Where would you hide?

Where does the week go? Here it is almost Sunday. Last night, I talked briefly about USA Network's new original series In Plain Sight. I'm going to talk about it again because not many series have started their summer season's. In Plain Sight follows Mary Shannon as she works with the Witness Protection Program in New Mexico. I think if I had to go into hiding and join the Witness Protection Program, I would want to go a city I knew I could get lost in. The first city that came to my mind was the city of Las Vegas. I've been there many times over the years, and I've always thought it would be cool to live there. It is truly a city that never sleeps. One of these days I really would like to live there, Witness Protection Program not necessary. Don't forget to check out In Plain Sight tomorrow night on USA.

How time flies

In today's mail, I received a DVD set of the CHiPs second season. I used to watch this series growing up, and it was a favorite of mine. I was looking at the DVD though, and you know how on some TV show DVD sets they show you the air date of the episode? Well, they did that here, and man did it make me feel old. This season of episodes aired back in 1978. Yes, I was only two years old back then, but I remember my mother telling me I used to sit in my highchair and watch the series. She said I would get all excited when the music started to play. I don't remember all of that, but I do remember watching it. Television was so much simpler back then. At least, I think it was. Now things are so much more complex. The world is much more complex though, so I guess that makes sense. At least it does to me.

Water Safety

With the coming of summer, it is time to find ways to cool off. Living in Arizona like I do, finding ways to keep cool is important. Some days the temps here have hit above 120. I know that sounds outrageous, but I've seen it happen for myself. Luckily we have a lot of ways to cool off. There are swimming pools and lakes all around the state. Plus, rivers and other bodies of water. I've been to a few myself over the last fourteen years I've lived here, and safety is important. Arizona Boating is fun and easy to do with the number of places to go. It is important to know how to boat safely though. I don't even know how many times I've heard about water related deaths in my state. Some from boating accidents, and others from drowning. Some of these deaths can be avoided so easily if you follow safety guidelines. Above all, don't drink and hit the water, especially if you are boating. We aren't allowed to drink and drive, and we are most certainly allowed to boat and drink either. Boating Operating Under the Influence only raises the chances of accidents happening. In order to learn more about boating safely there are places where you can go. Boating Education Online is easy to find. It could mean the difference between life and death.

All You Need Is Time

Sometimes that is all you really need. You adjust to new things in your life, and what seemed almost impossible a week ago, you can see yourself doing more and more easily. I love to write. I always have. I hate the details. Most of writing these days isn't the writing itself, but making sure your writing is seen. Promotion is the name of the game now. If you don't promote your writing, it won't be seen.Whatever happened to just writing for the fun of it? Sure, I want my writing to be read by people, but these days it just seems you have to do more and more to get it out there. I think we can blame the creation of the Internet for that. I'm learning as I go. I submit my site to directories. I submit my posts to social bookmarkers, and I am seeing a bit of feedback. Whenever I see someone add me as a friend or saying they are following me on one of the social bookmark sites, I am excited. That is another new reader on my side. I'm learning even more with my latest blog, and I know what I learn now will only help me in the long run.

What a day ...

Went to the movies, almost broke my computer monitor, and I had massive connection issues all day. The connection issues should hopefully be fixed soon because it is affecting the whole west coast. I knew I hated my cable company for a reason. Today has been a good day though. Summer is here. Television during the summer actually exists these days. Couldn't say the same a few years ago. There is a new show premiering this Sunday, USA Network's new original series In Plain Sight. It follows an agent working with Witness Protection Program in New Mexico. Why couldn't it have been Arizona?! Mary Shannon has to help those in the program learn how to hide in plain sight. I've hidden a picture of Mary on my own sight. Why don't you see if you can find it? I'll leave her on my blog until next week!

Exhausted ...

That is what I am right now. I've been working overtime getting my latest blog out there and seen. Today, I changed the layout for it, and I've been promoting most of the afternoon. I know it is a lot of work right now, but the payoff will be worth it I hope. I am waiting to hear back from another site that might want me to do write for them. Things just seem to be falling into place finally for me, and I am so excited about things. I want things to work. I treated myself to a couple of things this weekend. A couple of things I use daily were giving me trouble, and they needed replacing.

