Yesterday I took a trip down memory lane even though I never thought that it would happen.  I was too wrapped up in today to even think that yesterday, or even 12 years ago would cross my mind.

I was so concerned about getting children to games, playing in the rain, missing cleats, to comprehend what I was about to enter into.

But the moment that Samara and I left her game, already drenched, to head to Matthew’s game in Botetourt, the memories came flooding back.

We passed several Krogers and Wal-Marts that sit now on what once were fields and I felt old when I pointed out to Samara that “I can remember when that was just land” coupled with a few, “I wonder when that was built?”

I headed out to the land where I grew up and I found myself recounting to Samara the times that things were built, how old I was and how I remembered things.  If I was boring her, she didn’t seem to let on and for that I was grateful.

As we turned on to Rte 221, I mentioned to her that when I was her age, the road that we were driving on was just two lanes but that it had been widened my senior year in high school.  I explained how, as 17 and 18 year olds, we were too impatient to wait through the construction traffic, so we would take the country roads home… until the cops got smart and would sit behind the bend of a curve and wait for us to round the corner.  I also mentioned how I had never gotten a ticket, but came close on more than one occassion.

And then we arrived at Read Mountain Middle School.  As we drove through the neighborhood to get to the school, I told her how I had been there before they even broke ground, before they even had the go ahead to build the school.  I explained how if the school were built when I was Matthew’s age, it’s where I would’ve gone, but that at the time, there was just one middle school all the way on the other end of the country… an hour bus ride and lots of trouble if we missed the bus in the morning.

I played a part in the building of that middle school and I can’t help but remember that whenever I go to that school which is once a year for a football game.  My honors independant study my senior year in high school, in addition to working Friday Night Football at the local NBC affiliate, was to put together a video informing county residents about the bond referrendum that they would need to vote on and why they should vote in favor of it.

And so together, with 3 other students, one who is a weather guy at another TV station in town now, we created this video.  We did the interviews, we did the research, we shot the video, and we edited it.  We even were on the news… well, I wasn’t… because we were on a cruise…

Today, my daughter, who normally can’t be bothered with such things, asked to see the video that we created, and so I drug it out of the back of the cabinet where all the other VHS tapes are and we watched it.  All 10 minutes.

And she never complained.

And while I watched it, I was reminded of the passion that I had at that age.  The passion to make a difference.  The passion to do a good job no matter the project.  I was also reminded of why I was asked to take on that project… because I am talented and I have a knack for that type of thing.

The editing was horrible.  The graphics were even worse.  We’ve come a long way in the last 12 years when it comes to editing videos.

But it was nice to be reminded that I am intelligent.  I am smart.  I am creative.

And I?

Made a difference in Botetourt County 12 years ago.

And as much as I think my efforts are fruitless today, I know that even now, 12 years later and in a different county, I am still making a difference.

And that feels good.

Until next time…

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I dye my hair.

And it’s really because I’m impatient and a procrastinator that I die my hair.  Because there are other things that I should be doing, like you know?  Clean.  But I don’t want to do that.

The impatience comes in to play because my friend couldn’t do it.  And I wanted it done.

Now.

So I’m doing it myself.

I’ll probably look like I’m ready to perform in the circus when it’s all done.

And it’s not done.  Because I’m blogging while I’m waiting for it to be rinsed.  Except I forgot to set the timer.  I wonder what happens if you leave hair dye in longer than you’re supposed to?

Maybe I’ll be bald when all is said and done.

Who knows.

And, in case you were wondering, I bought Garnier Nutrisse today.  Know why?

Because the box says, “The non-drip formula spreads easily and smells great while you color.”

However, it drips and I guess I need to ask the marketing peeps at Garnier what their definition of “smells great” is.  Because, if they mean smells like wine that’s been sitting in the bottle for way to long mixed with harsh chemicals, then yes.  It smells great.

And it drips.

But while I’m waiting, let me tell you a few cool things going on in the land of Heather these days…

I’ve got some great reviews coming up for you in the next few weeks… and if you’re in the Greensboro area, please consider attending BlogHer ‘08 Reach Out on October 18th.  (If not, there are lots of other cities that they are coming to…)

Not only will I be there, I’ll be speaking!

