Today, I revealed my geek side again...

So I was on facebook this morning and saw a post from True Blood HBO. It said season 3 was released on DVD/Blue Ray today. And the first 10 people at each Best Buy to buy it would possibly get tickets to the "True Blood ultimate fan experience". Not only that, but there was a limited supply of other True Blood merchandise at each store. You could buy bottles of Tru Blood, bottle openers, and Merlotte's T-shirts. (http://www.facebook.com/TrueBlood) Do you know I about fell out of my chair?

I work pretty far from a Best Buy so I quickly (I think within about 5 seconds of reading the post) emailed my husband, copying the post to save time, and asking if he was close to a Best Buy. He said perhaps, but asked if it could wait til lunch. I quickly exclaimed that NO, it couldn't! I looked up the time Best Buy opens and was devastated when I saw they had opened about 5 minutes ago. The comments on Facebook explained that folks in big cities were lined up before opening to get in. I was sure it was pointless at this point to even try. I emailed again and said "never mind, it's too late, and not a big deal". I didn't hear back until a half an hour later. He called from Best Buy to make sure he got everything I wanted. Merlotte's T-Shirt? check. Bottle of Tru Blood? check. True Blood bottle opener? check. Season 2 on Blu Ray for a GREAT price? check. No tickets to the "True Blood ultimate fan experience", but it's for the best. The event is on a work night, at midnight, 2 hours away. So all in all, today is a good day.

Only he would take me that seriously about this. He understands - and supports my geeking out behavior. You can blame him, because I now have a new T-shirt that you all can make fun of and it's only because he is so sweet.

Thank you to my hubby, and thank you HBO for giving me a guilty pleasure that is only slightly embarrassing.

The 1960's vs. Today

There is something to be said for progress. Just think, in the 1960's women smoked and drank while they were pregnant. If they worked, it was typically as a secretary or a phone operator, apparently. And it seems it was very hard for a woman to be taken seriously.

There has been progress. More safety laws (think seatbelts), research, cures for diseases, and women are accepted in every profession (mostly), and *gasp* we can say what we like, dress how we please, and raise our children how we see fit.

However, I must say, it sure would be nice it we had been able to hold onto a few things from back then.

* They worked shorter days - apparently most folks worked at 9am or later and only until 5. Ahh...can you imagine?

* It was perfectly acceptable to have a drink during work. Oh if I had a bottle of scotch on my desk, how much more effective would I be?

* Cars were made of metal. Imagine that.

So let's have a movement, shall we? Let's bring back these good parts - but definitely keep the progress we've made. I wouldn't trade any of it, even for a glass of scotch after lunch ;)

A sigh of relief

So, remember that reconnection I mentioned a couple of weeks ago? Well, I went and saw several members of my family that I had not seen in a VERY long time.

I was super nervous leading up to it. I wasn't sure if there were grudges. I wasn't sure if anyone really knew the reason I hadn't been around for 18 years. I wasn't sure if I was setting myself up for failure. What I did know was that I had to do this. I was sick of being scared and sick of 'wondering'. I make no apologies for cutting off the relationship with the person I did. However, I have always been very sad that it led to most of the rest of the family not speaking to me either. I'm sure they just weren't told the whole story. And that's understandable.

Point is, that's all in the past. Ancient past it seems. I hope that they all can come to see that I didn't choose to alienate them all. Only the at fault person - and unfortunately that apparently wasn't communicated well. (I think.) So I hope that my cousins, aunts, and I can move forward from here. And as for the person that this all revolves around...I saw him too. He was pleasant. No one talked about *why* have been missing for so long, which is best. Caught up, saw pictures, met new family members, and left. I feel like a huge weight was lifted from my shoulders even though there was no real resolution or anything. I think just facing your fears can make a huge difference without words.

I thank my family for being so welcoming and open. I hope one day that they can realize I was missing for a damn good reason...and I hope they won't hold it against me.

It just has to be said

Alright, I don't want to start more arguments, but this just has to be said.

