Feel'n Great

I am happy to report that I have gotten over the workout hump and I am well on my way to loosing 92 pounds. U of M started this new "Active U" program. Since it has started I have been exercising 35-60 min a day and I finally FEEL GREAT!! My body actually WANTS to exercise! and I feel like a bum when I don't! So far I have lost about 5 lbs since it started about 3 weeks ago. WOO HOO. My goal will be 5-10 pounds a month with my final goal to be able to fit into my sister's wedding dress!

I also saw the $100,000 winner from Biggest Looser on Friday at a conference. He was very inspirational and motivating. I am determined this time around to make it work.

For those of you who don't know, I have been trying to loose weight since high school (some how it keeps finding me before I loose him). I even have a fat blog so I don't have to bug you here about my lifestyle and weight woes; but this milestone was significant enough for me to mention here.

Happy Bunny

My cousin Ben inspired me to be a happy bunny today.

Google Partners with National Archives

History deserves the best
2/24/2006 09:01:00 AM

Posted by Jon Steinback, Product Marketing Manager, Google Video

In junior high, I learned about most of history's greatest moments through the least engaging media possible: the yellowed pages of outdated textbooks or the unfocused projections of film strips on my classroom walls. For many momentous events, words and pictures don't transmit the full sense of what has transpired. To see for one's self, through video and audio, brings an event to life.

Over 70 years ago, the National Archives was founded with the express purpose of preserving these moments in their full glory, serving America by documenting our government and our nation. This includes truly momentous events like the moon landing, as well as rare historical footage like government documentaries from the 1930s and battlefield stories from World War II.

Today we're very pleased to tell you that we're helping the National Archives take one step closer to realizing its vision. Together, we're launching a pilot program to digitize their video content and offer it to everyone in the world for free. I think both students and teachers can agree that any of these would make for an exciting day in the classroom:- Allied patrols in action on Anzio beach- Reclamation and the Arid West- The Eagle Has Landed 1969I

t's so refreshing to see history conveyed with more clarity than a filmstrip can offer.

Ticking Time Away

The other day I realized why my friend Corey ticks the time off her calendar. I didn't understand why before. I always wondered what possible satisfaction she got out of marking the days off her calendar; now I know.

She was waiting for something better.
She was waiting for the day she could really do what she wanted to in life, not just what she was doing for the moment.

You see, I really liked my planning job. I would have never found satisfaction in ticking off the days on the calendar. Not even in my old department here at the U would I have either. I loved my last two jobs.

But now that is it a year later and I am in a job I can't wait to get out of, I am now find myself ticking down the days. Counting down until I can finally do what I was wired up to do. Which I am assuming I will figure out someday. I do know for a fact that it is not my current position. I do not get my masters degree and invest in being a student of leadership to fetch the mail and make coffee the rest of my life.

So until then, I will sit in the waiting room of "My Career" and tick off the days until my train arrives.

National Engineers Week

Googler insights into product and technology news and our culture.
Google, girls and engineering
2/23/2006 12:08:00 PM

Posted by Emily Nishi, Diversity Program Manager

Did you know that it's National Engineers Week in the U.S. -- and that February 23 is Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day? The week-long celebration aims to raise public awareness of the many contributions engineers have made to our quality of life, and intrigue young students with the many wonders and possibilities in an engineer's work.

Throughout this week, several Google offices, including New York, Kirkland and Mountain View, have been hosting a couple of hundred girls from local middle schools and high schools to come visit us for the day. The girls have the unique opportunity to shadow a Google engineer or two, go to interactive workshops, eat in our yummy cafes (the pizzas are a hit!) and get an insider's tour of the Google offices.

We hope these girls get a real-life sense of what it's like to work here, and more important, that we've piqued their interests and ultimately help steer them toward future careers in math, science and engineering. Let's hear it for the girls!

Grey's Anatomy

I love Grey's Anatomy; and it makes me cry every week. Last night, was no exception. In fact, I cried myself to sleep. It was the finale of a two parter and the theme was:

"If you knew you were going to die, how would you spend your last day?"

My first and only thought was that I would spend all day in bed with Scott, and just stay there until it happened. (of course assuming that I was going to pass peacefully from illness or what-not. You can't really control accidents or bombs in body cavities.)

(Please respond)

Terry Tate - Office Linebacker

When Reebok featured Terry Tate as the Office Linebacker, I didn't think much about it until I started working on my master's degree. Well last night in class a group project that was discussing change and how resistant we are to change did a skit and we watched the Terry Tate training video. It was awesome! So watch the video below, it is about 4 minutes. It will show you some "aggressive" tactics when it comes to incorporating change into the workplace.
(Click on the title above if streem doesn't work.)

Remember the late 80's Early 90's?

~ once again, thanks Jen!

