I've been slacking lately and not keeping up with my photo friday entries. Here's to getting back on track.
This was taken last fall on one of our camping trips. I like this picture alot.
My thoughts on whatever passes through my line of sight.
6/30/2005
Photo Friday - Orange
Data Hell
I am losing my mind. I consider myself a pretty computer literate person. I am self taught, so I am far from knowing all, but most of the time I can figure it all out - therefore I am the IT person in my office.
I have spent the past two days trying to figure out ONE DAMN THING and I am about to have a breakdown. I don't think I could even explain the base part of the problem involving multiple data sources all providing different numbers for what should be the same thing, but lets just say I get past that and move onto running queries in Access. Well, I keep trying to do an update query (which I need to do otherwise the past 5 hours of work will go to waste) and it tells me I have an invalid argument.
Now, I often have invalid arguments - with Jack, my parents and even friends sometimes, but NEVER in queries. So I looked up in the Help section what the *&$^# that means and it turns out
Well my setting is to English and has always been set to English so I don't know what the %^&($ #$@&*& %&%#@(* it's talking about.
I hate computers.
I have spent the past two days trying to figure out ONE DAMN THING and I am about to have a breakdown. I don't think I could even explain the base part of the problem involving multiple data sources all providing different numbers for what should be the same thing, but lets just say I get past that and move onto running queries in Access. Well, I keep trying to do an update query (which I need to do otherwise the past 5 hours of work will go to waste) and it tells me I have an invalid argument.
Now, I often have invalid arguments - with Jack, my parents and even friends sometimes, but NEVER in queries. So I looked up in the Help section what the *&$^# that means and it turns out
In Windows Control Panel, the Regional Settings property is set to a region that uses a character other than a period (.) as a decimal separator. The settings for properties in data access pages require that the decimal separator be a period for all languages.
Well my setting is to English and has always been set to English so I don't know what the %^&($ #$@&*& %&%#@(* it's talking about.
I hate computers.
6/28/2005
Help me get married Vegas Style
We're getting married. But as much as I am looking forward to all the planning, and taking our time and making it personal, I think I might enjoy a chance to get married by the Food Network in Vegas. So I'm asking for help on the video portion of the application. My creativity seems to run dry whenever I am trying to win things, and especially when cameras are around so all help welcome.
6/26/2005
6/19/2005
Happy Father's Day...
An old Italian man lived alone in the country. He wanted to dig his tomato garden, but it was very hard work as the ground was hard. His only son, Vincent, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament.
A few days later he received a letter from his son.
At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left.That same day the old man received another letter from his son.
Dear Vincent,
I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won't be able to plant my tomato garden this year. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If you were here my troubles would be over. I know you would dig the plot for me.
Love Dad
A few days later he received a letter from his son.
Dear Dad,
Not for nothing, but don't dig up that garden. That's where I buried the BODIES.
Love Vinnie
At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left.That same day the old man received another letter from his son.
Dear Dad,
Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now. That's the best I could do under the circumstances.
Love Vinnie
6/18/2005
100 Things to Know About Me
Inspired by Karchamb, who was inspired by True Jersey Girl , I thought I would take a stab at the 100 things to know about me. It's taken a few weeks to get my list, but I think that this is a pretty good summary of me.
1. I am a Sagittarius, but close enough to the cusp of Capricorn that I feel more Capricorn often.
2. In junior high I read all I could on astrological signs
3. I don’t often read my horoscope anymore, but I do check my astroweather and pay attention to moon phases
4. I also am happy when I am in tune with the seasonal changes, but often find that life goes by too quickly and I miss out.
5. I got the nickname Mickey G in High School because I was told I look like Mickey Mouse - I was upset I didn’t look like Minnie.
6. I have an older sister and a very large extended family including cousins on both sides.
7. As a child I was very jealous of my sister, but now we get along much better.
8. My family is mostly Italian, and I love every stereotype that we fill – especially when it comes to food.
9. I consider myself a spiritual person, but don’t like to be quantified.
10. I was raised Catholic, but have some issues with the church now.
11. I am currently engaged, but not getting married for a little while yet.
12. I met my fiancé at work.
13. The first week we were dating, I asked him to work one of my events. He helped glue auction paddles and worked all weekend - I knew he was a keeper when he asked me out again.
