New Year’s Eve

Happy New Year’s Eve! Can you believe this is the last day of 2008? It seems like it went by so quickly, but really once past elementary, junior high and high school it all goes by quickly. Well, at least to me it does.

Instead of looking back on this past year, I am going to write about next year. Yes, I know it doesn’t start until tomorrow. However, I have always been a ‘list person.’ I don’t usually make very concrete New Year’s Resolutions though.

Have you ever heard of a Vision Board? I made one last year, but I didn’t really practice the art of the Law of Attraction with it. This year my plan is to make a great vision board that I will put in my room next to my computer. That way I will be able to see it often and really focus on drawing those things to me.

Here are some things I will include on it:

• Spark People – I want to use this more and really stay on track with my diet and exercise.

• Art – I enjoy painting, drawing and other various forms of art. I want to do more of this than I have been doing (which is almost none).

• Writing – I enjoy writing. I have enjoyed it since I was in jr. high school. However, after I graduated from high school I just stopped. College took over and I haven’t had much desire to do much creative writing. I want this to change.

• Blogging – I want to Blog as much as I can about whatever I can.

• Paranormal Investigator – I love being a paranormal investigator. I hope to go on more cases and learn as much as I can about this field.

• New Job – I really need a new job. I also really hope it is something I love to do.

• Read More – I love to read. I love books. As I’ve posted before I’m a little bit neurotic about my books even. I’d like to read at least a few books per month.

• Messy House – I need to get back working on cleaning up this messy house! My mom and I signed the “Clean up your messy house pledge” from Oprah.com – now we need to get back on track!

• Embrace Me – I want to really love being me. Sounds cheesy, but I want to be able to not apologize for being a dork, smart, blonde, have slight OCD, my neurotic tendencies, whatever. I want to just be me with no apologizes. Might be hard to find a picture to put on the vision board for this. I guess a picture of me will do?

My plan for tomorrow is to gather up all of the stuff for the vision board and make one for 2009! What a better time to make one than on the 1st day of the year! Also, by making it I also get in my 1st art project of the year. When I get this finished, I will more than likely post a picture of it!

I hope everyone has a safe night tonight and has tons of fun! Let me know what you did and if you are making some new year’s resolutions or even a vision board for yourself!

CO2 Saver

I’ve always been an environmentalist to some degree. I pick up trash if I see it, I don’t litter and I always turn lights and stuff off if they aren’t in use. I also recycle, and we even have a compost pile here.

My computer has always been something I use often, so I did a little research to see if there was any way I could help the one I have be more energy efficient. That is when I found the CO2 Saver. It is free, so I figured I’d give it a try.

The download was fast, and the application was easy to setup. I positioned the bar for it on my desktop on the bottom left. It isn’t too big, and it lets me see visually how much CO2 I am personally saving from going into the atmosphere. I love it!

As stated on their website, “In a matter of seconds you can reduce the amount of energy your computer and monitor use when they are idle and prevent extra CO2 emissions from being generated. What's more, CO2 Saver shows you the amount of CO2 you've saved single-handedly, as well as all other CO2 Saver users combined!”

Sounds pretty cool huh? Just how does it work though? Well, it is a lightweight program that manages your computer or laptop’s power usage when it isn’t being used. This saves energy and decreases the demand on your power utility. The fewer amounts of electricity produced equals fewer harmful emissions and greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) that are released into the atmosphere.

If you are looking for a new way to help the planet too, I suggest downloading the CO2 Saver. It is FREE and will help save the planet and lower your energy bills!

Drive-by-Blogging

Today was really quite uneventful. I had plans to go to a paranormal investigation tonight, but due to reasons I won’t get into, I didn’t end up going. So, basically my plans were shot to hell.

Instead, I spent the rest of the day helping my parents make a wood pile container and fill it up with wood. We had much warmer weather here than usual at this time of year (in the 70s). Tonight and tomorrow morning it is supposed to rain and then be colder again. Lovely. You know what that means? More tornadoes! I really hate tornadoes…

I felt really unmotivated to write toady. I have close to zero energy and I just kept putting off writing my Blog. Tsk tsk. I know. Hopefully I will be more in the mood to write tomorrow and write a proper post.

