New Reality TV Show-Survivor New Orleans

Now, I 'm pi--ed off!

Why???? Is it possible for people to Spam your blogg? Unbelieveable... now you have to "protect" your spot from being attacked by the likes of penile implant sites, fake handbags and homemade candles. This sucks! People go advertise your crap somewhere else! Nuff said!

Home Improvement minus Pamela Anderson

I named this blog Home Improvement based upon the big remodeling project my bathroom is getting ready to undergo. I threw in the Pam Anderson comment to get your attention. It worked didn't it? Hey! I am blonde (as much as she is) and although my boobs are not DD's, I can wear a toolbelt with some sex appeal! I can even read the instructions, that's one for me and zippo for Pam!

Anyway.. I purchased my home seven years ago, it was new and of course priced beyond my means. They do say, "Buy more than you can afford, you will grow into it!" Right? Did I do that?, not quite. I put the bare necessities in with a few upgrades. One thing that has always bothered me is my master bathroom. I did nothing other than upgrade the faucets and added a jacuzzi tub. Basically, the place lacks drawers ,a linen closet, and space. Over the past two years, I have wanted to get in there and knock out the the wall and make it bigger but I was told what I wanted to do would not give me much more space for the amount of money I would have to sink into it. So what do I do? I go out and buy new cabinents, the most expensive ones, because of course, that is my taste. I have a built in sense for the finer things, it gravitates to the finer things, the more expensive items, this can be a problem when one is on a budget.
I then needed to replace the countertop hmmm, what kind of countertop would I choose? Marble? No. Corian? Maybe? Granite? Of Course! More expensive.

Now the floor needs replaced because it does not match the expensive cabinents. So would it be vinyl? No. Ceramic Tile? Yes! Now here's my little story with ceramic tile. A few years ago, my boyfriend at the time and I were considering buying this place together and he wanted ceramic tile in the bathrooms. I, however, did not because it can be so cold. How unpleasant, I thought, to get up in the middle of the night to pee and your feet hit the COLD, hard tiled floor. Hello, can you say WAKE UP! In the end, he bailed so vinyl floors it was! So why the change of heart? Three words....Electric floor warmer! Oh yeah! It'll warm up the tiles and has a programmable thermostat...that'll keep my little feetsies warm. :)

So now all I have left to do is to pick a new sink and a new faucet. Yes... the old one has to go because it too doesn't match. I am thinking a "vessel" sink, the kind that sits up on the counter not down in it with an unattached faucet to the side. Maybe I will post before and after pics on my blog!

One thing I may have learned is that when buying a new property it might be worth it to upgrade those amenities and build that cost into the loan rather than having to do it later out of your own pocket.

Photo fraud and Soft Porn..Now I have your attention!

Every day in the life of a single gal can bring about so many interesting things. Dating; we've already discussed that I joined Match.com, but we haven't discussed any of the prospects. As always I will never reveal true names but hell you don't know them anyway. Let's just say that I learned from one of my "matches" about this thing called "photo fraud". Apparently the photo one of his matches was displaying was not really a "true" replica of what she really looked like. Surprise!!!

Then there's my friend, T., who went out with Ms. X, who very blatantly committed photo fraud. Being the gentleman that he is he decided to honor his "date" and have dinner with her anyway. Upon ordering, Ms. X proceeded to order one of everything off of the menu much to his astonishment. Then 1/2 way through the dinner her chair broke sending her crashing to the floor. Needless to say T. was mortified but even more so when the manager apologized to him for his "wife's" faulty chair! Embarrassed and wanting to change his identity, T., still ever the nice guy stayed until the ambulance came. Yes, an ambulance! Ms. X asked him to call her sister, which he did. Her sister asked T. what hospital they were taking her to. Well, he didn't know, so he had to track down the hospital by calling the ambulance company and then call the sister back. The sister then asked if he would be meeting them at the hospital. At this point T. stopped being the gentleman that he had been all night. He was done.

S., one of my matches, has lived in my area for 5 months. He was on Match once before in the state where he lived. He too has been a victim of photo fraud as well as some soft porn photos. He said he never received photos like this till he moved here. Go figure, I live in a city full of ho's! Now, how is a nice girl ever supposed to get a date? I am all about one's goodies but keep 'em in the jar till someone deserves 'em.

And so it goes on, ulaughinatme, clipcat32, U4ME, and princecharmin' send you a wink, yeah, did you know they can do that? They can wink at you and let you know they are interested or they can attach a message to it. And I, of course, send their photo off to my friends (good laugh) or send them a polite no thanks courtesy of Match. You probably think I am mean and possibly shallow. But you gotta trust me on this, there is a reason I pass'em up.

