Christmas Recap

Best Gift I Got: 15 Karoake CD's to start off a very decent library. My new jam... The Rose. Not only do I rock it, but whoa... the lyrics... could they be anymore me?
Best Gift I Gave: Sock Monkey Pajama & Slipper Set along with a Jesus Sock Monkey that I found at UO for an undeserving sibling.
The Gift That Keeps On Giving: The $20 iTunes gift cards I gave the Bryana and Mikayla. They have a sleepover and spend all $40 and both get copies of the songs they chose then Bry comes over to my house and drops her entire 12 cd music collection she has with her onto my iTunes. It's a win-win for everybody.
The Worst Gift I Recieved: Fur Trimmed Socks (that must be hung dry). *scowl* That's a little too high maintenance for socks. I'm going to cut the fur off.


I had two weeks off of work for Christmas. I kicked off this local vacay by picking up the sibling cousin (not to be confused with the cousin sibling) and headed to Reno for an annual pow wow of the Gorum Tribe.

Uncle Rayfield and his offspring that spans 3 decades of sugar highs and good looks. After a few days I dropped Ray off in Napa and continued homeward to settle in before picking Carrie up at the airport for Christmas Weekend. Friday night we headed to the Brit with Chupa Crew in tow. It was a blast but ended prematurely when the bar broke into fights. We grabbed our crew and headed back to my house to break in the karoake library. Fav disc of the night had to be the beatles. We went through that one twice rapping up at 6am. Christmas Eve I headed out cookie trays and gifts in hand to do our 17th annual toy delivery to needy families. Mike came as my delivery partner and he was a complete trooper. He soldiered through our normal glitches without a single complaint. My hour and half route took much longer. We delivered to the last house at 2:30am. The next morning... Christmas morning at church I was talking to some of the girls and I kept hearing a common theme. The ladies are off of work and school and are all bored. Immediately the need wells up in me to organize a gathering. Thus a Ladies Luncheon was planned. It went great. Us girls had so much fun and it ended up going for 5 hours of just pure girly gabbing. Another day my neice Bryana came over and we made Strawberry Rocky Road ice cream and did some painting while discussing all things teenage. That really summarizes just about the whole 2 week break. I don't know yet what this New Years Weekend holds in store for me. But I'll keep you posted. possibly.

I hate to admit it because Ray says she's going to start keeping track... but I was shopping tonight and I got a really cute shirt and then there was another shirt that I really liked but it had a phrase sprawled across it in french [L'amour est tout ce que vous avez besoin.] and nobody in the store could translate. I can't buy a shirt that I don't know what it says. Perhaps it says something bad. But now that I've come home and thrown it into a online translator, I get... The love is all that you have need... roughly. So the shirt is worthy of purchase, but I'll wait until a paycheck to go back and get it. Or maybe I should just get a neighborhoodie.

So today I was thinking about personal habits and I came to the conclusion that there are two kinds of people in the world... those who live by schedule and those who live by impulse. Those who live by schedule have a time alloted for everything... they wake, shower, eat, defecate, exercise all at a particular time of their day. Always a shower in the morning or right before bed. Always eating dinner at 6pm. Waking up at 7am even on a Sunday. The ABC and XYZ of life in order. Then there are the others who live by impulse. I am almost 100% in this group. Those who eat when they are hungry. Sleep when they are tired. Wake when they are rested. Shower when they feel dirty. So how do impulse people live under schedule and how do schedule people live in impulse. And what are you and how do you know? I am passionate about scheduling but absolutely do not live by the schedules I create. On the other hand, Carrie is extremely schedule oriented in every way but leaves her schedule open to flexuation pending her impulses... well to some degree. Feel me in all about you. I'd love to know.

