Pinterest Inspired Wednesdays - Valentines

This week, I am joining Suz from 30 Before 30 List for Pinterest Inspired Wednesdays!  If you are unfamiliar with Suz's blog, you should definitely check it out.  Hers is one of the first blogs I began reading, and I have always found Suz's writing to be both insightful and motivating.

Last week as I was browsing through pins, I came across this depiction of the bible verse Romans 12:9-10.

{Source}

This lead me to what turned out to be a delightful blog called Homegrown Hospitality.  The author, Stephanie, had posted a PDF file of a Valentine card to print on cardstock and attach to treat bags.  I instantly felt the need to create Valentine treat bags for all of my co-workers, so I started by printing the card on both salmon and white cardstock.  Several days later on Monday evening, I visited my sister's house after work and took my nieces to Wal Mart to help me pick out candy for the treat bags.  Naturally, I agonized over what to get (it's the perfectionist in me), and I ended up with five bags of candy.  Surprisingly, we could not find any treat bags throughout the many isles of Valentine's Day paraphernalia.  Just as I was about to admit defeat and simply purchase sandwich bags, we found clear treat bags in the Wilton isle.

Yum!

Upon returning to my sister's house, my nieces began distributing the candy to each of the treat bags and closing them with the provided twist ties, while I cut out the Valentines. As with any creative project I undertake, this was much more of an ordeal than it needed to be. I obsessed over cutting out the Valentine cards with perfectly straight edges, and about making sure the candy was evenly distributed between the varying types. Luckily my nieces know how to handle me and I was running short on time, so I was able to force myself to go with the flow and not focus on everything being perfect.



The Sun Chips were for the facility supervisor,
who is diabetic. 

At this point I needed to head for home, but not before giving each of my nieces and nephews a treat bag, along with my sister, her husband, and my sister's friend that was visiting.  The next morning when I arrived at work, I punched a hole in the top of each of the Valentine cards (a hole punch was the crucial tool we were missing the previous evening), and tied a card to each of the treat bags with the hot and light pink curling ribbon with which my oldest niece had provided me.  All that was left was to distribute the bags!    

       

Putting together holiday treat bags for family, friends, and co-workers used to be a regular festivity for me, but it is something I have not done in several years.  I had forgotten the joy of putting a smile on someone's face and brightening their day through such a simple act.  While I do not envision myself assembling treat bags for each holiday as I have in years past, I do plan on making more of a conscious effort to celebrate and honor those people in my life who impact it on a daily basis.

Don't tell anyone, but I kept all of the Milky
Way Midnights for myself!  (They're my favorite.)

To go, or not to go....

Recently I was invited to a New Year's Eve party through Facebook by an acquaintance from college, whom I will refer to as Double H. I was both surprised and flattered by the invitation, seeing as how I have not spoken to him in over six years (and before you ask, no, he did not merely invite everyone on his friend list). While it could be fun to go to the party, let's face it - I am not nor have I ever been socially savvy. I am more than a bit nervous about showing up to a party by myself where I know a single person that will be in attendance, and barely at that. To make matters slightly worse, I noticed today that one of the invitees is a guy I winked at on match.com, whose response was "thanks for the wink, but I don't think you are a good match for me." Thank goodness he is currently listed as not attending the party, as I can only imagine how awkward it would be to run into him should he recognize me! (I shudder at the thought.)

All possible and likely embarrassing catastrophes aside, attending the party could result in several positive scenarios. First and foremost, I would be venturing outside of my comfort zone, which I feel is important for me to do if I am going to continue to grow as an individual. I mean, I could actually have fun! Not only that, but it would provide the potential to cross off the following two items from my 30 Before 30 List:

27. Hold a conversation with a stranger.
30. Make a new friend (one not connected to someone I already know).

Knowing I will most certainly chicken out at the last minute if I plan to go by myself, I have thought about emailing Double H and simply being honest about my apprehensions, and asking if he or anyone else would like to meet up before the party and arrive together. Would this be completely and totally lame? Another option would be there is an Indiana Ice hockey game that evening, so I could ask Double H if he or anyone else would want to catch the game before heading to the party. What do ya'all think? What would you do if you were me?

The End of a Tradition?

Last night as I was watching the news, a story aired that caused me great sadness. Emmis Communications, a broadcasting company that for the last 26 years has sponsored one of the greatest traditions in Indianapolis (at least in my opinion), is as of now no longer going to sponsor the event due to a lack of funding resulting from the struggling economy. The event I am speaking of is the annual Labor Day fireworks celebration, Sky Concert.

Fireworks have been an integral part of my life since birth (I was, after all, born on the Fourth of July). To this day, my father claims that when I was a child, he had me believing the fireworks that always occurred on the Fourth of July were specifically in celebration of my birthday. While I can offer little insight into the truth or falsity of my father's claim (I can recall no memory of ever believing such a thing), there is no denying the fact that I am extremely fond of any and all displays of fireworks.

Even though it has been several years since I last attended Sky Concert, it has always been and will continue to remain one of my favorite fireworks shows. I only hope that the economy rebounds quickly and Sky Concert does not remain in the dark for long.

Murphy Strikes Again.