1. You've ever ended a sentence with the word SIKE
2. You watched the Pound Puppies.
3. You can sing the rap to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and can do the Carlton
4. Girls wore biker shorts under their skirts and felt stylishly sexy.
5. You yearned to be a member of the Baby-sitters club and tried to start a club of your own.
6. You owned those lil' Strawberry Shortcake pals scented dolls.
7. You know that "WOAH" comes from Joey on Blossom
8. Two words: Hammer Pants
9. If you ever watched "Fraggle Rock"
10. You had plastic streamers on your handle bars... and spokey-dokes or playing cards on your spokes for that incredible sound effect
11. You can sing the entire theme song to "Duck Tales" (Woo ooh!)
12. It was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch cartoons.
13. You wore a ponytail on the side of your head.
14. You saw the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the big screen...and still know the turtles names.
15. You got super-excited when it was Oregon Trail day in computer class at school.
16. You made your mom buy one of those clips that would hold your shirt in a knot on the side.
17. You played the game "MASH"(Mansion, Apartment, Shelter, House)
18. You wore stonewashed Jordache jean jackets and were proud of it.
19. L.A. Gear....need I say more?
20. You wanted to change your name to "JEM" in Kindergarten.(She's Truly Outrageous.)
21. You remember reading Tales of a fourth grade nothing and all The Ramona books.
22. You know the profound meaning of "WAX ON, WAX OFF"
23. You wanted to be a Goonie.
24. You ever wore fluorescent clothing. (some of us...head-to-toe)
25. You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off and his cheeks shifted.
26. You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf.
27. You took lunch boxes to school... and traded Garbage Pail kids in the schoolyard.
28. You remember the CRAZE, then the BANNING of slap bracelets.
29. You still get the urge to say "NOT" after every sentence.
30. You remember Hypercolor t-shirts.
31. Barbie and the Rockers was your favorite band.
32. You thought She-ra (Princess of Power!) and He-Man should hook up. (even though they were brother and sister)
33. You thought your childhood friends would never leave because you exchanged handmade friendship bracelets.
34. You ever owned a pair of Jelly-Shoes.
35. After you saw Pee-Wee's Big Adventure you kept saying "I know you are, but what am I?"
36. You remember "I've fallen and I can't get up"
37. You remember going to the skating rink before there were inline skates.
38. You ever got seriously injured on a Slip and Slide.
39. You have ever played with a Skip-It.
40. You had or attended a birthday party at McDonalds.
41. You've gone through this nodding your head in agreement.
42. You remember Popples..
43. Don't worry, be happy
44. You wore like, EIGHT pairs of socks over tights with high top Reeboks
45. You wore socks scrunched down (and sometimes still do...getting yelled at by younger hip members of the family)
46. You remember boom boxes and walking around with one on your shoulder like you were all that.
47. You remember watching both Gremlins movies.
48. You know what it meant to say "Care Bear Stare!!"
49. You remember watching Rainbow Bright and & My Little Pony Tales
50. You thought Doogie Howser/Samantha Micelli was hot.
51. You remember Alf, the lil furry brown alien from Melmac.
52. You remember New Kids on the Block when they were cool... and don't even flinch when people refer to them as "NKOTB"
53. You knew all the characters names and their life stories on Saved By The Bell," The ORIGINAL class. (I Love Zak Morris!)
54. You know all the words to Bon Jovi - SHOT THROUGH THE HEART.
55. You just sang those words to yourself.
56. You remember watching Magic vs. Bird.
57. Homemade Levi shorts.. ! (the shorter the better)
58. You remember when mullets were cool!
59. You had a mullet!
60. You still sing "We are the World"
61. You tight rolled your jeans.
62. You owned a bannana clip.
63. You remember "Where's the Beef?"
64. You used to (and probably still do) say "What you talkin' about Willis?"
65. You had big hair and you knew how to use it.
66. You're still singing shot through the heart in your head, aren't you!
67. You wore more than two watches at once

Power Outage During Mammogram

~ Thanks Jen ~

I actually kept my mammogram appointment. I was met with, "Hi! I'm Belinda!" This perky clipboard carrier smiled from ear to ear, tilted her head to one side and crooned, "All I need you to do is step into this room right here, strip to the waist, then slip on this gown. Everything clear?"

I'm thinking, "Belinda, try decaf. This ain't rocket science".

Belinda skipped away to prepare the chamber of horrors.

Call me crazy, but I suspect a man invented this machine. It takes a perfectly healthy cup size of 36-B to a size 38-LONG in less than 60 seconds. Also, girls aren't made of sugar and spice and everything nice....it's Spandex!We can be stretched, pulled and twisted over a cold 4-inch piece of square glass and still pop back into shape.

With the right side finished, Belinda flipped me (literally) to the left and said, "Hmmmm. Can you stand on your tippy toes and lean in a tad so we can get everything?"

