Living the Zen Life

My best friend Joe is teaching English over in Japan. Here's a picture of him with his crew in Taki. He's living in Kyoto which my friend Chris tells me is just great. I wanted to post a couple of his pictures from his site to show the absolute beauty he's surrounded by on a daily basis. Oh! And apparently there's these "Love Hotels" that you can rent for either a few hours or for the night (http://www.quirkyjapan.or.tv/hotels.html) if you want to check them out. Each room has a different theme. Joe & I are really thinking about starting one here in the US. Heck, if we do it right we could bring in around $10,000 a week! LOL Enjoy the pix & talk to you later. ~J

Pray for our Savior #30

Got this from my mother this morning. What a hoot!! It was actually my favorite picture at church when I was little. I've been good and NOT watching the games - no matter how much it kills me - to keep the Sabres on their winning streak. For those of you who don't know... if I watch the game, we lose. If I don't watch the game we win! I turned the game on for a second when we played the Flyers a couple games back and as soon as I turned the TV on they scored! I could hear the screams from downstairs to turn off the TV. Then, 2 games ago I was hiding under a blanket - listening is watching, right? I got to peak out for a couple minutes before our opponets scored a goal. I'd just hung up the phone with my friend Skip who quickly called back to say "Get your ass back under that damn blanket!!" LOL Ahhh, the things I'll do for Lord Stanley!

When are you too old for a boyfriend???

Hey guys. Got this from my friend Smithy. She brings up a good point. ~J

Ok. Since I mentioned engagement on my blog already once this week, I figured I should keep this one in an email.Perhaps some of you could assist. :)At this tender age of me, at no longer 30 and Mark pushing 40 (in a few months) I find it feels odd to say "boyfriend" when speaking of my love to others. For example, whem meeting new people at Junior League (if you are not a member and you live in Buffalo, you MUST join!!) I'm living with my *boyfriend*, my *boyfriend* and I...blah blah blah.Today, I was speaking to the ladies on the Development Committee for the Women's Fund (where I work, of course) and maybe my biscotti was mentioned ;) (I brought some to one of our NFL 101 meetings, they were a big hit!) Today, I bought scones from Wegman's and one of the ladies mentioned that I could have made them...which led into a discussion of how I enjoy baking and cooking and how my *significant other* makes for a good taste tester. I think fiance rolls better off my tongue ;) D'oh! Of course there is NO WAY that HUSBAND rolls off my tongue, that seems far too strange and far away. But fiance? I can handle...and considering that when we moved in together back in July, we both already knew that this was where our relationship was headed or we wouldn't have moved in, well...back then I couldn't breathe. Now, here I am wanting to say fiance. :) Mark takes it all in stride of course, I am just not sure where the HELL all this engagementness is coming from in my head, and of course the more I think about it (out loud) the more of a not surprise it will be and Mark did say to me, "Well, you DO want it to be a surprise, right?" Right. I suppose. But? Can't I just say we are engaged and we can make all those plans later? Ah, a day in the life of a woman, surrounded by women.

How many of you are in the world???

My friend Smithy has some great posts on her blog which I was just enjoying. I came across this one that I just had to try. www.howmanyofu.com lets you type in your name and it'll tell you how many other people in the USA have your name. Poor Smithy had over 14,000 people with the same name. I'm more unique with only 349 people. Hah! And my mother would have flipped if I was a twin! LOL

Hypoallergenic Cats??? I don't think so.

My friend Chris always puts these great posts on her blog and I love checking it out because it never fails she blogs about something I want to but forget to. Check out this one. The only thing I'd spend $3,000 on is a pair of Stuart Weitzmans! LOL


he loves animals and desperately wants cats.she is deathly allergic.can this relationship survive?it can now! thanks to genetically engineered allergy free cats. for only $3000.http://www.allerca.com/ALLERCA has produced the world's first scientifically-proven hypoallergenic cats. These cats allow some of the millions of people with feline allergies to finally enjoy the love and companionship of a household pet without suffering from allergic symptoms.