My guy friend, H. says I don't need to be on Match. But then of course, he just wants to date me. Who really needs to be on this site? Certainly we are not all desperate, lonely losers. I stress not all. Some of us are just people who prefer not to meet someone in a bar yet want to meet someone that we can share part of our lives with. Will we find true love, who knows? Some do.

I found true love a couple times in my life. Not on Match, mind you. I know you can fall in love with more than one person in your life. I fell at different times in my life but I knew what it was.

So, I give this a try and if it doesn't work out then I try something else. The good thing is that I am comfortable with me and with my life and that's all that really matters.

When bad guys happen to good people...

Five women sitting around a pool on a Saturday afternoon...I know this sounds like the beginning of a joke but alas it is a true story. Of the five one caught her man (year + relationship) with another woman the night before. The wound is still so fresh you can smell the heartache dripping from it. She thought she had finally chosen a "nice" guy. His stats were; Deacon of his church and he shared with her a list of the ten things most important to him in a relationship. So where and when did it go wrong?

We women call it intuition and it is a powerful instinct that I believe the powers that be granted to us. Her plight: over the past month and 1/2 the several daily phone calls started going to twice a day, once a day and then every other day. The "plans" started to have interruptions, "have to meet with a client"..."backed up on admin. work, need to catch up"

Gut instinct says something's wrong. The topper might be that he never returned the calls that she placed to him Friday after he already answered the cell phone in mid conversation with someone else. The rest is history-she goes to his house -has the keys-waits for him to come home...Oh! it's all too painful and shameful to recant.

The question she asks over and over is "Why do I fall for these "bad" men?" Hey, who knew? None of us ever do. If we did we'd say, "Listen [name of friend making poor choice of mate], 50% of marriages end in divorce, and so there is a 50/50 statistical chance that I am correct and that [name of the total goober she's throwing her life away for] is not the right guy for you."

Maybe the real question is, why didn't he just tell her that he wanted to see other people?. Yes, the truth can hurt but it far outweighs the damage done if it isn't told. For evey woman and yes man that has been in this situation, the result is that they will have a hard time trusting anyone in the future. So heed my advice, come clean and spare us all the pain of having to ask, "Why me?"

Bring It!

Another sporadic rainy day here...good thing I was able to come home early and wait for a delivery. I just hate being out in the rain when I am "dressed in my finery" as the delivery man said when he dropped off my package. Hee hee. I had so many good topics to blog about and whoosh they have all escaped me. So is the mind of a blonde girl.

While waiting on my package I decided to check out one of my many favorite shopping sites
Ebay! God! I love me some Ebay. It's that magical place where if you don't want it someone else will. I decided , on Tuesday, after viewing an old friend's Coach bag, that I must have the same one. But unfortunate for me Coach no longer makes it. Why, you might ask, do I need this bag? (1) because it's cool and (2) because it's cool looking. Need we go any further?

Anyway, the thing about Ebay is that once you get into the bidding you can not stop, I mean it! It's like an addiction, like playing slots or poker. Even when you have set your limit and have said that is my final offer, you have this uncontrollable urge to WIN! (or is this the competitive side of my personality?) . If someone outbids you say in the last 2 minutes what they are saying is "Bring It" and you, of course have two choices, one is you can log off and figure I'll try again later OR you do what most may do and say " Oh! I am bringin' it all right" and punch in a higher bid.
And so the the dance continues until the clock runs down and if you were fast enough you come out the winner. But here's the irony, you're the winner but sometimes at a much higher price than you ever wanted to pay, making you maybe, the loser?

Back to to me, I stopped, believe me it was hard but I did. Maybe becasue the doorbell rand and my delivery had arrived. However, even though I lost I still won! Seems that "Bidder X" had a history of "negative" feedback and that seemed to scare the seller so he offered it to me at my last bidding price. Now, here is where my sales skills don't fail me. I go back in and ask for a reduction on the price plus 2 day shipping on the item at a reasonable cost. And within a few minutes we have a deal!

Now I am not going to let you down from here b/c I've attached a picture of the bag since I know you are dying to know what it looks like.

Oh, It's a Mad, Mad, world.....

Well there are some things in my that I can honestly say with strong conviction that I will never do again. Let me explain...it all started with the invite to what is becoming a Sunday ritual...pool party at B. and E.'s house with H. and E.. Usually consists of food, sun and drinking. B. offered up a very tasty concoction to me to quench my thirst, after all it was sunny and hot. This little 20 oz refresher tasted oh so fruity, kinda like grape soda with a twist. I enjoyed quite a few.