And I’ve recently been asked to be a contributor at Mommy 4-1-1 on the topic of single parenting, so please take a minute and pop over there and read my inagural post.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go get this crap out of my hair so that I can see how much damage I’ve done to my hair.

Perhaps I should’ve done this on a night that I wasn’t planning on going out…

Oh well… live and learn, right?

Until next time…

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Web 2.0 has taken off and we are constantly inundated with new services and new products to try, to help us with being able to better network on the internet.

My problem with all the different services is that everyone uses something different and it started a long time ago when instant messaging programs came out.  We’ve gotten to the point where I now have to have FIVE different chat programs open so that I can keep track of my friends and most of the time, all of the ones that I really want to also have all FIVE programs.  But we can’t just pick one.  No.

That would leave someone else out.

I realize that there are programs like Trillian but they don’t like the Mac.  And I realize that Meebo is out there.  But I want a program that RUNS on my computer and not in a browser window.

::sigh::

Then came Firefox and I liked that better than Internet Explorer.  Thunderbird replaced my Outlook.  The Mac came along and while I kept Firefox, I now use the Mac Mail App.

I’ve just gotten used to Twitter and now there is Plurk and Kwippy.  I have accounts at all of them but Twitter is what I use most because that’s what I remember to sign into.

But I panic because I have other friends that have moved to other services and how on earth will I keep up with them?

Now all the hubbub is out about Flock.  Yet another program that I have to figure out how to use to see if it really is the next best thing since sliced bread as everyone is claiming and frankly?

I don’t have time.

But I’ll do it anyway.

Just like I downloaded Windows Live Writer today to post from to see what it could do because I liked the idea of being able to compose blog posts while offline and not have to copy and paste it into the window later… OR be almost done with a blog post and losing it all because I’m connected to the internet.

I could probably be a big baby and just say if you want to send me a calendar invite, do so to my Google calendar.

If you want to chat with me, you can reach me on Yahoo Messenger.

I’m twittering and nothing else.

But I won’t.  I’m too afraid that I’ll miss something or someone.

But boy… don’t you wish we could all get on the same page?

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Swimming and Uno.

Oh where do I begin?

First let me say that I am pooled and uno’d out. Done. Praising the good, sweet Lord that for at least the next two weeks I don’t have to play uno or get in a pool. Please don’t get me wrong, I love both activities…

In moderation.

Moderation, people, is not something that my children understand.

At all.

I’m a firm believer that I could’ve taken them 20 minutes down the road to a hotel with a pool and they would’ve been just as happy as our jaunt to Mississippi in which we were able to see the Mississippi River, amazing fireworks and concerts, Vicksburg, Atlanta, and the various other activities that we did while logging 2400 miles.

All I heard was “when are we going to the pool?” All. Week. Long.

Of the 10 days that we were here in Mississippi, we were at the pool eight of them. Our schedules revolved around time at the pool. We determined when we needed to leave Vicksburg based on how much time we would have at the pool. And we shut the pool down many nights, swimming until there was absolutely no more light in which to swim by and even then, we stayed a little longer.

The two nights we didn’t go to the pool? Well, we picked blackberries (post coming soon about that!) one night and the other it was chilly and kinda raining. In all honesty, we could’ve gone to the pool, but it was enough that I could justify not going. I’m not used to being outside of the home that much… it was weird.

Eating was not important, not a priority. At. All.

With the smaller meals and all the time in the pool, I’m sure that they lost some weight. Notice I said they. I didn’t. Because I brought snacks to sit by the pool as I watched them. There was no lack of eating or additional exercise for me.

And when we got home from the pool? We would make our dinner, normally comprised of hotdogs, spaghetti, sandwhiches or a drive thru of some sort and play Uno. FOREVER.

And this is what we did for 10 days straight. Pool until we ran out of daylight and Uno until I could no longer keep my eyes open. Again, it was all about me. They would stay up much later playing until they began to fight, I would wake up, shuffle into the living room and send them to bed.

To further put this into prospective, we’ve been anxiously awaiting the release of the latest Guitar Hero… we got it. We’ve really not played it. At. All.

(How excited am I that the PS2 was not dropped off at Nana’s and it accompanied me home. Aerosmith and I will become very familiar with one another over the next week.)