One was my DVD player, and the other was my CD burner. I use my DVD player to watch DVD's I get to review, and I burn a lot of CD's. Well, now I have an all new DVD player, and a shiny new external DVD burner. I've been playing with that one since I brought it home. Both were on sale for great prices this weekend for the holiday. After all my work lately, I decided it was time to treat myself. Friday I might treat myself and take the afternoon off to go and see the new Sex & The City movie. I used to love watching that show. I can't wait to see it.

Web hosting Information

When you start a blog or any type of website, you always check around for hosting. For blogs, some go for the free approach with blogger, wordpress or any of the other hosting options they can find. With websites, there are a wide variety of web hosting options available. There are many places you can go to in order to find out about webhosting services. Today, I found one such website. On this site, you can find various tutorials and articles about finding the website that is right for you and your site including their cpanel tutorials. It is important to know all you can, and this site has a lot of useful information. Just last month, I saw what a problem finding the wrong webhosting can be when one of the sites I use went down for two days. It is important to pick the best site for you and your business. It is your money being spent after all, and time down costs you money.

Today's Lesson

I live on a very bad corner. It is known for traffic accidents, and we had one here this morning. A loud one. A bad one. I ran out after a couple of minutes, and from what I was told the man was on his cell phone, possibly texting, when the accident happened. He flew out of the bar, and his cell phone is now only a memory. They had to take him in on a board. No idea how badly he was injured, but it didn't look good. A few years ago, a woman lost her life on that corner when she flew through the windshield of her car. She died instantly. I won't say just what happened to her, but it wasn't pretty. The sad thing is she was pregnant. They had to take her in and do an emergency c-section. The baby lived on without its mother. It can happen so quickly. Just in an instant. That is today's lesson.

Almost time for Father's Day!

We're only a few short weeks away from Father's Day, and my brother and I have been trying to figure out what to get our dad. Our original plan was to get him a DVD player for his television, but his TV isn't made for it. His TV is old. The TV in the living room is even older. It's time for a new television set, but we're not looking into buying one at the moment. We have other things we need more than a new television. However, there is a new contest at the moment being run by Charter called Father's Day in HD. One lucky dad will win an HDTV and HD service for life from Charter. Why should my dad win this? I'll tell you. He loves his television. He sits in his room and has it on all the time when he is home. He has a small nineteen inch set that we can't even hook up a DVD player to. He needs a new television badly, and a nice new HDTV would be something he'd love. Then we can get him that DVD player to go with it. It will make the perfect Father's Day gift. He is a good dad. He works 40+ hours a week, and he's almost 83 years old. He is a good man, and I am glad to be his daughter.

Remembering Those We've Lost

To all of those that stop by my blog in the US, Happy Memorial Day. Today is a day to remember those we've lost. This year, my cat JJ passed away. He died on September 4th, 2007, and he wasn't even three years old. He was the sweetest cat ever, and he is missed dearly by all of us. We were there for him in his final moments. He got sick one day, and he was gone two days later. It was heart. I've lost others over the years. My mother passed away nearly thirteen years ago. My aunts and uncles have all passed on. My grandmother live on until 103 before she passed on a few years ago. It is good to remember those we've lost. They will never really be far from us. They do watch over us. If you've lost someone, take a few moments to remember the good times you spend with them today, just as you should everyday. It is good to keep their memories alive.

Banking Problems

It seems with banks these days, you can do everything quick and easy. You can go online and check your account balance, make a transfer or pay your bills. I went online a few nights ago to pay one of my bills online, and it was still pending. Of course, this wouldn't be a problem if I had paid the bill on time. It was due on the 20th, and I paid it at midnight exactly on the 21st. Yes, just one minute can make a bill late, and when a bill is late you are charged late fees. Luckily, it only appears to be a dollar late fee, but it could have been even more. The payment went through this morning, and all is well on that front. Banks keep changing things, and they make it easier for the customer day by day.

There is new service that will let you do the next step in online banking, and that is make deposits. With your check in hand, your computer and a scanner, you can deposit money into your account using DepositNow. This service can be used with your existing bank account, and it is not even new! It has been in place since 2004, but it is rarely used. That might be because of the cost involved, but it is still an idea. It can make things easier. You don't have to go to a bank to make your deposits. Even if those are getting easier these days to with ATM's now taking cash deposits more easily. That is another topic for another time though. Things just seem to keep changing. Things are definitely getting easier to do, and it is all thanks to computers and the Internet.

