling! That doesn't mean I don't cringe inside when I think about it, though ...

It is rather embarrassing ...

What? You want the story?

...

...

...

FINE! I'll tell the story! ;-)

I will start with the good part. It wasn't my most recent job – at least not that I remember. The incident I'm remembering occurred at my first job after graduating college. And, looking back, I think it happened more than once.

Double the embarrassment factor ...

The main one that comes to mind is, I think, understandable. I think. I loved my first job out of college, absolutely loved it. It was fun, and I had an awesome group of coworkers. They were my friends, and we went through a lot together – which is saying something, because I was at that job for roughly 16 months. But, the company had been bought by another company, and that's quite a stressful situation.

Anyway ...

When it became clear that there were absolutely no jobs in my husband's field in the Chicago area, we knew we were going to have to move. Out of the area. Now, I'm a girl who was born and raised in the Chicago area. My whole family was there. (I say "was" because one of my sisters has since moved to Virginia.) Family is one of the most important things to me. Moving away from my family was very, very hard for me. And, on top of that, I loved my job and didn't want to leave it. So, when I talked to my boss about it, I cried. When I knew for sure that it was time to move on, the dam burst and the tears flowed. Fortunately, at that point, my boss was a woman, and she was more sympathetic.

And typing this out has reminded me of another crying-in-front-of-the-boss experience at the same job. And this is the more embarrassing one, because I SOBBED in front of the man who hired me! Not just in front of him, but while trying to talk to him about an issue I was having with another coworker. But, this coworker made me feel threatened, and I had been frightened by him. I don't mean threatened on the job, but physically/emotionally threatened. I would hope that makes the tears understandable.

I honestly don't remember how my boss (again, male boss in this instance) took it. I just remember my feelings at the time. And when I think on that time I'm instantly embarrassed. I can't believe I lost my cool like that!

I'm sure I cried on the job once or twice after we moved and I started working at the company I worked at until Natalie was born. I worked through all three of my pregnancies there, after all – and what pregnant woman doesn't cry at some point or another? Plus, I KNOW I cried when I had to go back to work ... But, I don't think I ever again cried in front of my boss.

Friday Fill-Ins

I promise. This will not be a blog that's just a bunch of memes and unoriginal content. I will post other stuff, too. I just have to find the time. So, until then, please be patient with my momentary meme-heavy blog. I do find stuff like this fun, so it's not like I'm doing it simply to have something on my blog! ;-) Anyway ...



1. I can't believe it's April already! Where the hell have January, February, and March gone?

2. Jesus died for everyone.

3. How can I live without you ... hee hee, LeeAnn Rimes (and I think someone else, too) did this song awhile ago. It popped into my head when I read the beginning of this.

4. The kids' lunch today was the last thing I cooked.

5. Six of one half a dozen of the other.

6. (Mind is blank on this one - is that a good thing?); nonono!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to catching up on reading, and possibly my mom visiting, tomorrow my plans include a way-too-early soccer game for Abby, then more reading (of course) – unless my mom is here – and Sunday, I want to enjoy the time and/or read (oh, yeah, and there's laundry to do, too)!

Wanna play along? Go HERE.

Friday Fill-Ins

1. I love to go to bookstores because I love to read and I love seeing what all is out there that I haven't noticed before – or drool over books I really want but know there's no way I have time to read them.

2. It's not the quantity, it’s the quality!

3. The last thing I had to eat was umm ... oh, yeah, Noodles & Company Mac & Cheese with truffles, mini-portabellas, etc. YUM.

4. Cash is no longer essential. (I mean physical cash. Debit/ATM cards make it so easy to get by without nowadays!)

5. Please take a moment to count your blessings. (It's so easy to get caught up in our complaints and dreams that sometimes we forget to be thankful for what we do have or where we are in the present.)

6. Your convictions have brought you this far.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to having Mr. Ham home FINALLY, tomorrow my plans include hanging out ALONE at the library (or somewhere else quiet) while Abby has a watercolors class and Sunday, I want to read, relax, and recover from this week alone (with the kids, of course)!

Sunday Stealing: The Burnt Toast Meme

Taken from the-blog-that-encourages-stealing, also known as Sunday Stealing! (Yes, I know it's not Sunday yet, but it's up and I'm ready to play. Plus, it is Sunday in other parts of the world, right?)

