Friday, February 27, 2009

Day 324 (Feb 27th)--Confessions....


For those of you who know me well, you know I am very into old school things, I am a big fan of 80's movies and music and there are quite a few shows from when I was growing up I enjoy thoroughly--they spark up nostalgia! With that said I decided to watch the VH1 Show Confessions of a Teen Idol on VH1. I know the show is over but I decided to watch the first episode to see if I would want to watch more. I liked what I saw. I was a big fan of the TV show fame and thought it was funny they have Adrian Zmed on there (I have the movie Grease 2 and have to laugh over this cheesy role in it). I also like that they have Eric from Season 1 of the Real World (and the Grind) on there. One thing I really like about the show is that they don't try to hand anything back to them. They make them explore their feelings and work towards their goals--guess that's the Social Worker in me talking! In a nutshell, yes, I will be watching more episodes of this!

-Jackie

Day 323--Feb 26th--A Sad New thing

Today's new thing was a hard thing for me and a reminder that in my life and in my career, all days will not be great. In fact, this is one of the parts of my job I find to be the hardest. Today, as a Social Worker (Prior to this I worked in the Social Service Field but never as an official Social Worker) I dealt with my first client passing away and what I needed to do to close the case with the County. I filed many reports, made many calls and filed my official last case note. I was helping this client look for new housing so over the last year he is one of the clients I spent the most time with. He will be missed.

-Jackie

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Day 322--February 25th--It's a Blast


I had heard all the hype about Cover Girl's Lash Blast Mascara so I wanted to try it myself. The results were great. There are only a handful of items I shamelessly plug on my blog...this would be one of them!


-Jackie

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Day 321 (february 24th)--I wish.....


In our small group we talked about our dreams in life...what things would we really want whether they are realistic or not. So today I spent some time working on the lists of things I want. We had a different sheet of paper for each category. I think as you get older you can lose sight of your dreams so this was a great exercise I hope to do again.


-Jackie

Day 320 (Feb 23rd) Laying it on the line

At work lately there has been tension between some employees. So today at our staff meeting we had to talk about situations that were bothering us so we could become a stronger team. I had never been in a work environment that encouraged that type of communication and I was able to open up about an anonymous comment one of my co-workers made on my last performance eval. It was nice to get it off of my chest after 6 months of holding it in.

-Jackie

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Day 319 (Feb 22nd)--Resaerching Naps.


Today I did a google search on naps. I found out I was napping all wrong. Naps should never be more than 30 minutes and mine range from 1.5-2 hours. Whoops! Also when getting up right away from a nap they suggest drinking something like water or soda and getting into a task right away like checking e-mail or paying bills. Google has the best links to sites about naps. 30 minutes is not enough time to get into a deep dreamlike state so that's what distinguishes a nap from regular sleep.


By the way, this photo has nothing to do with naps but I like any excuse to show off a picture of my fur child!


-Jackie

Day 318 (Feb 21st)--Decorating for the Holiday




This new thing is pretty simple but also very new for me I decorated in honor of St. Patrick's Day. Since St. Patty's day is also my one year anniversary at work, I will be also decking myself out in St. Patty's Day attire. See photos for a small example of my St. Patty's Day Decoations.




-Jackie

Friday, February 20, 2009

Day 317 (February 20th)--TV Land (and a happy birthday to my brother)!

Today I watched some TV land online while waiting for a client. It is not that I haven't watched quite a few of these classic shows...just not on TV land. Anyway, I did not watch one of the classic shows, I watched their Reality Show High School Reunion. It was in my opinion.......very lame. I do not understand why people want to go back and confront their High School issues on National TV. And the "Ugly Duckling in high school"? From the looks of the pictures did not seem that "Ugly" to me. I will not be watching that show again.

-Jackie

Thursday, February 19, 2009

day 316 (Feb 19th)--Eco friendly & Resolve

The last couple of days have been downers for me but I am feeling better now. Tonight I went to the store to get dishwashing detergent (do not go to the Grocery store for dishwashing detergent...it is pricey) and I ended up purchasing Seventh Generation Dishwashing Detergent which is supposed to be non-toxic and cholorine free. I am actually surprised at how well this product works. It doesn't leave and residue behind and really cleans my dishes well!