First, the Arizona Immigration bill is a step in the right direction, but misguided. Frankly, it just opens the door to straight up racial profiling. Don't tell me that if Miguel and I were there on vacation, that it isn't a real possibility that he gets asked to produce papers. Of course he has none, and we don't typically travel with his birth certificate, so he would likely be detained. This DID just happen to a truck driver in AZ. He was at a weigh station and the state trooper asked him for his papers. He was detained until his wife could go home and get his birth certificate and return to the police station. This is not okay. I'm sorry, but it's just not, no matter how you slice it.

Second, I'm sick and tired of people acting like the illegal immigrants that are here are such a strain on our society. Do you even know any illegal immigrants? I can tell you that perhaps some are a strain, but hell, there are untold numbers of legal citizens that are a worse strain. Welfare, what?

Until you KNOW an illegal alien and how they get by, you should probably hold back on passing judgment. The fact is, most are actually contributing members of society - PAYING TAXES, raising and providing for good families, laboring, and contributing to our economy by buying the same things the rest of us do and paying bills. And contrary to popular belief, most want to stay out of the law's reach, so they abide by our laws.

Now, yes, I know that their being here illegally is - well - illegal. But let's try to remember how our country was founded...k? The immigration system is broken and needs to be fixed. Until then, let's try to keep our cool and most importantly, do not take the civil liberties away from our citizens by targeting those people with darker skin.

You can deny it all you want but that IS what is happening.

So, Arizona, try to remember your population is very heavy on the Hispanic side. Try to also recall that Arizona was once part of Mexico. Oh, and I'll never be back there until this bill is overturned and the governor is gone. (By the way, governor, what about your great grandmother who came here 'illegally'? hmm....?)

Duck Doc?

So I had lunch outside with the hubby today over at Capital Ale House in Short Pump. We made some new friends. Most notably a boyfriend and girlfriend duck. There was also a mama duck and 4 little fuzzy babies. They just didn't have as much interest in us as the boyfriend and girlfriend. They stood right by us begging for food. It was so cute. You know I wanted to take them home, right?

Well, the boy duck has an injury. I asked the waitress about it, and she didn't know, so it must have been new. So help me, if someone stepped on him....!!! It was his food, he had a heck of a limp. He even landed on his belly when he tried to jump down off of a step. Poor little guy!

Anyway, my request - if there are any duck doctors out there; please go give him a tiny little splint or cast - or - (tee hee) a crutch... :) And then take a picture. ;)

Corporate Giving

Okay, let's face it - companies donate money to certain causes - in part - so they will look good. It's at least partially about the attention they can get due to their donations.

Most companies take into considerations many factors before donating to a certain cause. For instance, a pet food company may prefer to donate to helping homeless animals because their customer base is obviously animal lovers.

Now, have you heard about KFC's latest endeavor? I will say this up front - I think that donations to a good cause is ALWAYS a good thing. How you go about it and market it is a different story. KFC has agreed to donate 50 cents per bucket of chicken they sell. Guess what the cause is? Ah yes, it's Susan G. Komen. Breast cancer awareness. Here, I have some awareness for you. Don't eat KFC if you want to try to stay cancer free. Of course there are about 50 million causes of cancer, obesity is one of them (http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/obesity). Also the high blood pressure and cholesterol problems will almost certainly develop into heart disease. This is like McDonald's sponsoring some fitness program. Please.

Of course, they point out that you can get their Kentucky Grilled Chicken in that bucket instead of fried. Yeah right. Who goes to KFC to get grilled chicken? Apparently their foray into grilled chicken hasn't done well. Maybe they think this will help?

A mark of a responsible giving program for a company is this: Do it separately from making direct sales, and give to a cause that makes sense for your company. (As I mentioned earlier.) At least shoot for one of the two. Off hand, I can think of some better causes for KFC to give to that would make since for their business. Could they give to Alzheimer's research? Nope, research is mounting that says a healthy diet and exercise is a prevention measure for Alzheimer's. Animal rights? That's laughable. How about the Red Cross? Well maybe. That would actually not be too much of a counter intuitive option. How about a donation to help the hungry? Well, maybe. At least it sort of makes sense seeing as how they do serve sustenance. kinda. You get the idea.

