Drugs and Alcohol

The very sad and untimely death of Michael Jackson brings up some questions as to the success of drug rehab. There are ways that drug rehab agencies can test to see if the methods are successful but in large part I believe that much of a program's success depends on the individual's true belief that there is a problem. Addicts are excellent at denial when it comes to their problems. Being a smoker I can attest to that fact first hand. While it isn't the 'worst' type of addiction it is a strong and serious addiction. When it comes to pharmaceuticals, either prescription or illegal, the stronghold is even tougher. Alcohol is yet another of the strongest of addictions and one that many have trouble dealing with as an addiction because it is so common place an many who do drink alcohol are not addicted to it. There is such a fine line with addiction problems especially like alcohol. It takes experienced hands of professionals to help addicts deal with their problems, but the first step must be clearly defining the problem to the addict themselves.

Writing Life

I remember when I was younger and I always heard 'write what you know'. It use to aggravate me because I couldn't see how anyone could write what they know all the time. Truly it is possible, especially in this Internet age to write some things you do not know simply by doing thorough research, especially if you are writing fiction because there is some artistic license involved. However, whether fiction or non-fiction I have begun to realize that writing just in general comes easier as I get older. Closing in on 50 there are many things I have first hand experience in that 20 years ago I didn't even dream of. Writing about everything flows a little better, and researching even becomes easier because you know what to look for.

Finally Doing It Right

I have to say I'm proud of my daughter for finally getting her head on straight. She went back to school and in less than a week will be graduating with a certified nursing license. It is just a start on her path to working in the health field. There are a lot of jobs in health care but she wants to be a registered nurse. She is going to start school in that right after graduating and already has a job lined up with a local hospital where she lives. They are also going to pay for her further schooling so that is a real bonus. It took her a lot of years and gave me a lot of gray hair but she's finally doing it right.

The MAFIA

Okay, not the real mafia, but more fun, less dangerous, and something anyone can do to kill time online. That's right I have found yet another distraction from work, although this one is a lot more fun than just blogging, twitting, or other things like that. I found MAFIA WARS. Apparently they have it on Facebook too but I found it on Tagged.com

Tagged has all of the normal features. Sort of a combination Facebook/MySpace, and it has Mafia Wars. I've only been playing for a few days but someone I know had played it for a long time. It's just a fun diversion but you get kind of a kick out of 'earning' millions of dollars an hour, buying property, weapons, and kicking butt.

Update Wisconsin

I just got an update from the Realtor in Wisconsin who we have been working through to look for a place by Lake Geneva. She found us a beautiful condo and we are seriously considering it. Moving that far will require hiring long distance movers. That's a big change from any other move we've ever made. Not that we're experts or anything. I suppose we could just do it ourselves but it would take several long distance trips and that just doesn't make sense. The real decision isn't in how we would move but if we really want to. We are both thinking about future retirement, relaxing, not having to work so hard so getting rid of almost 11 acres worth of work makes sense. Plus we both adore a lake view and Lake Geneva is simply breathtaking. Actually the condo is on Lake Como just a few miles from Lake Geneva but it's big and beautiful and what's better is that unlike condos in Lake Geneva the town this is a huge beautifully landscaped condo resort. Second consideration is that it is in a colder state than where we are now. As I've said, I am not fond of the cold. However, summers are beautiful there and if I didn't have to go outside during the winter to do chores, how bad could it be? And we'd have that gorgeous view to look out at. Even in the winter the lake is beautiful frozen over.

5 days blown away

Well, what a morning. To start it off I have been emotional and crazy for about 5 days because I was quitting smoking. Notice I said "was". That's right, this morning was the kicker. I'd been dealing with everything pretty well, if constantly crying. Some of the tears were in response to the untimely death of Michael Jackson... some of them were nicotine withdrawal. This morning however, I was toodling away, minding my own business and working on my computer when POP... gone. Now I still do not know what happened, or why, but I was sure I had crashed.

