Perceptions of the Princess: 2009

Well, after 7 1/2 years of managing Bobe's Pizza, it is finally over. I can't believe that it is the end. I have so many mixed emotions this evening... sad, happy, excited, anxious. If I wrote about them all I would be up all night typing. I have several years of great memories. I can honestly say that I have successfully raised approximately 25 teenagers... well most of them successfully (some I did a better job with than others LOL). I have learned a lot in the last 7 1/2 years. A lot of what to do in business and a few things not to do in business. I have met wonderful people. Most of whom I hope to continue to see and talk to regularly.

Now onto my next endeavor... from pizza to coffee. Some things will be so different, but some things will be so much the same. I cannot wait!

Monday, July 6, 2009

Not quite a month

Well, it hasn't been quite a month, but I have no excuses (such as a hurt hand from too much 4-wheeler riding) other than I have just been having a busy summer! Ahhhh the life of a school teacher! As a matter of fact I am currently in Panama City Beach just livin the life... well except for today. The sky is about 3 shades of grey and there are droplets of water falling from above. I have to admit, it may be a blessing in disguise. I am a little sunburned so maybe a day out of the sun won't hurt me. Well... I suppose it did give me a chance to sit down at the computer...

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Older But Not Necessarily Wiser

Ok, I am not the best blogger ever... but in my defense, I was injured... well, sort of injured LOL. The truth is, I am just not as young as I used to be. I forget that (as most of us do I think) from time to time. Well, a couple of weeks ago happens to be one of those times.

My last post was a picture of me and two of my friends riding 4-wheelers. Now, up until two weeks ago I had never driven a 4-wheeler. But that day I learned how to drive it and proceeded to do so for about 6 hours straight. I knew that my hands and arms were getting tired and were starting to feel like jello toward the end of the evening, but I had no idea what kind of a wimp I really was. The next morning I woke up and basically had no strength or control of my right hand. Since I am right-handed that was not a good thing! Finally after about 5 days doing every single task with my left hand (including writing... and it was bad!) I finally went to get it checked out. I had actually sprained my thumb and bruised my hand clear through.

After a week of ice and therapy the feeling and control started to return. Yay! I could finally do a few things with my right hand again... Finally two weeks post ride I can do almost everything again. Still a little weakness, but at least now I can type again so I will try to be a better blogger!

Like I said, older but not necessarily wiser. Oh, and don't tell my mother, but I rode it again today...

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Wordless Wednesday on a Tuesday... is that legal?

I'll explain later!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

The Murtaugh List

So the other night, two of my favorite boys in the world shared with me a list of 100 things they wanted to accomplish before they went off to college. For those of you who don’t know… I was at Bobe’s and my two boys are Bin and Derek. They read off this list of activities they hoped to do together before they parted ways in August. I have to tell you that approximately 90% of the list did not sound like anything that I would particularly like to do, and as much as I hate to admit it and actually fight the whole age thing……. Yeah, “I’m too old for that” was my thought on probably 88% of them.

There was a recent episode of “How I Met Your Mother” on a few weeks back where one of the characters (Barney) with the help of Robin, set out to prove to another one (Ted) that they were still young enough to do the things on this list of “I’m too old for that” activities. As Barney begins to do the things on the list, he slowly develops pain throughout his body (ie. His ear getting infected from getting it pierced and his back going out from doing some goofy thing etc.) and by the end of the show concedes to Ted’s original murtaugh list.

After they shared with me their list of things to do, and after I had mentioned that maybe 20 years ago some of those things would have been on my list, but now not too many of them sounded like they would be on my to-do list, I started thinking… what would be on my list? I have never seen “The Bucket List” but I wonder if this very thing is what it is all about?

Hmmm….. I mean, there are the usual things you expect to see on a princess’ wishlist , you know, things like:
1. Find a tall, dark, handsome guy to marry and
2. For that guy to be the kind that cooks, cleans, & is at your every beck & call
3. Acquire a lovely beach house on the ocean that someone else cleans for you
4. Accumulate as many cute shoes & purses as possible

I could go on, but I think you get the picture. Although I must confess, all those things do sound really good and probably would be on my list in some form or fashion, (definitely the guy and the shoes and purses) as I have gotten older (not old, just older than I was 20 years ago) the things that are important in my life have changed a bit.

