Usually I get to work early; before everyone else. I unlock the admin suite and let myself in to begin the day. It's best this way. I get a lot done before the chaos begins.

This morning the head of Cooperative Extension, Jan, came in shortly after me. She just stopped by my office and told me she hears wonderful things about me. She said extension officers are constantly telling her how sweet and smart I am.

I have to tell you friends, this is a much better start to a morning than yesterday. And I feel so good about myself right now. Work has been quite strenuous and to hear someone say such kind things really has made my day. Passing along words of kindness is something people need to do more often. How blessed I am to work in an environment where even the higher ups will go out of their way to pass along kind words. =o)

Labels: work

It's not like I haven't seen one before. I have seen a few in my lifetime. I've seen a Jeep Wrangler flip over another car and I've seen tiny Tiburon's bounce off medians but somehow this morning's accident was different.

No one hit the back of the car and it didn't appear the car was following too closely behind one in front. Yet for some reason it was moving over into the shoulder. Obviously a car moving oddly caught my eye and I slowed down. It wasn't in my lane, we were going opposite ways and I knew I was in no danger.

Each detail is so vivid. As the car pulled over into the shoulder it sped up. Why was it speeding up? Didn't the driver see the ditch, didn't the driver see the stones built up against the driveway? Did they fall asleep, did they mean to push down on the pedal?

I don't think it was smoke. I think it was dust from the car colliding with stone and picking up grit from the road. And then it was glass, shattered glass and pieces of the headlights. The hood crunched up like a candy wrapper and the front bumper falling away from the frame. The back wheels lifting off the ground and the airbag inflating inside. I saw all these things and I heard the crash. There wasn't a squeal, no whiny tires, no screams were audible though I am sure many of us did. As a witness it felt as though the wind was knocked out of me. My hand instinctively went up to cover my mouth while I sucked in trying to catch my breath. The car in front of me happened to be an undercover police car and the lights were flashing. I stopped. I pulled over. The other lane stopped. Other cars pulled over. The police car made a three point turn and pulled up behind the scene. He opened the driver door. The driver's body laid against the inflated bag. A dust or white powder came out from the inside of the car.

Traffic began crawling. I didn't hear sirens until I was in the parking lot at work. I have no idea what happened once I drove away. Will I be reading about this person in the paper tomorrow? What will the outcome be?

Somehow this accident, was it an accident?, has changed the path of my day completely and maybe even on a bigger scope my life. I wonder if everyone else saw what I saw. I wonder what they are thinking right now. I wonder if they are writing about it or telling someone, are they crying, is their stomach doing somersaults?

I'm sorry for this person. For this person who maybe lost control of their car. Or maybe was having a bad morning and decided to run themselves off the road. I'm sorry for the people who live in the house with the stone built up around their driveway. I'm sorry for the police officer who was driving undercover probably looking to catch someone speeding and instead happened to be the vehicle in front of me when the accident happened.

Why is this upsetting me so much? Is it because I was only 8 feet from the vehicle? Is it because I can't explain what happened? Is it because I too have felt like running my car off the road and into a wall? My only fear being I would survive the accident?

Right now I'll offer a prayer. Then I will publish this entry and get to work. And wonder.

Labels: accident, collision, craziness, tragedy

A man is walking along a beach when he sees thousands of starfish stranded by an unusually low tide. He knows they will die if left on the dry sand but he can't help them all, so he continues walking.

He comes upon a child who is frantically throwing as many starfish as she can to deeper water.

"What are you doing?" he asks.

"I'm saving the starfish."

"But there are thousands of them. You can't possibly save every one, so what does it matter?"

She holds one up and tosses it back into the water.

"It matters to this one," she says.

Labels: inspirational

I was going to write a post about normal life things, but then I saw the news about the three NYPD detectives acquitted in a case where an unarmed man was shot to death on his wedding day. Fifty shots, one unarmed man. Explain to me how this received an acquittal?

"The verdict provoked an outpouring of emotions: Bell's fiancee immediately walked out of the room, and his mother wept."

The victim was leaving a strip club with two friends. The three had been drinking but we not armed and were minding their own business according to reports from witnesses. The judge said the police officers testimony was more reliable. They were acquitted on all charges.

My feeling is of utter disappointment in the justice (or lack thereof) system. My heart goes out to Sean Bell's family.

This story greatly upsets me >>

Labels: injustice, tragedy

When work overwhelms me, or really when anything does, I get this shooting pain down the back of my head, neck and through my right shoulder. I've seen a doctor, I know it is stress related. Working on a computer all day long I have carpal tunnel going on and that also causes more tension in my arms anyway. The combination ends up being quite painful at times, enough so that it will wake me up and then I can't fall back asleep. Sure they gave me muscle relaxers and such but I really don't like using them because they make me so groggy.