Despite the fact that if I have to hear “Mom! Watch me!” or “Uno” I think I’ll scream, we had an awesome time. I was able to help my daughter with her dead man’s float and she learned to do a hand stand. She can now swim on her back and these are all things that I helped her with.

We had lots of laughs over those late night games of Uno and the kids learned to work together, even if it was to conspire to not make me win.

All in all, it wasn’t a bad thing… and while I want to say it was too much of a good thing, it wasn’t. Because I don’t think that I can have too much fun with my kids. I thought that I could prior to this trip, but the things that we’ve done and the time that we’ve spent together has been amazing and I will cherish this pool time and those games of Uno for years to come.

But I can tell you, the next thing I teach my children is going to be to shuffle well… because I seemed to be the person who had to draw eleventy bajillion cards just to find a green or an 8.

Until next time…

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I’m on my way home…and Karen’s bringing you the last of the guest bloggers for a little while… tomorrow, I hope to get back in my normal routine of blogging… but i may have to sleep. Or clean. Or unpack. Or do laundry. Regardless, enjoy Karen’s post and go pay her a visit…

When I was in 9^th grade, I took Typing 101 from Mr. Hunt. He was our small-town high school’s assistant coach and resident funny man. On rainy days, he’d wear tan incredibly bright yellow 3-piece polyester suit straight out of the 70’s, with an even brighter grin on his face.

He was good-natured and could take it just as well as he could dish it out. That probably had something to do with the fact that he was a coach, because he was partial to ribbing the athletes, of which I was one.

His class was the highlight of my day and I truly looked forward to 5^th period every day. Of course, that had nothing to do with my typing skills, because I was prone to resorting to the old hunt and peck method for timed tests. But I still looked forward to his lessons and I could not fathom being able to type as fast as he told us we would, much less type whole words or sentences.

Sometime around the end of basketball season, I broke my thumb doing backpedals. My hand in a cast, I had a horribly painful time keeping up his class and actually fell behind on speed tests. My right hand just could not force itself into the painful configuration necessary for typing speed, and so I failed more tests than I passed during that time.

In addition to being my typing teacher, Mr. Hunt was also my coach - because of my height, I had made the Varsity girl’s basketball team and this injury had knocked me out of season playoffs. It was a double whammy for me and he could see it. I’m sure that he was conflicted about how to handle my situation in class, because I was failing miserably.

One day after class, he asked me to stay for a moment and we had ourselves a little heart to heart right there at my typing desk. I was halfway hoping he’d go easy on me, but there was no such luck. He started by sharing with me that sometimes God gives us trials to make us stronger, to refine us as human beings.  He said that with adversity comes an advantage and an opportunity. I could either give up and use my broken hand as an excuse or I could use it as a reason to get better. If I gave up, he wasn’t going to fail me, but he promised me a “D” in the class. He didn’t play favorites when it came to his class and even though we had a good relationship, he said that he couldn’t live with himself if he gave me more than what I deserved.

I didn’t have to think about it very long because I loved my coach and looked up to him. I knew that he wanted the very best for me and I couldn’t bear the thought of letting him down, so I purposed in my heart to be an overcomer right then and there. For two weeks, with his permission, I came to class during lunch and practiced getting my typing speed up to where it should be. I passed the year, not with a D, but with a solid “B”, because I’d earned it. I had really wanted an “A”, but I knew that the 4 weeks I’d been lazy had been the reason he couldn’t give me one. I felt good about my accomplishment, but even more so the fact that I had pushed myself past what I thought I was capable of and had achieved something I thought was impossible.

I think about this exchange often when I am tempted to let my kids off the hook because it’s easier for me. I think about the long term effects of every decision I make and how it’s going to echo in the lives of my children, shaping and molding them to raise their own. And today, I thought about Mr. Hunt, who had no children of his own, except those he coached and mentored. Twenty three years later, I still see him in my mind’s eye and wish I could thank him for some very valuable lessons learned.

Karen Lewis is the owner of Simply Amusing Designs and blogs at Simply a Musing Blog.

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Welcome Lisa B @ simply His …

When Heather asked me to guest post here, I thought she was scraping the bottom of the barrel. Surely she could find others to fill the slots. I agreed anyway wondering how I could be witty and funny just like Heather, but God had other plans. What follows is me and what God’s laid on my heart to write. I’m sure this is better than me trying to be funny like Heather

I was at the gym yesterday working out with my trainer (don’t I sound professional?). Needing to stretch before the next set of exercises, I stood in front of steps and put one leg up. I leaned forward. Of course, I was looking down at my foot, my leg and my hands. He instructed me to look up and when I did, oh my, the muscles that were pulled — from my back down to my feet.

