Currently browsing: contest

WordPress updated

It’s over with, and it wasn’t too painful. At least I remembered to update my WP-Config this time.

That said, I’ve been hearing horror stories from others who’ve tried to upgrade, so I guess I’m counting myself lucky. So far I’ve updated this site and BYKYC. I’ll most likely be doing the others later this week (or whenever time allows).

My darling Jim passed this gem to me and I know there are a couple readers here who’ve asked me if I knew of such a thing: WordPress Automatic Upgrade. The website says it’s compatible with the latest version of WP, but I have not yet had a chance to try it out myself. (may do so on a less ‘popular’ site, LOL!)

An update on things …

New Orleans was fun, but like all vacations it wasn’t long enough. Work has been absolute Hell lately, and the insurance company that we’ve been trying to settle with (remember my wreck, going on 2 months ago?) is giving us the run-around, so I’m stressing a bit more than usual.

To those who’ve asked about the Lunarpages WordPress Theme Design contest, no I didn’t win anything. But I am VERY grateful to those who voted for me! There’s been some speculation as to how the deciding votes (LP staff?) really came out, but in all honesty I’m just happy being nominated … for now. ;P

Speaking of theme designs, I’ve submitted a handful of mine to the new WordPress Theme Directory. So hopefully those will show up soon.

SA on the slow track …

I feel pretty bad that I haven’t gotten as much done on my Soldiers’ Angels stuff as I’d hoped. I am beginning to think that maybe I’ve bitten off more than I can chew in helping the warehouse/donations tracking, Walmart grants, all the websites, and even my own projects here for SA of Alabama. I’m feeling VERY overwhelmed, and frankly a little disappointed because the local response hasn’t gone as well as I’d been hoping.

There is a glimmer of hope though. A gentleman waved at me while stopped at a redlight last week and told me that he saw my bumper stickers (Soldiers’ Angels) and that he just had to thank me for supporting our soldiers. I’m not in SA for any kind of recognition or personal glory, but it IS nice feeling appreciated, and reminds me of why I want to do so much …

Geekery

About three weeks ago I heard from one of my old Neopets buddies, Rose. We talked for a bit and caught each other up on how our families were doing, and the usual. She nudged me about possibly re-joining Neopets, so on a whim I did. My character name this time around is BamaAngels so if you’re on, look me up!

(boy, what I wouldn’t give to have all that NP stuff I gave away, LOL!!!)

Also, I am now an active Editor for Addons.Mozilla.org again. I feel badly for neglecting those duties for so long, but am happy to say that I’m now back and trying to do a little each week to help out the AMO gang.

Final vote bleg!

For those who’ve asked: bleg = blog + beg

Well, the Lunarpages WordPress Theme Design Contest final vote is upon us at last. I currently have two designs in the final vote, but I would like Translucent Dream (what I view as my best design) to win, so here I am — blegging.

Please please PLEASE go vote for me! (Please?) :mrgreen:

(It’s the 3rd one listed.)

Voting will run until July 7th and the winners will be announced July 8th!

Oh for the love of Pete … VOTE PLEASE?!

I seriously need to get my collective butt in gear, and soon! Guess who’s got another design up for vote in Lunarpages’ WordPress theme design contest?

Yup … serves me right for not reading my emails.

So if you’re so inclined and very kind, could you maybe spare a vote? (Please?)

Home instead

Our weekend plans changed abruptly this morning. Jim’s mom isn’t feeling well, so we decided to stay in B’ham and go down to Montgomery next weekend instead. Jessie was crushed — she’s been looking forward to this trip for the last month plus. BUT, a trip to Target’s toy aisles helped ease the blow a little. (along with a couple pieces of designer jewelry, or “fake bling” as she called it, LOL!) Now she’s content playing XBox.

This actually works out to my favor because I got to finish up my newest theme and update a couple others that I had wanted to submit to the LP design contest.

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeet!

This also allows me to finish up some Soldiers’ Angels business that I thought I was going to have to put off until next week. (ya gotta email comin’, Angels!) Plus, we’ll be hitting the gun show tomorrow — Jessie’s never been, and hopefully she’ll go with us.

I think she’ll really enjoy it, I always have!

Busy weekend and belated ‘thanks’

I swear, I think our weekends are getting to be busier than our weekdays! ;P Friday was pretty hectic, and add the bad weather on top of that, it made for an interesting start to the weekend. Jessie’s karate test was Saturday — she’s now moved up from orange belt to a purple belt! Jim and I took pictures and filmed, so hopefully those will be up soon. We had a chance to talk to Jessie’s senseis for a bit, and both had nothing but good things to say about our little ray of sunshine. I noted that ever since beginning taking karate, she’s shown so much improvement … both in the dojo and outside of it!

Jessie left after the test with her mother. Jim and I went over to see my folks and saw my brother Jeremy and his wife Christy. They had Ryland with them, so I got to spend a little time with my favorite niece.

Isn’t she precious?

Stupidity knows no bounds

Today Jim and Jessie took me to brunch for Mother’s Day. I got a little aggravated earlier because I specifically told her mother that I was picking her up early and that we were going out to eat. Originally it was supposed to be breakfast … I pick Jessie up and find out that her mother had her EAT BREAKFAST right before I was to pick her up!

*beats head into wall repeatedly*

I swear, one of these days I’m bound to say something to this woman that I know I will regret, but that she also fully DESERVES.