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought? I honestly don't remember.

2. How much cash do you have on you? None, as  my pants don't have pockets and my purse is elsewhere.

3. What’s a word that rhymes with DOOR? Floor

4. Favorite planet? Earth, duh! ;-)

5. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone? My daughter's Girl Scout troop leader.

6. What is your favorite ring tone on your phone? Skillet's Awake and Alive

7. What shirt are you wearing? A pink shirt with three small flowers and "Life is good." on it.

8. Do you label yourself? Not usually.

9. Name the brand of the shoes you’re currently wearing? No shoes at the moment.

10. Bright or Dark Room? Bright

11. What do you think about the person who took this survey before you? Nothing. Don't know the individual!

12. What does your watch look like? My cell phone.

13. What were you doing at midnight last night? Sleeping.

14. What did your last text message you received on your cell say? It was a picture of my newest nephew.

15. Where is your nearest 7-11? I don't think we have those in this area.

16. What's a word that you say a lot? Dude

No Surprise Here

I don't normally post these things on my blog, but this one is just too perfect to pass up. In case you don't know, I have a bachelor's degree in English. I am an avid reader. (See Proud Book Nerd for proof!) I took this tonight out of boredom, and have to tell you, this describes me PERFECTLY! I don't think I've ever had a result on one of these things be so accurate!

What Popular College Major Are You?

You Are English

You are a very verbal person. You can't help but pay attention to the actual words that people use. You are intuitive and wise. You can usually pick up on undertones that others are missing. You are analytical and critical. Very few details escape your observant eye. You have a great appreciation for art and expression of all sorts. You don't have to like a book to value it.

What Popular College Major Are You?

Blogthings: Quizzes and Tests and Memes, Oh My!

       

Five Question Friday

It's that time again! :-)

1. Have you ever forgotten your child in a store or at school? No. Or maybe I should say not yet ...

2. Where did you go on your very first date? (Like...first first, not first with your spouse or current significant other!) I honestly don't remember. I remember my first date with Mr. Ham, but I don't remember my first first date.

3. What's your "silly" fear? (We're not talking water and heights.) I dunno. I'm not sure I have any that I'd consider "silly." I mean, fear is fear, and if you truly fear something, do you feel like it's "silly"? I don't. If you mean fears of which you're embarrassed, that's different, and I can elaborate. My fear of snakes is a true phobia. It's completely irrational, and quite extreme. Sometimes worms creep me out because of that. Also, I made Mr. Ham buy a garden hose in a color that wouldn't ever freak me out (like when I see it out of the corner of my eye).

4. Confrontation: do you cause it, deal with is as it comes, or run far far away? I sure hope I don't cause it. I try to avoid it, but if I HAVE to deal with it, then I will.

5. Wood floors or carpet? We have mostly carpet. Not by choice. The house came with them. We wanna rip some of them up, but that means we have to be willing to deal with whatever is underneath ...

Wanna play along? Go HERE.

First Crush

Abby has her first crush. It's on a boy in her class. It's pretty cute to watch her talk about him and give me updates on how things are going. Apparently, from what she told me, he likes her, too. But she knows she's too young for a boyfriend. The funny thing is she talks about him whenever she wants to, regardless of who is around. But, she has sworn me to secrecy and tells Mr. Ham that she's not going to talk about Addison with him. LOL It's pretty cute, I think.

Thinking about this reminds me of my first crush. I was in preschool, and his name was Steven. I remember that on Valentine's Day I was early to preschool, and the teacher had heart-shaped name tags at the snack table. We had to open the heart to find out where we were sitting, and I remember scoping it out to find his. When he got there, I showed him his spot, all proud of myself, only to be chastised by my teacher for ruining the fun for Steven! LOL I also remember hounding my mom with questions as the time to start kindergarten grew closer. I can't remember everything, but I do remember asking if he'll go to the same school. I know she said she didn't think so. And I remember that she was right. He wasn't at my kindergarten. But, my last memory of my first crush was on the last day of school. I kissed him good-bye. LOL The only thing I remember is that he was taller than I was, and I leaned up on my tiptoes to give him the kiss. (Don't know if I kissed his cheek, forehead, or – gasp! – lips.)I also remember that parents were in the room – I'm guessing it was pickup time.

