Little Miss Sunshine

I went to MS last weekend to do the cook-out, hang at the pool thing with my family for the 4th. As usual, when I visit I spend most of my time playing with my niece Marley.

I know most people say they have the most beautiful children, neices, nephews etc, but that child is really truly gorgeous. I've mentioned to my sister before that maybe they should think about putting her in modeling, or even checking out acting for kids. She's hilarious and has such a flair for the dramatic. You can't be around her for more than a few minutes without smiling or laughing at something she's said or done. She just lights up the room like a bright ray of sun.

When she was younger my sister sent in her picture to a Baby Photo Contest or two, but the older she is the more beautiful she gets so I think if she entered them now she'd surely win!

This is completely off the subject, well sort of, but have you heard the newest about the Jon & Kate Plus 8 show being 'investigated' for potentially not following Child Actor Laws? I don't really watch it but I thought that was a reality show. What kind of acting are those kids doing exactly?

Sorry for the ramble but talking about kids acting brought that to mind.

Anyway, I got some great pictures this weekend of Marley, and of her new sister Paisley (who is also just beautiful) and I'll be posting them later on this week. I know I've been seriously lagging in the blogging department but I promise to catch up soon!

Here comes Santa Claus

I had to make a visit to the 9th circle of hades last night, also known as Wal-mart, to take my mom grocery shopping, and as we walked in the doors right smack in the middle of the walk way was a Christmas Tree.

Thanksgiving hasn't even made it yet and stores are already pushing sleigh bell door knockers and blinking lawn deer.

Last year my sister informed me that I was being placed in charge of making sure Santa sent a letter to my niece every year. Santa, of course, being me. Well my handwriting sucks and I have no idea what Santa would say to a kid so I hopped online to see if I could find a service that specialized in such a thing.

Lucky me there is. It's a neat idea really. They send a hand written letter on 'official' Santa stationary, and the envelope has a North Pole post mark. I know as we get older we eventually lose our child like believe in Jolly Old St. Nick, but I still think it's important to keep the dream alive for kids as long as we can.

Last year I didn't find the site in time to order, but this year Marley will definitely be getting a Letter From Santa.

Who needs a purse?

When you can just wear pants with 17432 pockets in them!

His tactical pants are a little short though..

More bang for your buck! Thats what you get with the NEW Operator Tactical Pants ™ by Operator Tactical Apparel ™. More comfort, more pockets, more maneuverability.

With over 20 years experience in law enforcement and the military, Operator Tactical Apparel knows how to make pants. After countless hours at the drawing board, customer surveys, endless piles of sample pants, and tons of revisions OTA is proud to present The Operator Tactical Pants ™.

These pants are LOADED with features. Similar pants by big name companies cost twice as much and do not have as many features as our Operator Tactical Pants ™. How can they sell these pants at such a low price?? Simple - they cut out the big name middle man and went factory-direct. And in typical OTA fashion they are passing the savings on to you.

To find out more visit www.operator-tactical-pants.com

Please press 1 for..

I’m on a mission.

In an effort to restrain myself from hunting down the bastards that keep calling my cell phone and running up my minutes just so I can listen to some stupid recording about a free cruise I won, or worse yet, DEAD AIR!, I’m joining forces with the people at www.reportphonenumbers.com.

When you get a call from some random number and it turns out to be a recording to 'Press One!' so you can register your unwanted and unasked for entry to win an imaginary 4 day/3 night stay at < insert name of bs luxury resort here > go post their number on the website.

I don't know about you but I don't have unlimited minutes for a reason and I sure as heck don't want to waste the minutes I do have listening to dead air, or a recording telling me to 'please hold this is a very important call'. If you're calling me and asking me to hold it can't be too damn important now can it?!

Sunshine delays

When I lived in Michigan that's what the morning traffic report guy called it when traffic was really backed up in the am because the glare of the sun had temporarily rendered everyone blind.

This morning we're experiencing a little heavy traffic on the expressway - just the normal sunshine delays.

Since I lost my favorite (only) pair of sunglasses I’ve been experiencing some serious sunshine delays myself. I’ve never been one of those people who can justify spending thirty or forty, heck even twenty dollars on a pair of sunglasses.