Quote of the Day

My mom and I often laugh. We can start laughing over something rather stupid and not be able to stop for a good five minutes after we started laughing. By then of course we can't even remember what it was we were laughing about. We just keep laughing now because the other can't stop laughing. Usually one of us has to walk away from the other one for us to stop. Even then though, sometimes, once we re-enter the room it starts again. This is truly joyous laughing. If you haven't experienced it before, you really are missing out!

When I came across this quote below, I just knew I had to share it with all of you. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone is having a great Christmas! My family actually opened our presents yesterday morning because last night we went to mass at church and this morning we had to get up early to go to my aunt’s for Christmas breakfast.

Here is a picture of the loot I got so far this year. It includes stuff I got from the other Christmas party earlier this month too, and a few I bought myself. In case you can’t make out what that box is in the middle – it is my new 10.2 megapixel digital camera!

We then went over to my Aunt and Uncle’s house for the annual Christmas breakfast/brunch. All of their kids and grandkids were there. It was nice, and since there were no little kids, there wasn’t any loud yelling or crying (woot). It was nice getting together with everyone because we only get to see all of them a few times a year.

After that, we went over to my grandma’s house and then to another set of aunt and uncle’s house. We didn’t stay at my grandma’s house for long because well, she lives in a place that should really be condemned. We had already spent time with her at my aunt’s house and my dad fixed what she needed done. I was getting nauseous and dizzy from just being in her house for 5-10 minutes because she has a pretty bad mold and mildew problem. Yet, she is stubborn as all hell and won’t move out of there (even though she really needs to). Her mind is not very good, she has dementia (pre-Alzheimer) and can’t remember much that just happened, yet she can remember stuff that happened 50+ years ago just fine. I really hope I never end up with that…

Then we went over to my brother Jason’s house and spent time with him and his family. My nephews got a ton of great stuff for Christmas including a Wii with basically everything you could want as a 9 year old to go with it. Lucky!

Now that everything is settled down, we are going to pop some popcorn on the stove the old fashioned way and watch Fred Claus and maybe another Christmas movie too. Oh, if you want the recipe for the popcorn on the stove it is really simple, here is my recipe…


Sheri’s Yummy Popcorn Recipe

Need:
Big pan with a lid (the type you’d make a lot of pasta in)
Vegetable Oil (I prefer the Smart Balance kind)
Butter or Margarine (I prefer Smart Balance)
Yellow or White Popcorn Kernels (I prefer white popcorn)
Salt
Oven holders or mitts
Bowls

Directions:
1. Place the big pan on the largest burner on the oven.
2. Add the vegetable oil to the pan. The amount you want to use can vary, but make sure it at least coats the bottom of the pan.
3. Add margarine or butter to the pan. The amount you want to use can vary, but make it at least a tablespoon.
4. Turn the burner the pan is on to high.
5. Once the butter or margarine is melted, add the popcorn kernels to the pan. The amount you want to use can vary, depending on how much popcorn you want to make. Make sure you use enough to cover the bottom of the pan though.
6. Place the lid on the pan and shake the pan. It is usually a good idea to use the oven mitts or holders while doing this because it does get very hot.
7. Once the popcorn stops popping frequently, remove the pan from the burner.
8. Pour the popcorn into the bowls.
9. Add salt as desired to the popcorn and enjoy!


Well, I hope you all had or are having a great Christmas. If you use my popcorn recipe, let me know how it turns out!

Top 10 Christmas Movies

Merry Christmas Eve! I hope everyone is having a great day today and tomorrow. Stay warm, cozy and spend time with family and loved ones.

I actually rather dislike most Christmas music, so I have made up a list of my top 10 Christmas movies to share with you. If you have these movies, pull them out and watch them. Well, perhaps not all of them at once – who has the time for that? Pick out a few and watch them over the next few days. Enjoy!

Elf Elf is a hilarious Christmas movie about the tale of a young child who crawls into Santa’s bag of gifts on Christmas Eve and gets carried back to the North Pole and raised as an Elf. Buddy (Will Ferrell) then learns after many years that he is not really an elf at all and goes on a journey to New York City to find his father (Edward Asner). I love this movie, and watch it once every Christmas. If you have not seen it, you really should!

Fred Clause Vince Vaughn plays as Fred Claus in this comedy. Fred is the not so good and jolly brother of Santa Claus. After he ends up in jail, Fred is given the opportunity to redeem himself (and work off his debt) at his brother’s workshop – in the North Pole of course!

Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas Jim Carrey is one of my favorite comedic actors. Him being “the Grinch” in this movie was great. I remember the cartoon of this movie as a kid, and this take on the original makes it even better! The makeup, costumes, sets and all of the actors were really terrific.

A Chistmas Story Who hasn’t seen A Christmas Story? I still remember the first time I ever saw this movie (right before Christmas break in history class after exams). I’ve loved it ever since! This funny holiday classic tells the story of Ralphie Parker, a 1940s nine-year-old who pulls out all the stops to obtain his ultimate Christmas present. Of course, who can forget the kid who gets his tongue stuck to the metal post outside or the leg lamp? Great movie!

The Santa Clause (All 3) This is a great set of all three movies of The Santa Clause starring Tim Allen as Santa. My favorite out of all three is the first one. Hey, the original is still the best to me! Great movie for all ages.

The Holiday This is a great romantic comedy for Christmas. It is a perfect cuddle up on the couch with your special someone movie. Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet play two successful yet unhappy women who meet online at a home vacation exchange website. Jude Law and Jack Black also star in this film as the men of their affection from a home away from home. Will it work in the end? Watch and see!

Miracle on 34th Street This is a really great remake of a classic. Six year old Susan has doubts about Santa Claus (her mother told her the “secret” about him a long time ago), so she doesn’t expect to get the most important things on her list from him. However, after meeting a special department store Santa who is convinced he is the real thing, she is given the most precious gift of all – something to believe in.

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation I remember watching this movie every year for Christmas as a kid. I think it must have been my parent’s favorite Christmas movie at the time. The Griswald family are just like any other normal, average family – except everything that can (and will) go wrong happens! Great for a laugh and it too is a classic.

Shrek the Halls This is a rather short “movie” as it is only 22 minutes. However, it is really funny. It is a great movie to watch with kids because they all love Shrek already. Adults will also get much humor out of it too. If you haven’t seen it and like Shrek, check it out!

It's A Wonderful Life George Bailey has so many problems he is thinking about ending it all – and it’s Christmas! As the angels discuss George, we see his life in flashback. As George is about to jump from a bridge, he ends up rescuing his guardian angel, Clarence. Clarence then shows George what his town would have looked like if it hadn’t been for all of his good deeds over the years. Will Clarence be able to convince George to return to his family and forget suicide? Great classic that will be around forever!

Lady Paints Entire Car With Nail Polish

Maryland woman, Jill Bell has hit the headlines with her car’s paint job. It isn’t a new shade of blue, red or silver. No, it is many different shades of every color. She used nail polish to paint her entire 1993 Saturn in a quilt-like pattern!

It didn’t perhaps start out to be such a task though. Two winters ago, she thought it would be appropriate to paint a Band-Aid on the dent of her car. While it would have been rather cute if left there, she went further with the nail polish after she saw it survived the ice and snow of winter.

According to this article, over the next 13 months, from September 2007 to this past October, she completely covered her car in a quilt-like pattern – as a quilter, she found the multi-pattern paint job fitting, she said.

Just how many bottles of nail polish would this endeavor take? Bell said that she collected about 100 to 250 bottles of nail polish, but was unsure of how many were used. She also accepted donations of nail polish from anyone who wanted to give them. Most came from ladies at her church and from women at Weight Watchers.

The dollar value on this unique paint job is also undetermined. Each brand charges different amounts, but most used were anywhere from under a dollar to $5.

Bell said that, “while children seem to flock to her car, many adults give her strange looks.” I would look at it a bit strangely too. Even though I like art, I would not want it be on my car. But, whatever floats your boat or um, car.

What are your thoughts on this unique paint job?

Honest Scrap Award

Yay! I’ve been tagged for the first time with the Honest Scrap Award thanks to BIBI. I feel honored and special and loved. Thanks so much BIBI!

So, what does this award mean? It means – “leftovers, fragments, discarded material, and many times truth and honesty is discarded material, considered fragments and left over.” We tell it like it is and let the scraps fall where they may.

The honorees are to: a) first list 10 honest things about yourself - and make it interesting, even if you have to dig deep! B) pass the award on to 7 bloggers that you feel embody the spirit of the Honest Scrap.

