7/18/08

Project Runway #5

I finally got a chance to watch the premiere of Project Runway. And of course I plan to tune in weekly for the new episodes.

The contestants are asked to join Heidi and Tim on the rooftop for a meet and greet. Bottles of Moet are popped and the bubbly is poured and the mixing and greeting begins. Seems like a fun bunch so far.

The next morning they are awakened at 4 am and asked to meet Tim in the lobby. Tim then leads to the site of the challenge. He reveals their first challenge is the grocery store challenge in which they are expected create an outfit from items purchased from the grocery store. Additionally, he reveals the guest judge as……coming across the street……..is none other than Austin Scarlett, season one’s winner for the grocery store challenge, he did a dress made of corn husk. Austin gives each designer an envelope with $75 and informs them they have 30 minutes to shop. And so the challenge begins.

Even though designers were encouraged to be creative and innovative, most still used table clothes as their fabric. The contestants and their dresses included:

Terri – mop head used to create a bustier/top, the red skirt was mad of table cloth, very creative detailing for the top; she should have used the same idea and made either an entire dress or a skirt to go along with the top

Blayne – made a bunny suit out of draw liners and some white feathery stuff coming up from the crotch area, he gets a C for effort, but he should have known Michael Kors and Nina was not gonna dig that

Joe – used pasta to make a tri-colored skirt and apple printed oven mitts to make the top, cute

Suede – blue and white checkered tablecloth with doggy bags as the trimming

Welsey – yellow tablecloth as the basis for his mini dress, he also used fly swatters and something else I can’t recall, cute from afar

Kelli – used vacuum cleaner bags dyed three different colors to make a flirty skirt and coffee filters to make the top, the midsection was something that had tack pins as the details…..now this was definitely one of my favorites, she put in a lot of work to exhibit the great details in this dress

Emily – not sure what material she used, but it was sorta white lace short dress with this mess of a collar; she said she used balloons to create some of the details in the collar, that’s probably what those different color thingys are

Stella – black cheap trash bags, she could have done a whole lot better, I probably could have done a better job with the trash bags, she just draped them and hand sewn them together.

Kenley – cute red bustier, not sure what it was made of, and a turquoise stripped skirt, the design of the skirt was creative, overall good job

Korto – yellow tablecloth with some sort of lettuce and tomatoes as the decorations on the top of one side of the dress, I really wasn’t feeling this at all, who wants to walk around smelling ruffage on the shoulder all day, but it was innovative, I guess

Leanne – used pink tablecloth to make a mini dress and used marshmallows and other candies in an attempt to cover up the table cloth, in the end it looked like watered down pepto bismol spilled on the model and sopped up with marshmallows

Keith – black and white checkered tablecloth halter top mini dress, not sure what he used to make the grey belt

Daniel – made a complete dress out of plastic cups, this was definitely both innovative and creative, the strapless dress had a sweetheart neckline and was abit form fitting
Jennifer – used paper towels to make this strapless layered mini dress, she gets a C for effort

Jerry – used a shower curtain to make a jacket and dress, Michael and Nina agreed this was a scarey get-up

Jerrell – I don’t know what he used in making this colorful and festive one shouldered mini dress, the top was the same pattern used by Kenley and the skirt portion was some white lace look stuff, reminds me of Hispanic party dress with the detailing around the top

The winner was Kellie and Jerry was the designer sent packing.



Photo: Courtesy of Bravo

Peace, Blessings and Laughs

Have Book club? Will Join……

I read a lot of books. Let me ‘splain that….mainly fictions but African American authors. And in all this reading I’ve been yearning to have some intelligent conversations with like minded individuals…..sorry I’m at work and every now and again what my inner professional voice kicks in……..anyhoot……like I was saying I’d like to talk about said books with people who have/is read(ing) the book as well.

I’m currently reading “Divas of Damascus Road” by Michelle Stimpson. It’s taking me longer than normal, not that it’s not good, just that it has its moments. But while in Florida, one of mister’s family members asked me if I liked the book and how was it. She said it was good and suggested I hang in there. So I’ll finish eventually. If I was in a book club, I’d probably get thru it quicker. I guess I’ll just have to settle for blogging about it.

“Reading is Fundamental”


Peace, Blessings and Laughs

Microwave Popcorn and Hot Tea?