I think the last pair I bought cost somewhere around eight bucks and they lasted for months. If I had just tightened the screw when it came loose instead of wiggling the arm to see just how much longer I had until it fell off I’d still be wearing them. I uh wiggled too hard. It broke.

I’ve been thinking about getting some of those transition lens glasses that automatically adjust and get darker when you step outside. The problem with that is I don’t really need eyeglasses. I have a slight astigmatism that calls for such a small prescription that my eye doctor actually said it was up to me if I wanted to get it filled or not. Other than that I have perfect vision. Better than perfect in one eye actually, 20/20 in one and 20/15 in the other. Don’t ask me what that means, I have no idea. I just know I can see well.

I do have a slight light sensitivity though so I’m thinking I may just say to heck with it and get the transition lenses anyway. Plus I can totally pull off glasses. Think sexy librarian. I didn’t say that’s what I actually looked like in glasses, I just said think it! I think one of the main reasons I’ve been holding off is the cost. Glasses can be expensive. Even with a very minor prescription, if you want a frame that’s not going to end up making your look like Sally Jessie Raphael then you’re going to fork out some bucks.

I was just reading an article from the Chicago Tribune, and according to the Vision Council of America, Americans spend about $16 billion a year on eyeglass frames and lenses. And the majority of them are overpaying. It seems people don’t ‘shop around’ as much as they should for better prices when it comes to eye wear. Now if you actually require glasses to see then I can totally understand wanting to make sure you’re getting quality eye wear, but some people just seem to want to pay more for fancy name brands.

Ha ha on those people. If you think you’re shelling out mega bucks for glasses made by Armani or Ralph Lauren think again. You’re just paying for the name. Big designers like that don’t actually make the frames they just license their names out to regular manufacturers. So you could buy a look-a-like pair without the name stamped on it for a fraction of the cost and you’ll probably be getting the exact same frame, made from the same factory.

Then again, all this thinking about frames, and prescriptions and prices is just giving me a headache, so maybe I’ll just pick up another $8 pair of plain ol’ sunglasses next time I’m at Wal-mart.

Trickless treating

Halloween is quickly approaching and I can't say that I'm any more enthused than I would be if I were getting a root canal. Woo. Yay. Rah. and stuff.

I think the last time I dressed up for halloween was wayyyy back in 1994-95ish. I was an Indian Princess. My hair was really long and I braided it Pocohantas style, and wore a 'Indian maiden' dress that my mom made.


It looked something like this
halloween costumes online and I think this one fits me right about now.

My mom wants to decorate the apartment, but I just can't seem to get into the 'holiday' spirit. I'm kind of bummed about the whole dating thing, then there's the fact that I've never, not one time, ever been invited to a costume party. I know trick or treating is for kids, but adults dress up and have fun too. Yet somehow I always end up sitting at home like a bump on a log. I really need to get out and meet some new people. Hopefully joining the church will help with that.

But until my social circle broadens I think I may just dress up anyway. I was checking out

Sexy huh?

Club hopping

One of the discussion assignments for the Intro to Business class that I'm no longer taking was about opening a business. There are several reasons I chose Business Admin as my major but one was that I plan on opening a Dance Club in a few years.

Which got me to thinking about how much I hate smelling like an ashtray after spending a few hours out at club or bar. I wonder, would people still go to a dance club if it was non-smoking? What if there was a smoking area outside? I've been in bars that had hepa air purifiers to help minimize the smoke and they help a lot, but you still end up stinking when you leave.

What do you think? If there was a club, which by the way only played positive music with fantastic beats, but was no smoking would you go?

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post

Gonna buy me a vacation home

Aside from the terribly poor sentence structure, oh and the current housing crisis, that sounds like a good idea huh?

A friend and I were talking about the bail out yesterday and we’re both of the same opinion that if people would stop being greedy and buying crap they can’t afford the country wouldn't be in a financial crisis, housing or otherwise.

But doing something as logical as, oh I don’t know, saving money so you have a decent down payment, or making sure you could afford payments for something you purchase before buying would be down right un-American.

But that’s a rant for another day. Today I want to imagine that I’ve won the Publisher’s Clearing House drawing and I’ll be cashing a fat check for $5,000 every week for the next 30 years.