All I could think was, how in the world does where I’m looking affect that many muscles?

Doodle (my daughter) wanted to go for a motorcycle ride, and since it had been awhile, we decided to ride to dinner last night. It’s been a couple of weeks since I rode my bike, so I was a little worried about how I would do. I thought back to my safety rider’s course. The one thing the instructors drilled into the class was to look where you want to go on the motorcycle.

All I could think was, how in the world does where I’m looking affect a motorcycle?

As we were learning how to ride through curves, I quickly realized the instructors were right. If I looked down at the ground, I almost lost control of the bike. But if I looked up through the curve to where I wanted to go, it was a much smoother ride. The motorcycle would actually go where I looked. And if I wasn’t turning sharp enough? I wasn’t turning my head and looking far enough to where I wanted to go.

Believe it or not, where you look is very important in everything you do. If you have visited my blog lately, you know I went to She Speaks, a Christian women’s conference for writers, speakers, and women’s ministry leaders. Before that conference, I was so busy looking around — at other women in ministry, at other bloggers, at worldly things. When I get caught in the trap of looking around, that’s when the comparisons start and jealousy creeps in. The conference was not as good for me as it could have been if I had been looking at God the whole time. I know I missed out on wisdom from God concerning where I’m going.

So take a few minutes this morning and look to God. I love the hymn, “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.” Watch this video and let it soak into your soul.

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus.” Hebrews 12:2

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Or Emeril… or Julia Childs… or whoever that dude is on Hell’s Kitchen…

I WANT to be, but I fall very short.

I’ve done a few things about it, but I’m still not a good cook.

Yes, I’ve had some successes. Few. And they come when it’s important in my life, like cooking a meal for a guy for the first time, Thanksgiving dinner with church or when you invite Pastor Man for dinner. Of course, all of those times involved MULTIPLE phone calls to the BFF or her husband to seek advice and for them to talk me off the proverbial edge.

And when your son gets on stage and proclaims to the body of his elementary school that you “can’t cook. Period.” you know that you aren’t that great of a cook.

Please know that my mother worked with me in the kitchen. She did her best to set me up for success. I knew how to make the meals that we ate often and she sent me on my way with a cookbook, so that I would know how to make the important things… like her chocolate cake with icing and banana bread. I’ve yet to make either.

And I think part of my problem is my stove…. but I will be remedying that soon. But the last time I talked to you about my stove, it had TWO semi-functional burners and now we’re down to one.

Because I caught the stove on fire AGAIN.

And yes, I said AGAIN. As in more than once I have sent pretty flames up the front of my avacado green stove.

You might remember the great meltdown of 2007 in which I was cooking RICE. Come on people.. rice! It’s not like I was cooking something with the word flambe in the name… it was RICE.

A little except of that post…

That’s me…

That’s me right after the meltdown…

but it was more then melting…there were flames!

(Now, I need to point something out here…I don’t think I have ever produced flames in the kitchen…so this would be a first…)

But here’s what happened….

It was time for lunch… (I thought I would be considerate and eat before I called Yvonne) and so I set out to make my traditional “there’s no left overs” lunch — rice. Rice isn’t hard, ya know? You put it in water and you let cook for 20 minutes (or until all the water is soaked up in the rice — which, hey! is about 20 minutes.) I’m good at this. I make rice ALL THE TIME!!!!! Sometimes I put alfredo sauce on it, sometimes butter, sometimes cheese…. (they say peanut butter is good, but I’ve not tried that).

The point being — this was not a new cooking experience here.

I put in one cup of rice and one cup of water (remember this point — very important) — I sit it on the back left burner and I flip the knob and I walk away. I know that I have 3 minutes before it’s time to go back, stir, turn down to simmer, and wait.

All of a sudden I hear this noise…it sounded like a thud and I thought “that stupid mouse is back” (yes, there is a mouse in the house too) but it wasn’t a thud…it was a WHOOSH….

I turn around and look into the kitchen and I just see smoke.