14. He comes from a small Irish family, so holidays with the Italian crew still scare him a little.
15. I am a morning person – and my fiancé is not (he likes to remind me often)
16. I am an optimist.
17. I believe that people are inherently good.
18. I love taking bubble baths.
19. I like the outdoors and camping.
20. Although after 3 days I like a shower and a real bathroom.
21. I enjoy hiking as well, and especially sitting at the top of mountains looking down.
22. I am an occasional smoker, even though I know it’s bad for me.
23. I am allergic to caffeine – in “large” quantities - large means anything more than a chocolate bar.
24. I realized this when I was dating my ex – at first I thought I was allergic to his house, then I realized what it was.
25. I loved to read as a child.
26. The only time I got sent to the Principal’s office was because I got caught reading a Sweet Valley High book in math class (in 7th grade).
27. I still like to read, and go through phases – I’m in a food writing one now, just finished a stretch of chick-lit.
28. I was a big Stephen King fan growing up, mostly because my dad was one too.
29. I was an English major in college so I spent a lot of time on Medieval Literature, but read Harlequin romances in the summers.
30. If I could do college all over again, I think I would take more science courses.
31. I would like to go to graduate school – I just can’t make up my mind for what.
32. My favorite books could be Mist of Avalon.
33. As a child I read Charlottes Web more than 100 times – and the movie makes me cry to this day.
34. Some of my current favorite authors are Laura Pedersen, Gregory Maguire, Marion Zimmer Bradley and Alice Hoffman.
35. I still get a kick out of Harlequin romances.
36. I like TV, but have found that most sitcoms can’t hold my attention anymore.
37. Arrested Development is the exception to this rule
38. I’m sad that there is no new Joss Whedon show on the air right now, I miss Buffy, Angel & Firefly.
39. I used to make fun of those who watched Buffy – then I got addicted.
40. I think I’m becoming a sci-fi geek, as Jack got me into Stargate SG-1.
41. I like CSI and think that William Peterson is sexy.
42. Some of my favorite movies include Big Night, Princess Bride, Hudsucker Proxy, and the Back to the Future trilogy.
43. I also love anything with John Cusak and Jeremy Piven
44. I’ve always been drawn to the arts and worked at a theatre for a few years.
45. I spent my youth performing in choirs, musicals and plays.
46. My favorite role was Rizzo in Grease
47. I also directed.
48. I had dreams of being an actor as a child, but decided it wasn’t for me as I got older.
49. If I had to pick a career in theatre now, I would probably want to be a stage manager.
50. I love Eric Clapton – even his cheesy lite fm stuff.
51. I like to have music playing all the time – especially at work, it keeps me motivated – and so I keep my iPod with me at all times.
52. I love to cook – for reasons including it lets me have a creative outlet know that I’m no longer “performing”
53. I grew up spending time in the kitchen with my dad – he was more of the cook than my mom.
54. My mom was the technical queen – she was very handy when we needed phone lines spliced and re-wired
55. A friend from North Carolina told me once “You cook better than my mama” – one of my proudest moments
56. I like to try new recipes, and will read cookbooks like novels just for the fun of it.
57. My favorite chef right now is Alton Brown – I like learning the science.
58. I love cooking for friends, and wish I did it more often
59. I love to cook Italian, but I also like trying new things.
60. I had never left this time zone until just shy of my 30th birthday
61. That was a trip to Italy for work, followed by a few days in San Diego for work.
62. One of my most memorable moments in Italy was buying olive oil from the guy next door to the hotel – I could see his olive grove from my hotel room.
63. When I vacation, I like to get to know one area really well – as opposed to seeing 80 different things in 80 minutes.
64. I’ve been to FL, GA, NC, VA, DC, DE, NY, MA, NH, VT, ME, Montreal & Quebec on vacation.
65. I want to go to Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, TX, Ireland and back to Italy. Oh and England, Scotland and Greece would be cool too.