That's what I'm having for lunch. Doesn't sound like much does it.....but I needed something quick and easy to grab and this was my option. I could have grabbed a soda and some chips. But that meant spending money, and well I just check the account and ya girl done messed up her money again. So I have about 75 in the bank and mom's owe me for the purse she had me get for her while I was in Florida. So between these two amounts, I have to get to and from work, lunch, gas up the "betsy" mobile and any other minor expenses that come up.

Anyhoot......I'm so ready for this dayum work day to be over with. I can't wait to hop on the friggn train and get to my car. I don't have anything planned, it's just the idea of being in my car with the option of going someplace anyplace other than work!

But then that brings to mind a question/thought. We are hoping/wishing for time to go by, but then we look up and that time and some has passed us by. And the next thing you know the month is gone, year end is near and we are wishing for a portion of that time back. Maybe it's just me.....at any rate, I guess I'll just enjoy my little hour of lunch with my quick meal.

Hope you have/had a good lunch.


Peace, Blessings and Laughs

Hello Friday…..

I’m so dang on glad it’s Friday it aint even funny.

This morning I woke up and the first thought was getting thru this day. But I couldn’t find anything to wear. I walked from one room to the next and down to the living room where the suitcases from the vacation lay open with it’s contents spilling over, and still couldn’t find a dang on thing to wear. Finally with 3 minutes to spare I grab a jean skirt and shirt from the closet. Then I grab the shoes, their old but oh so comfortable. But guess what, the heels are run down…..off they go. I grab my purse and tote bag, mentally checking that I have earrings in my ears and rings on my finger, cause if not mister is gonna have a problem. I get down the steps and back to the living room I go. I grab some Bermuda shorts from the suitcase and slip on a pair of awaiting casual shoes to complete the “laid back Friday go to work” outfit. I grab a green tea ginger ale from the fridge, the box of popcorn and my kraft cheese topper and throw them in my bag. And out the door I run.

I made it…….sure I’ll still be 10 minutes late…..but I was out the door and in my car by 8:25 am. And that’s a sure ‘nuff feat.

So here I sit at work, trying to prepare a list of the crap I have to do this weekend. I think back to my living room, and the mess it has been all week. So that’s the first thing on my list of items to tackle.
I cleaned the bathroom before we left, so that’ll be quick. I’ll just need to tackle the kitchen this weekend as well.

Now it hit’s me…….I read a blog this week with a schedule for cleaning. Let's see if I can locate that and put a spin on it to suit my needs...........
Saving Diva did a post entitled: Single Girls Guide to Cleaning this is something I could use. I'm married with no kids, so I'm sure I can use this tidbit of information.

Here's what I propose:

Saturday: Living room

Sunday: Kitchen, part one: wipe down cabinets, fridge, stove

Monday: Kitchen, part two: floors

Tuesday: Bathroom part one: shower/tub and toilet

Wednesday: Bathroom part two: sink and floors

Thursday: Main bedroom

Friday: Second bedroom

This plan might actually work. Of course not every task will need to be done every week, say for instance the kitchen cabinets. I don’t need to wipe those down every week. I can alternate between wiping down the kitchen cabinets and walls through the house. That might be the only thing I can get away from doing every week. Looks like everything else will need to be done on a weekly basis for me to maintain order. I wonder if the mister will appreciate this. I’m gonna prepare a nice fancy document, complete with a background and border, to put on the fridge so he’ll know what’s being done and when.



Peace, Blessings and Laughs

7/17/08




Your Life is Rated PG-13



Your life isn't totally scandalous, but you definitely don't shy away from adult themes!




Peace, Blessings and Laughs

Morning rip-off…..

I’m rushing around like I do every morning trying to get out the door to the metro to catch the train to work. Well imagine my surprise this morning to opening the door and finding that my car is no where in sight……..blank stare………

First instinct, dang someone stole my car…….so I walks over to where I parked it and there’s no broken glass……*crickets*……I go back into the house and proceed to find the non-emergency number for the police, can’t find that so I says, fugg it and dials 911, the line rings, rings, rings, rings, rings…..hold up did I call my mother or 911, so now a recording comes on telling me I dialed 911 and to not hang up my call will be answered by the next available operator……um, it’s 8:30, and for real all the operators are busy?......it rings, rings, and rings again……lucky for me I got a nice operator. I tells her “Betsy” has been stolen, no I don’t know the tag numbers, no I don’t know the VIN number, my name is____, my address is_____, and I’m calling from _____. Ok, let me find the insurance paperwork, got it, the VIN number is____, she’s checking.

