shelley<>

i'm missing the Jonas Brothers

they're on with Ryan Seacrest and Dick Clark...
CNN is rocking the Lady Gaga...i don't get it but whatever. i saw Katy Perry earlier, with Carson Daly, and she was great! she sounds really good live, which was a surprise. i may have to check out a bit more of Katy.

some would find it depressing to be home watching tv on NYE, but i like it. i am not taking my life into my hands driving anywhere tonight and can enjoy a lovely cocktail. 7 minutes til 2009...

shelley<>

kathy and anderson

aren't they cute?
shelley<>

new year's eve :)

i am watching CNN tonight...Kathy Griffin and Anderson Cooper. its classic. Kathy cracking jokes and Anderson giggling. its soo funny to hear him giggling like a girl. he's too cute.

the fireworks in London were gorgeous.

can't wait til 2009...

shelley<>

step brothers

Corey was right. "Step Brothers" is funny. very funny.

i laughed...a LOT.
shelley<>

Merry Christmas

mass last night, presents this morning, and ham for dinner.

the only thing missing was my brother and his family. turns out that is a BIG thing to be missing.

shelley<>

ending the streak

Notre Dame, in Hawai'i for the Hawai'i bowl, are on their way to breaking a 9 game bowl game losing streak.

5 minutes left in the game and Notre Dame leads 49 to 14.

thanks for the early Christmas present Santa!!

corey

fuzzy picture cuz i was laughing so hard...

Corey's last day at the station is today. i will miss his passion and sense of humor and so many other things. he's a good guy. i wish you the best, my friend.

karen bishop

Karen has a website that i check in with occasionally. Karen writes about energy shifts and the ascension process...about how we are going thru a process that will allow us to live at a higher vibration and be able to help the world move to that higher (and better feeling) energy.

after an email prompting, i read some of what she has posted this week. i find it really profound. it resonates deep within:

"BECAUSE THE ASCENSION process creates so much loss, we can at times feel very disconnected. Our sense of security can really go through the ringer. Through this process we lose friends, family members, jobs, our old (ego) identity, our old source of financial support, our old homes, and on and on. The list can seem endless at times. And even those whom we considered our closest soul mates can end up with "another assignment" or perhaps no longer match our new vibration anymore and leave our space as well.We can easily become confused, lost, fearful, disoriented, and feel as though our barometer has gone awry.

But there is one way to really stay on track when all else fails. When it is time to make a change, (and in these times we are making changes every five minutes as we are "morphing" so fast!) we become discontented with where we are. Our work, our living situations or even perhaps our entire lives no longer feel good.This is the nudge that is guiding us to make a change. And the way to guide yourself through this change is to do what makes you feel good.

It's that simple.

If something no longer feels good to you and is not working for you anymore, discontinue it as soon as you are comfortable doing so. It is no longer working because you are no longer in that space. (DUH!! how simple!! i GET THIS!) Something new is waiting for you. If we were to stay in the old space out of mental rationalization, the new opportunities and manifestations could not find us. If there is something you always wanted to do but didn't think it made sense to do, do it anyway. If you do not know what to do, then fill as much of your day with things that make you feel great and the new will arrive on its' own.

Always, always put yourself first. Follow your heart. Make time for you and the universe will get the picture."

makes sense for you, too, doesn't it?

love actually

i've just watched "love actually" two times in a row.

i just adore this movie. and not for the reasons i used to sob uncontrollably during it. i am over that, which helps me appreciate the movie even more.

cuz at christmas you tell the truth... :)

grilled cheese!

the first one in years. pretty yummy for gf bread...

shelley<>

santa's in my house!

at least his suit is. maybe my mother does Santa's laundry?!?
shelley<>

didn't work

the "lifesaver" didn't work. it didn't knock me out the way i wanted. i needed the sleep, but only got warm and stuffed up even more.

is it cuz it wasn't the "green death" flavor and the actual NyQuil brand? i tend to believe that. so, another trip to the drugstore is in order.

lifesaver

and not cuz of the wild cherry flavor. holy cow i feel like crap. at least this helps me sleep. i have been unable to stay warm for the last 3 days. i am told that won't cause a cold or the flu, but i'm not so sure. i truly feel like crap.

