Merry Christmas!!

It's hard to believe that it's already Christmas! Where has time gone?

While I haven't been on lately to tell you what's going on in my life (hopefully that will change soon!), please know that I'm hoping you have a fantastic Christmas and a great New Year! :)

Loze-A-Palooza

Just wanted to remind everyone to check out the Lose for Good website today!  In case you forgot: 


For every accepted mention or acknowledgment of “Lose For Good” made on September 14th through blogs, Twitter, Facebook and check-in via foursquare, Weight Watchers will donate $1 – up to $60,000* – to Share Our Strength and Action Against Hunger.

Blogging for a Good Cause

So, I haven’t posted for awhile. Again, it’s not like I don’t want to post. I think about posting. But then I get home from work and the need to type out what I’m thinking is overpowered by the need to do other things. Like play games. Or stare at the tv. Or sleep. Besides, I’m pretty sure like 4 people read this, and most of you know what is going on in my life anyway. HA!
Anyway, a little over a week ago our friends decided to challenge each other by getting the other to try to lose 5 pounds by Thanksgiving. I am up for the challenge (I need to lose at least 10 times that much), so I accepted. To help me (and thanks to Kate for suggesting it), I signed up on FatSecret.com. I’ve been inputting my calories and my “exercise” for the last week. It’s interesting. According to that I expend more calories than I eat. I have noticed that I’m not getting much protein in my diet though. So, I need to start working on that.
Speaking of losing weight, I wanted to let you know about the Lose-A-Palooza sponsored by Weight Watchers. It’s on September 14th. 

What is the Lose-A-Palooza you ask? It’s  “a one-day social media event created to encourage participation in the Lose For Good® campaign to benefit Share Our Strength and Action Against Hunger. As part of the Lose For Good campaign, Weight Watchers will donate $1, up to a maximum of $60,000, to Share Our Strength and Action Against Hunger for each approved mention, acknowledgment or action related to “Lose  For Good” made on September 14th through blogs, Twitter, Facebook and  check-in via foursquare.”

Now, I’m not working on losing my weight through Weight Watchers. I can’t afford to do that. Not that I don’t like Weight Watchers, I do! I really like the recipes in their magazines, and amazingly enough a lot of them don’t include gluten! (Yay!) I do however, want to help support Share Our Strength and Action Against Hunger, so I am joining the Lose-A-Palooza to spread the word. Plus, some of you might be interested in following the Weight Watchers program. It’s a win-win situation for everyone! For more information, be sure to check out the Lose for Good web page. They are even offering a free month of membership to Weight Watchers. And, if you sign up, be sure to mention Lose for Good in your blog, on Twitter, and Facebook too. The more support they get, the better!
Well, I’m off to update my other blog. I’ve read several books within the last couple of weeks and I want to get them reviewed before I forget what they were about.
Until next time, have a good one!

Who do you think you are?

That's the tv show that I've been watching on Fridays on NBC. It's quite interesting. Yes, the actors are dramatic and sometimes over the top when they find out a fact about their family, but that's ok. I've seen 3 episodes now, tracing Lisa Kudrow's family, Brooke Sheild's family, and last night's traced Sarah Jessica Parker's family. I think my favorite of the three is Lisa Kudrow's episode; she was able to trace back to her great grandmother's demise in the Holocaust, and she was able to find a living relative that she didn't know was still living. Joe finds the show over dramatic, but I'm ok with it.

I've always had a relationship with genealogy. My mom and grandparents had traced our family trees back. Some of the tales being mentioned on Sarah Jessica Parker's episode made me wonder if we were long lost relatives. I remember hearing of having family involved in the Salem witch trials. Hopefully I'll be able to find the information as we get our house ready to move. I also wonder if there's relation to Brooke Sheild's family. I don't know that our family had ties to Louis IV, but there are ties to Princess Di, Eleanor Roosevelt and Nancy Reagan. I've read somewhere that Louisa May Alcott was in there too, and it would be really cool if it was true. After all, my name came from Amy in Little Women.