Operator: Mam, your car was towed by TRP, their number is ----, it says for lack of parking permit.

Me: you mean to tell me, I pay a condo fee every month, but my car was towed, oh I know that’s not what you just told me, cause if that’s the case, it’s about to be on with my condo association. Please tell me I heard you incorrectly

Operator: I’m afraid that is the case mam. But here’s a number to file a grievance with the towing company if you were wrongfully towed.

Me: Thank you I appreciate your assistance

Operator: No problem, have a nice day

So I looks at the mister and asks him if he picked up the parking passes from the condo association that I told him about last month or so ago……*crickets*……”I don’t recall you saying anything about parking passes.”

So I calls the tow company to find out where and how much for my car. I’m told Forestville, MD and $150 cash or credit. So I’m like cool.

Tow man: when are you picking up your car?

Me (thinking, please no more BS today, I can’t take it) – today, are you only open at certain hours or what?

Tow man: you’ll need to let us know an hour ahead so someone will be there.

Me: ok not a problem I’ll call you back

Tow man: and the person needs to know if you’ll pay buy credit card so he’ll bring the machine to process the transaction

Me: Well I’ll be using a credit card

Tow man: just to let you know there might be a problem with processing the credit card.

(see this is the BS I can’t deal with, either you can or you can’t make a decision and stand behind it)

Me: so you don’t accept credit card?

Tow man: yeah, we accept credit cards, it’s just that there might be a problem with processing the credit card.

Me: well, why’d you say you accept credit cards if there’s a likelihood of a problem occurring with processing the credit card!

Tow man: Mam, I’m just letting you know that you might want to bring cash just in case.

Me: you might want to inform people cash only then

Tow man: I was just telling you, so you wont arrive and then have to drive to get cash.

Me: now that would be kinda hard, seeing as though you have me car don’t you think.

At any rate I gets off the phone with the confused tow man and mister goes to get ready for work and to take me to my car.

Yeah, I know this all could have been avoided if I just went and got the dang on parking tags. But see here’s the issue, I know I told mister. He pays the condo fees every month, why would I not tell him about the parking passes. He has days off during the week mind you when the condo office is open only 9-5 Monday thru Friday. So why would I keep that information to myself.

Anyhoo……three hours later and my purse 150 lighter, I’m here at work

Hope you are having a better morning/day.


Peace, Blessings and Laughs

7/16/08

The GREAT DEBATERS

My favorite part of the movie was the debate at Oklahoma City University, (the topic was “Should negroes be admitted to state universities”) and Jurnee Smollett’s response where she stated:
“My opponent says today is not the day for whites and coloreds to go to the same college, to share the say campus, to walk in the same classrooms, well would you kindly tell me when is that day gonna come, is it gonna come tomorrow, is it gonna come next week, in a hundred years? Never? Naw the time for justice, the time for freedom and the time for equality is always, is always right NOW!”

Sure there were some other moments that had me reflecting and thinking. But it was that statement that had me sit back and think. How true is that? Even today, with so much going on, African American males are 7 times more likely to be jailed for a crime that white American males are likely to receive a much different

And even more prevalent of that statement is as it relates to the possibility of an African American being next the president of the United States. Some have said that we are not ready for an African American president. But as Jurnee’s character stated in the movie and I quote: “the time for equality is always, is always right NOW!” Why are we not ready for an African American president? What makes not ready? And how do we prepare for an African American president. I point this out to merely state that we are in the midst of a historical moment.

Why do I think it’s time for an African American president? Well, so often when we look around to see a division of races is prominent. I see when I turn on my television, where there are countless shows with white characters and movies that portray the lives of whites in every walk of life. I see it in corporate America where there are mainly white males making executive decisions. I see it in politics where laws are being made by mainly whites, sure there are a few other races sprinkled here in there for the appearance of equality amongst all. But there is so little diversity. Or maybe it’s the movies I see, the companies I’ve worked for, the politicians I’ve seen???