I want to imagine that I can go out next week and pick out the house of my dreams and slap down $20k for a down payment without breaking a sweat. Then I want to think about calling up some Realtors in Portland and seeing what they can find me in the way of a vacation home, nothing big or fancy, just a cute little bungalow somewhere that I could go for a week or two when I wanted to get away. I’m thinking Portland.

A friend I went to high school with lives in Portland and she says it's beautiful. A cute, cozy little town where people walk to the coffee shop and everyone knows your name. Very Dawson's Creek'ish. Every picture I've ever seen of Portland is just gorgeous, and it would definitely be a weather change from Alabama.

So while the rest of the country is freaking out because they got themselves strapped into a huge mortgage without a fixed rate, I'm going to sit back and imagine calling up some Portland Realtors and start picking out my vacation home.

Come imagine with me :)

Go Joe!

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This post sponsored by lapolicegear.com

Giving "Aunt Flo" a whole new kind of specialness...

Unless you've been living in a cave or under a rock you've heard about stem cell research. You may not know much about it, what it's for, what it does, etc., but you've heard the phrase.

Here is a bit of basic information about stem cells:

*Stem cells have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body. Serving as a sort of repair system for the body, they can theoretically divide without limit to replenish other cells as long as the person or animal is still alive. When a stem cell divides, each new cell has the potential to either remain a stem cell or become another type of cell with a more specialized function, such as a muscle cell, a red blood cell, or a brain cell.

You may also wonder - Why is stem cell research so important?

*Stem cells have potential in many different areas of health and medical research. To start with, studying stem cells will help us to understand how they transform into the dazzling array of specialized cells that make us what we are. Some of the most serious medical conditions, such as cancer and birth defects, are due to problems that occur somewhere in this process. A better understanding of normal cell development will allow us to understand and perhaps correct the errors that cause these medical conditions.

*Another potential application of stem cells is making cells and tissues for medical therapies. Today, donated organs and tissues are often used to replace those that are diseased or destroyed. Unfortunately, the number of people needing a transplant far exceeds the number of organs available for transplantation. Pluripotent stem cells offer the possibility of a renewable source of replacement cells and tissues to treat a myriad of diseases, conditions, and disabilities including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, spinal cord injury, stroke, burns, heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

*Information provided by The National Institutes for Health resource for stem cell research

There have been numerous news stories about the moral controversy concerning embryonic stem cell research. Catholic Bishops are condemning it, the late Christopher and Dana Reeve's foundation endorses and promotes it. Is it good, is it bad, more harm than help etc and so on.

Well C'elle may have come up with an alternative that, and while isn't uh exactly neat, it may be a way for women at least to have more control over their lives and the future of their health. Imagine that monthly visit from Aunt Rose finally being good for something other than bloating, fatigue and back aches!

Below is press release from PRNewswire.

Taking Control: Future Therapies for a Host of Serious Diseases May Be Found in Women's Menstrual Blood

July 07, 2008: 01:28 PM EST


OLDSMAR, Fla., July 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- With today’s hectic lifestyle, where most women are juggling careers, family, relationships, and a host of activities, the idea of possibly facing a serious illness in the future is not something that readily comes to mind -- especially when a woman is in the prime of her life. But what most women don’t know, is that the key to treating a number of possibly life-threatening diseases that she, a parent, a sibling or even her children may face in later years, such as osteoporosis, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, may be found within her own body -- in vital stem cells, which can now be harvested from her own menstrual blood.

Now, thanks to the revolutionary research and technology of C’elle, a service dedicated to providing women with a safe and easy method of collecting and preserving stem cells found in her menstrual fluid each month, even the busiest woman can take control of her future, right in the privacy of her own home. With C’elle’s non-invasive collection process, menstrual cells are processed and cryo-preserved (stored at a very low temperature) for potential cellular therapies that may be used in the future. These self-renewing cells one day may even be used for sports medicine or cosmeceutical treatments, such as anti-aging therapies.

"C’elle enables and empowers a woman to take control of her future health, and possibly of those genetically closest to her, in a fast, painless and stress free way," said Michelle Kay, Marketing and Sales Manager for C’elle. "We live in exciting times, as science and technology are discovering how extremely valuable menstrual blood stem cells really are, and the enormous treatment potential they represent for future therapies. C’elle’s ongoing research is supporting these promising findings."