Ten honest things about myself? Oh boy I feel like I’m in a therapy session. Shoot, at least it is free. Well, here it goes… 10 honest things about myself.


1. I’m a self-proclaimed dork. I like to read and play video games.

2. I love Harry Potter and Twilight. I have every DVD (special wide-screen edition) that is out of Harry Potter. I also have the complete hard cover boxed set of the books. I also have a Gryffendor hair scarf, Harry Potter Lumos Lightwedge (booklight) and fabric wall scroll of Hogwarts. I just saw Twilight and loved it. I will read the books ASAP and I am quite positive I will love them even more than the movie! I think my statement of all of this also falls into #1.

3. Halloween and Christmas are my favorite holidays. Quite a contrast huh?

4. We are having a BIG Halloween party here next year. Costume party, lots of decorations, drinks, food – everything. I plan on going as a Gryffendor teacher from Hogwarts (Harry Potter). There is a sexy Hogwarts teacher costume up at Amazon.com which I *might* end up getting for my costume.

5. I am a paranormal investigator (aka. “Ghost Hunter”). If you have ever seen an episode of Ghost Hunters on Sci-Fi, we do what they do pretty much. We just don’t have a film crew following us around and aren’t on a reality TV show.

6. I really hate dieting. However, I am a Spark People member. I lost 15 or so lbs since August with it, but gained a couple back from this holiday season. I plan on getting back on track after January 1st.

7. I sell AVON and MARK. I love their makeup, fragrances, lotions, and other random things I end up buying from them too.

8. I used to write poems and short stories all the time in high school. I was actually the editor of my high school’s literary/art magazine. I was also a writer for the teen section for The Florida Today Newspaper.

9. I like to do art projects. Anything from painting, drawing, decorating/designing, etc.

10. I’ve been watching General Hospital since I was born pretty much. My mom always watched that soap opera (and a few others), and it was the one that I liked too. It also came on after school got out when I was older so I was still able to keep up on it. Now I TiVo it and watch the parts I like while I fast forward through the boring parts.


So there you have my 10 honest things. Hope you enjoyed my honesty. Now it is my turn to pass this award on and tag 7 people. If you are reading this post, consider yourself tagged as well.

http://bunnnichick.blogspot.com/

http://cold-lemonade.blogspot.com/

http://ladolcevita10.blogspot.com/

http://cossiethegreat.blogspot.com/

http://lamont-uphill.blogspot.com/

http://brendasusan.blogspot.com/

http://celefinwe.blogspot.com/

The Bachelor – Jason Mesnick

I previously posted on this Blog about last season’s The Bachelorette. I was very displeased with DeAnna Papas picking Jesse. I thought Jason would have made a much better match with her. Seems I was right about some of it at least… DeAnna and Jesse did breakup. No happy ending for this bachelorette – yet.

The new bachelor is Jason Mesnick. DeAnna’s almost choice. Jason was sweet, romantic, sexy and a great dad. I really hope that him being “the bachelor” doesn’t get to his head and make him become something different. I don’t think it will, but you never know how being on the opposite sides of things can change people.

The new season of The Bachelor begins January 5, 2009 with a 2-hour premier. According to Jason Mesnick, things are great this time around for him. “I’m engaged!” he told People. “I found exactly what I was hoping for, what I was looking for. I’m completely in love.”

Hopefully this fairy tale ending ends well for real this time for Jason Mesnick.

Soft Drink Tax?

While doing my Spark Points this morning, I came across this article about a possible tax that might be coming to New Yorkers. Since New York is facing a $15 billion deficit this year and next, New York Governor David Paterson unveiled a plan that would bring $404 million to the state. Seems like quite a big chunk of cash, but he has a $121 billion budget for 2009 and is pushing this soft drink tax as an “obesity tax” to help pay for some of this budget.

His proposal puts a tax of about 15% on non-diet drinks. This includes soda and all sugary drinks containing less than 70% fruit juice. Drinks not affected by this tax include milk, real fruit juice, diet soda and bottled water.

In my opinion, the governor should trim down his state budget before imposing new taxes on the people. I always vote against raising taxes. If the people get to vote on this, hopefully they will do the same.

Calling this an “obesity tax” is absurd and offensive. Not everyone who drinks soda is obese and surely not all who are drink regular soda. How very unpolitically correct to call it such a thing.

What are your thoughts on this proposed new tax?