66. If I could live anywhere it would be New England – Maine, Vermont or Massachusetts.
67. Mostly cause I love winter and snow and Jersey doesn’t get enough.
68. But I would totally miss tomatoes…and my family.
69. Although the western part of NC was amazing – I loved the mountains and the waterfalls.
70. I consider myself a tomato snob – only in summers, only from a garden.
71. Preferably my garden, but living in apartments has made that difficult.
72. I love winter and don’t mind being cold, but I hate being hot.
73. I especially hate when my feet are warm, so I tend to wear sandals long into the fall and wear them early in the spring,
74. I used to love wearing heels, but now I’m old and my feet hurt when I do.
75. I enjoy doing things with my hands – and am not afraid of using power tools (like table saws, get your mind out of the gutter)
76. One of my favorite hobbies is ceramics.
77. I have taken classes for about 4 years on a pottery wheel and love it.
78. I dream of living in a great cabin in the wood, selling my pottery while Jack makes furniture.
79. I would love if this cabin were on a lake.
80. I enjoy swimming and was a competitive swimmer growing up.
81. I also played softball, but wasn’t very good.
82. I stopped swimming when I got into theatre.
83. I have one very special friend whom I have known since I was a few weeks old.
84. She was on the swim team with me.
85. I’ve am an environmentalist but I sometimes I get angry because people have negative stereotypes associated with the word.
86. In some ways I got interested in environmental movements because of food and learning about organic gardening.
87. Now I care about sustaining local farming and do as much of my shopping at farmers markets as I can.
88. I’ve been told that I’m naïve about many things, and I don’t mind.
89. I scold my fiancé for bursting my happy little bubble about politics – where I thought things were fair and politicians looked out for the people.
90. Now I’m trying hard not to become a bitter angry liberal that hates everything.
91. Unfortunately I’m finding that hard to do.
92. I don’t read the paper as much as I want too.
93. I get most of my news from the Daily Show.
94. I do not consider myself a workaholic, and will be happy if I enjoy my job and make my rent.
95. I work with workaholics and I don’t understand them.
96. I have two cats, both adopted, one from a litter of kittens outside our office.
97. I never thought I was a cat person until Moe came into our lives.
98. I hate when quizzes ask for my “favorite” of something, because I find that most of the time there is no all time favorite, but just preferences and often they are changed by mood.
99. Although I do have a favorite ice cream 90% of the time – mint chocolate chip with rainbow sprinkles.
100. I am very happy with my life.
1. I am a Sagittarius, but close enough to the cusp of Capricorn that I feel more Capricorn often.
2. In junior high I read all I could on astrological signs
3. I don’t often read my horoscope anymore, but I do check my astroweather and pay attention to moon phases
4. I also am happy when I am in tune with the seasonal changes, but often find that life goes by too quickly and I miss out.
5. I got the nickname Mickey G in High School because I was told I look like Mickey Mouse - I was upset I didn’t look like Minnie.
6. I have an older sister and a very large extended family including cousins on both sides.
7. As a child I was very jealous of my sister, but now we get along much better.
8. My family is mostly Italian, and I love every stereotype that we fill – especially when it comes to food.
9. I consider myself a spiritual person, but don’t like to be quantified.
10. I was raised Catholic, but have some issues with the church now.
11. I am currently engaged, but not getting married for a little while yet.
12. I met my fiancé at work.
13. The first week we were dating, I asked him to work one of my events. He helped glue auction paddles and worked all weekend - I knew he was a keeper when he asked me out again.
14. He comes from a small Irish family, so holidays with the Italian crew still scare him a little.
15. I am a morning person – and my fiancé is not (he likes to remind me often)
16. I am an optimist.
17. I believe that people are inherently good.
18. I love taking bubble baths.
19. I like the outdoors and camping.
20. Although after 3 days I like a shower and a real bathroom.
21. I enjoy hiking as well, and especially sitting at the top of mountains looking down.
22. I am an occasional smoker, even though I know it’s bad for me.
23. I am allergic to caffeine – in “large” quantities - large means anything more than a chocolate bar.
24. I realized this when I was dating my ex – at first I thought I was allergic to his house, then I realized what it was.
25. I loved to read as a child.
26. The only time I got sent to the Principal’s office was because I got caught reading a Sweet Valley High book in math class (in 7th grade).