Fine, I answered. I was freezing, bruised, and out of air, so why not use the remaining circulation in my legs and neck and finish me off?

My body was in a holding pattern that defied gravity (with my other boob wedged between those two pieces of square glass) when we heard, then felt a zap! Complete darkness and the power went off!

"What?" I yelled.

"Oh, maintenance is working. Bet they hit a snag" Belinda headed for the door.

"Excuse me! You're not leaving me in this vise alone, are you?" I shouted.

Belinda kept going and said, "Oh, you fussy puppy . the door's wide open so you'll have the emergency hall lights. I'll be right back! ."

Before I could shout , "NOOOO!" she disappeared. And that's exactly how Bubba and Earl, maintenance "en extraordinaire, found me, half-naked and part of me dangling from the Jaws of Life and the other part smashed between glass! After exchanging polite "Hi, how's it going?" type greetings, Bubba (or possibly Earl) asked, to my utter disbelief, if I knew the power was off.

Trying to disguise my hysteria, I replied with as much calmness as possible. "Uh, yes, yes I did thanks."

"You bet, take care", Bubba replied and waved good-bye as though I'd been standing in the line at the grocery store.

Two hours later, Belinda breezes in wearing a sheepish grin and making no attempt to suppress her amusement, she said.

"Oh I am soooo sorry! The power came back on and I totally forgot about you! And silly me, I went to lunch. Are we upset?"

And that, Your Honor, is exactly how her head ended up between the clamps.

Forces: U.S. & Coalition/Casualties

My good friend Elaine is keeping track of our fallen soldiers on her blog. Yesterday I came across this article on CNN.com. Click on my blog title above to link directly to CNN. The article lists the breakdown of casualties as well as list the names and photos of American Soldiers.


There have been 2,438 coalition deaths, 2,238 Americans, one Australian, 98 Britons, 13 Bulgarians, two Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Hungarian, 26 Italians, one Kazakh, one Latvian, 17 Poles, two Salvadoran, three Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians in the war in Iraq as of January 26, 2006, according to a CNN count. (Graphical breakdown of casualties).

The list below is the names of the soldiers, Marines, airmen, sailors and Coast Guardsmen whose deaths have been reported by their country's governments. At least 16,548 U.S. troops have been wounded in action, according to the Pentagon. View casualties in the war in Afghanistan and examine U.S. war casualties dating back to the Revolutionary War.

Winter Blond Joke

From my friend Steve.

As a trucker stops for a red light, a blonde catches up. She jumps out of her car, runs up to his truck, and knocks on the door. The trucker lowers the window, and she says "Hi, my name is Heather and you are losing some of your load." The trucker ignores her and proceeds down the street.

When the truck stops for another red light, the girl catches up again. She jumps out of her car, runs up and knocks on the door. Again, the trucker lowers the window. As if they've never spoken, the blonde says brightly, "Hi my name is Heather, and you are losing some of your load!"

Shaking his head, the trucker ignores her again and continues down the street.

At the third red light, the same thing happens again. All out of breath, the blonde gets out of her car, runs up, knocks on the truck door. The trucker rolls down the window. Again she says "Hi, my name is Heather, and you are losing some of your load!"

When the light turns green the trucker revs up and races to the next light. When he stops this time, he hurriedly gets out of the truck, and runs back to the blonde. He knocks on her window, and after she lowers it, he says..."Hi, my name is Kevin, it's winter in Minnesota and I'm driving the SALT TRUCK!"

Closing Time

4:00 Friday and I have officially stopped working for the day.

Ahhhhhh.... the guilty pleasure of doing absolutely nothing the last hour of the day before I lock up at 4:45 and leave the office at 5:00 on the dot (Corey would be jealous).

My job last year did not allow such luxuries, so if you go back through archives, you will see that I wrote about once a week or less; I have a feeling that I will once again have a little more time during work hours to dripple across my blog and waste an entire afternoon pondering the things in life. Ahhhhhh.....

Not that my job doesn’t keep me busy, I do have things to do, but do not feel like doing them at this time. I guess I had to actually LEARN to be lazy at work. I am a good worker, a hard worker.

In my first ever job out of college when you gave me something to do I did it straight away. Then I got all my work done and had nothing left to do that day, or even the rest of the week. So... I had to learn to slow down and save things for later and become lazy.

In my second job I made the mistake of asking for extra duties and responsibilities to pass the time growing my job duties from 13 to 27 in a year. I will never do that again. Not only did my plate runnith over, do you think I got paid any more for doubling my duties?????

So, along comes job three, just as busy and really leaving no time to fluff off, not saying I never did, but it was rare.

And now back to job four. I am enjoying what I am doing. I know how to do it with little training and I am enjoying the pace I can get all my work done in the day. I do have to say that I really do think this is the first time all week I have just stopped working to enjoy the last hour of the day.