Cookies

This will be a quick post. It is cold and raining here in Phoenix. Strange weather for the middle of May, but we'll take it. It is better than temps we've had lately here. We've hit the low hundreds already. Earlier today I received a couple of packages from one of the PR firms that send me things for some of the television networks. One was a good size box, and inside this box was a dozen cookies. I was shocked. I'm used to getting DVD's or press releases. The cookies definitely caught my eye though. Nice change. They tasted great too. Right now, I'm trying out a new browser add-on to update my blog, and I am liking this so far. Seems to work just as well as the client I usually use. It is cold today though! How quickly things can change. Today has been such a long day. I need a nap ASAP! Even if I know I'm not one to actually follow through with taking naps during the day. At most I lay down for ten minutes, and I'm back up.

More on Social Spark

A week ago I mentioned a new get paid to blog service I decided to join called Social Spark, This site is more than a paid to blog site though. It is a full on social network. I've had people add me as a friend just on there in the past week, and they also have a reward process called a prop. I have received three of these just since joining. I had been waiting to be able to write on some of the opportunities I've seen on the service, and I received my first two last night. They were on things I wanted to write about. So many people post on anything just to make money, and I have never been one of those types of bloggers. I write about topics, items or services that I would use myself or I have a strong opinion about. If I find myself relating to something to things happening to me currently in my own life, even better.

What I like about SocialSpark is that everything is out there in the open. Everyone can see what you're doing. There are full disclosures, full transparency, and best of all all the links are no-follow. This is the way to go these days. Advertisers still get their services shown, but the links are more user friendly. I'm hoping to continue on with social spark for quite some time to come. Waiting for post slots to open is a bit frustrating, but in the end the process works. I'll see what happens next with this new service, and I'll let you know what I think of it in the months to come. Right now, I'm thinking so far so good.

I think there should be a law ...

I really do think there should be some type of law against advertising calls. They come at all times of the day and even night. I have had one of those automated calls come in as last as 9:30 and as early as 7:30. I'm up early starting my day, and the phone keeps ringing. It is so annoying, especially when you tell the ones you can speak to to take you off their calling list. Do they? No, they do not. You receive a call from the same company the next day or in the next week, and you know they didn't listen to you. It really is frustrating. Just this morning, I've already received two automated calls. Those kinds of calls shouldn't even be allowed. If you're going to call, don't let a computer do it for you. Have a real live person there that I can yell at before hanging up on them at least. I love the ones that say right at the beginning this is not a sales call. I barely let them get that out before I go 'not interested' and then quickly hang-up. I know it may be considered rude, but do you realize how many sales calls we get in a day? We've started leaving the phone off the hook just to not deal with them.

How do you deal with advertising calls?

Selling on eBay

As I have mentioned time and time again on this blog, I am an avid eBay shopper. I usually buy a lot on the site, but I haven't been buying much lately. The last thing I bought on eBay was a DVD last month. I've watched a few items, but I haven't actually gone through and bid on anything. I usually stick to DVD's and Entertainment memorabilia, but you can find anything on the site for sale. I've looked at MP3 players, DVD players, and even laptops on the site. I'm a little worried about buying these kinds of things in this manner though.

You can even buy cars on eBay. Used cars being sold by their owners. Just tonight, I followed a bid for a Cadillac. The bid ended just a few minutes ago, and the highest big was $14,600. From the description, the car had everything, and it was below 35,000 miles. Sounds like a great deal to whoever ends up with it. I still don't know if I'd buy a car on eBay, but some people will take the leap. On eBay you can even have people sell items for you. One such site is iSold It. I haven't sold an item on eBay yet, but I'm kind of confused on the whole process. Using a site like this might be the way to go for me. All you have to do is go in your local store with the items you want to sell, and they take care of all the rest. Sounds easy to me!

Crazy week

I'm still on my Idol high at the moment, but it really has been a crazy week. I've been really working hard on building and promoting my new blog. I'm glad I have had experience working my other blogs because it really does make it easier each and every time you do it. I did have to remember a few things, but I'm really working on it because I know it is monthly trial basis with the site, and I want to continue on past that. I like covering celebrities. I read about them every day, so it is just easy for me to go ahead and write about them. The past few days I've been neglecting my fiction efforts, but I know once things are settled and more in place with Celebrity Today I'll be able to turn my focus back to writing more fiction. That should be soon.