Since I've Been Gone - by Liz Clarkson

Just kidding... ok. What I've been doing... baking cookies, having sugar highs and caffiene dependencies, sneaking out on family time for target runs, rough housing, finding friends, seeing movies (Geisha and Narnia), feeling inspired to write at chuck e cheese, road trip, making my list and checking it twice, contemplating nye plans, family pajama party, celebrating my victory, having non-romantic candle lit nights with 2am calls from pg&e, updating my to do list for when I return, planning my next move but hoping I won't have to make it... leaving Reno Thursday morning.

I'm looking for the candy cane christ story. does anybody have it? please send it my way. thx.

And Now Back To The Show

Now that the voting is over I can go back to talking about life. Life has me on an adrenaline high. It's Christmas time. It's beautiful. Good things are happening in the lives of people around me. Today is Lani's birthday and I'm excited to help her celebrate.

I WIN!!!

Polls closed! Final Score... Me 1022 - Zut Alors 984. Yeah!!! Celebrate! Do a little dance! I would like to thank all of you who supported me by faithfully voting for me. It really meant alot and I wouldn't have been able to do it without you. Thank you especially to those who forwarded on my plight to their own distribution lists. Thank you! Thank you! And I have to give special mentions to a few individuals... first... Rob Spain! Thank you! Rob figured out how to delete cookies so I could vote countless times in a day. Secondly... Raylene, my dear sibling cousin who used all her pull and the pull of her friends to do everything she could to make sure my numbers stayed ahead even if it meant blowing off work. Thank you!! We are completely even for the time I came and re-org'd your closet! Thirdly, I have a huge Thank You to Brian Hatt, a complete stranger to me who went the extra mile to help this deserving girl get her Christmas Wish. It's like a hallmark story. Brian is the boyfriend of my cousin's high school best friend and this is how he got sucked in. And this IT whiz got around the block out and voted for me 150 times when I was in a very dire situation... actually that story is worth going into.

Sunday I had been so busy with the church festival that I had gotten 50 points behind. I didn't worry about it though because I figured I would just go home when it was all over and pull an all nighter bidding war to get ahead by the 8am closing the next morning. Well, I come home and after just a few votes, I get locked out of the system... blocked from the Neighborhoodie site all together. I break into a frantic sweat. I pull out the other computer, I reboot, I restart the modem, I attempt to change ip addresses... nothing is working. It is 1:30am and I have just 6.5 hours until I am expecting polls to close. I think there is no place I can go. I pray to God and then it comes to me. Go to Him... Church! I have the key to get into the church. So I go down there with my laptop and get onto their wireless. I vote maybe 5 times and then... bang... shut out again. I am at this point 40 points behind. I realize my shot of finding enough people to pull me ahead in the early morning hours are low. I send out an email for help to a few early risers and east coasters and fall asleep at the church sad in the realization that I am going to lose. I get back to my house with just 40 minutes before closing, and find a friend in Afganistan on AIM. I ask if he can go check my score for me seeing as I am blocked out. He comes back to tell me I'm winning! (Well, first he told me I was loosing just to joke with me but then he fessed up to the real score). I was some how 90 points ahead! I was astonished and completely baffled. It was a miracle that I could not figure out. That afternoon my cousin filled me in on an angel named Brian Hatt who was rooting in my corner. Thank you Brian!

And now that this is over I can finally just relax and enjoy victory. One more big thank you to everybody who helped! I love you all! Hey let's celebrate! Maybe Goosetown tonight?

Polls Still Open

So people have been wondering whether or not I've won NOTW. Well, for some reason unknown to me they did not close the polls on Monday morning like they were suppose to. I am still winning, but my lead is diminishing so I guess just keep up the voting until further notice. Here's the link. Do your thing. Thanks for all your support!
http://neighborhoodies.com/catalog/notw_vote.php

It's Not Too Late To Vote

Why the polls are still open? I don't know. My best guess is that they just got busy with the holiday rush and don't have time to. It's a bit frustrating because I was winning at what was suppose to be the closing time yesterday. I am still winning but now I have to monitor my lead until they up and decide to finally end it. It's a hassle. And my computer is blocked from the site so it's a little difficult to monitor. So victory isn't entirely 100% in the bag just yet. Anything could happen, but I'm hoping it will stay this course until then. So keep voting until my pics not up there anymore.