Any tips friends? Claudia gave me great tips on allergy suffering so I know y'all have remedies. Dish 'em out. The allergies are still being wicked, but I'm coping. I think more than anything I'm just exhausted from them. I mean even without taking medicine there is something about having bad allergies that makes you tired. Refer to the scene in the Wizard of Oz with the poppies. "Something with poison in it, but attractive to the eye, and soothing to the smell. Poppies..." Oh you know.

Also I'd like to announce that Braeden has been eating a wider variety of foods over the last couple weeks. My friend Barb sort of drilled it into me that I need to be firmer and most importantly utterly consistent. Brae knows me too well, he'll push all the right buttons and break me down. You have seen how cute he is so I know you understand.

We have grilled dinner two nights recently. One night turkey burgers and the other night lemon pepper chicken. Both nights Braeden ate the entire portion he was given. AND he ate his vegetables! He has been surprising the heck out of me. Brian has enjoyed grilling and I'm enjoying eating the meals. They are healthier and so delicious! Plus I love the smell of food grilling. Yum-o!

Yesterday we went to the local park after I picked him up from day care. He rode his bike, I walked next to him with Mya. Brae still has training wheels and man does he fly. We ended up going 1.2 miles maybe a bit more. And so he ended up sleeping through the night!

My Etsy store has sold a few more things since my last post about the online shop. I feel I have hit a plateau though. Ah well, I enjoy sewing, it feels good to complete a project and be proud.

Back to rubbing my shoulder. Happy Wednesday!

Labels: brae, brian, diet, satan aka pollen, work

Please play along with your answers!
Here's this weeks words:

Questioning :: CSI
Immunity :: Boost
Online dating :: Good for you
Calcium :: deposits
Dressing :: Salad
Bucket :: List
Stain :: Resistant
Advanced :: Release
Dramatic :: Braeden
Self-medication :: Hot cocoa

Labels: unconcious mutterings

My Mom's puppy, a pom named Lexie, greets us at the door each morning when Brae is dropped off for day care. At first Braeden wasn't at all interested in playing with or even acknowledging this new addition to the family. However now he is all about it and it's funny to see how he interacts with this feisty little pup.

This morning Lexie was looking at him and he was standing above her. He stretched himself out and said, "How low can you go?" In his made-up limbo accented fun voice.

I shoved all of my hair under a baseball cap before leaving the house this morning. My reason? I thought if I hid all my hair it would not be able to absorb any of the pollen in the air and therefore I would immediately be on top of my allergen hate game. I tried holding my breath, too. It seemed to work, until I got to work that is... I park near a greenhouse behind Townsend Hall which is the main building of the College of Ag where I work as the web developer. The smell of cows and the birds pooping all over my car are actually my favorite part of the outdoors here. Because on the way into the building I pass through the botanical gardens. I have no choice. And I had my hair up under the hat, but I could not hold my breath for the whole walk. I am now an itchy, sneezing, bitter mess of a girl.

A lot of people suffer from seasonal allergies and I am not so self involved that I think I am the only one. However, I am feeling pitiful at the moment and would like you to know my allergies are probably worse than yours. My eyes swell shut, my face welts up, I sneeze almost every other second, my stomach hurts, my ears itch, my eyes itch and all of those symptoms combined make me tired and irritable. Oh yes. This my friends may be worse than PMS. True there are a plethora of anti-histamines on the market but I have tried nearly all of them and they do nothing to mask or ease my symptoms.

And so....be prepared to hear my tales of pollen woe until about mid-June.

Thank you.

Good-bye.

Labels: brae, lexie, satan aka pollen

Please play along with your answers!
Here's this weeks words:

Silence :: Speaks loudly
Wall :: Flower
Killed :: Spirit
Wishful :: Thinking
Poodle :: Snob
Sullen :: Disposition
Do not disturb :: Bow-chica-wow-wow
Philadephia :: My brother
Anticipation :: Of?
Sidewalk :: Never Ends

Here you can find Claudia's mutterings >> she isn't feeling well so show her some blogging love. =o)

Labels: unconcious mutterings

Right now you are hearing a strange sound and wondering what it is, well I'll tell ya what it is...MY STOMACH GROWLING. I am so hungry I am slowly becoming evil.

I'm still doing the dailyplate.com thing and two days now I have eaten more calories than I am supposed to eat. I am not overweight, I know, and I don't look like I need to diet but I feel like I need to and I am unhappy with the way I feel in my clothes. Brian is doing this with me which definitely helps, except for the fact that he seems not to get irritable when he gets hungry and I'm freaking biting his head off. Heck, I chomp the air for pete's sake.