Aaahhh! Young love ...

Anyone else wanna share about their first crush? I'd love if others shared their stories!

Five Question Friday

It has been a VERY long time since I've participated in this one. I miss it, and am glad to be back to it.

1. Can you drive a stick shift? Umm ... I don't know. I know, I know, I should know. But, it's not that easy. My husband tried to teach me when we were in college. It went OK, but I had to drive myself somewhere alone before I was ready. Haven't driven stick since! LOL I'm guessing if I absolutely HAD to do it (like in an emergency or something), I probably could. Just pray there aren't any hills! ;-)

2. What are two foods you just can't eat? Tomatoes. They make me gag. I think it's a texture thing. And hot dogs. Heard too many horror stories about what ends up in them ...

3. Do you buy Girl Scout Cookies? What is your favorite kind? Yes, we do. Our oldest is in Brownies, so we kinda HAVE to! ;-) As for favorites, that's a tough choice. (And half the time no one knows which I mean because the different bakeries name them different things.) I love Thin Mints, Thanks-A-Lots, Caramel Delights ... I feel like I'm forgetting one, but I can't think of it at the moment. I'll tell you after I help sort cookies tomorrow!

4. How do you pamper yourself? I get an hour (sometimes hour-and-a-half) massage and a pedicure. I rarely do it, because it's so dang expensive. But, it's my favorite way to be pampered!

5. What is your nickname and how did you get it? I don't really have one. Never really have. "Heather" never really lent itself to nicknames. But, online I use ham1299 regularly.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If you wanna play along, the questions can be found on Mama M.'s blog HERE. (I'm writing this before the linky is available, but I'll try to remember to update this tomorrow.)

And here is the post with the linky: Five Question Friday linky post.

More than Mildly Frustrated

Damned if I do, damned if I don't.

Huh?

So, I cannot use the Blogger design function in FireFox, but I cannot get the layout part to work right in Chrome. I really don't want to use Safari as my main browser. Earlier today, I couldn't even post using Chrome. Browser restart fixed that, thankfully. Saying I'm frustrated seems like a bit of an understatement ...

BUT, I am loving how this is turning out. I'm having fun tweaking and playing with the design. And, I am really loving how it is coming together. I'm using the same graphics I've been using for a year or so now (custom-made), but I've still found a way to make it feel fresh. That makes me happy.

So, while this has been a royal PITA, I know that it'll be worth it in the end. I think the issue is with one of my widgets, which was fine until I moved it to a specific spot. So, I'll be playing around with that shortly.

Anyway, thank you for waiting patiently while I got myself together back here on Blogger. It feels good to be here. I think I'll stay.

It's coming along

I am slowly getting things back together. Next up is adding the widgets I want to have back here. Thank you for your patience as I figure this out. I haven't been able to get the design function to work in FireFox at all, but it works in Safari. It also works (not surprisingly) quite well in Google Chrome. (I might have just found a new browser ...)

Anyway, thank you for your patience. I'll try not to keep changing things too much on you! ;-)

Did I say I'm Back?

What I meant was that I'm TRYING to come back. Stupid Blogger's stupid new designer stuff won't work in firefox on my computer. (A conflict with an add-on, perhaps?) So, I'm having to go back and forth with Safari and Firefox. AND I can't get my design to work right, so I'm gonna scrap it and start over. Except, I don't know how to start with a clean slate design-wise. Is that even possible?

Frustrated, to say the least ...

I'm back!

Well, I have enjoyed my time with my own domain, but I think I jumped the gun. I can justify it for Proud Book Nerd, but not so much for this blog. I'm so busy with PBN that I hardly get on this one at all. And, as much as I hate to admit it, the hubby and I are not exactly rolling in money. So, I think the right thing to do is to bring my personal blog back here. Forget about the own domain name. Now, I won't have to feel guilty about not using this blog very often. I can just relax and post when the mood strikes. No forcing myself. No stress. No problem.

So, now I am going to attempt to move my posts from there over to here. Wish me luck on that, as there were things from my Vox days that I'm not sure what to do with!