For more information about this process and to read Celle Client Testimonial visit their website at http://www.celle.com/ or call 1-877-892-3553.

A Whole New Way to Go Commando

Ever wondered how you could get the sweet gear your local PD wears without having to go through the academy? LAPoliceGear.com is how. L.A. Police Gear, Inc. was founded by Los Angeles area Police Officers and now serves the general public, military personnel, security professionals, and of course police officers (or anyone else who would like to buy from them).

LA Police Gear carries a wide range of products from under armour apparel, 511 Tactical Shorts, footwear, Galco holsters and Blackhawk tactical gear.

To learn more or see their full product line visit their website

Girls Gone Wild

Yes this is a post about me. I can be wild.. sort of.

So maybe my idea of "wild" is a little different than yours.. so.


Every once in a while I'll go through the pictures on my MySpace deleting old ones and adding new. I was looking through photos of a company Christmas trip I went on back in December and realized that I never wrote about it. I posted a photo slideshow with promises to follow up but never did. My apologies. Allow me to rectify that error now.

So I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it or not but I work for a super fantastic company. Every year they pay for all of their employees (we have ten offices throughout Alabama, Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma) to go to a company Christmas Party and on a 3-4 day vacation. The vacation this year was 4 days in Cancun. All expense paid luxury resort. Allow me to repeat myself. All Expense Paid Luxury Resort. They cover travel, hotel, meals, alcohol, the works. Alcohol isn’t much of a big deal to me, I don’t drink, but for the rest of the guys and gals in the company that’s a big WOOHOOOO!!

I’ve only been with this company since last September and you have to have been with them for a year to go on the vacations so I missed out this year, but next year.. oh yea I’m there!

Usually the company Christmas trip is in Texas but this past year they decided to have it in New Orleans. We spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Harrah’s Hotel & Casino (again with the all expense paid – meals too!). I’m not sure you’d really call it a vacation since it was work related, but it was vacation enough for me. The first one I’ve ever been on too! I know, how sad is that.

I went to Boston year before last for another work related thing (diff company) but I was only there for 2 days and 8 hours of those were spent in a conference. I did get to walk around in the evening though and it’s beautiful! There are so many things to do in Boston. I highly recommend taking the T, just for fun. Oh and walking around Boston Common.

But back to New Orleans.


Maybe girls gone wild is stretching it a bit but we did have a lot of fun. Oh! You're allowed to bring a spouse or if you don't have one (like me) a guest on the trips. So since my mom's birthday was in December I brought her. That's the we.

I hadn't been to New Orleans since I was a kid visiting my grandmother. Other than what you see on TV I wasn't sure what to expect. Especially since it was post Katrina.

They had sightseeing tours but my mom and I wanted to walk around and walk we did. We got there on Friday night around 9:30 I think and we got back to the hotel around 1am. We walked and walked and walked, all through the French Quarter and down Bourbon Street. My Oh My at the things you'll see on Bourbon. It would make a nun blush!

I think the coolest thing, no I know, the coolest thing we saw was Brad Pitt's Make It Right Project in the Lower 9th. It was incredible, not only to see an entire neighborhood completely leveled but to see all of the pink tents that represented the new homes that were going to be built. We stopped and talked to a sweet lady who's house had lifted off it's foundation and floated across the street. She invited us in and showed off all her new things. She was so proud. Thankfully, she had just bought flood insurance a few months earlier, in spite of some genius insurance agent telling her she wasn't in a flood zone. I could see the levees from her yard. Not in a flood zone my rear.

I really wanted to go to the Audubon Zoo, but my mom wanted to visit the Aquarium of the Americas and we didn't have time for both so we did that instead. Trusted Tours and Attractions offers special deals and discounts on tours in New Orleans (they also can show you cool Things to do in Atlanta) and I'd really like to take one when I go again, and I definitely plan on going again! I want to go on one of the voodoo tours at night. Whoooo Spooky! And right now, Trustedtours.com is having a special promotion where if you sign up for their newsletter you can win a $150 itunes gift card!

One more interesting tidbit then I'm signing off. Did you know the Mardi Gras actually originated in Mobile, AL, and not New Orleans? I live in Mobile and had no idea until recently. Learn something new every day!