Buffalo - the city of snow

My friend Patty who lives in Amherst - a suburb of Buffalo - sent me these pictures from Friday, October 13th. It's pretty enough to be a Christmas Card! Hmm... don't be surprised if this picture pops up again in your snail mail box!

A dear friend has passed.....

When you ride the Metro, you become friends with the other riders and you form your own little community. When something happens to one member of the community, it affects all of us. Well, our community of #63 riders has lost a great friend to cancer. We all knew Jan had a cancer spot on her lung but they removed it, she had some Chemo & Radiation and was fine. We worried about her husband Karl and his bad heart but things were starting to look a bit better for her. Then one day she just couldn't find a comfortable position to sit in. Then as time went on it just got worse. She described it as sitting on a small rock. Well, it turns out it was a cancer cluster. Chemo began again with some new procedures and before you knew it, her immune system was so weak she had to miss a week of work for fear one of them had a cold or something. Then she came back and said she was going to work for a while, would be out two months, come back after the first of the year for 2 weeks then just retire. We sent cards and letters telling her how much we missed her and hoped she was doing well. We decided to take her to dinner or lunch - her choice - just let us know. No response. Then we thought maybe she wouldn't be comfortable in public so we'd all make dishes and meet at my house one night. So we sent her a note and let her know. No response. Even "Vilhelm" our favorite driver was trying to track down an old friend who'd driven our run a few years before so she could see him. Then, yesterday on the way home, Cheri gave me the news. Jan had died. Not only did we feel bad that she had died but she died on October 12th and the service was October 14th, the weekend of our snow storm so no one knew and none of us were there. We'd planned that, when the time came and she passed, we'd each put a bus token in her hand so she always had the correct fare. She always preferred to sit in the senior citizen seats facing in to the bus instead of facing forward. Well Miss Jan, now you've got the softest seat in the house with the best view. Don't forget about us, we won't forget about you. Love, your Family of the #63

Coach Don saves the season!!!

After what's amounted to hours of phone calls, the official ruling came down in the 11th hour. Like a pardon from the Gov. at 11:59 p.m., Donald got an email that the parks were going to be reopened and the football season ws going to get a proper ending. November 4th will be the play-off game and then the date will be set for the Tyro Bowl along with the location. Ahhhh...... I love the smell of football in the morning!!! LOL

Way to Go Guys!! We're all sooooooo proud of you!

HIG & Me

Almost 2 years ago I started selling Home Interiors. A great and easy way to have fun and make some extra cash, right? Wrong! Since I started there's been one problem after another. Just about every one of my orders has been shorted. Not a candle here or a candle there. I could deal with that. I'm talking boxes were missing from the delivery. I'd let my unit director LM know and she assured me she'd let Home Office know, that I'd get credit on my account and can then use that money to re-order at anytime. Well, over the course of time I've built up quite a bit of money and used it to place two orders, one rather large and one to replace what was sent to me in error. Now they want me to pay for these orders..... again! What I try to explain - and maybe it's a southern thing that they don't get it - is that I've paid for full orders, not received full orders, received "credit" for missing merchandise and used that "credit" to place my orders. The latest is that I got a call at 7:30 last night from a nice lady named Natalia who said "Oh no. This is more like a credit card. For each order you place you earn credits." Hmm..... that's a new one to me! What about the merchandise I didn't receive? I didn't get the items later, nor did I receive my money back. Shouldn't I get one or the other, items or money back? Now I have yet another person I need to try and contact and try to get this straightened out. I've got a fundraiser on hold with 1,500 kids. They're gonna be pretty upset if something they've got planned falls apart this close to kick-off date. Keep your fingers crossed!

To Score or Not to Score....

Tonight there's an emergency meeting of Presidents within the Tyro league and the parents. My brother's cell phone was ringing off the hook last night. They need 2/3 of the Presidents to vote Yes in order to overturn the Tyro Dick's ruling. I'm not psychic or anything, but I think you might just see something on the 11:00 news tonight. Keep an eye out and GO KNIGHTS!!

Off to the gym.....