I walk in the kitchen and that’s when I see the flames. Had they been in someone else’s kitchen I would’ve said they were pretty — but in mine…they were downright scary…

So, I utter a few explicitives (and that bothers me because I’ve REALLY been working on my mouth….) I find a bowl in the sink and I douse the flames…

Guess who turned the wrong burner on? Guess where that empty juice pitcher was?

I grab the pitcher handle and that’s when I realize (because my head feels a little hot) that the pitcher is still on fire…so I throw that in the sink and put it out…

Then I survey the damage…

Open the door, turn on the fan…everyone is okay…just feeling a little on the stupid side…

Many times I set the smoke detector off… at which point, my son, who loves to joke and kid will shout “dinner’s done” before he grabs a dishtowel to fan the smoke away from the squealing box in the living room as I rush around to open doors and windows.

After the meltdown, we went to two burners… until just a few weeks ago when I was making spaghetti… as I’m standing there waiting impatiently for it to finish, flames shoot up. They calm back down and go away and since there was only a minute left of the time, I, like a grade A idiot, put the pan back ON the burner.

In which the pan boils over and even bigger flames shoot up.

And now?

I have one sole burner. But like I said, we’re getting a new stove.

While I can’t cook, I can bake. I just made bread pudding last night for the first time and I deviated from the recipe (which scares me) but I did it.

I am the running joke when it comes to kitchen mishaps… at church, in my family, with my friends, and now at the elementary school… and that’s okay. I’m okay with that.

In fact, should someone feel the need to nominate me for America’s Worst Cook, I would be okay with that too…

But I do try…

That’s something, right?

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This post was written for Parent Bloggers Network as part of a contest sponsored by the American Egg Board.

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Don’t forget! There’s still time left to get in on the Where He Met Me Carnival and Contest… ends at Midnight tonight, but even if you’re not playing along, PLEASE go read these wonderful stories and be blessed… and in honor of my 600th post, I’ve got another contest going on here…

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I’ve been working on this forever. Ok, I lie. Not forever. Actually, I’ve been crafting my answers in my head. Then I was going to do a video. But that didn’t work out. So now I’m going to type it and pray that the witty answers I had, I can remember.

Warning: This might suck.

Soliloquy (of all the names she could’ve picked, she had to pick the one that is so hard to spell and type…) asks these questions, and then I get to tag people. If I don’t tag people she will be mad at me and I LIVE to make her happy. (Now I know how her husband must feel….poor guy.)  For the record, she didn’t tag me, Lisa B. did.  And now I’ve linked to both, so they should both be happy.

So without further ado, I give you….

It’s All True….

Favorite person (outside family)? Do I have to answer this? Really? Why would you ask a question like this? I have so many people that are so meaningful in my life that I can’t pick just one. Now if you were to give me the names of 5 people and tell me to pick my favorite, it might be a little easier. It doesn’t matter, I’ve already pissed people off because I refuse to answer this question. What a way to start things off!

Favorite food? Today? Corndogs. But that’s not normally the way it goes. I don’t normally have corndogs, but since there is was a box in the fridge, that’s what I’ve been eating. I really think it’s just because I haven’t been to the store and that’s all there is. Typically though, I would answer with anything Mexican. Which is also a lie. I don’t like everything Mexican. I do, however, like enchiladas… cheese ones to be more specific. And I get the enchiladas supreme every.single.time. at every.single. Mexican restaurant that I frequent.. which is really just one… Rancho Viejo. I think I pay their light bill every month.

Quirks about you? I must do things in order. Well, not everything, because I did have a child before I got married. But that’s not what this question is about is it? No, I didn’t think so. I cannot read the third book in a series or the sequel to a movie if I have not read or seen those that came before it. I just can’t. I refuse. If someone gives me a book that is the third in the series, no matter how good it looks, I will have to go and purchase one and two so that I can be in the know, even though when I have finished reading said third book, it really made no difference that I read one and two. This also applies to TV shows. I currently have 8 episodes of Eli Stone on my DVR because I have not had time to watch them in order.

Additionally, I cannot, and I mean I cannot watch an episode of CSI, Law & Order or any of their brands if I miss the first 5 minutes in which the body has been discovered. I can’t. Don’t ask me to. Even if it’s a rerun and I already know how it will end, I cannot watch it.