Funny thing about drinking in the sun, you never seem to feel as if you have consumed a lot of liqueur until the sun actually goes down. And when it did, so did I. Apparently my stomach did not like what I had deposited into it, lots of grape drink and little food. So we, me and my stomach, had a disagreement, it won. Don't make me spell it out people. As I was praying to the porcelain god, asking why? My host and maker of said fruity grape soda concoction says ..."that's what Maddog will do to you!"

Hello???!!!!! What the hell is Maddog? I've had my share of some of the cheap s**t in my younger days but never have I ever had this poison that they call Maddog. Just in case some of you have been sheltered, apparently living in a cave, like myself, I have attached a picture of the poison . Allow the image to burn in your mind and heed my advice when I say never ever touch the stuff. And with that, I'll head back to the couch with my Pepto and advil, and call it a night.

I am currently digging...

Something you should know about me...I love to read. I read everything, magazines, journals, paper, books, etc...I guess because I am a visual person, I take it all in. Now as I have gotten older, my excuse, I sometimes have a hard time remembering where I read something or the exact quote but nonetheless I get the message delivered.

Another thing about me is I love beauty. Beauty products that is... skin care, hair products, makeup etc...You might say I am a" beauty junkie". In my off time, I freelance as an artist for various skincare and makeup lines.

What do the two things have in common? Well, since I subscribe to almost every beauty magazine on the planet and work in the the "biz", I have accumulated some knowlegde about what's currently in "out there". And if you have ever been to my house, I have my own version of a mini Sephora* going on.

My gf's often ask me, "What do you think about this, that and the other thing?" So, I have decided to incorporate this into my blog. Every now and then I will list some of the things I am currently "digging". I like this idea so much, that I am not going to limit it to just beauty products but books, movies, food etc... For this particular entry I will do "beauty".

Here's what I am digging in the world of beauty....

Prescriptives-reformulated their eyeshadows to have more pigment. Awesome! Great colors and staying power. And if you haven't tried their "Magic" line get thee to a prescriptives counter today.

Khiels-New! They've taken their Creme De Corps lotion and made it into a body wash and a "lightweight" lotion. Moisturizing w/o any greasiness and so gentle on the skin.

Fekkai- Hair damaged due to the summer elements? Get either the Tech Line hair mask for color treated hair or my new favorite the Protein RX for just "help me" treatment for all that blowdrying, flat ironing and hot rolling damage.

As far as what's coming back for Fall...the color of Plum! Get used to the smoky eye with a natural lip to compliment it. In addition to the "ice cream" pastel liners reminiscent of the 80's "Punk era".

Oh and one more thing..this is about fashion..Boots are back, cowboys boots! And these are hot!















*Sephora-store stocked with every beauty product known to Woman kind. Also on line at www.sephora.com

Tunes

I love music. It is one of the simple things in life that can bring some much pleasure. I listen to Cd's and flip the radio dial often. Sometimes I play this game, ok it may sound a little strange, but who cares it's my little game. When I am feeling indecisive about something, I look for "clues" in the songs to help me make up my mind. You know certain words that give you affirmation to a decision that you want to make . Sometimes when I am sad, the music takes on a more personal meaning and I can relate closely to some of the words in the songs. Sometimes it just empowers me to do something, live a little, or take a chance.
Some songs remind me of certain times in my life, people and events. I can place myself in that moment in time when that one song was playing..my senior prom, heading down to Florida with my friends, a lost love and a love lost.
So lately, when I hear something that "moves" me I have been jotting it down. So now and then I will be adding them into my blog. Here's what I have so far, apparently I have been in a melancholy mood. :)

Breathe by Vanessa Carleton
.."when I just breathe air will fill the space between ...everything will be alright...every little piece of me, you'll see, everythings all right...if I just breathe"

All I want by Toad the Wet Sprocket
"..truth is not kind and you said neither I am...all I want is to feel this way, be this close..."