I'm really looking forward to the premiere of So You Think You Can Dance tomorrow night. I never like the audition process for these shows, but I know in a week or two, the real competition will begin. I didn't watch it much this year, but I plan to this year. Although tomorrow night we have Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy ending their seasons. This season was one big mess with the writer's strike. We just have to hope that we don't have an actor's strike this summer. That will just mess things up all over again! We just have to hope for the best.

Download Music For Free. Yes, free!

It is obvious from my last post I am a huge music fan. I love listening to new music all of the time. I'm always looking for new artists to add to my rather large collection of tunes I already have. I have so many Cd's it is probably bordering insane. With the Internet, you can find even more artists. You can go to sites and listen to new songs and then you can download them to have for your own. Now downloading in some ways is illegal, but there are new sites where you can download music for free, and it is entirely legal. Tonight, I found one such site. You really can Get Free Music From MPFree.com. No cost to download. You don't even need a credit card to use the service. All you need is a desire to listen to music, and a way to download. Almost a million songs are on the service which is totally supported by advertising. They do all the work. You get the tunes. It sounds like a great deal to me. Check them out!

In shock!

I just watched the American Idol finale, and I have a few quick thoughts. Don't read past this point if you do not want to know who won tonight.

Stopping? Good.


I've been a fan of tonight's winner since the beginning. For me it was Michael Johns and David Cook all the way. When Johns was eliminated early on, I threw all my support behind David Cook. Everyone including myself thought David Archuleta had it in the bag though. Simon said he knocked David Cook out last night at the end of the program. However, David Cook came in and won. I am beyond happy. I will gladly buy his record when it is released in the near future.

Congrats to David. It was a great show with a lot of surprises. I will have full thoughts on tonight's finale on tomorrow morning on my television blog!

Making Sure Your Family Is Protected

As people get older, anything can happen. Really though anything can happen to anyone. You never know when your time is up. It is sad to think about, but it is a fact of life. My grandmothher lived to the age of 103 before she passed away. She lived a nice and full life. My father's siblings all left us long before that age, and my father is now approaching his 83rd year of life. For years now he has a life insurance policy. It is easy to get a 20 year term life insurance policy to make sure your family is protected.

Even me at my age have thought about my own policy. I used to have one my dad had put out on me when I was younger, but I am thinking that has long since expired. Yes, even children have life insurance policies. These are put in place by their parents. I never even knew I had one until my late teens and my father told me all about it. Like I said, it is a bit morbid to think about, but you really do have to think about it. Things can change in an instant.

My mother passed away when she was only fifty-seven years old. She left us long before she should have, but there were bills left to us with her passing. My father more than likely had a life insurance policy on her as well. It is easy to get your own. There are several companies like AIG Term Insurance and Prudentual Term Insurance out there to help you with your own life insurance policy. It only takes a minute to check on a quote.

Never fails ...

Just as I am about to jump in the shower, the hot water is off. This is a daily happening here in my apartment building, and it is beyond frustrating. I'm sure I've mentioned about the problems here before, and it just happened again. I've had a busy week already. Setting up a new blog and promoting it is a lot of work, but I've done it before. It is usually easier when you join an existing blog. All of that work has been done already. You just go in and write. Promote your involvement only. I've had to start from scratch with Celebrity Today, and I've had to remember how to do a few things. It does come back to you with a little bit of time. Things are moving right along nicely. I am still working slowly on my latest fiction work in progress. I might start something new there as well. The idea keeps poking at me. Summer is almost here, and I'm enjoying it. Here in Arizona, we've already seen temperatures in the low 100's. With summer here, it is now the time for the summer movie season to begin. This week's Ten on Tuesday asks what ten movies are we excited to see this summer. Here is my list:

1. Ironman
2. The Incredible Hulk
3. The Sex and the City Movie
4. Hancock
5. Kung Fu Panda
6. Wanted
7. The Dark Knight
8. The X-Files 2
9. The Happening
10. Hellboy II

What movies are you looking forward to seeing?