How would the person who loves you most describe you in ten words or less? Fearfully and wonderfully made in His image.

Any regrets in life? Just one really, as I don’t believe in changing things in life…. but I wish that I would have figured out this whole Jesus thing long before the age of 30. (Which by the way, there will be more on how that happened next week.)

Favorite Charity/ Cause? I don’t really have a favorite. That makes me a horrible person doesn’t it? In addition for my passion of sharing Christ with teens, I guess I would have to say starving children in Africa. Except I don’t have any starving children in Africa. I have one in Guatemala and one somewhere else, but it’s not Africa. In all seriousness, we’ve had a child through Christian Children’s Fund for 5 years (he’s now and we recently sponsored one through Compassion. He’s 8 too. And I have an 8 year old. And it’s 2008. I should play the lottery.

Favorite Blog recently? Again, here we go with the favorites. Ugh. Let’s see…. I don’t know. I can tell you that within my feedreader there are a few blogs that I always read and some that I go back and read when I don’t feel like doing what I’m supposed to be doing have time. So I’m going to play it safe and say the NKOTB blog. I’m such a wuss.

Something you can’t get enough of? Comments. Seriously. They brighten my day to think that someone took time out of their day to say hi, or to let me know what they thought of what I said. I also can’t get enough of any thing that is a combination of chocolate and peanut butter. And music. I can never get enough music. I don’t care what it is…. I have to have it. And I have to have it loud! Oh and let’s not forget Jesus. I can’t get enough of Him either!

Worst job you’ve ever had? Medical secretary. I lasted 2 weeks. And it’s the only job that I ever walked out on. It was run by a husband and wife team and they had a broken English accent and they weren’t nice. And it was really hard to transcribe their stuff. They tried one of those computer programs that would transcribe and that was a nightmare. One day she came out and yelled at me in front of all of the patients in the waiting room. She made me feel like an idiot. So, I left a note on the computer monitor letting them know that I was leaving, not coming back and to mail my check to the address that I listed. Surprisingly, they did. I was shocked. Not proud of it by any stretch. My interview at the TV station was that afternoon… and luckily I got the job.

What job would you pay NOT to have? Any of the jobs that are on Dirty Jobs. To be honest, I can’t watch that job. It turns my stomach. I’ve only seen bits and pieces and to this day, I can’t get the image of a man taking eggs and sperm out of fish and breeding them. I shutter still thinking about it.

Additionally, you couldn’t pay me to be a daycare worker. Sorry, I love kids, but not in droves and for long periods of time. Shoot, I have trouble with an 45 minute elementary sunday school class.

If you could be a fly on the wall, where? Hmmm… this is a tough one. But, I would want to be a fly on the wall anywhere that someone has realized that I proved them wrong.

Favorite Bible verse right now? right now? today?

If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open. James 1:5-8

That’s today, but typically, I’m a Jeremiah 29:11 fan.

Guilty Pleasure? Blogging. Isn’t that sad? I’m not a chocolate fan, unless there is peanut butter involved. I’m not a sweets fan either. Unless it’s in front of me. But typically, I don’t buy sweets and I don’t crave them. Except tonight. I had to have something sweet. So I had a piece of key lime pie and sadly, it was less than desirable.

Got any confessions? Not that I’m willing to share… really. It would cross over boundaries. I’m so boring, I know.

If you HAD to spend $1,000 on YOURSELF, how would you spend it? Does it make me old to say that I would want to buy new bedroom furniture? Really, I just want a new bed… king size. I could deal without the dressers… but I would like an armoire. Those things are boring though. No, that’s what I want. Although a MacBook Air would be nice too.

Favorite thing about your house? Uh….. it’s actually about the outside. I love the woods that surround my house. I live in the city, but you would never know it based on the woods here and the deer and the rabbits and the leaves that change colors in the fall. That’s what I love best about it. Oh and the mountains that I can see out of my office window, every day.

Least favorite thing about your house? Where do I start? I hate the way that it’s laid out. It’s much better now that we’ve redone two of the rooms, but it’s not cool. And I hate my stall shower. I want a tub and better water pressure. This house is a lot of work.

One thing you are bad at? Organization. Nuff said.