27. I still like to read, and go through phases – I’m in a food writing one now, just finished a stretch of chick-lit.
28. I was a big Stephen King fan growing up, mostly because my dad was one too.
29. I was an English major in college so I spent a lot of time on Medieval Literature, but read Harlequin romances in the summers.
30. If I could do college all over again, I think I would take more science courses.
31. I would like to go to graduate school – I just can’t make up my mind for what.
32. My favorite books could be Mist of Avalon.
33. As a child I read Charlottes Web more than 100 times – and the movie makes me cry to this day.
34. Some of my current favorite authors are Laura Pedersen, Gregory Maguire, Marion Zimmer Bradley and Alice Hoffman.
35. I still get a kick out of Harlequin romances.
36. I like TV, but have found that most sitcoms can’t hold my attention anymore.
37. Arrested Development is the exception to this rule
38. I’m sad that there is no new Joss Whedon show on the air right now, I miss Buffy, Angel & Firefly.
39. I used to make fun of those who watched Buffy – then I got addicted.
40. I think I’m becoming a sci-fi geek, as Jack got me into Stargate SG-1.
41. I like CSI and think that William Peterson is sexy.
42. Some of my favorite movies include Big Night, Princess Bride, Hudsucker Proxy, and the Back to the Future trilogy.
43. I also love anything with John Cusak and Jeremy Piven
44. I’ve always been drawn to the arts and worked at a theatre for a few years.
45. I spent my youth performing in choirs, musicals and plays.
46. My favorite role was Rizzo in Grease
47. I also directed.
48. I had dreams of being an actor as a child, but decided it wasn’t for me as I got older.
49. If I had to pick a career in theatre now, I would probably want to be a stage manager.
50. I love Eric Clapton – even his cheesy lite fm stuff.
51. I like to have music playing all the time – especially at work, it keeps me motivated – and so I keep my iPod with me at all times.
52. I love to cook – for reasons including it lets me have a creative outlet know that I’m no longer “performing”
53. I grew up spending time in the kitchen with my dad – he was more of the cook than my mom.
54. My mom was the technical queen – she was very handy when we needed phone lines spliced and re-wired
55. A friend from North Carolina told me once “You cook better than my mama” – one of my proudest moments
56. I like to try new recipes, and will read cookbooks like novels just for the fun of it.
57. My favorite chef right now is Alton Brown – I like learning the science.
58. I love cooking for friends, and wish I did it more often
59. I love to cook Italian, but I also like trying new things.
60. I had never left this time zone until just shy of my 30th birthday
61. That was a trip to Italy for work, followed by a few days in San Diego for work.
62. One of my most memorable moments in Italy was buying olive oil from the guy next door to the hotel – I could see his olive grove from my hotel room.
63. When I vacation, I like to get to know one area really well – as opposed to seeing 80 different things in 80 minutes.
64. I’ve been to FL, GA, NC, VA, DC, DE, NY, MA, NH, VT, ME, Montreal & Quebec on vacation.
65. I want to go to Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, TX, Ireland and back to Italy. Oh and England, Scotland and Greece would be cool too.
66. If I could live anywhere it would be New England – Maine, Vermont or Massachusetts.
67. Mostly cause I love winter and snow and Jersey doesn’t get enough.
68. But I would totally miss tomatoes…and my family.
69. Although the western part of NC was amazing – I loved the mountains and the waterfalls.
70. I consider myself a tomato snob – only in summers, only from a garden.
71. Preferably my garden, but living in apartments has made that difficult.
72. I love winter and don’t mind being cold, but I hate being hot.
73. I especially hate when my feet are warm, so I tend to wear sandals long into the fall and wear them early in the spring,
74. I used to love wearing heels, but now I’m old and my feet hurt when I do.
75. I enjoy doing things with my hands – and am not afraid of using power tools (like table saws, get your mind out of the gutter)
76. One of my favorite hobbies is ceramics.
77. I have taken classes for about 4 years on a pottery wheel and love it.
78. I dream of living in a great cabin in the wood, selling my pottery while Jack makes furniture.
79. I would love if this cabin were on a lake.
80. I enjoy swimming and was a competitive swimmer growing up.
81. I also played softball, but wasn’t very good.
82. I stopped swimming when I got into theatre.
83. I have one very special friend whom I have known since I was a few weeks old.
84. She was on the swim team with me.
85. I’ve am an environmentalist but I sometimes I get angry because people have negative stereotypes associated with the word.