Run to the store for an emergency cigarette run. I need my computer. It's how I work. (and play)

On the way home (after a cigarette) I came up with the thought that it might have been the power cord in the living room and I had a spare in my office. That worked. Now it also came up that something was wrong with the start up and needed repair. I'm not sure how a power problem would cause that. At the same time that repair screen did not come up in the living room on the other cord. But it if had been a power problem why didn't the battery kick in? All kinds of questions and no answers...

except one... I needed that cigarette to think clearly enough to come up with a solution. LOL I'm going to try again though after I finish this pack. Can't let a $5.00 pack of cigarettes go to waste. It's the cost that made me decide to quit as it is.

Hot and Cold

Hubby really wants to go to Alaska next March. He wants to see the Iditarod. Hum, well, my idea of a perfect vacation is not Alaska in the wintertime I don't care how many races are going on. I have decided that he can go there, and I am checking into some Orlando vacations for myself. Now Florida in the wintertime... that is my idea of the perfect vacation spot. I could deal with a vacation anywhere in the summer but in the winter I am very picky. It has to be WARM. Hubby never cared if it was cold. He could always deal with extreme temperatures. The only extreme I can deal with is hot. I prefer mild and temperate but if I have to choose between 40 below and knee deep snow and ice compared to sandy warm beaches--there's no choice to be made.

Blessed Journey

Time to Care

I've been playing with my diet for the past year. The year before I went gang-busters, but not this last one. However, even though I've said repeatedly I have to find a good diet aid to help me out, now I seriously do. The vacation did a lot to relax me, but it destroyed my diet. I need to find fat loss pills that will help me lose the pounds I packed on going out to a steak house, a seafood restaurant, a brunch at the hotel, and a Chicago style pizza place amongst others on the 4 day vacation spree where I knew I was eating too much, but just didn't care. It's time to care.

Take Time To Relax

Probably the hardest thing for people who work for themselves, especially those that work from home, is learning how to take a break. It's hard. I was getting laughed at by my husband this weekend when we went on vacation because of course the computers came along for the ride, and of course I had to do some work. I was better than I usually am and really resisted doing much, but I simply cannot completely leave the computer alone. He teased me once saying "you really don't understand the concept of a vacation do you?" Really though, all in all I did do a fair job of not working, and really enjoyed myself and that's so important when you work 7 days a week, 12, 14 hours a day on an easy day all year round. You have to take a break or you burn out.

Stopping Myself

I'm going the diet path alone again but I don't know if I can keep it up. It isn't really working. I don't know what I was doing so right last year but this year nothing seems to work. I'm going to have to start looking for a diet pill again that will help out. There are so many and it's hard to tell what works and what doesn't. I like the sites that offer reviews. At least if they work for someone else there's a good chance it will work for you too. If only I could catch that magic I was living where the weight just seemed to slide off. I have to start exercising regularly again. That's probably a large part of it. I exercised so much last time I kept getting hurt though so now, while I am exercising (I didn't buy all that expensive equipment for nothing, lol) I tend to be more sporadic about it and am always a little hesitant and trying to keep from getting injured. I need to just go for it and not worry about it so much, deal with injuries and not let it stop me.

The Burn and Pain

My favorite show is back on USA. Burn Notice came on again for its 3rd season and didn't disappoint. Jeffery Donovan is a fantastic actor. A surprise new show that debut last Thursday right after Burn Notice called Royal Pains turned out to be equally fascinating. It was tons of fun so my Thursday night dance card is full thanks to those two shows.

Shopping Thrills

I love shopping online because you can find so many things at wholesale prices, including books. I used to buy plenty of books, but was somewhat limited because of cost, and the fact that bookstores were so far away from me. Shopping for them, and everything else online, eliminates both of those issues--cost and distance. I am a buying fool now. It seems like every other day some new packages is being dropped at my door. I think the UPS and FEDEX guys know my address by heart.

Is it Live?

Do you remember the old commercials "Is it live, or is it Memorex?" I had to laugh because that line kept playing in my head when hubby brought something funny to my attention. We've been watching that reality show "I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here" (may comment on that later) and they're always saying how they are broadcasting Live from the Jungle, yesterday at the end they were showing upcoming clips from the next night's episode and my husband turned to me and said "if it's live how do they have a clip from tomorrow?" Good catch! haha, it's MEMOREX.