Da Bears…

I’m so thankful that Favre didn’t sign to “Da Bears”…but the Jets?!…it will be an interesting year but I am sad to say, we still have Grossman!

My friend…

Passed away at age of 54 - survived by husband, mother and brother.

My friend Helen Schamel, whom I worked with a Deloitte, passed away peacefully on Monday, July 21.  Tuesday, when I heard the news, was very hard for me.  I took advantage of Helen always being there, as I do with most of friends.  I’m not good a calling people and taking the initiative to reach out first…but I think I really need to make that effort.  I know that God has his time for us and that once we are born into this life that we are sentenced to death and that our bodies are not meant to last but I think when something like this happens in life, we truly need to reflect on what really is important in life.  Helen worked a lot which I believe led up to her heart attack but she loved what she did, what she was involved with and the people who came into her life.  She treated everyone the same, she had great virtues and I only hope to see her in heaven one day, as I believe she was a believer!

Women live longer than men…

Here’s the proof!

Survived by his…

Robot – Whole new meaning!

Nataie and Andrew, I thought of you two when I saw this last night:

Sunshine State – here I come!

k – I’m taking a break at work right now…and I’m really having a hard time getting motivated.  You ever feel that way, right before you are to take some time off of work?  I have so much to do…and so little time, right?

This week we celebrate Independence Day.  My boss gave me at test yesterday on my knowledge of the good ol’ US of A…must say, didn’t do too well.  Test your knowledge- Test.  Anyhow, I used to make fun of those individuals Jay Leno would test randomly on the street, of their knowledge (i.e., Who is the Vice President of our country – Dick Cheney, if you didn’t know), I now will keep my mouth shut!

Ok – back to my title, Sunshine State….this weekend I’ll be in Jacksonville, FL visiting a retirement community, that’s right!  I’m so looking forward to the trip.  I’m usually noted for being a slow walker (except with my mom – sorry, truth hurts, I know)…not this weekend, I’ll be the fastest one in the bunch – whoohoo!  No, really, though I am going to a retirement community – Park of the Palms, my main reason, is to visit one of my favorite aunts (you know I can’t say “favorite”, therefore “one of my” will suffice) and I get to see my Grandmother who is 92 now…WOW!  How time flies.  What’s great about visiting my grandmother, she never knows who you are, so if accidently say the wrong thing, it doesn’t matter because 10 minutes later, she’s asking “Are you one of mine?”.  She’s a darling.

I’ll report back on my trip…stay tuned!

(P.S. my aunt is hard at work, if you click on the website for Park of the Palms and scroll down – you’ll see her)

Have a great weekend!

 

Can you dance?

Came across this from a book I’m reading on line – “Can we do that?” – and this was from the author’s website:  Where is Matt?

For some reason this wouldn’t upload but click on the link above – I loved it!

 

Things that make you go hmmmm….

As I left the train station yesterday to walk a couple of blocks to my office, I realized…Rain, Wind and Umbrellas don’t mix in Chi-Town….

1. If nothing ever sticks to Teflon, how do they make Teflon stick to the pan?
2. If the police arrest a mime, do they tell him he has the right to remain silent?
3. What hair color do they put on the driver’s licenses of bald men?
4. Why do they put Braille on the drive through bank machines?
5. How come there aren’t B batteries?
6. How do “Do not walk on the grass” signs get there?
7. Why do black olives come in cans and green olives come in jars?
8. If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?
9. If the #2 pencil is so popular, why is it still #2?
10. Why is the alphabet in that order? Is it because of that song?
11. How do you throw away a garbage can?
12. How does a thermos know if the drink should be hot or cold?
13. How does the guy who drives the snowplow get to work in the mornings?
14. If a word in the dictionary were misspelled, how would we know?
15. If you’re in a vehicle going the speed of light, what happens when you turn on the headlights?
16. What happens to an 18 hour bra after 18 hours?
17. Why didn’t Noah swat those two mosquitoes?
18. Why do hot dogs come 10 to a package and hot dog buns only 8?
19. Why do tourists go to the tops of tall buildings and then put money into telescopes so they can see things on the ground close-up?
20. Why is it that bullets ricochet off of Superman’s chest, but he ducks when the gun is thrown at him?

Rewards…Airlines…UGH!

Okay!  I am thoroughly frustrated, you would think receiving a reward for work you did on the job was a good thing!  You would think being able to choose from multiple vendors to use your award would be a good thing!  WRONG!!!  Well at least I chose the wrong vendor…United Airlines but the whole process was no picnic either…let’s start from the beginning.