Now by no means am I under any circumstances even alluding to the possibility that a black man as the president would be the answer to all that ails the African American community. I am merely stating that now is the time for change. And our chance at change is with Obama.

Make a difference, and VOTE!


Peace, Blessings and Laughs

G’s wanting to be Gents???

I tuned into MTV’s new edition to reality/comedy/drama. They’ve decided to piggy back on the Charm School idea, with a club for men as the participants this time. As usual there will be tasks and challenges for them to compete. And the winner who has made the transformation from G to gentleman wins $100,000.

Fonzworth Bentley is the host with the task of deciding which of these creeps I mean G’s has made the transition to a Gentleman. And he admits he has “a lot of work to do”.

The nut cases I mean G’s participating include: Creepa, Cee, Truth, D Boy, Kesan (he reminds me of Snoop from HBO’s The Wire), E6, Shaun, T-Jones, Mikey P, Shotta, Zenel, J Boogie, Pretty Ricky, and Stan. An interesting collection of guys.

There was a welcoming bar that the guys couldn’t get to fast enough. Popping bottles and drinking like it was water was how they spent their first few moments together getting acquainted. Pretty Ricky got abit overly tipsy. The group was led into a chapter meeting to be introduced to Rachel who would give them their prospective blazers. And Pretty Ricky drunkenly and loudly that she had a nice sized chest. After receiving their blazers the guys retire to the back yard for a buffet of food. Pretty Ricky need to rid his body of some of the liquor he consumed relieved himself on the side of the house.

At this point I’m barely paying attention. I really think these people are paid to perform. There were additional commotions between Truth and a few of the other guys which led to the other guys plots to make him the first to leave the club.

The last 20 minutes or so was spent determining which 2 guys would leave the contest. Each guy gets a sphere to use to vote on who they think should leave the house. The three guys receiving the most spheres are up for elimination, but the final say so in who’s out is soley the decision of Fonzworth. Up for the first elimination was “too much mouth” Truth with 5 votes, “silly looking” Pretty Ricky with 7 votes, E6 with 1 vote, and ‘thugnificent” Creepa with 1 vote. Creepa has the nerve to want the guy that voted for him for raise their hand and admit it…….*crickets*

In the end Pretty Ricky and Truth left “the club.”
I’m not sure if I’ll tune in again. But the previews ensure that some drama will erupt. If nothing else is on, I might tune in otherwise I’m sure I’ll find something else worthy of my attention.



Peace, Blessings and Laughs



You Are the Ace of Clubs



You go at everything in your life full force. You are a natural gambler.

Your life definitely has some extreme highs and lows, but you know how to ride out the low times.



A total adventure seeker, you are never satisfied by what's normal or ordinary.

You like to push limits and shock people. You're dramatic, but a drama queen.



Your life has been a wild ride so far. You have stories that people can barely believe.

And you're probably still young... with a lot of wild rides in front of you.



A gamble you should take: High stakes roulette



Your friends would describe you as: Crazy



Your enemies would describe you as: Demented



If you lived in Vegas, you would be: A high roller




Peace, Blessings and Laughs

4:09 pm

I've been lolly gagging long enough....."it's time to make the donuts" per say. I'm sure people are tired of walking past my office seeing me all up on the screen with no papers in front of me. I'll do a better job tomorrow of "appearing" busy. Until then........let me show them how to get your work done in less than 2 hours.

Peace, Blessings and Laughs

A slow Wednesday

This day is just creeping along minute by minute. I have a little work to do, of which I’m trying to stretch until the end of the day.

I had a post planned, but in reviewing when I got to work this morning, I neglected to update an important piece of it. So I’ll post it this evening when I get home.

I want a crabcake for lunch but I don’t feel like taking the walk. The past two days I’ve had two bags of chips and tea for lunch and I’m not sure if that’ll fly for a third day with my stomach. Oh well, I don’t feel like doing jack. I’ll sit here and complete this post, and eventually get back to work.