After work yesterday - and I admit I was not only feeling crappy, I just didn't want to go - I went to the gym. My saving grace? My best friend Chris (love ya girl!!) who'd kindly given me a raincheck from last week. We went down right after work, got changed and headed upstairs to the treadmills. We hopped on, started talking, talked to my trainer Kim, then talked some more. I'd kinda felt this distance beteween us since she'd gotten engaged but I knew she was busy so I didn't really push it. Going to the gym last night with her was awesome. It was like the perfect way for us to reconnect. We both enjoy going to the gym but need that other person as motivation so this was just right. We talked about her classes, her husband Steve, work and a myriad of other topics. We even made plans to make Tuesday our gym day. One day a week that we can motivate each other to the gym and reconnect as friends. It's awesome!

RPCI & Me

Well, yesterday was the day. The day I was going to let total strangers stab me in both arms with what I was sure would be King Arthur's sword then syphen out my blood only to return kool-aid. I was terrified all day long, of course the sucking noises my co-workers made didn't help!! The bewitching hour of 5:00 arrives and mom & I are in the hospital hanging up our coat. Nurse Amanda tells me my hands are too cold and to run them under hot water. I'm looking around at 3 smiling nurses who's sunny demeaner looks hiddenly sinister. Are those recliners waving at me????? Nope, just nerves. The hot water felt good for about 10 seconds which is how long it took for me to remember the impending sword. I come back just to be told to sit down. She's gotta prick my finger (nerve endings folks!!!!) to test my levels. Surprisingly it didn't hurt..... but this is where the fun begins. First Nurse Amanda tells me that my blood is watery. Call me crazy but it's not pudding in my veins. Isn't blood supposed to be watery? Apparently not. Despite my watery blood I'm not bleeding fast enough for Nurse Amanda who's suddenly growing fangs. Whew! I made it through step one. Next comes the reading. Reading! Did I miss that there's a quiz????? I flip through what seems like pretty standard stuff and once done, Nurse Dee takes me to another room. Wait, all these arm waving beds and I have to go into another room? Must be the quiz portion of our entertainment. We start going through the 50 questions and I notice a pattern. About 30 of these questions involve sex. It's basically 30 different ways of asking if you're a dirty, drug using slut. (I can hear my cousin Corrie laughing at City Hall as she reads this) I put Nurse Dee's fears to rest and confirm I'm sweet as new fallen snow (Shut up Corrie). As she's entering my info into the computer my test results come up. The sunshine is gone as she asks "Are you feeling ok?" Aside from the nerves that are sure to make me vomit like Linda Blair? Sure, I feel great! Apparently all my levels were great except my white cell count. I was almost 6 points over their max. This means I've been rejected by the sword weilding nurses. Well, mom should be good and she can give. Nope! Her iron is too low and her blood pressure is too high, thanks to a glass of regular soda at lunch. So now we have to wait 2 weeks to see if we sprout colds or regain our iron levels. Well, at least it's not the Red Cross!! See ya later ladies!!!!

A little note about my Knights

I was talking to my brother this weekend about football and what was going on since the parks were closed. They haven't been on the field in over a week. Friday night there was a meeting of all the league presidents with the Tyro prez Rick. Apparently the Head Dick decided to just flat out end the season. No play-off's, no Tyro Bowl against the top two teams, nothing. Just over. Boy was my brother pissed and so were the parents that he had to call and tell them their kids, who'd worked so hard all season, were getting jipped out of their shot at their 15 minutes of fame. Did it ever occure to him to call the Bills and see if we could borrow their practice dome for an afternoon? Apparently not. I know there's a lot of anger flowing around, let's see if anything comes of it. If nothing else, I think Rick should step down. Doesn't sound like his hearts in it.

Another one bites the dust.........