Recently I've been trying to trace back my dad's side. His maternal grandmother's family has stumped us. We know she was Gertrude Garrett and that she was one of 14 children from Joseph and Lucy (Vance) Garrett, but that's about the end of the line. Family legend has that Gertrude was full blood Cherokee, but I haven't found that yet. I've been checking out things at the library when I get a chance. I love that they allow free access to Ancestry.com, even if it is only for an hour or two a day. The last time I was able to find the marriage certificate for Gertrude Garrette and Asia Miller, my great grandparents. I found it interesting the spelling was different. I also found the marriage certificate for her parents, Joseph and L.E. Vance. There are always walls that you'll hit when doing genealogy, and when you're not able to go to the states where the licenses and records are, it is difficult. But, at the same time, it is fun. I do worry a bit about the Vance line though. When I was checking out Joe's line a few years ago, he also has Vance ties. I am hoping that they don't cross! :)

Well, that is all for now. I think I'm going to do a bit of research from home tonight. Here's hoping I find something!

Jury Duty and things

So this morning didn't start out so swell. I made it out the door only to realize that my keys weren't in my hand. Nope. They were on the table, behind the locked door. Total frustration! (Especially since I needed to be at the courthouse for jury duty 45 minutes from then!) So, I called Joe who wasn't quite at work yet-although he was almost there, and he turned around and let me in. (Thank you, honey!)

I made it to jury duty and was only 20 minutes late. They hadn't done anything yet, other than herd the jurors into the room. After about an hour, they took 15 people to a trial, the left about 40 of us left. So, we sat there listening to the news talk about Tiger Woods' return to golf today. I was thankful I had my book with me. Eventually they came back in and took another 25 people. (I wasn't one of them.) I did have some time to observe though. One wife came with her husband (I'm pretty sure she couldn't drive), and they let him go and sit with her in the court. Another observation was dress. The paper they had given us said to dress in business casual. I wore a work outfit, since we pretty much wear business casual anyway. (Although we don't wear jeans.) I was floored by the amount of people in jeans and t-shirts! Since when is a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt business casual? Did I miss something?? Now, a nice white cotton shirt and jeans isn't bad, and I'll allow that. But a t-shirt that can more appropriately be considered an undershirt? I don't think so. I also liked the Cavs t-shirt and jeans dressed up with a jean jacket.
Good times. Hey, something has to amuse me while I'm sitting around! I did have to wonder what the cases/trials were. The first group of people were the ones that were sitting around reading religious materials or carrying their Bibles, and the second group was mostly minority females. The bailiff pointed out that if anyone was a primary care provider for an elderly parent or had issues with childcare to bring it up, because they would be dismissed. I'm glad I'm not there, but yet, I want to know what the case was!

Well, that's all for now. I had some other observations, but I can't allow all of my excitement to be shared right now! ;)

Happy Easter

Spring has sprung and Easter is here! What crazy weather we've been having here lately. A week ago we woke up to 2 inches of snow, and yesterday was in the 80s. I'm pretty sure this only happens in Ohio. We took the plastic off of 3 of our windows to let the fresh air in, but left it on the others. We can't be sure that we're not going to get cold nights again!

Not a whole lot has been going on in Amy's world. Going to work, coming home, continuing that routine 5 days a week, then sleeping in on the weekend. This week will be a bit different though-I have been selected for Jury Duty. I was really hoping I would get out of it and go to work, but alas, I have to report at 8:30 tomorrow morning. I understand that it is a privilege of living here in the US, but I don't want to go! I mean, what would've happened had the case that I was involved in a few years ago gone to court. The jury would've listened to how the lady that was suing me could no longer have "marital relations" and as a result was suing me. That's not something a juror really wants to hear, is it? (Mind you, after the case was over, I saw her at the gym working out. Hard to believe a person working out at the gym would have those problems at home. I'm just sayin'....) I just hope that maybe I'll just sit there and read my book, then go home in the evening.

Well, that's all for now. I have had several topics for my blog come to mind while I'm driving to and from work. One of these days I'll actually remember what they were. I am also going to keep my eyes out for a dictation program that runs on my phone. Then I could dictate my blog as I'm driving-wouldn't that be awesome?!

Have a great Easter and fantastic week everyone!

Snow, snow, go away

Seriously? Snow in March? No. I'm done. I refuse to see snow in Ohio in March. The end of March at that! I'm done with it!

That is all.

So...