Summer Is Coming

Summer is just about here, and that means it is time for those all important summer vacations. My father and I have been discussing heading to Vegas for a few days sometime this summer, and this has always been one of our favorite vacation spots. Growing up, my family went to Vegas at least once a year. There are plenty of things to do in Las Vegas, even if you aren't over the legal gambling age of twenty-one. There is even more to see and do now as the city has grown. It is one of those cities you can find something to do any time of the day or night. My favorite and wildest vacation there was the summer I turned eighteen. I remember gambling at the dice tables at 5am. Yes, I know I said eighteen, and I know that isn't the legal age for gambling, but the pit boss liked my chest. My shirt hid nothing! My mom and dad were both with me, and we all had a really fun time. We even decided to stay an extra day. If you have never been to the city before, there are sightseeing tours available from Trusted Tours and Attractions. Things to do in Boston are also covered by this company! If you want more information about tours in any of the cities Trusted Tours is located in with things to do in all of those cities, you can join their electronic newsletter. If you join this month, you are entered to win $150 you can use to download from iTunes!

Toothache From Hell

That is what it feels like anyway. That is what I've been dealing with the past twenty-four hours. I've never had a tooth hurt so much. I'm actually not sure if it is the gum or the tooth itself, but it hurts. I've taken so many medicines in the last twelve hours I'm not sure how I'm still standing. I'm hoping it goes away this weekend. It has made it hard for me to do much of anything. I've caught up on a lot of television today while spending time with my niece. She made it safe and sound yesterday afternoon, and I'm going to miss her when she leaves tomorrow. Right now, I'm going to finish watching Moonlight, which I really hope is saved, and then I plan to head to bed.

Are The Monsoons Hitting Early?!

Anyone that lives in Arizona knows we have a summer storm season. I just had a weather alert sent to me by my weather program for a dust storm warning until 5:00pm. Dust storms and thunderstorms are not uncommon here during the summer months, but they usually don't kick in until later in the summer season. For them to be hitting this soon is a bit strange, and I've lived here for fourteen years now. I look outside, and there is clouds overhead, and the wind is picking up. Remember what I said earlier about my niece coming into town? She hasn't made it here yet. I hope she isn't caught in the weather. Still I can't believe the summer storm season is already here. I might need to tune in to the news in a bit to see just what they say about these developments this afternoon.

And it just started to rain ...

Get Sparked

For the past several weeks, and I am thinking for even longer than that, I have been hearing about SocialSpark. This is a new social networking and paid to blog site from Izea, and it has just gone public in the last week or so. I hadn't joined it yet, but today I took that dive finally. The site needs the latest browser running on your computer. Both Firefox and Internet Explorer 7 work with the site, but I'm still using Internet Explorer 6 as my IE choice. Luckily, I do use Firefox as well. It is easy to sign up and then set up your profile and blogs into the system. Now I am just waiting for them to verify my blog and check to see if I have the proper tools added. They also need to look at my blog, and see if they want to accept it into the system.

I'm hoping that happens, and it should just take about twenty-four hours for this entire process to happen. That is what they said when I submitted my blog just now. The site looks easy to navigate. It only took me a few minutes of looking around to find things I needed. It has a pleasing look to it too. What makes SocialSpark different than other paid to blog sites is the links are all no follow. This is a good thing. I am looking forward to making new blogger friends through the network, and seeing what all the buzz is about for myself.

EDIT: Blog was approved in less than an hour. Not bad! I'm looking around again now, and I'm excited about this new opportunity.

Gay Marriage In California

Yes, that's right. The news is gay marriage is now legal in California. There might be a turnaround with it still, but right now at this moment if you're gay and living in the state of California you can go get married. I never thought I would see this day come, but here it is. I was born in the state of California, and I lived there for the first eighteen years of my life. I thought if there was a state in the Union that would make this a reality, it was the state of California, and that day has come. This might lead the way for other states to pass similar laws, and I hope it does. As a bisexual woman, and a writer of gay literature this is a big day for me. I'm tempted to write a quick story about a couple going to get married now, but I will have to file that plot bunny away for another day.

Visiting!

