Delusions of... Everything

Photo a Day in February: Days 1-4

My friend Meg is doing this photo a day thing on her blog and I decided to follow along.

Since I'm late to the party I will be playing catch up over the next couple days.

I plan to take each photo with my new phone!  I finally got a phone that's smarter than me.  I figure this will be a good time to learn to use the camera and the photo editing on the phone.  The phone has more photo editing software than my laptop does, haha!

These first few photos I have not edited because I noticed the editing button after I uploaded them to the computer.

Day 1: Your view today

 Taken Saturday Feb 4, the view out my window.  Gorgeous sunrise!

Day 2: Words

Taken Feb 4, words I've read or are waiting to be read!

Day 3: Hands

Taken Feb 5, 2012, the hand of my lovely daughter.

Day 4:  A stranger

Taken Feb 4, 2012.  I went on an urban hike before the big game Sunday.  On our way home I snapped this picture of strangers outside a corner tavern.

Things that keep me from blogging...

The cat sleeping on my lap - I just don't have the heart to move her, especially when it's cold and she's keeping me warm.

Sunshine! - If you are from the NW you know what I'm talking about.  Perfect example was yesterday when I took some time to do the next thing on my list.

Gardening - My determination to have a vegetable garden has inspired me to get my butt outside, even in the rain (but yesterday afternoon it was sunny!) to prepare and plant all the seeds I've purchased.  On a different gardening note we cut down a couple trees, planted some new ones and installed a water feature in the front yard.  By "WE" I mean Handy Man.

The lastes book I'm reading - I've been on a reading roll the past couple months.

The DVR - I will chose a recorded episode of Ghost Hunters or American Idol or Glee over blogging.

Netflix movies - If Handy Man says, "let's put a movie in", and I'm in the middle of blogging, I will stop to watch a movie.  This happened yesterday evening when we watched Love and Other Drugs.  Good flick, though it was kind of chicky.

When the kids and/or Handy Man want to talk - Family time always trumps blogging, especially when your teen wants to talk.

Working out... Just kidding! - Hahahaha, I crack myself up.

Editing photos - There is dust and lint all over the inside of my camera making editing 10 time longer than it should be.  I really need to get it into the shop for a cleaning!

My new glasses - I know this sounds weird, but I'm having a hard time reading the computer with or without my new glasses.  The screen either has to be really close or really far away.  Sometimes I just don't feel like messing with it.

Feeling that I have nothing interesting or relevant to say - That my friends is probably the number one thing that keeps me from blogging on a daily basis.

Party Preparations

It's party time at our house!  Saturday is our 3rd Annual Holiday Open House.  This is the first year I've prepared for it while working full time.  All I can say is the making of lists has kept me sane (or proved I'm crazy)! 

In the initial planning stages there was the Master List. This is where everything I could possibly think of that needed doing was put.  It was long and unmanagable, so I made sub lists.

There was the Baking List is where I kept track of what I needed to bake. 

The Baking List list birthed the Shopping List of everything I needed to get to in order to cross things off the Baking List. 

The Shopping List lead to the Places to Shop to Get it All List.

My least favorite was the Cleaning List.

Sunday morning I made the Countdown List.  It included all the days of the week leading up to the party and what needed to be done on each day.  Star Wars Son cleaned the downstairs bathroom today.  A full 3 days ahead of schedule!

I've been taking a pad of paper to bed with me in case I remember something I need to add to an existing list, or worse if I think of a new list I need to make.

I seriously have issues!

Three Things

I got one of those pass on emails this week and instead of responding to it I thought I'd make a blog post out of it.

Three things about me...

Three names I go by...  (I don't have a nickname, so I'll list message board names I've used)

• Tammy
• pjmom
• TeeVee

Three places I've lived...

• Seattle, WA
• Barbers Point, HI
• Des Moines, WA

 Three places I have worked...

• Armed Services YMCA
• Pike Place Market
• Washington State Department of Transportation

Three things I like to watch...

• Ghost Hunters
• Dexter
• Mad Men

Three places I've been...

• Oahu, HI
• Las Vegas, NV
• Boston, MA

Three people who email me regularly...

• The last few weeks it's been my real estate agent
• Chrissy
• Julie

Three things I love to eat...

• Steak
• Potato chips
• Sweet potatoes

Three things I'm looking forward to...

• Getting a job
• Finalizing the home sale
• Seeing my son graduate

Tell me three random things about yourself, or have fun doing this on your blog!

Waiting...

I was going through my closet the other day looking for something I couldn't find.  What I found were a few old journals.  In them is some interesting blog fodder that I'll be sharing now and then.  Since I have nothing to post about today I thought this would be a good time to share something from the journals.

I wrote this (poem?) (observation of life?) (crap?) about 15 years ago but think it's very appropriate for how I'm feeling today, as I wait for the phone to ring...

Waiting...

to go to school

for Christmas

for summer

to go back to school again

to graduate

for summer

to get a job

to get married

to move away

to get a job

to move back

to get a job

to buy a new house

to leave

for him to leave

too long -- nothing happens

to get pregnant

to have the baby

for the baby to stop crying

for the baby to get older

to be happy again

for something to happen...

to realize much has happened while waiting.

What are you waiting for?!

I Wish...

...To have an interview for one of the two jobs that closed on Friday!

...We would get at least a small amount of snow before the winter is over.

...To be as vital as Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey when I'm in my 60's!

...The pictures my mom took at Star Wars Son's play last week would find their way into my hands.

...Dancing Daughter didn't make peanut butter chocolate chip cookies over the weekend!

...I didn't wake up with a horrible crick in my neck, I can barely move my head.  Gah!