Yesterday as I was driving from my first job to my second job, I was on the highway when it started to snow pretty heavily. This in and of itself didn't bother me, and I continued on my way as I normally would (albeit reducing my speed to account for the slower moving traffic). Suddenly and without warning, a car in the right hand lane kicked up a piece of metal debris that was in the middle of the lane, throwing it across the highway and into - you guessed it - the front end of my car. Between the heavy traffic, decreased visibility, and suddenness of what happened, there was nothing I could do. Naturally, no sooner had this occurred and I began having a conniption fit, the snow abruptly stopped, the sun was shining, and traffic cleared.

As for saying in my post yesterday that I am thankful I'm not living the same day over and over again, a la the movie Groundhog Day? Well, one of these days, I am going to have to learn to keep my mouth shut - because that is exactly what I would like to do with yesterday. If I had left work a minute later or a minute earlier....If I had been driving a little slower or a little faster....If I had been driving in a different lane on the highway....If I had taken a different route to my second job....If only I hadn't recently bought a new car, and I was still driving my much dented and rusted Cavalier (which I would rather still be driving, by the way, except every time I turned around it needed another repair, and it was not worth the money)....If, if, if....

I know it's just a car, and it shouldn't be a big deal. While I am admittedly a perfectionist, I am by far not a materialistic person; it just makes me ill to still owe over $13,000 on something that is now damaged. Although, technically the car was already damaged, because someone put a huge scratch in the rear bumper while I was parked in the parking lot at my second job (before I even had a chance to get the car plated, no less). It took me forever and a day to get over the sick feeling I got every time I looked at the scratch in my rear bumper. I can only imagine how long it will take me to get over this.

It's Groundhog Day!

First D.J.: Okay, campers, rise and shine, and don't forget your booties 'cause it's coooold out there today.
Second D.J.: It's coooold out there every day. What is this, Miami Beach?
First D.J.: Not hardly. And you know, you can expect hazardous travel later today with that, you know, that, uh, that blizzard thing.
Second D.J.: [mockingly] That blizzard - thing. That blizzard - thing. Oh, well, here's the report! The National Weather Service is calling for a "big blizzard thing!"
First D.J.: Yessss, they are. But you know, there's another reason why today is especially exciting.
Second D.J.: Especially cold!
First D.J.: Especially cold, okay, but the big question on everybody's lips...
Second D.J.: - On their chapped lips...
First D.J.: - On their chapped lips, right: Do ya think Phil is gonna come out and see his shadow?
Second D.J.: Punxsutawney Phil!
First D.J.: Thats right, woodchuck-chuckers - it's
[in unison]
First D.J.: GROUNDHOG DAY!
Second D.J.: GROUNDHOG DAY!


From the Official Site of the Punxsuatawney Groundhog Club:

Hear Ye Hear Ye

On Gobbler's Knob this glorious Groundhog Day, February 2nd, 2009

Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators

Awoke to the call of President Bill Cooper

And greeted his handlers, Ben Hughes and John Griffiths

After casting a joyful eye towards thousands of his faithful followers,

Phil proclaimed that his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers were World Champions one more time

And a bright sky above me

Showed my shadow beside me.

So 6 more weeks of winter it will be.

Apparently, I have been waiting almost two weeks for this day. So naturally, when I woke up this morning, I completely forgot about the fact that today is Groundhog's Day.

Go figure.

At least I can be thankful that I'm not living the same day over and over again.

WTF, mate?

Yesterday morning on NFL Sunday Countdown, Chris Berman wished Chris Mortensen a Happy Groundhog's Day.

I sat on the couch for several minutes feeling like I was in some sort of alternate universe, a la one of my recent blogs, which can be found here.

Am I missing something?

Say What?!

I woke up today thinking it was Groundhog's Day....

In the shower, I thought about what I would change my blog background to after today. I also thought about writing a blog regarding one of my favorite movies, Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray, as a tribute to the day. I wondered whether or not Punxsutawney Phil would see his shadow, and if we could expect six more weeks of winter or an early spring. On our way out the door to work this morning, I even turned to Brent and said, "Happy Groundhog's Day!" It was when I said this and saw the expression on his face that it finally hit me - it isn't even February yet. I don't know what kind of dreams I had last night, but somehow from the time I fell asleep to the time I woke up, I fast forwarded through almost two weeks. (I hadn't even taken any NyQuil before bed that could explain my perceived jump into the future.)

Wishful thinking? Perhaps, although I can't think of something that is happening in the next two weeks that I would want to avoid so badly I would completely skip two weeks of my life.

What's most disturbing to me is the fact that I didn't just wake up thinking it was Groundhog's Day....I went on thinking that for an hour as I got ready for work. I would understand if I had only mistaken the day in the first few moments of waking up, where your mind is still groggy and disoriented....

Exhaustion must be taking more of a toll than I originally thought.

New Year's Irresolutions.

It's that time again. The countdown to a new year has begun. Normally on this day, I would be scrambling to compile a list of resolutions for the coming year, a list that would no doubt be filled with items identical to my resolutions from the year before - exercise, eat healthy, yada yada yada. While my intentions are good, I know in my heart that the likelihood of me keeping all of my resolutions is slim to none (case in point being I make the same resolutions every year). Instead of once again setting myself up for failure, this year I have decided to forgo my traditional list of New Year's resolutions, save one - and that is to work diligently throughout the year of 2009 on my 30 Before 30 List. So, without further ado, Happy New Year everyone! I wish you all much joy and happiness in the year ahead.