My point is this. If you want to step up and help, just donate the money upfront instead of attaching your donation amount to the number of buckets sold. That is tying it directly to your sales and encouraging customers to buy the worst kind of prepared chicken that I know of. Either that or specify that 50 cents for every bucket of grilled chicken will count. At least pretend to make an effort to promote a healthy lifestyle as a part of breast cancer awareness.

I'm not one to turn down junk food - we all know that. But I am NOT okay with a fast food company charity-washing their business & trying to make money off of people who want to help a cause and instead making them fall victim to it.

Sheesh.

A bit nervous...

So I don't want to get in to too much detail here, but I'm so super nervous about something coming up and I thought I'd put it out there in case anyone can benefit.

In a couple of weeks, I'll be visiting with some estranged family. I'm talking...estranged for real. It's been 18 years or so since I've seen this person - and it was because I decided I no longer wanted to do so. There was a damn good reason, so don't assume I was being selfish or something silly.

Point is, it was the dying wish of another family member that we reconnect. That death was several years ago, and I've been struggling with it the whole time. I couldn't understand why he'd want to put me though that. Then, as time went by I think I realized it wasn't about putting me through anything, rather just about the fact that there are more things in life to think about than the past. Finally, a few months ago, I decided I needed to reconnect afterall. Closure, maybe? Perhaps. Maybe it's just that fear has ruled so many years in this regard that I think if I see him again now that I'm - ahem - older, I can feel stronger. I mean, maybe I just feel the need to reaffirm my decision from 18 years ago. Either way, I feel the need to go. What am I going to say? Hell if I know. No apologies on my end. I expect none from that side either.

Here's to hoping it helps me to let go - be less fearful - and maybe even remind myself that any guilt is his, not mine and that there is so much more to life than holding the past with me all the time.

So my advice to anyone dealing with some scary thing in their life: Face it. It'll eat you up if you don't.

Cinco de Mayo!

Did you know that Cinco de Mayo celebrates the Mexican victory in a battle with the French while the Napoleon III tried to take over Mexico? The Battle of Puebla should have, by all accounts, been won by the French. The rag-tag Mexican force of 2,000 was outnumbered and poorly supplied. The battle lasted all day and the French lost 500 men to the Mexican losses of 100. The battle didn't contribute much to the overall Mexican-French war, but it was a significant moral victory for the government and it tightened the resistance. The war lasted 6 more years.

Many Americans equate Cinco de Mayo with the Mexican Independence which wasn't until much later. We celebrate Mexican heritage on Cinco de Mayo here. Dancing, drinking, parades, food, all celebrating the strength and tenacity of the people.

Sound a little like America's early years to you? It does to me. Outnumbered, a rag tag force of citizens, and a strong resistance. So happy Cinco de Mayo to us all ~ Viva Mexico! Viva America!

Sleepy sucks

One of the worst things in our everyday lives is not sleeping well.

It's true. Think about it. Maybe the only worse thing is being sick. But then again, being sick often means you also don't sleep well. It all leads back to sleep, I'm telling you.

Isn't it awful when you don't sleep much - and every time you wake up you think, "Aw, crap, I'm not sleeping for poop tonight and tomorrow's gonna suck!" I'm sure that just makes it worse. But the point is you know that tomorrow's going to suck. And the fact that tomorrow comes, and it DOES suck...well that's just icing on the cake.

When this happens to me (and it's more often than I'd like to admit), I swear I feel like I got hit by a truck. My body hurts, head throbs, neck aches, and I just can't keep my eyes open. What's more... I hate regular coffee, so I can't feel better artificially like some folks can. If I didn't work in the middle of nowhere, maybe I could get to Starbucks to get some GOOD coffee. But, alas, the nearest Starbucks is 15 minutes away.

So here I sit. I can't get anything done because my mind is so cloudy. I can't even talk right. My words don't come out like they should. People surely think I'm hungover. I swear, I'm not.

What can I do to feel better? If you need me, I'll be under my desk. :)