Ok, so I'd been nagging my brother to put up a shelf in the front hall closet upstairs for a while now and got fed up with waiting. Heck, what I wanted was easy enough to do, I can do it myself. Note of caution to those who don't know me well. When I say that stay away. It's what's known in my circle as my "Martha Moment." The moment I see something and go "I can do that!" and it becomes a total disaster taking twice as long to do. Well, Thursday night it's off to Home Depot for my mother & me. All I wanted was some brackets to screw into the wall and a piece of MDF to screw into the wood. Easy enough, right? Of course not silly! You see, I needed a piece that was 4' 4" long and MDF only comes in 4' pieces. Oops! Lucky enough for me, this hottie that I actually look for when I'm there (Ben) happened to be standing at the end of an isle while someone moved some stuff the next isle over. I explained what I wanted to do and he gave some great advice. He even offered to cut the wood I needed as soon as this other guy was done. Well, in the 5 minutes we stood there talking I found out he loves camping (I'll pass) and especially the smell of a camp fire (I'm in love.) He's expecting a little one March 30th (single guys without kids are rapidly disappearing) and that he's mega noble. Yup, he feels that since he got his girlfriend pregnant he should be doing which he'll be doing this Saturday. He's not in love with her, he's just trying to right by her. Where has he been all my life?!!!!!?!?!?!?!?!? We chatted about it and I told him not to do it if it's not for the right reasons but he said he should at least give it a try for the kid. I then told him I admired him for his act of nobility and wished him the best of luck. Of course the whole time we talked after the marriage bomb shell I kept hearing in the back of my mind "Another one bites the dust.........." Can I just tell you how hot he is!!! Tall, dark hair, dark eyes, killer smile and a butt to worship. LOL The search continues.

AC Moore and more and more and more!

Went to AC Moore this weekend - I could totally spend a million dollars in that store EASY! I had to get some extra yarn for a Christmas present I'm working on. One of two. Hey! That means I'm catching up! Well, I got a ton of stuff for my aunt's scrapbook that we're doing for her birthday. Mom got some halloween stuff for her friend Marcy because her birthday's right around the same time and it's her favorite holiday. Well, all of mom's stuff was supposed to ring up 50% off but nothing did. The manager - I didn't catch his name but kinda cute - was really nice. He shut down a register so mom could get in line and get her refund. It was $6 which may not seem like a lot but why get jipped out of your own money? As it turns out, they'd been without power for 5 days and not all the registers were back up and running properly yet. God bless 'em. They held their cool and got us through the line as quick as they could. Good Job Guys!!

Giving back to life

A friend of ours named Joe has cancer and it doesn't look good. Last Saturday he went for chemo but couldn't get it because his platlets (sp?) were too low. None of his kids would donate any of their own (I'm reserving judgement at this time) so mom & I decided we'd like to do it. We're going at 5:00 on Monday, October 23rd to Roswell Park Cancer Institute www.roswellpark.com because the Red Cross doesn't feel they should accomodate the community. Well, mom explained the exact situation on how this whole thing works and I'm a bit scared but if it means saving a life, or at least prolonging a good one, then I'm all for it.

Just hung up the phone with Maria from Roswell. We're all set! Wish me luck!!!

Secure Boarders??

My friend Chris (love ya!) sent me this article this a.m. and I thought it was pretty interesting. Hope it comes out again at election time.


I am an avid fan of your new organization, thanks for keeping the information flowing!
I wanted to notify you of an issue at our border that
I discovered Sunday evening. I live in Buffalo, NY and spend a
great deal of time at my family's cottage in Ontario.
My husband and I went to Canada for the afternoon
to watch the Bills game and enjoy the sunshine.
Our return back to the US was across the Peace Bridge.
As we approached Customs we noticed that no lights
were on and traffic was moving rather quickly. Well, I
find it amazing that the Customs office at our border
was still without power nearly 72 hours after the storm! Besides hospitals, I would
imagine our border crossing would be one of the first
places to be fixed. My husband and I were both
immediately overcome with shock when we realized that
the agents at the border could not research vehicle or
driver's license information. I'd imagine the
radiological testing equipment all vehicles drive
through was disabled as well. There were no trucks at
this bridge, so I'm guessing all truck traffic was
diverted to Lewiston or Niagara Falls. Still, this
lack of security deeply troubles me. Power has been
off in this area since early Friday morning. That is
a great deal of time that customs has been without
their most essential tools.
I hope you will look into this further and see how
such a security over site could occur, and when if yet, power was restored to our border-crossing. Perhaps Ms Clinton who cares so deeply about Homeleand Secuirty issues could be of some assistance.