taking another shot in a minute so i can sleep the rest of the day...and get better!
shelley<>

working on it

i have spent all weekend at the new house. i am back at mom and dad's for the week.

today, i finished filling the cracks in the bath and bedroom. next, its primer and paint. well, after dad helps me pull the 80's-style mirrors off the walls...all four of them adhered to the two walls alongside the huge tub. they must come down!

then it will be on to the main bath, followed by the gurst bedroom/office and then the
"closet", the third bedroom where all the dressers are stored.

then, it'll be spring, and i can plant flowers and garden!

abundance!

shelley<>

feels so good!

this weekend, i am living in my house. working on the unpacking of the stuff, the organizing of the stuff, and the figuring out why i have all the stuff is what i am semi-focused on right now.

the kitchen is almost there, my bedroom is almost there, the living room is almost there. the house is almost there.

i am grateful!

shelley<>

unpacking

one of the bathrooms is filled with empty boxes...

shelley<>

gas prices

a few months ago, i posted about how great it was that the price of gas was 2.95 per gallon.

today, i filled up my "riding-on-fumes" tank for LESS than 22 bucks.

remarkable

shelley<>

bad and good

i lost my debit card.

poo.

on the upside, my bank signed the new one up for the chance at getting my purchase for free.

yay!

Sunday

in the midst of unpacking Sunday, i was bent over into a large box in the kitchen, pulling out pots, pans and the like.

i felt a poke in my side. a slight poke, but there was something touching me. i looked to see whether i had inadvertantly moved into the corner of the island or something else.

nope.

he was just letting me know he was there, and he was happy i was there. an Uncle Rich poke.

Charlie Brown is on tonight!

Charlie Brown ... one of the Christmas traditions that must be seen, each and every Christmas. it's on CBS tonight.

watching it is like a mug of hot chocolate and sugar cookies topped with red sugar sprinkles...

rockin' out...Charlie Brown-style

the best tree EV-VER!

chicks dig musicians...

are u gonna let all this beauty go to waste? :)

doesn't anyone know what Christmas is all about?!?

that's what Christmas is all about

"that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown"

presents don't matter, trees don't matter. being with family and remembering the birth of Jesus...that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown

lights please...

tomorrow...

i will have my stuff out of storage and into my house. MY house. wow. that sounds so cool.

french toast

since i began this gluten-free journey, there have been foods that i have dearly missed. breakfast time tends to cause the most longing. most cereals have either flour or maltodextrin. my beloved Rice Crispies are a thing of the past! there have been some positives in the last year or so. i missed my morning toast, but found great gf english muffins. Boris made pancakes for me...light, fluffy, buckwheat-tasting pancakes with gluten-free flour that made me swoon. granted, Boris is a chef, but his experimentation helped me feel as if i can branch out a bit on my own to discover what works and what doesn't.

last Thanksgiving, i stumbled upon gluten-free croutons in the store. we made the traditional stuffing out of those gluten-free croutons and it was GOOD! i waited a bit too long this year to find them, thus the purchase of 8 dollar Glutino Corn Bread was made. i thawed the bread, cut it into cubes and used an entire box of Progresso Chicken Stock (MSG-free and gluten-free!) to moisten it. the gf stuffing was pretty tasty, i must say.

i used most, but not all, of the bread for the stuffing. i left 4 slices in the package and determined i would figure out something to do with it.

Saturday afternoon it hit me: FRENCH TOAST!

i am even more a fan of french toast than pancakes. the way the bread soaks the egg-milk mixture into all the bread pockets to soften and richen it, the crispy-golden crust, the butter turning brown in the pan as it cooks. the butter pools on the top surface of the slices lining the plate, the sweetness of hot maple syrup.

holy crap...

it was sooooo amazing. three years since i've eaten French Toast. that French Toast was worth the 2 bucks a slice.

i'm buying more bread next payday :p

grew three sizes that day...

welcome Christmas while we stand, heart-to-heart and hand-in-hand...

the grinch is on!

and not the Jim Carrey Grinch. the real Grinch!