EXTRA CREDIT: As many of you know, my husband and I have been strugging with infertility for almost 6 years now. Today I went to this site which is called RESOLVE (the national infertility association)...there I was able to find a way to respond to a sensitive situation I experienced today regarding my infertility struggles. For any of you who are going through infertility or know someone who does, I highly recommed this website!

-Jackie

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Day 315 (February 18th)--For Jerry's Kids

Today was not a very fun morning. I almost got broadsided by a car that ran the stopsign coming out of the strip mall parking lot and then acted like it was my fault. I also ended up going into work due to a late appointment only to have it cancelled. (I hate working late). But on the way to work I stopped at Burger King for some Cheesy Tots and a Coke. They were having a Fundraiser for Jerry's Kids "http://www.mda.org/" so I donated some money. It's a good cause I always wanted to donate to.

-Jackie

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Day 314 (February 17th)--Dear Diary.....


Food diary that is! Today as one of the activities we have at work for our Health and Wellness Bingo I began to keep a food diary of all the things I eat during the day. I am going to do this for the week as instructed but if it is something that really helps me pay attention to what I eat then I will keep up with it.


-Jackie

Monday, February 16, 2009

Day 313 (Feb 16th) letter to me

This is a new thing I have been wanting to do for a long time. Today I went back and wrote a letter to myself 10 years ago. This one took a lot of thought as I could have told the me 10 years ago all the things I should have done differently or I could have talked about only positive things. In the end my letter was good as it reflected on the worries of back then and added some things the me back then would have found to be funny (like my current love for Football and the Packers/Brett Favre.)

-Jackie

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Day 312 (February 15th)--Feel the Burn


My wedding anniversary is tomorrow (7 years) but we have been making a wknd out of it. (I am not going to work tomorrow either, it's one of my 3 floating holidays I get every year). Today after Church it was time to have a little pampering done and do something I had never done before. So besides my cut and color I had my eyebrows waxed. It did not hurt as badly as I thought but I had some red marks for a little bit. I reacted better when I would hold my breath as she pulled the strip off. I think I will do this on a regular basis. Beats trying to do it at home. Oh and here is now my cut and color and eyebrow wax turned out. (See photo)

-Jackie

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Day 311 (Feb 14th) In honor of the Hallmark Holiday..


My husband and I do not really celebrate Valentines Day. Our wedding anniversary is on February 16th so we focus more on that since it is celebration of marriage and not really a holiday Hallmark thought up. In honor of the Hallmark Holiday, I went on Youtube and watched Retro Episodes of Guiding Light from the 80s. My Mom and sister (who is 11 years older than me) were big Guiding Light fans which made me become one later on in life. I still remember some of the episodes of the show that were featured on Youtube. I also went on a Guiding Light website to find out what ever happened to certain stars/couples that were on the show.

-Jackie

Day 310 (February 13th) Wii Did it!


My husband and I will be celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary on Monday. As an early anniversary gift for each other we went out and bought a Wii. They are a little pricey but well worth it. We have a nice federal and state tax refund (much of which is going into savings) and I also got a bonus at work! I also played Wii bowling for the first time tonight AND created my own mii character. Fun times!
-Jackie

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Day 309 (Feb 12th)--Talking with someone in my ear

Today at work I went to an interesting training on Schizophrenia. There was a lot of great information presented. One of the activities we did was split into groups of 3 and 2 people talked while the 3rd person kept talking in one the the first two's ear. We all had to take turns having our ear be talked into while trying to hold up a conversation. Really shed some light a day in the life of a person with Schizophrenia.

We also studied an artist before and after his onset of Schizophrenia. It's an interesting thing to see. Here is the link if you are interested. "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8MIe7_u_tA"

-Jackie

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Day 308 (Feb 11th) --I won!

Today I got a call from one of the local radio station. I won a family 4 pack of tickets to see Inkhart. I haven't really heard much about it but here is the plot. A young girl discovers her father has an amazing talent to bring characters out of their books and must try to stop a freed villain from destroying them all, with the help of her father, her aunt, and a storybook's hero. I think my hubby and I will go this wknd and bring our friend Andy if he is free.

