Happy New Year

Another year passed and gone.

How was 2009 for you? Was it a good year? A bad year? Any major events in your life?
Every year for us is very eventful...whether we want it to be or not. lol I'm glad to see 2009 come to an end.

In 2009 we had some closure on some things and some new doors opened. 2009 brought us some good times and some bad times. And 2009 brought us strange events and very simple things.

I don't know what 2010 will bring us - more of the same I'm sure, but I am hoping that 2010 will bring us something much greater.

Happy New Year!

The Best Christmas Present Ever

I received the best Christmas present ever this morning.

I have not talked with my dad for a good 10 years. I took a chance this year and sent him a Christmas card with pictures of my son and my phone number. Earlier this morning my phone rang as it usually does on Christmas. I was downstairs putting wood in the wood stove and my son yelled down the stairs "MOM! The phone is ringing!" I asked who it was and he says he doesn't know. The number was unfamiliar. A few moments later, my phone beeps to tell me I have a voice message and so I listened. I didn't listen very far because as soon as I heard the voice, I hung up and dialed the number back.

It was my dad! We talked for a good 2 hours and caught up with each other. My son got to talk to him too. He has never gotten to talk to his grandpa because the last he saw him he was just a baby. It was really good to hear from him and it also offered me some closure - I was not sure if he was still alive because the last I had heard, he had surgery and his health was not so good. I am happy to hear that he's still alive and kicking and more importantly, I'm excited to have contact with him again!

I might not have the money to buy gifts, I might not have the money for vacations, but right now I feel like the richest person in the world. My dad and I got the best Christmas present ever! :D

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

A Coat for Poppy

I have seen so many cute sweaters for dogs, but most of them are for small to medium sized dogs. My dog, Poppy, she is actually still a puppy, is much too big for all these little sweaters. So I searched for some patterns so that I could make a larger sweater for Poppy. All I found were knitting patterns and I don't knit.

Then I came across a site that said "Make a sweatshirt for your dog". Unfortunately, the site was down. So I just thought - "Why not just put a sweatshirt on my dog??" I put one of my old sweatshirts on Poppy and it was too big. I tried one of my son's sweatshirts and it was too big. So now I'm thinking I will just find one of my son's smaller sweatshirts from when he was younger.

I think then, I will just cut the front of the shirt and add velcro to allow for growing room. Problem solved and now Poppy will have a coat to keep her warm in the cold winter! Now where did I put my son's old clothes??

Holiday Cheer!

A re-post for those who did not see it... LOL

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Good Things Will Come...

Woo Hoo! Just wait a teeny bit longer and things turn around!

My neighbor came up Saturday and helped me get my car started. I feel really silly now because all he did was crank the car longer than I had while keeping the accelerator to the floor. Low and behold it started! YAY! It's been starting fine every since. :D

I spent all day yesterday baking homemade sugar cookies. I made Christmas trees, Gingerbread men, and stars. Then I iced them with different colors of homemade icing and and sprinkles. They turned out rather cute I think! I share some with my neighbor too. :)

Speaking of gingerbread men...yesterday my son drew a very cute picture of a gingerbread man and house in a winter wonderland and I scanned it and sent it to my mother. My mother has been feeling not so good about things because things at work are just...not so good. Anyway, the picture has brightened her day and made me and my son feel good.

Oh and if I want a quick shot of happiness, all I have to do is watch my puppy Poppy go outside in the snow. It's hilarious! She comes back in covered in white- and she is black. LOL

After an extremely stressful week, I'm feeling much better. Much less stressed and much lighter. :D

Happy Holidays!

The Grinch Who Stole Christmas

This Holiday season everything has just gone wrong.

• Hubby isn't home for the Holidays - he's a truck driver.
• My car won't start.
• It is so cold - our temps have been below 0. We warmed up to 15 yesterday.
  
• I don't have enough money for rent this month, let alone food or Christmas presents for my son.
• I miss my family.
  
• We had unexpected medical bills pop up.
  
• I miss my hubby.
• The list goes on...

But I'm not the Grinch. Though I have all these "not so good" things to deal with I appreciate and hold dear the things that I do have. It is the Grinch that steals one's Christmas spirit is the person that wants more, and not only wants more, but does whatever they can do to get more and they still are never satisfied. Sure, I'd like to have more, but that isn't really my whole goal in life. I feel the sense of family is much greater than the need for money and toys and luxury items.

So yes, I miss my family and hubby something terribly and a lot of times it makes the other things seem a lot worse than they really are, but instead of feeling low and rotten about it, I look forward to the next time I see them.

I'm not the Grinch who stole Christmas...are you??

Have a wonderful Holiday Season!

Plunged into Darkness

My son and I were sitting at our computers writing, reading, and playing games and watching movies when all of a sudden everything went dark. Darn power outage. My computer's backup power supply started to complain and I knew I only had about 5 minutes to save and shut down everything. I searched around for a flashlight and lit some candles and oil lamps.

Instead of complaining that he could not play computer games, he jumped up and down and said "Mom!! Let's play Uno!" Then, "Mom! Let's play Yahtzee!" He beat me at all the games we played. The power just barely came back on, and he said, "Ahhh! I wanted to play Mouse Trap!"

As soon as I am done posting this, I'm off to play Mouse Trap. I'm so glad my son is open to playing "old fashioned" games!