...The benefits of working out would come to me just from thinking about it.

...I could think of something else to blog about besides this list.

What do you wish for today?

Monday Murmurings

My blogging friend Daryl at On the m104 posted this at her blog yesterday.  If you can help or know someone who might please pass this on.

The resume updating is complete.  Between Handy Man, Chrissy and myself we managed to make me sound really valuable!

The request for unemployment has been submitted.  Wow, was it ever easy to do online!

The job hunt and submitting applications has begun.  I have applied for two jobs online and will be applying for more today.  One of the applications I filled out was for the federal government.  It took hours to complete, but now that it's done I can apply for any job that interests me.

Sleep has been evading me the past couple nights so I'm feeling a little zombie like.  I hope that changes before I have to go on job interviews.

This week, besides job hunting, I plan to a lot of things around the house.  Deep clean the bathrooms, do all the blanket, sheet and towel laundry that's piled up, clean my bedroom, compile our tax info for the appointment with the CPA and hopefully catch up on last season's Lost episodes before the new season starts this week.  What do you bet watching the Lost episodes is the only thing I actually do?!

I haven't learned anything new in Photo Shop, in fact I haven't taken any photos in a few days.  Dancing Daughter was experimenting the the macro lens so I might post some of those pictures this week at Photos of...Everything.

In an attempt to look at the bright side here is a list of things I'm grateful for:

• That I got my haircut last month.  It looks so much better for job interviewing!
• I started a facial cleansing and moisturizing routine last month that I swear makes my face look smoother and less splotchy, again a plus for the interviewing.
• My friend Chrissy.  She has been so great, listening, supporting and her help with my resume was invaluable.
• That there are jobs out there that I'm qualified to apply for.
• My family understanding that we will be doing without some things for a while.
• That I'm healthy!

What are you grateful for today?

Eminent Eights

I saw this first over at Sylvia From Over the Hill and have since seen it on a couple other blogs.  I thought it would be fun to do and since I'm still having distraction issues I'm posting it today.

8 TV shows that I like to watch:

(I watch half those shows on Netflix, does that count?!)

• Ghost Hunters
• Mad Men
• Dexter
• Weeds
• Rescue Me
• Lost
• Survivor
• House Hunters

8 Favorite Places to Eat and Drink:

• Elliott Bay Brew Pub - Burien
• Panda Express
• Kahn's Mongolian Grill
• Azteca
• My dining room table
• At one of my friend's houses
• That's all I got... I don't eat out much

8 Things I Look Forward To:

• Blogging
• Taking photos
• Scrapbooking
• Going home after work
• Watching movies
• Reading
• Getting together with friends
• Seeing Pearl Jam in concert

8 Things That Happened Yesterday:

• Went to work
• Worked out
• Picked up kids from school
• Read and commented at blogs
• Worked with some photos
• Took Dancing Daughter to Dance
• Watched Dexter
• Went to bed

8 Things I Love About Winter:

• Snow
• Fires
• Movie watching
• Snuggling up in blankets
• Wearing sweaters
• Seeing the mountains covered with snow
• Christmas
• Looking forward to spring

8 Things I Am Passionate About:

• My kids
• Reading
• Blogging
• Music
• Pearl Jam
• Scrpabooking
• Picture taking
• My home

8 Words/Phrases I Often Use:

• Oh my god
• Are you kidding me?
• That's cool
• Stupid F**king Idiot (only when driving)
• Don't even think about it (again when driving)
• Look at that mountain
• I'm sorry (when listening to my daughter complain)
• How may I help you? (again when listening to complaining)

8 Things I Learned from the Past:

• Invest when you are young
• Never pick your nose in the car
• If I plan a Scrapbooking weekend retreat, there will be some sort of Pearl Jam related show I will miss.
• You can overcome an icky childhood
• Expect nothing
• Spend time with your kids
• You can make friends on the internet
• The best laid plans may not be the best laid plans

Sing-A-Long Saturday

This week I wasn't in the mood for the ipod shuffle, so I listened to whole albums.  Here are the ones I listened to this week:

• Awake - Josh Groban
• David Cook - David Cook
• Yield - Pearl Jam
• Even in the Quietest Moments - Supertramp
• Twilight Soundtrack - Various Artists (I listened to this twice!)
• Josh Groban Closer - Josh Groban
• Live at the Showbox 12/5/03 - Pearl Jam
• Siamese Dream - Smashing Pumpkins
• Evil Urges - My Morning Jacket

Strangely I woke up this morning with a song stuck in my head that's not on any of these albums.  I must have heard it on the radio, or playing in Dancing Daughters room.  Who knows how a song gets stuck in your head!  The song was I Kissed a Girl by Katy Perry.

Fess-up Friday

I keep lists.

The is the Books Read in 2008 list.  I read 35 last year, not counting the ones I started reading and just couldn't finish because I wasn't "into" them.

Movie watched in 2008, there were 130 total.  (Apologies for the blurry pics this morning, the cat had me up at 4:45 and I still have sleep in my eyes.)

A master list of everyone's favorite meals.

Home improvement projects - Actually this is Handy Man's list, but I contribute.

This shows a recipe, menu list and shopping list.

Songs played on my ipod list and my favorite kind of list... the crossed off to do list.

I also have a list of authors I'd like to read, and a bucket list.  The author list is on my desk at work and the bucket list is in one of my journals in the bedroom closet and I don't want to wake Handy Man just to photograph it.  The bucket list I started years ago, but just started calling it a bucket list after seeing the movie.  I check things off with the date as I do them and I add to it now and then.

As you can tell I love my planner.  It goes everywhere with me, but I guess that's for another Fess-up Friday.