One thing you’re good at? Thinking big. I used to think that it was a curse. I used to cry, wanting desperately to turn it off. But one day, I realized that this was a gift. Not every one can think like that and so I do try to embrace it. However, if I don’t try to keep it in check, it gets me in a lot of trouble.

If you could change something about your circumstances, what? My first instinct would be to write have a husband, but I changed my mind. I would like to be in a different house. Just a tad bit bigger and not as much of a fixer upper.

Who would you like to meet someday? There are lots of people that I would like to meet. On the famous side, I want to meet NKOTB…. specifically, Donnie. But on the blogger side of things… since I’ve only ever met two bloggers from the mommy community, I would like to meet many, many more. Actually, I’d like to meet any of the mommy bloggers out there.

What makes you feel sexy? Old Navy jeans (the flirt), heeled open toed shoes, make up (green sparkly kind), lip gloss, and sunglasses propped up on the top of my head. Additionally, men’s pajama’s have this weird way of making me feel sexy too.

Who is your real life hero? I left this question for the end thinking that the answer would come to me.  But it hasn’t.  There are many people that I admire and respect, but I don’t think that I can attach that label to any one right now.

What is the hardest part of your job? It would definately be keeping in the loop and communication.  One would think that with the technology that we have, it wouldn’t matter if I was in the building or not, but it does.  There are many times that I’m forgotten about… I guess it’s that whole out of sight, out of mind thing.  Most of the times I feel like I’m on this island.  Most of the time it’s not bad.  The other part that ranks right up there is that because I’m not on site at the stations, I don’t get to participate in any of the free events.  These might include tickets to a local sporting event, free dinner when the CEO comes into town, or free ice cream every Friday at four during the summer.  I keep joking about going for ice cream and expensing it on Friday afternoons, but I haven’t yet.

When are you most relaxed? I don’t think I’m ever relaxed unless I force myself to be.  I guess when I’m getting a pedicure.  But only if they don’t talk to me.  If they talk to me, I’m not relaxed because most of the time, I don’t truly understand them and then I’m worried about REALLY listening to make sure that I can understand what they are saying.

Based on this answer and the one about the worst job I ever had, you might deduce that I am prejudice against foreigners, but I’m not.  I just have a hard time with the language barrier.  I used to have the same problem when I moved from Philly to the south.  But I’ve been here so long, I’m starting to talk like them now.

What stresses you out? Everything.  Seriously… I’m a worry wart and bring on way too much stress for myself.  But I find that the thing that stresses me out the most is lots of items on my calendar, too many books on my to be read shelf, too many programs saved on the DVR, too many items on my to do list.  See a pattern?  I have a desire to get it all done, but if it’s remotely overwhelming (whether it’s important or not) then I get stressed.  I’m working on it… really.

What can you not live without? Faith.  Tried it.  Didn’t work. Won’t do that again.

Do you agree or disagree with the recent article that reported that blogs are authored by narcissists? You know, I dreaded this whole meme because of this one question.  I don’t think that we are necessarily narcissists, but that we just want to be heard.  By someone.  Anyone.  Putting it out there on the internet allows someone to feel like they are being heard.  At least, that’s how it is for me.  Who hears me on a daily basis, and when I say hears me, I mean REALLY hears me?   Alot of this stuff that I blog about is just milling around in my head and I can’t call everyone in the world to share these thoughts, nor do I want to.  But I can write them and then they are there.  I can go back and look to see where I’ve been.  I can see change, growth, defeat.  I can evaluate things.

But, by putting it out there, you can get other opinions.  I can’t tell you how many times strangers have left advice that I’d never heard before and taken and has changed my life.  I wouldn’t have gotten that if I hadn’t put it all out there.

And contrary to popular belief, I DON’T tell everyone I meet about this blog.  I might mention that I have one and that I love it, but don’t necessarily share WHERE it’s located.

I can’t answer that question.  I think it’s 50/50.  I don’t think all bloggers are narcissists.  But then again, I’m not one to judge others, or at least I try not to be, and I don’t want to make such a blanket statement.

Why do you blog? I like to write, I like to meet new people, and it’s cheaper than therapy.  However, sometimes I feel like I need therapy BECAUSE of this blog….lol  But there’s all that and then there’s the whole technical aspect of it… I like that, too.

Now I have tag people, GAG.  I HATE tagging people, but I will.