SSG Fluharty gets his kids back....

As you know, One Marine's View has quickly become one of my favorite sites. I've been following the story of SSG Fluharty since Major Pain first posted about it on his blog. Personally, I'd like to Bitch Slap his ex-wife for the hell she's putting their kids through. The good news is that they're currently with him in Ohio. Read below for the latest post and check on One Marine's View for previous posts. This story is truly amazing. ~J




Hello Major Pain,
I am not sure if I am emailing the right person, but here it goes... if not maybe you can tell me who to contact. I typed in a few words and came up with your site... I didn't know that it was there. I knew about the anysoldier site, but not the anymarine site. I am the mother of SSG Bryan Fluharty. First, I want to thank you for posting it... second I am wondering if you could help me come up with a way to get the story out and also update you on what has been happening. Bryan now has his children back... Children's Services took them away from mom last weekend and he got the call to come to Louisiana. There are pictures of them and updates on this website... V.O.I.C.E.S. Home and check out Chelsie's Letter It is a heartbreaker.

This isn't over by far, he has hearings coming up the end of the month there is Louisiana and is told there will be more...and hopefully the kids will be able to stay here, stay in school, and not have to attend the hearings. There is another scheduled for here in November, but we are told it may be canceled... again.
There are also some senators getting involved in making some law changes so others don't have to go through this. A very special lady, Kim Willmon has been emailing away and has had some very positive response. Senator Nick Gautreaux was especially helpful in "rescuing" these children and has been speaking to Senator Marc Dann's office here in Ohio. There are some others also from other states who are climbing on board too.. this should have never happened, those kids should have never been sent back to endure being "dragged by their hair and beaten." I am very proud of my son being able to hold it together to make sure he would be able to be here for his kids, I don't know how he did it. Yes I do, he did it FOR THEM.
These law changes would benefit not only other children but service members as well... and it is the right thing to do. Please feel free to contact me if you would like with any suggestions. I truly would appreciate anything you can do to help make all of their V.O.I.CE.S. heard. Thank you for everything you have done, including serving our country.
Sincerely,
Char Fluharty

A light breeze & a few flakes......

So Mother Nature decided she didn't like something down here on earth or maybe she was just PMS-ing but the weather was pretty rotten this weekend. We all watched out the window on Thursday saying "The last time the sky was pink we got 7' of snow." I'm not kidding folks. My aunt once told me on a visit to Georgia, "If the sky turns green, run for cover because a tornado's coming." I've always been quite fond of the color pink, just not in the sky. Well, we stopped at CSAT for a hispanic heritage event they were having, returned Kari's coat to Target then went to the Olive Garden for dinner. The weather pretty much sucked all day and wasn't getting any better. Once we got into Amherst we noticed all the tree limbs that had fallen. Maple Road & Sheridan Drive were about 1/2 lit. By the time we left dinner we had the window's down to try and see. Ok, I was hot and froze my brother & sister out of the car but hey! At least I could see what was going on. I started getting calls at 3:00 Friday morning from friends making sure I was ok. Apparently, power was just about everywhere. By 6:15 a.m. I was on the phone to my boss Rema who told me to stay in bed. A driving ban was technically in effect but dad had to go to work because he works for the Post Office and is technically a federal employee. After he got home we went to Tops to get groceries and what we couldn't get there we got at Wegmans. The police were there pretty much to make sure no one rioted. Water was supposed to be shut off but the city of Buffalo has their own supply so we were good. The pictures don't show the carnage that is the city and suburb but they give you an idea. Some of the suburban schools are closed all week. Kari's off today but will be back in classes tomorrow.... Sorry FrogToes!! Hope all are safe. To those who have no power & won't get it back until next Sunday, keep your chin up. At least you're not on a farm! LOL ~J

Finn is Finally Here!!

Hey everyone, here's a picture of my friends Pat & Shannon's new bab Finnegan Robert. He was born at 1:22 p.m. on October 10th. Mom, dad & baby are all doing fine. Congrats to the new family!!