So welcome me back to the world of having the blessing to be able to relax a little at work. I will have to take advantage of it because hopefully in a few years I will be further along in my "career" (whatever that is) and one again I will be too busy to fluff off.

Happy Friday! CHEERS!

New Years 2006

Scott and I at our friend's JJ & Becky's house for New Years. 

Darth Wilhelm

"No Jon, I am not your father."

Why Marriage? by Mari Nichols

Because to the depths of me, I long to love one person,
With all my heart, my soul, my mind, my body...

Because I need a forever friend to trust with the intimacies of me,
Who won't hold them against me,
Who loves me when I'm unlikable,
Who sees the small child in me,
and Who looks for the divine potential of me...

Because I need to cuddle in the warmth of the night
With someone who thanks God for me,
With someone I feel blessed to hold...

Because marriage means opportunity
To grow in love in friendship...

Because marriage is a discipline
To be added to a list of achievements...

Because marriages do not fail, people fail
When they enter into marriage
Expecting another to make them whole...

Because, knowing this,
I promise myself to take full responsibility
For my spiritual, mental and physical wholeness

I create me,
I take half of the responsibility for my marriage
Together we create our marriage...

Because with this understanding
The possibilities are limitless.

** I read this at my sister's wedding **

New Job

Well.... it has been almost a year since I left the University and became a Social Event Planner for Genoa Woods Conference Center in Brighton, MI. As of December 30 I will be leaving Genoa Woods and going back to the University.

I have accepted a position with the Political Science Department as their Office Assistant. Not a glamorous job for someone about to finish their master's degree, but one that I am very good at. I am leaving Genoa Woods on very good terms and know that I will be part of their team again in a few years.

I have learned a lot about myself this year. What my talents and strengths are and how to value what I do in life over being miserable and well off. (I know, I know). So I will be poor and happy, until I can find something that will make me happy and rich!

Anywho... if you email me at Genoa Woods I won't be answering it after December 30. Please use my other personal email address. :o)

Jeni's Wedding

My sister got married this weekend! She is now Jeni Johnson! Click on the link above to see some pictures!

How Shannon Makes Christmas Cookies

Christmas Cookie Ingredients:
1 cup of water
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup of brown sugar
lemon juice
4 large eggs
1 cup nuts
2 cups of dried fruit
1 bottle Jose Cuervo Tequila

Sample the Cuervo to check quality. Take a large bowl, check the Cuervo again, to be sure it is of the highest quality, pour one level cup and drink.

Turn on the electric mixer...Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl. Add one teaspoon of sugar...Beat again.

At this point it's best to make sure the Cuervo is still OK, try another cup ... just in case.

Turn off the mixerer thingy. Break 2 leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit. Pick the frigging fruit off floor... Mix on the turner. If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaterers just pry it loose with a drewscriver.

Sample the Cuervo to check quality. Take a large bowl, check the Cuervo again, to be sure it is of the highest quality, pour one level cup and drink.

Next, sift two cups of salt, or something. Who giveshz a sheet. Check the Jose Cuervo. Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts. Add one table.

Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find. Greash the oven. Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over. ! Don't forget to beat off the turner. Finally, throw the bowl through the window, finish the Cose Juervo and make sure to put the stove in the dishwasher.

Buzz off!

Buzz off! ‘Mosquito’ aims to drive away teens Device’s inventor claims ultrasonic sounds audible only to young people

Reuters
Updated: 5:54 p.m. ET Nov. 30, 2005

LONDON - A Welsh inventor claims to have found the perfect solution to rowdy youngsters — noise.

Howard Stapleton says his device, the “Mosquito,” emits an uncomfortable high-pitched ultrasonic sound that can be heard by children and teenagers but almost no one over 30.
It has successfully driven away noisy teens from a grocery store in the Welsh town of Barry and a shop in Stapleton’s home town Merthyr Tydfil, making smoking, lounging and foul-mouthed youths a thing of the past.

The ability to hear high frequencies deteriorates with age, but some adults might still be able to hear the Mosquito. No one except young troublemakers appears annoyed, however.
“All I’m getting is pats on the back,” Stapleton told Reuters. “No bricks thrown at me yet.”
He said teenagers he had talked to welcomed the device too, because they used to be intimidated by gangs hanging around the shops.

The Mosquito has turned Stapleton into a media star, with appearances on British TV and radio and interest from as far afield as Australia, the United States and Canada.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10269421/

Bird Flu

The Center for Disease Control has released a list of symptoms of bird flu. If you experience any of the following, please seek medical treatment immediately:

1. High fever
2. Congestion
3. Nausea
4. Fatigue
5. Aching in the joints
6. An irresistible urge to crap on someone's windshield .