• New/ newer bloggers (since we want to share the love and send them traffic)
Grandma’s Zoo and Heather’s Hot Mess

• Bloggy friends
Melissa and Tishia

• Bloggers you’d like to get to know better
Sisters of a Different Order and Frantically Simple

• Bloggers you don’t think will respond, but you hope will
Whatever you want Honey and I Should Be Folding Laundry

Have a GREAT Memorial Day Weekend….

Until next time…

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with a new plugin, so you can ignore this…

really, you don’t have to keep reading…

but if you’re really bored and want to waste time, go read the rest of my stuff

it’s much funnier than this…

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I’m bored… I’m procrastinating… and Tishia started it… blame her…

Hi, my name is: Heather

But you can call me: anything as long as it’s not late for dinner

Never in my life have I: taken so much time to complete a stupid meme… i started this at 3:30 and it’s now almost midnight

The one person who can drive me nuts is: Samara… but most times I can handle her.

My high school is: (was) Take your pick… Archbishop Prendergast (Prendie) in Drexel Hill, PA, Philadelphia High School for Girls (Girls High) in Philly, and Lord Botetourt in Virginia

When I’m nervous: I talk alot… and really fast… no I mean faster and more than I normally talk. Some people may consider it to sound like a foreign language.

The last song I listened to was: Let It Rise… and the kids and I sang at the top of my lungs as did the kids and I’m sure we woke the neighbors.

If I were to get married right now it would be to: well… that would require a potential… and so moving on…

My hair is: my pride and joy… seriously, i know it sounds vain, but it’s my best feature…next to my eyes.

When I was 4: I lived in Hawaii and I was a brat and I looked just like Sam when she was 4.

Last Christmas: I gave you my heart and the very next day, you gave it away…

I should be: in bed…

When I look down I see: my hands typing this… and my desk that is cluttered…

The happiest recent event was: the NKOTB reunion…

If I were a character on ‘Friends’: Well.. I think I could be a hodge podge of all of them… like I can’t sign without my phlegm (Pheobe), and I’m kinda level headed (Monica), and then I’m kinda like Rachel as well in that sometimes I don’t have my priorities straight…and a little air headed.

By this time next year: still breathing with a roof over my head is about all I’m shooting for right now.

My current gripe is: stupid people… it’s an on going gripe really. Not people that have a disability, but genuine stupid people.

I have a hard time understanding: how I gave birth to two completely different children.

There’s these girls: on my softball team and they rock. I can’t believe the talent that they have… even the first year players!

If I won an award, the first person I would tell would be: My mom… or Becki… probably Becki and then my mom…and then of course, you all would be the next to know….

I want to buy: a MacBook Air… and a new oven… and a new bed… and a new car… and a new house… but you know? I’ll settle for some new underwear.

Where do you plan to visit: This summer, I’ll go back to Mississippi but this time with the kids… but other than business trips, I’ve got nothing planned.

If you spent the night at my house: You wouldn’t see how messy I am, because the house would be immaculate, except for the clutter that I have. I would wait on you hand on foot. And I would let you sleep in my room on my bed and I would sleep on the couch. And then? We’d battle each other in American Idol and Guitar Hero and I might even let you win. If you’re lucky, I’ll cook for you.

The world could do without: Stupid people.

Most recent thing I’ve bought myself: New sheets… and I heart them.

Most recent thing someone else bought me: Becki bought me makeup and I’m getting the hang of it, I think.

My middle name is: Barbara-Ann… go ahead, start singing.

In the morning I: I stumble out of bed… shuffle to the coffee, turn it on, pee, pour my coffee all while shouting at Samara to get up. I don’t have to do this with Matthew because typically, he’s the one who told me to get up.

Last night I was: goofing around, doing nothing productive. Kinda like tonight.

There’s this guy I know who: super duper funny and cute and likes filet mignon

If I was an animal I’d be a: Emu… because I like to say it. I don’t even know what an Emu is… or maybe, I could be a Gnu. That’s another cool animal word. Becki just told me that Emu’s have a brain the size of a pea and so I think that’s fitting.

A better name for me would be: anything but mom.

Tomorrow I am: going to try to be productive and then I’m going out for coffee

Tonight I am: doing this and on the phone with the BFF and wasting space.

My birthday is: January 9th

I got this from: Tishia

Until next time..

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