Anyway, yesterday Braeden and I did some yoga together and that was fun. We also did some cardio. And then we went to the Y with Barb and Sammy. It was a family afternoon and they had all sorts of vendors for us parents to get some free stuff, moonbounces, balloon animals and such. We had a good time but the kids ended up tired and upset because the fire truck left before they had a chance to see it.

Barb and I sang some karaoke and then Brae ended up playing over their house for a bit. I'm not sure he will be invited back because when I walked two doors down to scoop him up he was throwing a fit because he wanted to take home Sammy's Captain America action figure. Bah. I'm sure both the kids have forgotten already, but I feel bad he behaved that way.

Gymnasts are like little elves. There is an eleven year old girl, four feet tall, who can throw her body all over the place spinning and jumping and balancing. It's just amazing. And all of these girls have an enormous amount of glitter on their eyes. If it were me it would end up in my eye balls and I'd be vaulting blindly into the air. Lol. I applaud them all. They are trying out for the summer Olympics right now at the 2008 Pacific Rim Championships airing on NBC. It is just incredible.

Labels: brae, brian, diet, fat whale cow, friends, random

Brian and I started dieting recently.

He is losing weight, his jeans are looser.

Me. I still feel like a fat whale cow. Yeah, I said it. WHALE COW. A FAT ONE.

Argh! I am so frustrated. My arse is out of control! It just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

I know your metabolism changes as you get older, but I'm only 27 shouldn't it change like ten years from now?

I sit at a desk all day and then sit at a sewing table a good part of the night. So I'm not getting exercise and I know that has a lot to do with it.

It is embarrassing. Since our wedding which was in November, I have gained like 20 lbs. I'm not kidding you. I didn't stop caring, I just am always hungry and Brian makes really good food. I can't stop eating! So I'm putting it all out there folks. I want to lose the 20 pounds and you can watch me. Er, well, see my "daily plate."

I decided to sign up at The Daily Plate and start charting what I'm eating and what activities I am partaking in which at this point I'm stretching it. All I have is walking into work and playing with the dog. Oy vey!

Anyway, if any of you would like to join me feel free. Here is a link to my profile, it's free unless you choose to be a gold member which I have not. I'm really going to try guys and I know things are easier when you do them with friends so anyone who wants to join please do and then add me as a friend, ok?

Labels: diet, fat whale cow

Decided to try out this quiz after seeing it on "I Am Woman, See Me Blog!"

You Are a Lemon

You have a very distinct personality. And if you're not being sweet, you're a little hard to take. You're a bit overpowering, especially in one on one situations. And while you are very dominant, sometimes your power is needed and appreciated. You can liven up a dull situation, and you definitely bring a fresh outlook. You are a bit of an acquired taste, and you tend to grow on people over time. People feel refreshed and rejuvenated after spending time with you.

I gotta say, I feel it is pretty dead on. What do you think, for those of you who know me?

Labels: lizza, meme

7 Random Things About Me

mummifiedtimesfive.net tagged me.

And so now I need to post 7 random things about myself and then tag 7 other people to do this tag. I doubt I'll tag anyone, but I'd love for anyone who reads this to participate and let me know the link. =o)

So, here goes:

1. I like to put peanut butter and syrup on my pancakes and make them into a sandwich.

2. I am an excellent multitasker, I can sew, watch tv, talk on the phone, read a book and blog nearly all at the same time.

3. I am absolutely okay to admit I am OCD about...well..a LOT. Including folding my towels into thirds and stresing about ameobas in my water.

4. My Aunt Bobbie is my hero for battling cancer with a smile on her face and awesome bandanas. She is the ultimate survivor.

5. My Grandmom is one of the best writers I know.

6. My Mom is the most beautiful woman I have ever met.

7. There are two huge blessings in my life who I thank God for each day, my husband and my little boy.

Alright, open tag to y'all. Comment back with your 7 randoms if you want. =o)

Labels: meme, mummifiedtimesfive, random

I say ... and you think ... ?

Nutritious :: milk
Graduate :: Dustin Hoffman
Tonight! :: Sleep!
Located :: here
Weapon :: evil
Jumper :: please don't
Collectibles :: ebay
Dennis :: the Menace
Hostile :: see weapon
Vivid :: dreams

To see more mutterings and to join the fun, click here.

Labels: unconcious mutterings

This morning while checking my e-mail I found one from a blogging friend, Van.

His father passed away unexpectedly last night. I cannot even begin to tell you how profoundly upsetting this is and how deeply sorry I am.

Over the past several months Van and I have been reading each other's blogs and commenting. Learning we have a similar taste in music and more importantly we have a deep love for our children. Van talks about his kids all the time, how much he loves them and misses them when they are not home with him. His posts have always been quite endearing. Most of the time he mingles in work and he's always talking about movies and books he has recently read and/or watched. It's odd how even though I don't know him personally I am confident I could pick him out of a room and I am sincere in saying he is a friend.