I will have to think about this. Why don’t you too?
I will make my list and you make yours… post it on my blog if you’d like to share it. I will post mine as soon as I get it done. Oh, and I will post some of the things the boys listed as well. You'll see what I mean...

Sunday, May 10, 2009

18 years ago today

How many people can say beyond a shadow of a doubt where they were or what they were doing at exactly this moment 18 years ago? Probably a little over a dozen that I know of... me, my parents, Jenny, Keith, Jeremy, and I would say around 7 or 8 of my friends (if someone were to point out that today is May the 10th.)
18 years ago today at this very moment, my family was praying, my friends were crying, and I... well, I was dying. Yes, 18 years ago today I got a second chance at life. Not many people have to go through what me and my family went through, (and I am thankful that not many people have to) but not many people then have the testimony that I have.
18 years ago today, I was shot. It was a day that changed my life forever. It did not end like a sad movie, (thank the Lord) even though it was touch and go for a while. Instead it ended with me having a much greater appreciation for life and for those around me. It caused me to be more thankful for the good things in my life. Even now, 18 years later, when I feel like things are falling down around me, I look back and reflect on this very night 18 years ago and I realize that God has a plan and since he kept me here then I have a part in that plan.
I would love to be able to say I knew exactly what that plan was, or how it would come to full fruition, but I can't... 18 years later and I still don't know. I may never know, (at least not while I'm on this earth) but I truly believe we all have a purpose...A plan. And if we stay on the right track, God will be true to his word and give us a hope and a future (Jer 29:11)

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Wordless Wednesday...Rock Out!

Thursday, April 30, 2009

The Lost Puppy vs. The Stray Dog

Just some thoughts for all of us dog lovers…

Lost Puppies vs. Stray Dogs

LOST PUPPY:
-Sweet and not spent all that much time out in the cruel world.
-May think they want to be out in the world, but really don’t truly want to be there
-Looking for someone to either take them in and care for them or to help them get back to their home (or at least to feel like they once used to feel at home)
-Want to be paid attention to and played with, cuddled with, scratched behind the ears and told how adorable they are.
-Really do want to find a good loving home, but just need some help and patience to get to that point.
-Play games cause they are fun puppies and enjoy reciprocal play
-Have issues but have potential to be loyal companions

STRAY DOG:
-Multiple reasons why they are out in the cruel world…some examples:
**Thrown out of their former home
**Just left cause they didn’t like their home
**Went out one night and thought the world looked a little more inviting and fun than home
**Didn’t necessarily have anyone who cared about them from the beginning and have grown up in the cruel world

-Stray dogs don’t mind that they need a bath… they might even let you clean them up a bit if you feed them or pet them if they have had a rough day, but then they are ready to head back out the door the minute they are finished eating or tire of the nice environment that you try to provide for them.
A house is just not acceptable for them. Stray dogs like wide open spaces in which to roam and they certainly do not want any type of silly restrictions such as rules like don’t run out in the road, or heaven forbid… a fence… or worse… the unthinkable… a leash. Regular feedings, daily ear scratching/petting/cuddling, and unconditional love are not for them! They want more… freedom, yes they must have the ability to roam and wander… to frolic and play with whomever they desire.

-Stray dogs may have not been treated very well by their previous owners or by people in their past and do need to be approached with the utmost caution as they can and are apt to lash out and be hurtful. Persistence and kindness sometimes can lead to a trust and the stray dog may actually let you into their life. That does not mean that they plan to stick around… some just want to feel like there is a place to go when they feel down and lonely… Be prepared for this because this is truly why stray dogs are so dangerous. Don’t get too attached to them because they will take off and be gone for days… and you never know for sure if or when they will be back.

-On rare occasions, stray dogs will become loyal companions and will stop the endless wandering if they find just the right home, provided that it has a good balance of love and freedom. Do not get too excited about that statement though because this is the exception, not the rule…

**BEWARE! Seasoned stray dogs know how to masquerade as lost puppies when it is beneficial to them. These are by far the most dangerous of all dogs. They can literally rip your heart out and you never see it coming. These are what we call “wolves in cute lost puppy clothing.” Those who have a natural tendency toward the lost puppies/stray dogs need to really watch out for this type.