"you nauseate me Mr Grinch...with a nauseous super-nause"

best lyrics EV-VER!

another look

taken with the camera phone. i just thought this looked cool.

silliness

the drive home tonight...during the first snowstorm of the season...was just plain silliness. it took FIVE cycles of traffic lights to get from Portage to Bendix on Cleveland Road. its normally a less than 20 second drive. tonight? 10 minutes of traffic backup. all cuz of a little snow.

free christmas trees!

yesterday morning, bright and early, we (the station...meaning me and Corey) ventured to the south side of Goshen to broadcast the fact that my client was giving away Christmas trees. the client, The Car Company, had 250 trees stacked up and ready to go on a Sunday morning. in our part of the world, car sales are prohibited on Sundays...damn blue laws...just like being able to buy alcohol or drink at a bar...ahem. pardon my rant...

no car sales so no one could say this was a promotion kinda-thing to drum up car sales. (we did have a guy call the station and ask "so what's the catch?) it was just to help out the community. they've been doing this for the past FIFTEEN years. 15 YEARS of helping those who wouldn't have a Christmas tree if not for Marlin, Jamie and all the folks at The Car Company.

the broadcast was from 9am to 11am. i pulled into the parking lot at 8:29 am, pulling around the cars already lined up for the 10am start.

Jamie and Marlin were already going from car to car, handing out candy canes, hot chocolate, coffee, doughnuts, cookies and other yummies. cars pulling into line every minute, jam-packed with people listening to our station. just before 9am, it started to snow, making the whole thing even more festive, even more Christmas-y.

some of the people i talked to had been there every year, knowing there would be no way for them to be able to give their kids or their elderly neighbors a glimmer of the holidays without this generosity. it felt warm (even tho it was FREEZING outside!) and wonderful to be a part of it.

the guys started loading trees into cars/trucks/vans/s.u.v.'s/RV's at 10am sharp. Corey and i finished the broadcast at 11am. i believe i pulled out of the parking lot at 11:25am. at that time, there were approximately 25 trees left to be handed out and the line had dwindled to nothing. i was told the trees would be gone when people got out of church and headed over to the lot. this was the fastest they've given away the trees...ever...even with snow pounding down. it's been a rough year for this county. the highest unemployment rate in the state due to high gas prices, economic downturn in the RV industry, too. yet, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, there was sun shining.

i marvel at the way life works. i have been a part of something similar to this almost every year of my radio existence. each year brings different stories and different people with hardships. each year brings a renewed gratitude for my life and the people around me. i am happy to be warm and fed, but i am most grateful for those people in my life who love and support me on a daily basis. whether or not they are physically near me each day is irrelevant. their love and thoughts are there even if they aren't.

maybe this is what every DAY should be about, no?

gather the fragments :)

from the Monday Morning Memo...found in my inbox each (duh) Monday morning:

Chapter six in John’s story about the life of Jesus tells us how he fed 5,000 people with 5 loaves and 2 small fishes. I have no problem reconciling God and science, so the miracle bit doesn’t stumble me in the least. The thing that fascinates me – the piece I woke up thinking about – is what Jesus said when the meal was over. “Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.”

Consider. This was a person of unlimited resources, a man who could create abundance from nothingness, yet he said to his followers, “Gather up the fragments.”

Have you ever stopped to “gather up the fragments” of your life?

We find ourselves at Thanksgiving and Christmas confronted with life-fragments we’ve been trying hard to forget. Encounters with uncomfortable relatives bring sharp fragments to the surface. Memories of past failures and embarrassments, hard times and weird relationships emerge from conversations with people who remember us differently than we are today. And then we have to visit places we’ve been trying to forget and recall events from which we’re still recovering. Am I the only person who goes into the holiday season with mixed emotions?“

Gather up the fragments.”

Unresolved fragments are shrapnel, cutting us deeply.
Handled fragments are sandpaper, wearing off our rough edges.
Softened fragments are building blocks, giving us insights to get things done.
Celebrated fragments are nutrition, remembering past miracles in our lives.

Bright mosaics are made from gathered fragments. Broken. Colorful. Unique.

Just like the pattern of your life.

Negotiate your broken places. They allow for new connections.

Appreciate the weirdness of your past. It adds color to your future.

Celebrate your personal heritage. It beats the hell out of whining.

Happy Holidays.
Roy H. Williams

wow. gather the fragments. wisdom almost too deep to cut thru the beginning-of-the-work-week foggy brain.

gather the fragments.