Alone by Heart
"You don't know how long I have wanted to touch your lips and hold you tight,You don't know how long I have waited and I was going to tell you tonight ..But the secret is still my own and my love for you is still unknown,Alone....Till now I always got by on my own I never really cared until I met you And now it chills me to the bone How do I get you alone"

Speed of Sound by Coldplay
"How long before I get in?Before it starts, before I begin? How long before you decide? Before I know what it feels like? Where To, where do I go? If you never try, then you'll never know. How long do I have to climb,Up on the side of this mountain of mine"

Maroon 5 -Through with you
"And I don't trust you..Cause every time you're here..Your intentions are unclear..I spend every hour waiting for a phone call That I know will never come I used to think you were the one Now I'm sick of thinking anything at all
You ain't ever coming back to me That's not how things were supposed to be You take my hand just to give it back No other lover has ever done that"

Expanding my mind...

You know the leaves are not even falling and it is time to go back to school. Which got me thinking...about going back myself to pursue another degree. Hmm, what?..you may ask might that be?

I have been thinking about expanding my horizons in the mental health field. God knows I have contributed enough money to support it. I was thinking Psychotherapist or licensed Clinical Social Worker (fancy name for therapist). I am in the process of investigating the various educational requirements and programs.

Fortunate-ly

Yesterday, as I ate lunch at my favorite "asian" restaurant...http://houseofwongstl.com, shameless plug, I had some random thoughts about some things in my life. Maybe it's what szechuan chicken can do to you. Usually it just visits me throughout the day..hee hee.

As I waited for my food, I began "jotting" some thoughts down on paper. I think the waiter thought I was a restaurant reviewer b/c of the way I hid away the piece of paper when he approached the table.

I have found writing to be therapeutic, whether it's on my blog or in a journal. At least for me it helps me to see things I may otherwise overlook, actions that I keep repeating in my life with friends and family. Anyway, the traditional "Fortune" cookie came attached to the bill. Here is what lie inside..."You or a close friend will be married within a year".

Now, after I stopped laughing, I thought how un-fortunate for me. You may not know it, but my past record with men has been that they all get married AFTER they have dated me. Right after, by the way. They usually marry the person they left me for. Nice! And I am pretty sure I don't have any "single" close friends left who could benefit from this fortune.

So if the "fortune" inside the cookie has any merits...I may be married within a year. Seriously doubt it, since I am not convinced that I want to be married and I have not even had a relationship in the past year but if you are eligible and want to be married hanging with me is better than a fortune cookie, it's a guarantee.

It's all about the 'tude.

I recently received this at a meeting... It is by Charles Swindoll.

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than fact. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company..a church..a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude...I am convinced that life is 10% of what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you...we are in charge of our Attitudes.

And as I embrace this I hope to apply it to the way I go through each day of my life. I find myself repeating the saying in bold, since receiving this, daily. We can control only one thing, and that is the way we react to each of life's little bumps in the road.

For anyone who happens to pass by I hope this makes a difference in your life as well.

Match...Point!

Well, I thought what the heck and decided to give it another go....I renewed my membership, yes, I said renewed, to Match.com. I had some luck in the past, I met some interesting men and went on some good and some not so good dates. I gave it up when the "winks" started coming from much older men (like 10+ years older than myself) and it felt creepy.

Needless to say I received a few of those today anyway. Apparently these men "think" I want to be "winked" at by them ignoring that I stated in my preferences I am not interested in men over the age of 45. They must think I am kidding.

We'll see what progresses over the next 30 days...

I have decided that I am ready to be in a relationship. For quite some time I had been content alone but now I am at the point that I am ready to share parts of my life and the things I have to offer with someone. However, it has been very difficult to meet the right person.

Because by definition I can not define him. I know he will have a great personality, be warm and compassionate, romantic and sexy, someone I will find attractive, a great friend and a companion to share the good, bad and indifferent times with.

Not too terribly long ago I thought I had found this someone and for one reason or another we did not end up together. He found someone else and married. For some crazy reason, call it intuition, for lack of a better word, I always felt our paths would lead us to each other in the future. But then I also tend to believe in the "fairy tale", a chance encounter with my soul mate and that I was actually the "7th" member of the Brady Bunch family.

Recently, there was a separation in his marriage and we re-connected. However there is no beginning nor is there an end to anything between us. As he attempts to make those same decisions about his marriage, I struggle to put my feelings aside and go on as if none of this ever happened. I feel as if I fell into the " The Land of the Lost". Not quite like the old TV show where they went from modern day to the dinosaur age, more like being lost in my feelings, they overwhelm me. What I must accept and have a hard time doing so is, that it is what it is. He is still married although separated-and apparently in no hurry to make any decisions. And me? I want to move forward.

I enjoy seeing him and spending time with him and he makes me laugh and I do feel happy but when it comes down to it I have nothing. No plans for tomorrow, no let's plan a vacation together, no let's do a movie, etc....no future in sight.