-Jackie

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Day 307 (Feb 10th)--Savorings, not savory


Today I went to the store to buy something quick and easy for lunch. I bought these Pillsbury Savorings in Cheese and Spinach. I made them for lunch. They were gross.


-Jackie

Monday, February 9, 2009

Day 306 (Feb 9th)--Dispelling a rumor

In College I had heard a rumor about actress Eileen Davidson (once on Days of Our lives and is on the Young and the Restless) so I went to snopes.com to see if the rumor was true. It was not. I must not have been the only one who wondered. When I googled her name the rumor in question automatically came up in the search engine.

-Jackie

Day 305 (Feb 8th)--Taking a risk

I am shy about sharing my layouts with others--I was once in an online scrapbooking group (this was before Titus2Scrapbookers for those of you who belong to that group..it was an entirely different Yahoo group) and was told that I scrapbooked like and 8 year old. But today I took a chance and posted my layouts in a layout album on my Facebook. I received a few compliments which is nice. I will probably add to the layout folder on there in the future.

-Jackie

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Day 304 (Feb 7th)--A whole lotta new.




Today I went to a scrapbooking crop with consultants and participants I had never met before (I found a new CM consultant online.) There were a lot of other new things about this day. I also wanted to share some of my layouts with you also.

-I never scrapbooked at a Baptist Church before
-I never went to a CM (Creative Memories) crop where there was 5 consultants with their participants there.
-This was the first time I went to a crop where I got a chair massage.
-This was the 1st crop I went to where a lot of the participants had a much non-Creative Memories stuff as me. Though I did get a CM album and pages.



-Jackie

Friday, February 6, 2009

Day 303 (Feb 6th)--Live baby live!

Today some friends and I attended a live recording session of a Worship CD our church is putting out. They are also making a DVD so it is possible we may show up on both. The music was great, it was standing room early (and that campus of the church is HUGE) and at the end we had 4 worship bands and one choir performing. It was so much fun!

Extra Credit: I actually did research on a story line I missed out on because I had small group on Monday nights. I always wanted to know what happened to the Nanny on One Tree Hill and now I do!

-Jackie

Day 302 (February 5th)--Purge Purge Purge

In Scrapbooking when you throw out your unused items it is called purging. I have cleaned out my scrapbooking bag but never as deep as I should have. Tonight I gave my scrapbooking stuff a top to bottom sort and purge. One bag for stuff I did not want (or hung on to since 2002 thinking i would use it but never will), one bag or stuff to give away to a friend and the rest was re-organized and put back into the bag. It is funny the items that ended up in that bad. My nametag from a 2003 Scrapbooking retreat in Wisconsin? Sermon notes? Stickers that were so old they lost their stickiness factor? LOL! I am going to an 8 hour crop on Saturday so I need to be prepared. I am trying to revive this old hobby of mine!

-Jackie

Day 301 (Feb 4th)--Salad in the morning

My stomach was still a bit on the sensitive side today so I had pudding for supper, chocolate Jello Pudding. YUM!

-Jackie

Day 300 (Feb 3rd)--Mexicana

Today we went to to lunch to say goodbye to one of my favorite co-workers who is moving on up in the world and leaving us behind. =( We had lunch for her at Picosa's www.picosarestaurant.com/home.asp which had a great lunch buffet. Regretfully their food is pretty spicy and my stomach did not like that. I had the rumblies in my tummy all night!

-Jackie

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Day 299--Feb 2nd--I found a new addiction

Today I was trying to find a place online where one can translate phrases into another language. I found a wonderful creation called Google Translator. I was in a rough spot today but did not want to sound too negative on my facebook status. So I had google Translator translate the phrase to a' la francias and I posted it in French. I think only one of my Facebook friends is fleunt in French so it was perfect. I think from now on I will do that on Facebook when I am in a bad spot but do not want to sound too negative. LOL!

-Jackie

Day 298 (Feb 1st)--Giving back

We have (my husband and I) been very blessed in the past by people who helped us out financially and through care packages when we have been in a tough spot. Today we were able to give back by purchasing pre-assembled bags of Groceries from the Grocery store. We purchased the bags then donated them to the local Food Shelf.



-Jackie