Everything You Do Matters

The Ripple Effect

In a world of six billion people, it’s easy to believe that the only way to initiate profound transformation is to take extreme action. Each of us, however, carries within us the capacity to change the world in small ways for better or worse. Everything we do and think affects the people in our lives, and their reactions in turn affect others. As the effect of a seemingly insignificant word passes from person to person, its impact grows and can become a source of great joy, inspiration, anxiety, or pain. Your thoughts and actions are like stones dropped into still waters, causing ripples to spread and expand as they move outward. The impact you have on the world is greater than you could ever imagine, and the choices you make can have far-reaching consequences. You can use the ripple effect to make a positive difference and spread waves of kindness that will wash over the world.

Should the opportunity arise, the recipient of a good deed will likely feel compelled to do a good deed for someone else. Someone feeling the effects of negative energy will be more likely to pass on that negative energy. One act of charity, one thoughtful deed, or even one positive thought can pass from individual to individual, snowballing until it becomes a group movement or the ray of hope that saves someone’s life. Every transformation, just like every ripple, has a point of origin. You must believe in your ability to be that point of origin if you want to use the ripples you create to spread goodness. Consider the effect of your thoughts and actions, and try to act graciously as much as possible.

A smile directed at a stranger, a compliment given to a friend, an attitude of laughter, or a thoughtful gesture can send ripples that spread among your loved ones and associates, out into your community, and finally throughout the world. You have the power to touch the lives of everyone you come into contact with and everyone those people come into contact with. The momentum of your influence will grow as your ripples moves onward and outward. One of those ripples could become a tidal wave of positivity.

http://www.dailyom.com/articles/2009/21194.html

Call Center Calls

Caller: "Can you give me the telephone number for Jack?"
Operator: "I'm sorry, sir, I don't understand who you are talking about".
Caller: "On page 1, section 5, of the user guide it clearly states that I need to unplug the fax machine from the AC wall socket and telephone Jack before
cleaning. Now, can you give me the number for Jack?"
Operator: "I think it means the telephone point on the wall".



Caller: I can't make outbound calls on my cell phone.
Rep: Do you have the phone with you?
Caller: Yes, I'm talking on it right now.
Rep: The phone is working just fine. You just called me.
The embarrassed caller quickly hung up.



Caller: 'I deleted a file from my PC last week and I have just realized that I need it. If I turn my system clock back two weeks will I have my file back again?'.


Tech Support: "I need you to right-click on the Open Desktop".
Customer: "OK".
Tech Support: "Did you get a pop-up menu?".
Customer: "No".
Tech Support: "OK. Right-Click again. Do you see a pop-up menu?"
Customer: "No".
Tech Support: "OK, sir. Can you tell me what you have done up until this point?".
Customer: "Sure. You told me to write 'click' and I wrote 'click'".


Tech Support: "OK. In the bottom left hand side of the screen, can you see the 'OK' button displayed?"
Customer: "Wow. How can you see my screen from there?"



Operator: "Ridge Hall, computer assistance; may I help you?"
Caller: "Yes, well, I'm having trouble with WordPerfect."
Operator: "What sort of trouble??"
Caller: "Well, I was just typing along, and all of a sudden the words went away."
Operator: "Went away?"
Caller: "They disappeared."
Operator: "Hmm. So what does your screen look like now?"
Caller: "Nothing."
Operator: "Nothing??"
Caller: "It's blank; it won't accept anything when I type."
Operator: "Are you still in WordPerfect, or did you get out??"
Caller: "How do I tell?"
Operator: "Can you see the C: prompt on the screen??"
Caller: "What's a sea-prompt?"
Operator: "Never mind, can you move your cursor around the screen?"
Caller: "There isn't any cursor: I told you, it won't accept anything I type."
Operator: "Does your monitor have a power indicator??"
Caller: "What's a monitor?"
Operator: "It's the thing with the screen on it that looks like a TV. Does it have a little light that tells you when it's on??"
Caller: "I don't know."
Operator: "Well, then look on the back of the monitor and find where the power cord goes into it. Can you see that??"
Caller: "Yes, I think so."
Operator: "Great. Follow the cord to the plug, and tell me if it's plugged into the wall.
Caller: "Yes, it is."
Operator: "When you were behind the monitor, did you notice that there were two cables plugged into the back of it, not just one??"
Caller: "No."
Operator: "Well, there are. I need you to look back there again and find the other cable."
Caller: "Okay, here it is."
Operator: "Follow it for me, and tell me if it's plugged securely into the back of your computer."
Caller: "I can't reach."
Operator: "Uh huh. Well, can you see if it is??"
Caller: "No."
Operator: "Even if you maybe put your knee on something and lean way over??"
Caller: "Oh, it's not because I don't have the right angle - it's because it's dark."
Operator: "Dark??"
Caller: "Yes - the office light is off, and the only light I have is coming in from the window." .
Operator: "Well, turn on the office light then."
Caller: "I can't."
Operator: "No? Why not??"
Caller: "Because there's a power failure."
Operator: "A power.................................. .... A power failure? Aha, Okay, we've got it licked now. Do you still have the boxes and manuals and packing stuff your computer came in??"
Caller: "Well, yes, I keep them in the closet."
Operator: "Good. Go get them, and unplug your system and pack it up just like it was when you got it. Then take it back to the store you bought it from."
Caller: "Really? Is it that bad?"
Operator: "Yes, I'm afraid it is."
Caller: "Well, all right then, I suppose. What do I tell them?"
Operator: "Tell them you're too stupid to own a computer."