Boss said “well done”…here is your reward.  I now have the choice to redeem my reward through various vendors.  Side note, since May I have received three separate rewards for some good amounts….you don’t need to know the details but a couple of the rewards will assist in a mini shopping spree…that is whenever I receive the certificates from the vendor.  You see, you receive a specific amount of $$ to redeem from hundreds of various vendors – from restaurants, travel, department stores, movies, etc.  Once you place your order, you then are to receive those $$ in from of a gift certificate within 5 to 7 business days.

So, the end of May I choose to award myself to Macy’s…that is one reward.  Still haven’t received the gift certificates for that shopping spree…no biggy, guess I’ll wait to shop for a Fall wardrobe vs. Summer.  The second reward I decided to use partially for Father’s day and myself…I received that reward beginning of June, well Father’s day has come and gone…no certificates.  The third reward, I decided to use mainly for a trip to Jacksonville, FL to visit my favorite aunt (don’t tell my other aunts that).  Well, on June 3 I placed the order and was told “you’ll receive your certificates in 5 to 7 business days” I’m like cool! That didn’t happen.  I called on Monday, June 16 to say “hey, where is my order” oh….it’s on partial back order…but we can send the airline portion as a partial order…I said “that would be great!”  I was to receive it on Wednesday, June 18 – didn’t happen.  Called on Friday, June 20, said “What’s up?” Oh, your order didn’t ship….”Noooo”, ya think??,  I asked for them to ship overnight as I had a flight on hold, I was suppose to receive June 21 – didn’t happen….well after many conversations, I finally received the certificates yesterday, oh by the way – they were sent to the wrong address!   When I called United to confirm my flight, they informed me that I can’t redeem the certificate by phone, but to go to the ticket counter at the airport to confirm my trip…yeah, no problem. I’ll take a small trip to one of the largest/busiest airports – Chicago O’Hare.  After getting to the airport and dealing with what they call “Customer Service” for about an hour…I have my ticket for my trip next week.  It only cost me over $300 and I was only able to use one certificate worth $100…so I ended up paying over $200 for my ticket…which by the way, was only suppose to be$50 but due to the lovely vendors who expedited my my gift certificates in such a timely fashion….the cost of the flight went up during the time of me receiving my order…Oh Joy!!!

The World of Blogging

So I’m attempting to blog….the life of Donna.  What is happening in my world?  I recently moved to the Chicagoland area – a.k.a. Chi-Town.  I lived in Atlanta for about 6 years and then some.  I moved down to the State of Trees to work in the corporate office of The Home Depot.  For my career at the time I thought this was the right move and probably was but I am so happy I’m no longer part of that world.  Too much a men trying to be manly (you know territorial – who can outwit the other guy:)) and the woman….well we’ll just not go there but I must say, two of my best gal pals are from there and that was probably the best thing I got out of that time of my life.  What is funny…none of us work there anymore.  Enough about that.

Now I’m in the financial world, total flip but best decision I ever made and enjoying the Windy City!  It’s good to be home, many mix feelings when I first got here but now that I’ve been up here for about six months, I feel it’s the right decision!  My father recently was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure.  It’s not as bad as it sounds, though I must admit I did have some tears after first hearing this.  Mostly due to the fact that I was driving to Atlanta for a trip over Memorial Day Weekend when I was told this and wasn’t sure if I should turn back around, after all failure is not a good word but once I read up on it…it’s not so bad (if you’re willing to change your ways).  Any hoot, I’ve heard you can live with this condition, so let’s just hope for that.  After all, I have a big God that I rely on for strength and so does my dad, He determines the day and time, not us.  I’m just thankful I have a dad who believes in Christ, who’s life was taken on behalf of sinners like all of us.

Another thing I’m most grateful for is Buckhead Church, when I first heard Andy Stanley I knew I found home.  I had never experienced church like I did in Atlanta, I was actually excited to learn more of what scripture had to say about living and even though I have been a believer since I was nine….I finally woke up to see that being a Christian is not boring.  I also wish that I grasped on to scripture when I was younger because (like so many) I learned some hard lessons on my own.  In my first small group in Atlanta, I met with some ladies who went to Buckhead too and one thing I shared….well there were two things I shared but we won’t go into #2 yet but the one thing I shared was that I always ran from my heavenly father to do my own thing because after all, I knew best, right?  Wrong…I always came running back with my tail between my legs, so I’ve decided not to run anymore and embrace life for what it is as a follower of Christ and I must say, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been!  Oh….also met another fantastic friend through small group!!!

To be continued….