Radom thoughts:

*my weekend plans include:
Friday night – I’ll probably purchase or rent a video to watch while reading blogs and attempting to do my homework.
Saturday – walk the track, back home: relax, watch tv, clean, read my book, and then I have this event to attend from 6-9pm.
Sunday – walk the track, finish homework, relax, and prepare for work week.
* I need to cancel my acupuncture appointment for Saturday. I’ll call in a few weeks and make another appointment. At $85 a pop it doesn’t fit well in my savings plan.
* Oil change, I totally forgot….dang there goes my Saturday.
* dang I need to hit Costco up for some toilet paper and mini crabcakes, or maybe I can do that Sunday. But if my grandmother calls then I’d have to pick her up, hit the track then Costco. I’ll be mad tired.
* Call credit union and inquire about moving 401k into an IRA with them.
* I haven’t spoken with my niece in a minute, probably a week before my vacation. I miss her terribly. I called last night, but got no answer, note to self call again tonight.
* Make a payment on the NYC card……this dang on bill is nagging the heck out of me. I need to go ahead and pay them off.
* I really want to attend this event in September. I hope I can find someone to go with me.


Back to reading blogs.......


Peace, Blessings and Laughs

7/15/08

Unexpected unemployment....

I have a friend who was informed last week by his employer that they plan to terminate the majority of the finance department. The plan is to keep the two highest positions in the department, but the others (8 people) will be out of work. The company plans to re-staff the department with five positions of which 3 are data entry positions and the other two being an analyst and director position. Now of the 8 people almost jobless, 3 had been there for over 12 years, and 2 for about 8 years and the others were hired within the past 3-5 years. And they have to interview for those positions......go figure. So not only are 5 people left to fight for 2 jobs, the other 6 are over qualified for the last 3 positions............

Said friend had a slight indication this was going to take place, as did three of the other people. So said friend had a plan devised. But it got me to thinking............what would I do? how long would I be able to survive being unemployed?

Some years ago, I was unhappy with my job, so I started lumping away money to cover expenses in the event I became unemployed. The plan was to have 3 months of expenses to cover for any lapse in employment. And lucky for me I was also working a part time job, so I would also increase the hours worked on the part time job. But I've since moved on from that
employer and that fund dwindle slightly. Sure I still sock away some on a regular basis, but my expenses have since increased three times over.




So now, I'm in the midst of devising my own "no job" plan.



My previous post regarding savings will stay in place, but I think I'm gonna try to pay off two small credit cards by the end of the year as well. One is a store credit card that I paid off countless times before, but emotional shopping is the reason for the existing balance. And the other, well I was just paying the minimum until the top of the year. The card expired, so when they sent a new one I didn't activate the card and have been making twice the minimum required payment ever since. Once I clear these two debts then I can use the snowball effect to tackle the last credit card. Luckily for me I only have three credit cards. And I refuse to get any more, although the credit limit inconveniently increases.

And as far as securing another job, well my resume stays updated. And I'll keep it posted on job posting sites like career builder, monster and washington post. And since I really want to get back into the government, I'll also keep an eye out for positions of interest. Another option is local temp agencies. In fact, that would probably be my first step, signing up with local agencies in an effort to have some sort of income.


At any rate I'm not gonna stress over it. I'm positive I'll handle a hurdle such as being laid off effective and efficiently.

Peace, Blessings and Laughs

Savings Goals……

Last week during my Florida vacation I transferred money from my savings to my checking to cover any spending during the week. And it looks like I didn’t spend it all. So I just transferred the balance back to my checking.

I started a good regime for saving the end of last year. But with switching jobs, it’s abit off. So now I want to be more aggressive in my savings. Developing a budget should really be my first step. I’ve never stuck to any budgets I set for myself so I’m gonna try it a different way. I’ll pay myself first, I’ll put a set amount in each of my two saving accounts every payday and then anything left after handling bills and other responsibilities with the rest will be split between day-to-day expenses such as lunch and putting into one if not both the savings accounts.

I think this might work. But I’m even gonna go a step further and add a savings goal. I would like to have my savings account function as my emergency, travel, and gift giving fund. I won’t set it to an amount I can’t attain. So I’m gonna say my goal is to add at least $1800 to the existing balance in my main savings account. I won’t add a goal for the second savings account as I only allot a small contribution every pay period.

I believe this is a sound plan to begin with. It’ll get my in the mind frame of the necessity for saving with today’s economic issues going on. Not too mention it could also serve as the start up money for sort of investment the top of the year.

It’s a bet….and it’s on…….a saving I go, a saving I go, hi ho ameri go, a saving I go!


