Saturday, August 11, 2007

Get Well Soon!


A friend of mine was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Yesterday, she underwent surgery to hopefully prevent the cancer from spreading any further than it had already. She is a young single mother who is very active in her children's lives. She goes to every sporting event (even if it involves driving clear across the state) and every school function that she can. She isn't much older than I am. She only told me about her diagnosis 2 weeks ago, after finding out herself early last June.

It makes you stop to think how fragile and special life is. And how important your friends are. I feel so helpless that my friend has to go through something like this. And the most that I can do for her is to be there if/when she wants me and to pray for her speedy recovery. I want to be able to wave a magic wand and make it all disappear, to keep her beautiful long blonde hair from falling out from the chemo, and to keep her kids from having to fear that their mom is going to die. I wonder why her of all people? Then I think that it's good that it happened to her, because she's strong enough to deal with something like this. She's the type of person who can take this situation and turn it around to help others.


Please join the fight against cancer. Anything from participating in Relay for Life events to dropping your spare change into the canister by the cash register at the gas station/grocery store can help. Cancer touches everyone's life in someway. (I've personally had 3 family members and 3 friends diagnosed with it.) Below is a link to the American Cancer Society. Any information that you want/need regarding cancer of any kind (breast or otherwise) can be found at that site.


Get Well Soon, L. Love you!

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/home/index.asp?level=0

Friday, August 10, 2007

Dinner and a movie


Well gang, we made it to Friday! Time to put away the stresses of the work week and enjoy some rest and relaxation. I hiked myself over to mom and dad's for the weekend. (Time to do laundry again...) We decided to go out for dinner and a movie to celebrate the accomplishment of surviving the week.(And what a week it was!)

Our movie choice was between The Bourne Ultimatum & Rush Hour 3. After much debating, we decided on Rush Hour 3, the comedy. Being our traditional selves, we arrived at the theatre a good 45 minutes before movie started. Loaded up with our popcorn, candy, and diet cokes, we settled in and eagerly anticipated our movie. As many of you know, the theatre shows upcoming movie trailers and the traditional "Dont talk" and "turn your cell phones off." blurbs. Our local theater also plays commercials for local buisnesses. As this is a smaller town, it is to be expected that some of the commercials would be repeated. What I didn't expect was the same commercial (For the AT&T phone book) to be repeated a total of 8 times. Watching to see how many times the commercial would be played ended up being better than the movie itself. Not that the movie wasn't entertaining. If you had seen Rush Hour 1 or 2, you've basically seen Rush Hour 3. It provided exactly what we had wanted.. Mindless entertainment. You have the love story mixed in with the action and intrigue. With a few funny parts tossed in here and there. My favorite part was the blooper clips they played during the credits.

After the movie it was time for dinner. It was dad's turn to pick the restaurant, and he selected Lone Star Steakhouse. I haven't been to that particular establishment for several years after a bad experience. Now, I remember why I had been boycotting it. As the song says.... 2nd verse; same as the first. The service was iffy, the food questionable (Mom's steak was over 1/2 fat,) , and it took FOREVER to get anything. Mom and dad say that its not always like that there, but both my experiences have left a lot to be desired. Maybe it's me.. Maybe I'm a jinx at restaurants.

Well gang, that's it for tonight. I'm tired, still have to exercise, and want to play with my new toy (the new camera.) Hope you are all happy and well.

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Photography

My dream job would be to become a photographer. To take pictures and sell them. But since duty calls and I have bills to pay, I must relegate my photography for a hobby. I have sold some of my photos as post cards, greeting cards, and prints. Some have been used as displays in local stores and one was even used for a book cover. It doesn't generate any sizable income, but its enough to keep me in batteries for the camera.

I like to take pictures of any and everything. From the bug on the sidewalk to my niece Leah. (The poor child has been photographed every waking moment of her life..and even some while shes asleep.) I recently purchased a new camera that I'm very excited about. Not that there was anything wrong with the one I had, this one is just better. I am now the proud owner of a Kodak EasyShare® Z712 Digital Camera. It has 7.1 megapixels, 12x optical/4.2x advanced digital zoom, & Optical image stabilization. Just in time for the Red Wings training camp next month. It's my 35 lbs weight loss prize and the last of the bonus I got from work. (The more weight I lose, the bigger the prize.) And, to make it all the more exciting, the camera came with a FREE photo printer.