86. In some ways I got interested in environmental movements because of food and learning about organic gardening.
87. Now I care about sustaining local farming and do as much of my shopping at farmers markets as I can.
88. I’ve been told that I’m naïve about many things, and I don’t mind.
89. I scold my fiancé for bursting my happy little bubble about politics – where I thought things were fair and politicians looked out for the people.
90. Now I’m trying hard not to become a bitter angry liberal that hates everything.
91. Unfortunately I’m finding that hard to do.
92. I don’t read the paper as much as I want too.
93. I get most of my news from the Daily Show.
94. I do not consider myself a workaholic, and will be happy if I enjoy my job and make my rent.
95. I work with workaholics and I don’t understand them.
96. I have two cats, both adopted, one from a litter of kittens outside our office.
97. I never thought I was a cat person until Moe came into our lives.
98. I hate when quizzes ask for my “favorite” of something, because I find that most of the time there is no all time favorite, but just preferences and often they are changed by mood.
99. Although I do have a favorite ice cream 90% of the time – mint chocolate chip with rainbow sprinkles.
100. I am very happy with my life.
6/14/2005
Sweets for the sweet...
I never considered myself a shopper - unless it comes to food. Then I research, and surf, and ask questions and do all sorts of things to find the yummiest, tastiest and most interesting things to ingest.
Recently I found another one. Break out your sweet tooth, Dancing Deer Baking Company is in the house.
A few years ago I was reading my Bon Appetit and as in every edition, there was a section on "new" products - or at least ones that are not mainstream. This little baking company out of Boston was listed, and I remember thinking they sounded pretty good. But I forgot about them until a few months ago when I was hunting for favors for our engagement party.
Now I'm a big fan of consumable or compostable party favors. So when I was reviewing one of my favorite bridal websites I was reminded of Dancing Deer. I popped over to the website, and thought Yum, so I decided to order these for our guests.
Not willing to wait the month or so till I could sample the ones for the party, I sent a box of cookies, instead of flowers, to a friend after her son was born. So between those two things, I got to do lots of sampling.
First off, I'm a sucker for oatmeal raisin cookies but my man prefered the Molasses Clove. And the most intersting of the engagement favors - Chocolate Tangerine". Soft and crumbly, with a dark choclate flavor with the hint of zing you would get from the tangerine. Great with milk for a bedtime snack.
I also really liked the lavender shortbread, but alas, they are not sold individually - only with the cookie samplers.
And now, although I have not tried them, Dancing Deer has begun making brownies. And although I love to cook, baking has never been a strong point, so now that it's summer, and I don't want my oven heating our whole house, I think I'll have to get some more for all those days when I'm craving sweet!
Recently I found another one. Break out your sweet tooth, Dancing Deer Baking Company is in the house.
A few years ago I was reading my Bon Appetit and as in every edition, there was a section on "new" products - or at least ones that are not mainstream. This little baking company out of Boston was listed, and I remember thinking they sounded pretty good. But I forgot about them until a few months ago when I was hunting for favors for our engagement party.
Now I'm a big fan of consumable or compostable party favors. So when I was reviewing one of my favorite bridal websites I was reminded of Dancing Deer. I popped over to the website, and thought Yum, so I decided to order these for our guests.
Not willing to wait the month or so till I could sample the ones for the party, I sent a box of cookies, instead of flowers, to a friend after her son was born. So between those two things, I got to do lots of sampling.
First off, I'm a sucker for oatmeal raisin cookies but my man prefered the Molasses Clove. And the most intersting of the engagement favors - Chocolate Tangerine". Soft and crumbly, with a dark choclate flavor with the hint of zing you would get from the tangerine. Great with milk for a bedtime snack.
I also really liked the lavender shortbread, but alas, they are not sold individually - only with the cookie samplers.
And now, although I have not tried them, Dancing Deer has begun making brownies. And although I love to cook, baking has never been a strong point, so now that it's summer, and I don't want my oven heating our whole house, I think I'll have to get some more for all those days when I'm craving sweet!
6/13/2005
Family Fun...