Peace, Blessings and Laughs

Five Year Plan

So I’m over at Ms. Monnie’s spot, as I frequently check her site for her many interesting posted questions/situations, and she asks:

WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN 5 YEARS?????

PERSONALLY

AND

PROFESSIONALLY

Of course I posted a response. But I thought I’d bring the discussion back to my blog and elaborate much more. Personally I always advise anyone that will listen to do a 5 and 10 year plan. I think it’s the best way to keep your mind on your personal goals. A few people have stated they change their goals so there’s no point, to which my response is, duah change your goals, it’s not like it’s law binding.

I look at it this way, I can’t get where I want to go if I don’t know or lose sight of where I want to get to. My goal setting is my personal road map for attaining/aspiring tasks I want to complete, items I want to attain. And I actually re-evaluate and adjust my 5 year plan about twice a year, because of changing circumstances or adding new goals.

Without further ado I present to all to read/see my five year plan:

Professionally:
Ø Completing my undergraduate studies and getting my first B. S. degree in accounting.
Ø Attaining a second undergraduate degree in either finance or management or grad school for accounting or finance.
Ø Sitting for the CPA exam.

Personally:
Ø New house
Ø Having my first child
Ø Paying off student loans
Ø Paying off credit card debt
Ø Traveling four times a year, one domestic and the other international and the other two long weekend getaways via car.
Ø Investing in mutual funds.

Again I must reiterate that I re-evaluate and adjust my 5 year plan about twice a year. But it’s important to me to have this road map to know what I want and stay focused.

I don't think that's a lot to tackle in 5 years, what do you think?

Peace, Blessings and Laughs

New Day

I got thru the assignments yesterday, just in the nick of time. I didn't start to work on them until about 4:45......LOL. I can't help it, I'm just not motivated. I've been here for just about two months now and haven't had much work to do and it sucks. I told a friend about it and their response was "I'd be on You Tube all day". But I refuse to go that route, so I've just been reading blogs.

And today I have a little more work to do. So of course I'm trying to stretch this through the entire day, because if I put it down like I do, then I'd be back to square one (no work) in less than two hours.

Oh well, let me get this done and over with.............

I'll be back!

Peace, Blessings and Laughs



Snickers



Nutty and gooey - you always satisfy.




Peace, Blessings and Laughs

7/14/08

No Motivation

I can't seem to get motivated to do the work I'm supposed to have finished by today. I guess that's one of the effects going back to work after a much needed and deserved vacation. I knew before I left for vacation that I was coming back to a deadline, but still I sit and read blogs. I have exactly 1.5 hours left in my work day with two major assignments to complete before I leave.

I've logged on and found that I got a 72 on the mid term exam I just submitted. Yeah, I'm cool with the grade, particulary since I had to use my florida vacation to work on it.

No motivation........

Ok, so I'm gonna just shut everything down and tackle these two assignments.

Peace, Blessings and Laughs



You Are a Summer Person



You are energetic, outgoing, and active.

You love to be out and about... hanging out with friends or getting things done.



Summer is the perfect time for you to be as hyper as you want to be.

In fact, during the rest of the year you feel half-asleep!



Peace, Blessings and Laughs

I'm back.....

So I'm freshly back from Florida for a week.....seven whole days......now that's a vacation. It was a much needed break from my normal day to day life. I plan several different posts about my Florida vacation. But I'll provided a brief break down:

7/6 - left DCA for Orlando, arrived in Melbourne, FL
7/7 - Hubby jet ski'd while I read my book and then hit the outlets
7/8 - rained most of the day so we hit up the movie Hancock, Andretti park
7/9 - check out of Melbourne and head on to Daytona Beach, stopped at the outlets
7/10 - family reunion registration, welcome reception at the Lagoon
7/11 - hung out at the beach, fish fry, crabs, card games
7/12 - hung out on the beach, 6:30pm banquet
7/13 - 9:30 am prayer breakfast of which he attended, I was still in the bed, time to kill before our 6:40 flight back to DCA so we hit the outlet mall again


I can honestly say I had a GREAT vacation.

More details coming soon.

Peace, Blessings and Laughs

7/13/08




You are a PC



You're practical, thrifty, and able to do almost anything.

Appearances and trends aren't important to you. You just like to get the job done.




Peace, Blessings and Laughs