I've been granted 10 more minutes of time on the library computer. Woohoo! I must say that I really do like the Strongsville library. They have a nice selection, and the staff is very friendly. (I know, what librarian isn't! :))

Anyway. So tomorrow is a snow day for me. No, I don't get paid, and I can make it up on Saturday, but the fact that I have the option to not drive in the weather just amazes me! The snow is supposed to be about 4 inches overnight - in addition to the 3+ that has already fallen here-and maybe another3 or 4 during the day tomorrow. Not a lot of snow when compared to what the East Coast is getting, but it's still snow, none the less. I'm just not used to a company that actually takes the well being and safety of the staff into consideration. (This does not include schools-obviously that happens, but not for a private company!) I am really enjoying my new job, and the drive doesn't bother me all that much. Except when the weather is bad...or I'm tired. But really, compared to what I used to have to do, this is fantastic! I actually don't mind getting up at o'dark thirty to go to work! Yay!

So my time is again almost up, and I don't want to be one of those people who hogs the computer. I could, but I'm not one of those people. Besides, I want to go eat dinner! Have a good one folks, and I hope everyone stays safe and warm in this weather! :)

Random comments

So it's already February, crazy how time flies when you're having fun...or something like that. Not a whole lot has been going on in the world of Amy, but there have been a few things, and I figure I might as well share.

So a couple of weeks ago, the new car wouldn't start for me. We had taken it in on Monday to have our usual guys check it out, they replaced the starter saying that it was bad, and then on Wednesday it wouldn't start. I called Joe, who then told me to call AAA and have it towed back to the car place. I called work to let them know I'd be late (if in at all) and had the car towed. I get there and the usual guy (he's the owner) apologizes and says they'll get to it when they can. Swell. While the guy is taking it off the tow truck, another worker, I'll call him Bob, comes up to take my information. He then procedes to tell me that my car had been towed in on Monday and that they were able to get it started, and it's probably the same problem. Um, no. The car was driven in on Monday by Joseph, and it started-even if it was a little slow on the uptake. So, no, idiot, you're wrong. I told him that my husband had brought it in and he argued with me anyway. Just because I'm female does not mean I don't know what is going on. Idiot. I do not like Bob and he is not allowed to touch our car. I ended up renting a car (a total rip off because it cost $50 bucks + gas for not even 12 hours!), and lost money on the deal because I didn't work enough to make up for it. Grr. The car place said it was a blown fuse and they replaced that. A week later the car didn't start for Joe, and he replaced the fuse again. Last week he took the car back to the place that we bought it from and they replaced the starter. Fantastic!

Another 'issue' in the last few weeks, I got my hair cut. I know, nothing too serious, but the chick that cut my hair is on my list. I said that layers were fine (I had some). Less than 15 minutes later, she informed me she was done. Yep....she gave me layers. Short, all the way around, and then a bit of the length-mullet style. Fan-tastic! I was so ticked. I ended up going to the girl who usually does my hair and had her redo it. It's still not what I want, but it will do. Luckily my hair grows fast, so hopefully it will be better soon. I learned my lesson though-I won't be going back to Best Cuts to get my hair done.

And, one final rant because my time on the library computer is running out. It's about people at the library and the computer use. There's a waiting list for a reason people. And when the person who has reserved the computer is up talking to the librarian because there's a problem, don't take the computer because you want to play Farmville. That just angers the patron who was there to use the computer.

Ok...that's all for now. Must go-tomorrow is a snow day from work (who would've thought!), so hopefully there will be more then. :)

Happy New Year, World!

So, it's been over 6 months since I've last blogged. I apologize for that, but for those of you who do read my blog, most of you know what's been going on since you're also friends with me on Facebook. (Well, your friends with me in general, it just so happens that you are *also* FB friends.)

Since July, in a nutshell, I have started and stopped working as a fine jewelry associate for Macy's, gone on several outings with the JoKeRMob, found a new job at Howard's Jewelry Center in Parma Heights, downsized to a queen size bed, had a car die, and get a new car. Please note that it is new to us, it has 161K miles on it and is a 2001 Dodge Stratus, so it is not new. Doesn't sound like much, but honestly, that's a lot! Really, that bed thing is a big adjustment, don't knock it 'til you try it!

I plan on posting updates more frequently this year-as in maybe once a week. Joe and I carpool to work, so on those days when I go to the library to spend time, maybe I'll update my blog. We'll see. So far I've been trying out new restaurants in the area and shopping.

For now, this is all I'm going to post. I was supposed to go to bed an hour ago, but due to some technical difficulties, I'm still up. I'm hoping to go to bed very soon!