Today is the last day of 2007. It has been some year. I've enjoyed the last week in that we're on break from the office and it allows me time to be with my Mom and take care of family things. Either fortunately or unfortunately, I do miss my job. That must sound crazy, but I do.

I've never worked harder in my life and that's a huge statement for folks that know me. I'm doing what I can to work smarter but some things are just not under my control. I'll do whatever is needed to get my projects finished because I really like my boss. She's so nice that I think I'm dreaming most of the time. This is our last week on break so I must complete several personal tasks over the never six days and then it's on and popping again. I guess I'm really not the housewife type because I really miss the phone calls and e-mails from my co-workers.

Two great things happened today and I'm claiming the same karma in 2008.

First of all, my mom came home today. Well, sort of. The medical transportation service didn't pick her up so my Dad brought her home for a few minutes. They said they waited more than 30 minutes. I know my dad doesn't like to wait for anything, so the transportation is sure to be the recipient of his wrath. Oh, well. I don't have the vocabulary to express what seeing my mom at home and walking did for our family. My dad took her back to the rehab center; I haven't seen him so happy in a long time. My mom may be released sooner than we thought. I know those of you who prayed had a lot to do with her progress. Thank you; I am eternally grateful.

Secondly, I finally found documentation needed that will allow my alumni association to receive a $1,000 donation. Thank you, Jesus. It had been two weeks of searching through boxes, file cabinets and briefcases to find that one little piece of paper. I'd looked in the box several times where I found it but I won't go there. Today was the deadline or we would have been SOL – sho'nuff out of luck. Needless to say, I scanned the document and saved on my computer and a couple of flash drives. I was going to make hard copies also but I thought that might be overkill; I'm trying to live a paperless life as much as possible.

Anyhoo, I'm looking forward to 2008. Thank you to everyone that has become my buddy, friend, associate and mentor since I started blogging. I am still having a blast with this and just going with the flow.

Here's to claiming an awesome 2008 for You. At the stroke of midnight, this is from me…

Smooches!

Today

We celebrate

the miracle

of the birth of

Jesus Christ.

That's it.

Amen.

This is a true story. Some of the names have been changed to protect the innocent and the guilty slime ball that used to be my husband.

I joined MySpace several months ago. I got the MySpace page because I have a few friends on there and it's such a popular site I figured why not? I started using the site regularly within the last couple of months. I haven't found the need to use all of the MySpace features. I've only used the IM feature once and that was with a young lady I'll call Becky.

The whole process of requesting friends on MySpace and other social networking sites is a tad weird to me. I don't recall when Becky sent me a friend request and that's really not important anyway. I do recall pictures of her with two cute young kids --- a boy and a girl.

Becky, a Caucasian female in her early 30's, appeared to be a loving mother. Both kids were adorable. The little girl, a few years younger than the boy, was Black. I didn't think anything of the little girl but she did remind me of someone.

A couple of weeks ago, I changed the background of my MySpace page to show a picture of one of the Barbie dolls in my collection. I added a few slide shows of other subjects of interest to me; I was just adding a little more of my personality to my page.

Becky sent me a message complimenting me on my page. She also indicated she thought I was a strong and smart woman. Blah…blah…blah. Thus began our e-mail exchange.

I apologize that I've not posted to this blog as frequently as I'd like. I've not shared with you the recent challenges on my time and energy that have been wrought due to the illness of my mother. My experience with the health care industry and insurance companies during the last week and a half has afforded me several days of blog posts and most of them will not be pretty. I won't go off Michael Moore style right now, but I will later.

I am a firm believer in the power of prayer so I ask that you pray for the healing of my mother, Mary Woodard. I also ask that you pray for the emotional and physical strength of my dad, Art Woodard. My folks have been married for 57 years and my dad tries to be with her every moment he can. My dad is old school so he internalizes his emotions, except for anger. Speaking of anger, I also ask that you pray for God's control over my anger that will allow me to register my dissatisfaction with the service provided by a hospital staff member without raising my voice and losing my cool.

I will keep you posted about my experience and perhaps you will share your experiences also. I have to end this post now because I have to get ready for work and write an e-mail to the hospital administrator and public relations office about the unacceptable behavior of the social worker assigned to my mother.

I've already complained about the lax hospital security and insufficient air conditioning – heat promotes germs. I'm sure some of the staff will be glad to see me leave and others are glad I've voiced my concerns. In arguably, the hospital workers are overworked and underpaid. There is still a need to provide customer care that is better treatment than cattle on a farm. I said I wouldn't go there in this post.

Thank you for all positive thoughts for my family during this time. I'll post as time and energy allow. In the meantime, check out this article: Who's making money off the health care crisis?

I owe Discover Card $367.10 $417.57 $418 and I'm paying I paid them off next week today. I could have engaged in a long negotiation over my balance but my time is more valuable than what I would have gained monetarily from such a debate. I have way too much on my plate to allow them to distract me. Good riddance.

If you haven't been keeping up with the hearing on credit card interest rates, please read the article below. As the economy worsens and the mortgage industry crumbles because of loan defaults, this becomes more of an issue and has a domino effect that touches all of us.

Watch for Credit Card Interest Changes

By LAURIE KELLMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — Check your holiday credit card bills closely.

Some credit card companies are raising interest rates on good customers even if they pay down their balances, on time, every month. The reason they cite is that the customer's credit rating has fallen elsewhere.

That was a rude surprise to Janet Hard a stay-at-home mother of two teenage boys from Freeland, Mich.