You may have guessed this already but I have the hardest time letting go. I have a hard time comprehending that it just is not going to happen. That is because I live my life for most aspects in the area between black and white and when you live in the gray, anything is possible. But the little voice that resides inside my head says ...go, move on.

So I tell him and myself that I am moving on and then what do I do? I don't. I am worse than the little boy who cried wolf. What eventually happened to him is what it's store for me.

Today, I made a move to move on by joining Match.com. Not the greatest way to meet people but it's a start. I need to be with someone who wants to be with me. There is a difference, this much I know. And that, guys and gals, is what I am looking for.

So far what I learned about braces...

1- You eat less food-b/c you have to remove them each time you eat. After you eat you must clean them and your mouth before you put them back in-sure cuts down on the between meal snacking

2- They truly are invisible-no one can tell you have them in except when you go and pull your lip down and say "See!"

3. After awhile you don't feel them anymore-however when you remove them your teeth are somewhat sensitive and feel a little out of place ..owww

4. Hmmm, it appears the dentist was right-I do grind my teeth together a lot- now I notice it since I have something to grind into.

5. I wonder what it would be like to kiss me...would the other person feel my braces if they put their tongue in my mouth. OK!.. too personal!

6. Discreet removal is necessary when attending social functions. Don't pull them out right at the table or in front of a group of people.

7. Always, yes, always put them in their case ...or you will be calling the restaurant saying " I was sitting at the end table, Sue was my server... they are wrapped up in a napkin......

8. You will find yourself brushing your teeth more than twice a day. For some of you that would be a lot and a good thing.

9. It's good to carry around a small toothbrush and toothpaste, convenient, NO, but good to have, YES!

10. Did I mention...put them in their case. Left my last pair in San Diego.

Get some protection....

There are a lot things we need protection from these days. For me, I need some protection from myself..

I am currently in a rental car that tends to lock the doors on it's own, and of course it locked me out. Keys are and were in the car, motor not running thank god, and all the items that I had purchased and picked up-dry cleaning etc...are in the car with the damn keys. I am a menace to myself. So here I sit waiting for AAA to come and let me into my car which is parked inside my garage, and laughing at me. I can hear it..a soft evil laugh.

The other thing I have managed to NOT protect myself from is spyware. Oh yes, I have your Norton Anti Virus program and the Antispam and the personal firewall etc... That's not enough, because they all don't protect you from spyware. There I said it. That nasty word. I truly resent the people behind this. They have made my life as well as many others, I am sure, complete hell. Financially, you have to spend all this money to get protection against what these a--wipes are doing for amusements / retaliation against the system. They drop this crap in the back door of your system and leave it to fester and mess up everything you have created. I must leave a sign on my "proverbial" computer door that says "Hey I am not protected so come on in and get into my stuff"

This has not happened to me just once but now three times. I know first time shame on you second time shame on me but third time...hello, I am just plain stupid.

So I spent a good part of my down time (which there is none) right now in my life, cleaning out my computer and resetting it back to the original settings. Then re-loading all my stuff back into it which I still am not finished. I am supposed to be packing to leave for a business trip and I have been glued to this computer. So when I finally took a break this morning to run errands I come home only to lock myself out of the car.

I hope this is no indication as to how the rest of the day will go.

Tids and Bits....

My mom, you gotta love her. She has this thing where she now clips articles and even advice columns out of newspapers and magazines and mails them to me. Just today I received a small envelope from her in the mail, tucked inside were two articles, one regarding some bathroom remodeling tips, appropriate as I am in the midst of a remodel, and the other was an article from a "Dear Abbey" column in the local paper. It relates to something similar in my personal life right now. I just got a kick out of the whole thing because it's my Mom's way of giving her opinion without actually giving it.

Spoke to the Dr. today and it appears the "spots" inside the right lobe of my liver were there in earlier x-rays-just not as apparent. He says to not worry at this point, even though he knows I will, and we'll get another x-ray in 90 days and see if they have grown any bigger.

Getting ready to go to San Diego in a few days for work. Should be a nice break even though I will be doing work. Lately, I have so busy I have barely had time to think. However when I do think, I tend to get to thinking about a certain someone who has been in my life for so long.

Tonight I was watching my favorite show, "Sex and The City", re-runs of course, Carrie's relationship with "Big" reminded me so much of mine with this person. It has always been one of good, bad, sad, and excellent moments, yet in the very end they ended up with each other. Ok, I know it's fiction and all but can't a girl live in the land of make-believe sometime?