Music on My Blog!

* I just added another one, one I can't believe I didn't think of right away!! ; )

One of the new things I'm playing around with on this updated version of Blogger is the music video feature. If you scroll down a bit, you'll see that in the sidebar I've added a few songs for you to enjoy while you peruse my written meanderings.
I will try not to go too crazy with this feature - I do love music after all - but I make no promises. : )

I Upgraded (Blogs, that is.)

I'm resisting the change no more. I held off and held off upgrading my blog because it involved re-doing my entire template, and that was a scary thought, considering all the customizing I've done. My final temptation, though, was the new slideshow feature that Blogger is offering. That was just too cool to miss out on.
Turns out, upgrading really was pretty simple. With the process, I didn't lose my links or anything, and now I can label better. Sure, I spent a couple of hours tinkering around, but it wasn't so much necessary as interesting.
Hopefully, you'll enjoy the changes; I'm sure I'll be tweaking things for a while.

Good Luck, Jennifer and Matthew!

Two of my very good friends are moving away from Austin. They will set off tomorrow morning on a 20-hour drive, three cats and a dog in their backseat, and all of us here wishing it wasn't quite this way. I'm really going to miss them. Whether it is a party or an event or just hanging out, if Jennifer and Matthew are there, it's always fun. They are that kind of couple.
When we last were all together, someone remarked on our conversation topics, and I realized how special it is to have friends who you literally can talk about anything with. Our conversations have been all over the place, about topics I'd never dream of engaging in during "polite" conversations. It's really valuable when you can find friends who you can be yourself with and who won't judge you. I am so going to miss having them as part of our group!!
Best of luck, Jennifer and Matthew! Hopefully, I will see you soon!

Quite a Long Time

I don't think I've ever gone this long without posting before!! I'm still quite sick, but I just keep on going forward the best I can - I don't know what else to do at this point. I plan to work hard for a couple of days and then spend time with my family later this week and hopefully finally get well. I'm more of a natural health person, but I have taken the medications they prescribed, just to no avail. My mom actually called me this weekend to ask if I'd heard about that deadly virus the news people are talking about that puts young, healthy people in the hospital! I told her if I have that, then I guess I'm actually doing pretty well! :P

I plan to serve Thanksgiving dinner this evening to people who would otherwise not have one. I've done a lot of volunteer work, but I can't recall ever actually serving food so I'm really looking forward to it. It's always a learning experience for me when I get in there personally and do something like this. And, it always is rewarding - even when it's tough.
(Note: It's well established that I'm not contagious.)

Some Things I Like

I've been sick for over two weeks now and doing an awful job of resting - I'm too nervous and high-strung these days for that. I am trying to surround myself with good, positive things, and I came across some I liked:

"Sometimes you just have to take the leap and grow your wings on the way down."
(Otherwise known as "The Story of My Life" for the last few years.)

"She believed she could do it, so she did."

"Low-rise jeans are so impractical when you are flying by the seat of your pants." (OK, this one was just funny.)

I also came up with a great title for a new book - one I'm tempted to start before finishing the other. I'd love to print it, but I'm afraid it'd get stolen. I'll say this: it sounds like it could be a funny country music song, and it was inspired by someone.

I love "Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie (I can't not sing this song when I hear it.) Then I heard another song and was like, "Who is that? I have to hear that again!" I did this morning and, turns out, it's Fergie again with "Clumsy." I'm not big into celebrities, but I guess I identify with her music - probably stems back to afternoons watching Kids' Incorporated, one of the best. shows. ever. :P

All Saints and Souls

I meant to wish everyone a Happy Halloween yesterday, but now I'll just wish you a Happy All Saints' Day and Happy All Souls' Day instead! (For Catholics, on All Saints' Day, we celebrate the lives of the saints, and on All Souls' Day, we remember those who have died.)

In that "spirit" (ha ha!) AP-Ipsos released results from a recent survey:

48 percent of people believe in extra-sensory perception. (ESP, the "sixth sense," includes such psychic abilities as precognition, clairvoyance, clairaudience, remote viewing, and telepathy.)
34 percent believe in ghosts.
30 percent have woken up from sleep with the sense of a strange presence in the room.
23 percent have seen or believed themselves to be in the presence of a ghost.

Very, very interesting ...