I have a wonderfully large extended family. In my generation, there are ten of us that see each other pretty regularly, and as many know, we are going through the wedding marathons lately – with this summer adding three more to the ranks of wedded bliss. Luckily all the “in-laws” are pretty cool so the weddings are a blast, and subsequent events are always fun.
Saturday was the bachlorette party for one of the above-mentioned cousins. Now although there was potential for a wild and crazy type of party (aka – strippers) we behaved like the proper women we are (ahem) and spent about 10 hours drinking, talking and having a big o’l slumber party.
Our bride-to-be was a great sport – letting us put a tiara, veil and many other accoutrements on her person while we went out in public – my favorite: the button that said “last chance for kisses, I’ll soon be a Mrs.” Of course, being that obvious we drew our fair share of attention, and I want to thank the young men from North Carolina for the bottles of wine they sent to our table.
I really did have a great time…especially watching the P&L wedding video in which certain members of the family went a bit crazy on the dance floor. And we learned that L is not allergic to mole, but mold. So here’s to more good times!
Saturday was the bachlorette party for one of the above-mentioned cousins. Now although there was potential for a wild and crazy type of party (aka – strippers) we behaved like the proper women we are (ahem) and spent about 10 hours drinking, talking and having a big o’l slumber party.
Our bride-to-be was a great sport – letting us put a tiara, veil and many other accoutrements on her person while we went out in public – my favorite: the button that said “last chance for kisses, I’ll soon be a Mrs.” Of course, being that obvious we drew our fair share of attention, and I want to thank the young men from North Carolina for the bottles of wine they sent to our table.
I really did have a great time…especially watching the P&L wedding video in which certain members of the family went a bit crazy on the dance floor. And we learned that L is not allergic to mole, but mold. So here’s to more good times!
6/07/2005
help please...
There are many good causes in this world that someone would want to donate to. Their alma mater, health organizations, women's organizations, political parties, Save the whales etc. But I think if I had only $5 to give, I just may have to give it to this cause.
By the way - Jayce is one of my man's co-workers.
By the way - Jayce is one of my man's co-workers.
6/05/2005
Honest Tea
A few weeks ago while food shopping I was in the mood for something to drink besides my usual water/orange juice beverages. I've never been a big soda drinker, and I don't like lots of bottled juices and such because of the high fructose corn syryp. As we wandered down the supermarked aisle, I came across some bottles of iced tea - I'll admit it was Opus on the label that first grabbed my attention. We grabbed a few tried it when we got home.
Yum.
I know I sound like a commercial, but they really were good. Fresh brewed, very little "sugary sweetness" and for me, caffine quantities listed on the lable so I know if I can drink a whole bottle or just a little bit. And the organic label was an added bonus for me.
I'm also one of those who when I find things I like, I visit websites to see what else there is. I wanted to know what flavors I was missing and where I can find them, since my supermarket has a limited selection.
oh, and to make this even more fun, I emailed the company, and they emailed me back! And they read my blog too - how fun! So, I encourage everyone to try these teas - they are quite the yum yum!
Yum.
I know I sound like a commercial, but they really were good. Fresh brewed, very little "sugary sweetness" and for me, caffine quantities listed on the lable so I know if I can drink a whole bottle or just a little bit. And the organic label was an added bonus for me.
I'm also one of those who when I find things I like, I visit websites to see what else there is. I wanted to know what flavors I was missing and where I can find them, since my supermarket has a limited selection.
oh, and to make this even more fun, I emailed the company, and they emailed me back! And they read my blog too - how fun! So, I encourage everyone to try these teas - they are quite the yum yum!
6/01/2005
Spring has sprung....
Welcome to another installment in the AADC wildlife sancutary. Today we found out that the big ol' groundhog that lives under our porch had babies. There was a little kiddie groundhog hangin' out in the sunny spot today along with the mommy (which I guess we know now is a girl).
Makes you feel all kinds of warm fuzzies. I'm taking it as a good sign and hopefully as a sign of some new "births" in my life. (And no, I'm not talking about babies - just some upcoming changes).
g
Makes you feel all kinds of warm fuzzies. I'm taking it as a good sign and hopefully as a sign of some new "births" in my life. (And no, I'm not talking about babies - just some upcoming changes).
g
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