Dittie of the Day:
A true friend never says I TOLD YOU SO, even if she did.

Dittie Of The Day:
Make your own rules - they're more fun to break.
*how appropriate!

Does Everybody Have Their Fingers Crossed?

I'm completely blocked out from neighborhoodies. I can't see at all whether I am winning or not. It's maddening to not know whether I should be stressed or not, whether I should be making phone calls or not, whether I should be at a computer lab someplace voting for myself. Please God, secure me victory even though I realize how trivial it really all is in the scheme of things. I'm also praying that they close the polls promptly. I've sent an email to them to see if that can happen. On edge until then. But I hear that somehow with no thanks to me being blocked out, I have gained enough point to pull from 50 behind last night to 90 ahead this morning. So I hear. Like I said... I'm blocked out and can't monitor my progress.

Dittie Of The Day:
Don't just be the life of the party - be the party of life.

Dittie Of The Day:
Make every day independence day - pledge allegiance to yourself.

Only 4 More Voting Days... And I'm Losing!

Crisis of the Day... Zut Alors has passed me up. Please help me regain my lead. If you haven't been voting for me, please do so. It takes only a second and I make it easy as pie for you. Your votes really do mean alot to me. If you have already been consistantly voting for me, then let me take this moment to thank you for all your support. Keep up the good work, and feel free to forward this to you friends who you think you can sway into joining the cause. Thank you!
And here's your link of the day... vote away!
http://neighborhoodies.com/catalog/notw_vote.php
And keep spreading the love...
Liz

Voting Takes Only A Second

Yes, I know I'm winning but I still need your votes because Zut Alors is not really that far behind me. Please click this link and keep up the votes. Thanks!

http://neighborhoodies.com/catalog/notw_vote.php

Please Vote Again

Have you voted for me yet today? I thought this was going to be an easy victory but apparently this Zut Alors guy is putting up a fight. So please help keep me ahead.
Click this link and vote for me.
http://neighborhoodies.com/catalog/notw_vote.php
Thanks!
LIZ FOR NOTW!!

GO VOTE FOR ME!!

LIZ FOR NOTW!!

Now I know some of you are little confused about what's going on so I'll do some clarifying for you. Neighborhoodies is an absolutely amazing company that creates customized clothing. I am a huge fan. Last Wednesday their staff chose my neighborhoodie creation to be the Neighborhoodie Of The Day (NOTD). This week all of last weeks NOTD's go up for election on their website to see who will become the Neighborhoodie Of The Week (NOTW). The voting runs through next Monday morning. The winner wins a "glamorous prize" of some sorts. I'm not doing it for the prize. I want the recognition of being put on in the NOTW archives. Please help me out.

Here's what you can do... Go vote for me.

Click on this link.... http://neighborhoodies.com/catalog/notw_vote.php

Then select the submission for 11/30 of me in my shirt.

Then click the "Vote Now" button.

Then repeat the process from any other computers you have access to every day until next Monday. It will count one vote per ip address per day. I'll send you reminders.

Thanks for your votes.

Liz

Mom Sick As Death

So after 4 days of complete and utter misery, my mother submits herself to going to the doctor. She's really bad so I take her to the emergency room. I'm prepared for a very long wait, but am surprised for the God send of them taking her right away. Her initial blood pressure was extremely low so the take her in and give her a bed right away, but then her blood pressure reads just fine. I think it was the coat she was wearing. Then they kind of narrow it down to just the typical flu symptoms and I'm a bit worried they are going to bypass the seriousness of it. But then there is the fluid in her lungs and the chest xrays that show that she has really bad double neumonia. They admitted her and are keeping her for a few days. I just got home. I have to get a little rest before work. Pray for my mom to be able to rest and heal quickly.