My niece is visiting for a couple of days. She's just finished up her junior year of college, and she is heading home for the summer. She lives in California with her family, and she goes to school in New Mexico. She's driving back, and she decided to stop off here on the way back to see her grandfather and I. I honestly don't even remember the last time I saw her. I think she may have been in junior high school still. Yes, it has been that long. We don't make it back to California much, but we used to in the past. It really isn't an easy drive. She's already on her way, so I'm trying to make the apartment at least a bit presentable. My room is the worst of it. I'm a bit of a messy person. Just a little. My mom wouldn't be happy about that, but I think this is my way of getting back at her for always having things so damn neat.

I'm about to make my bed here, and I keep telling myself I need new bedding. My blanket has seen better days, and I'm not even sure when the last time I bought new sheets was. That would tell me it has been a long time. This morning, I decided to take a quick look online to see what was available, and there is new Tommy Hilfiger Bedding out. It is probably a bit more than I'm looking for, but it is nice to look at. I typically buy things on the lower end of the spectrum, but I don't mind looking!

A productive week!

That is what this has been. There are a few problem areas, but I'm sure I'll be able to fix those soon. I'm hoping so anyway. I'm moving forward with my new blog over at Today.com. If you haven't checked it out yet, why haven't you?! Kidding kidding. I'm enjoying it though, and I'm also moving forward with my fiction. I wrote a bit in one work in progress earlier this week, and I've been bit by another plot idea that I might try tackling soon. Really soon. The idea keeps popping up in my head, so I'm thinking that is telling me something. Other than that. Life is just good right now. I just want it to keep going that way.

Today's Thursday Threesome is  ::Mark my Words::

Onesome: Mark--ing devices? What do you use to mark things up around the house, school, work, wherever? Does the Sharpie rule? ...or do you believe in the sanctity of the pencil <g>?  - My brother has his sharpie and dry erase pens all over the living room. I'm the standard pen and pencil type of girl. On my computer, I have a sticky note software program with a list of important dates on my desktop screen.

Twosome: "My-- day starts off best when I......" I'll let you fill in the blank at your place!  - When I get up early, and I get things done. If I let things set until later in the day I just feel like I've wasted the day somehow. This is a change for me because a few years ago, I used to sleep in and do everything last. Now I'm up around 7am every morning, and I'm done with my work related things by at the latest ten am.

Threesome: Words-- of a feather clump together? Nah, but hey: what word pairings do you use routinely? Are you into alliteration? ...pithy comments? 'Down home' sayings? Give it up for Thursday! - I seem to have this habit of throwing the word actually around. I see it popping up everywhere, and I am now making a conscious effort of stopping using that word!

Wordless Wednesday #11

Am I the only one excited for this coming out next month?

Moonlight Angst

This is prime example of why I do not let myself get too involved in television shows. News from today's upfronts is that CBS has decided to not renew Moonlight for a second season. This is shocking to say the least because from what I've noticed the series has a strong fan base. I tune in weekly myself, and I was actually into the story line of Mick St. John and his life. This is just horrible. I'm wondering if fans will try to rally support for the series like they did for Jericho last year. A whole bunch of peanuts were delivered to the offices of CBS, and they gave the show another shot. What could we send in here folks? Pints of blood? Just an idea! I'm not sure how much CBS would like that. Damn it. I really liked Moonlight.

Knocks On Wood

I hope I'm not jinxing this by saying it out loud, but life is really good lately. Things seem to be falling into place slowly but surely. I picked up the new freelance assignment at Today.com. I am moving forward with my fiction. I actually submitted my one short already out, The Real Deal, to a few review sites yesterday. I'm still learning how this whole process works, but the fact is I am learning. It just took me a while, but maybe the pieces are falling into place now. I can only hope really. I love to write. I always have. I've been writing since I was so young I can't even remember. I loved getting into character and creating stories long before I even started writing them down. It has always been fun for me, and now I share my writing with other people.

Things also seem to be falling into place personally. I've rid myself of some people that weren't really all that good for me, and I'm still in the process of doing that. It is never an easy process. The whole letting go aspect has been something I've had trouble doing over the years, but the past six months or so I've realized I needed to do it. I had to do it to be healthy, and that is what I finally did. I just want things to continue going well. That is why I'm knocking on wood and crossing my fingers right now.