Folks, this is why they have pet stores! A lot easier to just go pick out the dog that you want and take him home!

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Computers... GRRRRRR!!!!

Ok,I named this blog "Perceptions of the Princess, but today I think its more like "Complaints of the Princess." I know my mother is already rolling her eyes thinking "Why am I not surprised?" But really folks... who has not had a complaint about their computer? Ok, well, maybe not computers in general per say... well... yes, probably computers in general are frustrating, but lately my beef has been with my chosen music/media program. As it is a very popular and highly utilized program, one would assume that it would be a well-oiled machine when it comes to doing simple things such as downloading songs, podcasts, burning cds and the like. But nooooo...
In the last 2 weeks I have had more issues with my music program than I have had with any part of my computer. First off, everytime I logged onto the program it said it wanted to download the new updated version. I used to always click on NO, but once a long while back, my computer did indeed crash and if I would have updated to the newer version of the program, I wouldn't have lost all my music. So, now I tend to update things a little more frequently. However, the last time it wanted to update the version, it uninstalled my origial program before attempting to install the new one and you guessed it... it took all my music with it. I spend well over an hour on tech support with a very nice guy who at least acted like he understood and was sympathetic with my loss (of my music etc.) After this nice fella, I think his name was Brian, finally helped me get the new download installed and my music back, I thought I was back in love well at least back in like with my music/media program. That was up until I tried to burn a cd. All of a sudden it said that I didn't have the necessary tools to burn cds. Since I have burned several cds in the past, I knew that the right tools had been there at one time. Grrrrrr! I sat for 2 hours googling the error message and finally came upon a discussion thread in a forum talking about this very same problem. There were so many people with so many possible solutions. I just started praying that I wouldn't download a virus to my computer and then just started clicking.... Amazingly enough, the third thing I tried worked. At least for the time being.
I said all that to say that I have been mad at my computer for the last few days and just decided to visit it again. Fortunately for me she still likes me and let me on to blog (or vent) for a few minutes this evening. If she continues to be nice then I will be back again soon! :-)

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Wordless Wednesday

Now that I am getting more of an understanding of this blogging, I have found that many fellow bloggers have a "Wordless Wednesday." I am guessing that this means one does not write words, only posts a picture or nothing at all... hmmm... well, too late for just posting only a picture. And definitely too late for writing nothing at all. I wonder who it is that came up with the "Wordless Wednesday" concept. My guess is someone who couldn't think of anything to write on their blog on that very first Wordless Wednesday, or perhaps they didn't have time to write anything profoud, or maybe they just thought it to be a clever idea for the day and it caught on and the rest is history. Well, whatever the reason, I kinda like it. From now on, I shall participate in Wordless Wednesday... unless of course there is just something I can't wait to say LOL!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Am I already a failure???

So today my mother says to me, "Have you been keeping up on your blog?" While I immediately wanted to say "of course mother," I knew that she would hop online to see what I had written and would then know that I had indeed lied to her. So sheepishly I admitted that while I had actually written a whole post about my "kids" (well they are actually my employees... not child labor... they are 19 and deliver pizzas at the restaurant that I manage) I read it and it really made no sense... after all it was after 2 AM when I wrote it. So that is where my last post came in. It was the only thing that made sense to me at the time. I realize that my problem with blogging (is that a word?) is that by the time I get a moment to sit down and type out my random monologues, it is late and my mind has already gone to bed even if my body is still sitting here at the computer. Maybe I should have called my blog the "Midnight Blogger"???

I do promise that I will edit the post about my kids so it makes a little more sense and then have it for my mother and the rest of the world to read very soon! But for now, I wish you all a very Happy Easter...

Friday, April 10, 2009

No School!

I LOVE STAYING UP LATE!

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

My First Posting

Ok, so I decided that if my mother was going to have a blog that I should probably have one too. I don't know that I have as much to say as she does... she has been around a bit longer than me. (haha) I do however, have this sometimes funny, sometimes annoying monologue that runs through my head on a daily basis that I figure I may as well share with the world or the one or two people who may happen across my blog. :-)

Wish me luck!

Perceptions of the Princess

About Me

A Princess in her own mind...

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Signing Yearbooks

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Another Wordless Wednesday

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Just a Few Tears...