Slimming down......

Today was Weigh In Wednesday and I'm happy to report I lost another 1/2 a pound!! That means I've lost 3.5lbs in 5 weeks. A slow go but the "experts" say I'm at the right pace so I'm pretty stoked. Our team leader Rosing lost 1.2lbs and our teammate Smithy went up .5lbs. Not sure how the 4th teammate Tracy did. I think she weighs in Thursday anyway.

Watch Me Melt Away!

Knights go to 5-1

This weekend the Knights took on West Side - the poor souls they slaughtered in the "Friendship Game" at the beginning of the season. Well, we beat 'em once again giving the Knights a 5-1 record. I can smell the Tyro Turf already1 LOL Congrats & Go Knights!!

Fat free, calorie free and fully enjoyable CANDY CORN!!!

So last night we stopped at AC Moore and got some yarn for 2 baby blankets a friend has ordered as gifts. As we wandered around - I just love that store and never walk out under $20 - we were just falling in love with the Halloween decorations. Well, being on the Biggest Loser here at work means I can't fully enjoy my favorite Halloween food............ CANDY CORN!!!! Or can I? Yup folks, I did it. I found the only fat free, calorie free yet fully enjoyable candy corn on the planet. At AC Moore you ask? YUP!! They're candy corn LIGHTS!!! I strung them up at my cube this a.m. with the help of my best friend Nicole (love ya Mama Moo!) and they look great. Maybe it's all in my mind but I'm totally not craving the actual thing. I love that!! Lorna & Nikki would be so proud. If you've got an AC Moore in your neck of the world stop by and "grocery shop." You'll be glad you did!!!

Weight Loss & Stressed Out!

This week for our "Snack Attack" we had to earn it by dancing to the YMCA. I honestly can say that we burned off just as many calories laughing as we did dancing. It must have paid off because when Weigh In Wednesday rolled around I was 2lbs lighter! Yeah!!! That makes 3lbs in 4 weeks. According to all the experts I'm on the right track. Let's hope they're right.

I've heard that being overweight can give you headaches because there's more pressure on the brain. Well, work is mega stressfull and I can say without a doubt that it's contributing to my headaches which seem to be getting worse. Yesterday I had a dull ache when I woke up that just got worse as the day went on and the stress piled up. It got to the point where my eyeballs were literally throbbing and I had these silver glitter pieces floating in front of my vision. Soooo not good folks. I left at 2:00 and when I finally made it home at 4:00 (gotta love our Metro system) I took to Excedrin Migraine and had some lunch. It worked because by 6:30 when we went to dinner for mom's birthday I felt much better. So good in fact we made a jaunt across the parking lot to my favorite store AC Moore! Had to get yarn for 2 baby blankets a friend ordered and some lights. Read the post above to learn more about those!!

It's Birthday Time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today's October 5th and that means BIRTHDAY!!!! Celebrating their birthday's today is my boss Rema, my cool co-worker Dave, my spiritual guru friend Lorna and my very own mummy! I can't reveal their ages........ well, I could but I value both my job and my life! LOL So instead I'll just say Happy Birthday to one and all. May your day be as special as you are and full of sinful calorie filled cake!!!

A side note on religion.....

Ok, just a quick personal not. Going to church each week doesn't make you better than anyone else. There's actually a few short steps to being a good Christian and you can learn the first two from ride operators at Darien Lake. Keep your hands and feet to yourself and don't be an asshole. That's pretty much about it.

Knights charge over Stingray's

This weekend the Knights faced off to the South Buffalo Stingray's who went into the game with a 4-0 record. Well, after a lot of hard work and even more spirit, the Knights walked away victorious with their 18-8 win. This puts the Knights at 4-1 while the Stingray's were handed their first loss who now sit with a 4-1-1 record. With only 3 more games left in the regular season, Coach Don & his Knights are looking ahead to the play-off's and can already smell the Tyro Bowl. Keep plugging away Knights, one game at a time, and you'll walk away with that mega trophy. We're all proud of you!!!