I had a crappy crappy day today. I can't tell you how happy I am that tomorrow is Friday. I usually try to find one good thing about every day. Even if I have to make it up; like the good part of my day was that I didn't drop my toothbrush in the toilet this morning. Finding something good about today has been difficult. So, I decided that the good thing that happened in my life today was that my new camera is in. All I have to do is go pick it up tomorrow. Watch out world... that blinding flash in your eye is me.

See ya'll tomorrow,
-Me

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Oh the drama...


"Like sands through the hourglass... so are the days of our lives."
Did you ever notice how much your job is like a soap opera? There are the good guys, the criminals, the sluts, the one with a strange incurable illness, & plot twists galore. There's even the character that is "killed off"and then comes back to life miraculously, being played by a different actor.


As I had previously mentioned I work in the rehab department at the local hospital. As a whole, the staff interacts fairly well with each other, the patients, and the rest of the hospital. There are days however, when we put even the young and the restless to shame. Today was one such day. Today we had the feud between 1 person and the entire rest of the staff. The call from our co-worker with a very sick baby. The co-worker who quit, but still works weekends for us. One of the nurses told us to go ahead and treat the patient who's had a nose bleed, And said "Just don't hit her in the face." Even the patients were in rare form today. It's been like we're trapped in a parallel universe where its a full moon everyday.


I'm extremely greatful that I have this job even with all the drama. I have the perfect hours (6 AM -2:30 PM,) weekends off, a great benefits package, and a boss who is flexible with time off. With today's job market being what it is... Alot of people would kill to have the job that I take for granted. And, it always could be worse.. I don't have to wear some outlandish costume, square dance on a bar, or cheer when someone rings a bell saying they left me a quarter for a tip.


Well gang, that's all for tonight. I have to exercise, pick up my apartment, and get ready for the next episode tomorrow.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

You don't have to be perfect to be beautiful!

Day 219, only 146 to go...


(on my diet)


I've never been what one might call "Skinny." But, I have been working on becoming skinnier. I made myself stick to my New Years resolution to lose weight this year. I set a goal to lose 60 lbs this year. (Or to lose 10 lbs and keep it off, whichever happened first.)


So far since January 1st, I've lost a total of 34 lbs and around 20 total inches from my body. It's odd really, since I still feel like the same person I was when I was heavier. I see a few things that I'm not fond of here and there, but over all, am pleased with the overall me. My belief is that you don't have to be perfect to be beautiful. I don't have to be the 121-135 lbs that my height (5'3") dictates I should be to be beautiful. Beauty is only skin deep and in the eye of the beholder. Inner beauty far outshines, and it lasts forever; where as your apperance can change on a momments notice (or with french fries...) While I am dieting and exercising everyday, I'm not going to be dissappointed with myself if I don' t lose another pound. I'll be happy that I made a decision to be healthier and stuck with it.







Monday, August 6, 2007

In the beginning....




Ok, let me start out by saying I'm new to this whole blog thing, so please bear with me. Please pardon any spelling or grammatical errors that I might make. I'll start out by giving a little background about myself. Then we'll move onwards and upwards as time goes on.

My name is Joelle. Though I answer to Refhater, Reffie, Cujo, Jolie, Jo Jo & sometimes Sherry. I'm somewhere in my early 30s (A women never admits her age!) I work in the local hospital's Rehab Services Department as a Admin. Assistant. I enjoy photography, reading, hockey, and collecting collections. My favorite color is Red and my lucky number is 9. My favorite sports teams are: Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Tigers, & Green Bay Packers. I'm currently single (and looking for the right guy... He's got to be out there somewhere...)

As you can tell by me nickname, I hate refs. Well officials of any sport, but especially hockey. You'll notice that I will rant about them frequently in this blog. I'm sure that they can be decent people, though I've yet to see evidence of that. I'm not saying that they aren't necessary, don't get me wrong. I just think that the players on the ice/field/court should be the ones that control the outcome of the games, not the just refs.

Don't worry, I'm not only going to write about sports. There are other things going on in the world. Thats all for tonight, It's 10:15 PM and I still have to exercise yet. See ya'll next time...