They Continue

The car problems that is. Remember last week when I mentioned that my dad had locked himself out of his car? That has happened twice now. Someone put in a non-standard car alarm into his car, and it has gone bad. We need to have the alarm removed completely, but that is proving to be difficult. They connected way too many wires, so it is going to cost us. With the alarm the way it is, we can't close our car windows. We need to reach in and open the car from the inside. It is the only car we have at the moment, and we're still working on getting a second. We've had to rent a car a few times over the past year, but that just costs too much. Right up the street from us, we do have car rental available through Advantage rent a car. They are just a few blocks from us, and we have used them in the past. They have a number of different specials and discounts, especially since we live in the area. It is just a pain really though. I'll be glad when my father's car is fixed, and we have a second car. No more hassle.

Today.com!

Good news everyone. Well, good news to me. I've been selected as one of the bloggers over at Today.com. It is up and coming blogging network looking for professional bloggers to write for several topics. I've been selected to cover the latest in celebrity news with daily posts about what is happening with celebrities, movies and a bit of television. I still work currently with Blogcritics and Teevieo, so this is just another place you'll be able to find me daily. I keep up with the gossip daily anyway. Why not write about it? You can check out the latest by checking out my sidebar.

Happy Mother's Day

This day is usually a sad day for me. I lost my own mother several years ago. Past a decade now, and she was always a very important part of my life. I've always felt a bit cheated by having lost her so young in life. There were so many things she missed out on. She was my biggest supporter. She always stood by me, no matter what I did. We had our problems too. All mothers and daughters do. No relationship is perfect when it comes to mothers and daughters. I know in my life though I was blessed to have her as my mom. It took me a long time to admit that to myself because I allowed our problems cloud my judgment of her. She was a good woman though, and she loved me. Someday I hope I can be half the mother she was, but I'm not sure it is in my destiny to be someone's mom. There are days I just can't see myself doing that. I have enough with my cats. I know that might sound silly, but some people aren't put on this earth meant to be parents. Others are. I think I'm one of the former. To all of the mothers out there though, have a wonderful mother's day.

If it isn't one thing ...

You know how the saying goes, if it isn't one thing then it is the other. That couldn't be more true of the last two weeks for me. First my computer gets hit by viruses. Then I catch a cold, and my internet connection has fits. The cold and the connection issues have hung on. Today my father locked his car, and it won't open. Faulty alarm issues there. Those need to be fixed. We just tackle the issues as they come on. At least the cough is going away. That has been driving me nuts.

About a month ago, I mentioned about a contest I found online through Renuzit Triscents. The contest has now entered its semi-final round, and they want people to vote for the best contestant out of the ten left to win the home makeover. You can check out the contestants in the semi-finalist gallery. I took a look at the contestants, and I voted for this family. The four of them live in a small two bedroom house that from the looks of things needs a lot of work. It sounds like they are going through some difficult times, which is something I can definitely appreciate at the moment. Take a quick look, and see who you think should win the $20,000 makeover from Renuzit and Tanya Memme!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

A new week has begun, and the past week has been a bit hellish. After my computer decided to get hit by viruses several times last week, my connection decided to join in and give me trouble. We will call it a two-for-one special. The connection problems were caused by some work being done on my apartment building. They are repainting the whole complex, and our section was done this last week. While painting, they stupidly painted over my cable wires. The paint didn't set well on my wires, and my Internet connection is so iffy at times, I had problems most of the weekend. I had to take the paint off, and make sure all the wires and connection were in order.

I think I have it set now. It was knocking me off the most between 10:30 and 1pm, and things look good today so far. It is such a pain! Not only did I have computer issues, I also came down with a cold on Friday night. I was coughing all weekend. I kept taking naps and making sure I rested. Today I feel better than yesterday, and I'm hoping to feel even better tomorrow. I'll get back to my normal blogging habits once things are more calm. I'm thinking soon.

Fear & Writer's Block

We all have our insecurities in life. Every single one of us. Two places this week, I've seen how fear can make you think you're dealing with writer's block. Writing isn't easy. It is difficult to do, but I love doing it. I write in one form or another every day. I write for work, for fun, on this blog, and I also try to write fiction. That is where my block lies, and I am wondering if it may be related to fear instead of an actual block itself. I've had a hard time selling my fiction. I just made my first sale this past year. I've had people knock my writing down in general, and my self esteem in that area isn't the best. It is something I'm working on. I'm trying to submit more, write more, but it isn't easy. I'm trying though. I'm starting to wonder if I'm not trying hard enough.