Please pray for him and his family during this unspeakable time of sorrow. Send all your most positive of thoughts.

"I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge - myth is more potent than history - dreams are more powerful than facts - hope always triumphs over experience - laughter is the cure for grief - love is stronger than death." ~ Robert Fulghum

Labels: death, family, friends, sorrow, tragedy

With it being the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.s untimely death, I thought perhaps I'd write briefly to discuss him and how he has inspired so many people around the world.

At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement.

On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated.

Evil people deserve no amount of fame or recognition so his killer need not be spoken about. I just want to quickly remind everyone what Martin Luther King stood for and what he was so passionate about.

On the 28th of August in 1963 about 250,000 people gathered and listened to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech when summed up his biggest goal and these words have gone down in history as some of the most well spoken and inspiring words ever to be put together:

"I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character".

He took such an amazing stance in his short life and became the cause of so many great waves of change to come. I hope he sees there has been significant improvements in our society since his death and I hope he is proud.

But there is still much change needed. Still, too often, people fall back on the color of his skin or her skin of their own skin as the reason for how to behave. How irresponsible and conceited that is. Paint me purple or blue or green and I will still treat each of you just as I would wish you to treat me. There are no "ifs" or "buts" about it, exceptions do NOT exist in my world.

We are ONE race. We are the HUMAN race.

Labels: Martin Luther King Jr

Remember the recent squirrel incident?

I have another one to top it.

This morning while waiting at the stop sign leaving our development, Braeden noticed an animal on the side of the road. At first glance I thought it was a dead cat and I told Brae to just look away and that sometimes people have accidents when they are driving.

He insisted the animal was alive and so then I was wondering do I need to check on it, does it need help?

Brae and I continue to stare at this animal. It was about 20 feet away from the Jeep I suppose ($1520 I have the Jeep back).

Sure enough the animal lifted its head. I panicked. I didn't want to drive by an animal in need. But then I realized it wasn't an injured cat, it was a raccoon. And each time a cart drove by, on the road I was attempting to turn onto, this raccoon was raising its head and showing its teeth at the cars. It was down close to the ground, maybe even on its stomach, but almost in a pounce mode.

I didn't think anything of it until I heard the traffic report on WJBR a couple minutes later. The reporter was laughing and he said, "I have never heard something like this dispatched before, but apparently there is a rabid raccoon harassing drivers off of route 72 this morning."

ROFL.

It's not funny. So close to home this could be dangerous for the animals, and I have a dog. However, the radio reporter said animal control was on the way.

Oy! Vey!

I haven't seen this reported anywhere for me to link to it, but I swear I'm not making it up. Just another morning drive to day care folks. =o)

Labels: driving, raccoon

Being slow in reading through my favorite blogs I only just came across Claudia's recent post filled of awards for fantastic people and writers around the globe. If you aren't aware, Claudia is an intriguing writer and leader in acts of kindness. She makes an effort to spread cheer to those in her life and those in the cyber wide world of the web.

So it is with humbleness that I even mention an award she gave to me. I have been given the "Sexy Blogger Award." She wrote, "Ignoring the wide, flat arse, I give the Sexy Blogger award to: Christy because she is music, entertainment and book sexy."

Hahaha. Awwww. I'm blushing something fierce. Claudia you don't know this, but I do have a wide arse and it ain't flat, lol. I am absolutely sure it will never, ever remotely look like that picture, lol. However, I am pleased you find my bookishness sexy and for that I am grateful.

I am going to develop my own awards from Bring Me Up and you best believe you'll be getting one if not more, because I find your posts on your many blogs to be insightful, cheerful, humorous and addicting! Thank you!

Labels: blog award, claudia

I say ... and you think ... ?

Stuffed :: turkey
Gills :: Fish
Distance :: Going for Speed
Panties :: Clean
Checkered :: Board
Fill in :: Mad Libs
Taunting :: Rudeness
Diner :: Not so fun afterwards
Pizza :: Yum-a-licious!
Best friend :: Husband

Labels: unconcious mutterings

After a rough Sunday night, I woke up not feeling myself. Not cool.

Needed some healthy snacks so I went to get them and then to my surprise my Jeep started smoking/steaming I'm not sure, whatever it was I didn't like how the Jeep started riding. And after not being able to reach Brian I decided to call Fox Run Auto to see if they could fit me in. Sure enough they could. And they even drove me home since I was kind of stranded.

Well.

$1500 worth of fun is now happening and the Jeep had to stay overnight. =o(

When it rains it certainly pours.

Not to mention I have a migraine which is spanning 24 hours now and I'm still in pain. Bah humbug.

Good news is we get the rest of our new bed today. I'm loving the new mattress and I know I'll love actually having a headboard, haha. It's going to be so awesomely nautical!

Labels: home, Jeep, life