Depending on her husband's salary as a steamfitter while she raised the children was financially difficult, Hard said, especially with college tuition on the horizon. To keep the family's finances in balance, Hard said she paid more than the minimum payment on her Discover card every month, plus an $8.00 Internet fee.

Or so she thought.[Continue reading…]

I am way late responding to this tag but I'm sure Ms. Marvalus will forgive me. It's a Scorpio thing you may not understand.

The rules of the game are:

A). Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog…

B). Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself…

C). Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs…

D). Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

I got tagged by Ms. Marvalus.

7 Random Facts About Moi:

1. I collect Barbie dolls. I don't know how many I own now but I think it has to be close to 300. I've not sold any as I have in the past. I'll get back to cataloging and re-dressing them as I did before. I'll spare you the details now but you're welcome to check out my Barbie blog.

2. My bottom lip is freckled. The freckles are fading as I get older. I used to try to cover them with lipstick, now I don't care.

3. When I was 7 years-old, I was chosen to play Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz in a school play. Of course, Toto was a stuffed animal...I learned everyone's part...I really wanted ruby slippers. I still know the words to Somewhere Over the Rainbow, wanna hear it? Here it goes...

4. I like to sleep with a television on.

5. When I was 14, I pierced my own ears. My dad didn't think girls should get their ears pierced. I bought self-piercing earrings from Woolworth's, wore them for a couple of weeks, and voilá pierced ears. To make matters worse, I have two holes in my right ear. My Dad was not happy but he got over it.

6. When I was a kid, I wanted to be President of the United States.

7. I drove non-stop from Tallahassee to Miami once. No food...water or nature break. I really wanted to get home. LOL

This has been fun but I'm not tagging anyone. Peace, folks.

The beautiful tag in the photo abaove is the work of artist Ann Christine Dennison. She's fabulous. Check out her blog at http://acdenn.blogspot.com.

It's Thanksgiving Day in the United States. I'm not feeling the Thanksgiving Day joy and excitement of many others in this country.

The television news coverage is replete with the traditional stories of Thanksgiving generosity and charitable gifts to those in need. A community warrior woman called "Big Mama" will feed thousands of folks in the South Florida area over the next couple of days. It is heartwarming but I can't really get with the holiday. Sure, one day of giving is better than none but what about tomorrow?

Quite frankly, I am thankful every day. I have dealt with my share tragedy but I know that I am truly blessed. I don't really follow the commercialization of Christian ideals. I mean, I don't need this day to help someone else or to praise my Creator. I'm not perfect or trying to be pious, I was grateful for life, strength and health today and will feel the same way tomorrow when I wake up.

The ranks of the needy continue to grow. We can't relegate helping others to certain days of the year that really serve as boosts to the economy more than anything else.

I see the poverty in my community and the effect it has on others. While so many suffer, I can't remove from my mind, the stories of corruption and millions of dollars misused by government officials. There must be a special place in Hell for folks like that.

I try to help someone in need every day. Either through food, clothing, books or toys I try to pay it forward. There but for the grace of God go I. If everyone who could did something, no matter how small, the world would be a much better place.

The last week or so at work has been more stressful that normal. I'm taking my Staples Easy button to help me cope with the stress. Yep, each time I finish a project or answer a question, I'm gonna press it.

Will folks think I've lost my mind? Perhaps, but I don't really care. I'm willing to bet that a few of them will use it also. Anyhoo, it's all in fun and hopefully will help my co-workers relax also.

We're all under stress but I'm going to manage to the stress, not let it manage me. If acting a little silly gets me through the day and allows me to be more productive, so be it.

The electricity at my home has gone off and on as the rain and thunder and lightning continue. The only respite was during the shellacking that the Raiders gave the Dolphins and Daunte Culpepper exacted revenge.

I am not a Dolfan so I don't usually pay any attention to their games unless they're playing a team that I really like. I didn't like the way the Dolphin management got rid of Culpepper. No faith in Daunte's knees, huh? I'm sure they are rather embarrassed about leeting him go. My dislike for the Dolphins management actually goes back to the way they got rid of Coach Don Shula; it was not cool not matter how they tried to dress it up.

Professional sports is a business but it's still a business that functions because of people. I'd swear that the Dolphins have some kind of curse on them since unceremoniously dumped Shula.

Anyhoo, more important to me than the football game is the fact that the electricity flow is so inconsistent in my neighborhood I counted seven outages today. I'll call FPL on Monday to speak with a supervisor. The electricity poles in the area could be weak or the lights could go out for any number of reasons. Whatever the deal is, FPL won't be able to say it wasn't reported.

Oh, yeah, WAY TO GO DAUNTE!

It's college football season and I'm psyched because I'll get to see my alma mater's marching band perform. Now, if you've not heard of the FAMU Marching 100, there's way too much for me to share on this page. I'll post some links for you to check out at the end of this post.

The video is of the percussion section playing the cadence titled "Duckmouth." I don't know the year or the location of this particular performance but I did learn that the cadence is played by many marching bands throughout the nation. That is largely due to the expansive network and influence of the Marching 100.

For a little Marching 100 trivia, you should know that "Duckmouth" is a memorial cadnce written for a band member who died in 1995. It is my understanding that there are cadences for other members.

Related links:

Florida A&M University

Florida A&M University Marching 100

Tailgate Tour - FAMU Marching 100

FAMU Marching 100 Grammy 2006 Performance with Kanye West and Jamie Foxx

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