So we waited a bit and went for ‘brunch’ … Jessie was hungry enough and Jim and I were starving! There was a slight ‘incident’ with a group that cut in line infront of us and another family. When I said something to one of the party members, she muttered something about us being ‘racists’ — the party members were black. :roll:

They moved on before I could say anything else, but I was fully ready to retort with, “It has nothing to do with race. The color of one’s skin does NOT exempt one from using common courtesy and manners!”

So I fumed a bit, but got over it. We were at Ryan’s and the food and service were great, which fully made up for the inconvenience before being seated. In their defense, it WAS packed, which made it a bit hard for the staff at the front to keep track of who should be where. However, that being said, I find it hard NOT to notice the general lack of manners by people I run across in public nowadays.

To most of these people, I am dying to say, “I *KNOW* your mother taught you better!”

A heart-felt and belated “Thanks!”

If all goes well, it looks like I’ll win this round in the Lunarpages’ WordPress theme design contest. I am completely overwhelmed by the response and surge in votes from family, friends, and extended community. I emailed a few close to me, and just about every one of them emailed their friends and family, and so on and so forth; and I posted on here and you each voted and responded in kind. (thank you!!) My Cotillion sisters rose to the occasion offering support and votes (thank you, girls! I love y’all!). Jim reached out to his guild and the guys have been very supportive with votes and feedback. (thank you!!) And last but certainly not least, the gargantuan legion of members over at the Soldiers’ Angels forums were a tremendous help in attaining and keeping the lead. (thank you very very much, Angels!!!)

Vote for me?

I really should be ashamed of myself. I submitted my “Translucent Dream” theme 2 weeks ago, and figured it wasn’t going to be picked and totally forgot about it.

I didn’t read my feeds yesterday because I was out most of the day with Jess … she had an orthodontist appointment, then karate class, then she and I spent the rest of the afternoon and most of the evening working on my mother’s Mother’s Day gift that Jessie was planning to give her.

I was too tired to read the feeds or my email for that matter, last night and put it off until this morning. Now I wish I had checked them sooner! My “Translucent Dream” theme was chosen for this week’s round in Lunarpages’ WordPress theme design contest. So now I’m a total spazz, hehe.

Please please PLEASE go vote for me! (Please?)

Catsup …

Ok, so I’m just now finally getting around to making a serious post … a bit of catch up for you guys:

My grandfather’s wake and funeral last weekend had a good turn out, I was glad to see so much of the family come together. Heh, I’ve never seen so many red-haired men together in once place. (Daddy’s side is German, mom’s is Irish … go figure …)

I’m feeling a little better this week. I am still a little worried about my dad, but he says that he’s at peace about Pap’s passing. He was there at the hospital with him when he passed on, and he said that he felt really good about it.

Jessie’s school orientation was Tuesday night, so we got to meet her new teacher. She’s an older lady, very nice, and a strict disciplinarian. I really like her, and I think Jessie will like her … she’s just going to have a hard time following directions at first. (which is something she’s had a hard time doing the past year) I think she’ll be good for her. She starts school today, in fact.

I know Jessie has been really excited about starting back to school. She had told me earlier this week that she’s been upset lately because she was lonely and wanted to go back to school so badly so she could see her friends. Poor thing cries when she’s at her mom’s because she doesn’t have anyone to talk to or play with, it breaks my heart. :cry:

She has a birthday coming up next week. I had bought her some Neopets stuffed toys and a few accessories for her room, so I know she’ll be excited about that. Plus, I saw something Tuesday night that I really wanted to get for her: an Alabama cheerleader outfit. It was SO PRECIOUS!!! They also had little pink football jerseys with the University of Alabama name and logo on them. *grins* I can’t resist that, and she would love them.

hehe, my dad’s favorite thing to do is to prompt her with “Jessie, what do you think of Auburn?” and of course Jessie replies “Auburn stinks!!!”

LOL, she’s so cute.

Still haven’t heard anything back from BCBS, but I’m still hoping. It would be awesome if I were hired on by them. The benefits alone would make it worth it … but the pay hike definitely helps! hehehe

Things here on the current job are sucking big time. We have a huge company-wide meeting coming up in a couple of weeks, and something tells me that they’ll announce who it is they’ve decided to lay off after that. (All big changes are always announced after these things … I guess they don’t want us pissed off until AFTER all the national reps leave town. *shrug*)

I have a good feeling that neither Jim’s nor my job is in danger, but if I’m reading the tea leaves correctly, a friend of mine will be let go. And it’s not just that she’s a friend that pisses me off about it, she’s an extremely hard worker and a very well-organized manager. It’s just that she comes across as abrasive at times. Many of our reps refuse to deal with her because she won’t kiss their ass. Hell, she and I have tangled plenty of times, but I don’t have anything against her for that. She doesn’t put up with bullshit, and if you’re not doing your job she doesn’t have a problem telling you so.

*sigh* There are so many things about this place that bothers me. I’ve seen them screw clients over/out of money. I’ve seen them screw some of the reps over who work for us for commission. And not only money matters, but I worry for security reasons. They aren’t exactly current (read: legal) as far as software licensing goes, and when we have approached the owner, we’ve been put off. I’ve expressed concerns of being audited since I started. If memory serves me, if we’re audited then Jim and I are the ones responsible … never mind the fact that many of the software packages were installed prior to our employment, were lost, left with former employees, or … obtained by “other means” … That worries me … and that’s the biggest reason I’m looking for another job. I don’t plan on being their scapegoat, thank you.

But I digress …

For the time being I’m biding my time and trying to gain all the experience I can so I can move on to better and bigger things.

Somebody please hire me. ??:

Ok, now for something light-hearted. Jessie and I had gone to pick up some take out the other night for dinner; and I don’t remember how we got on the subject, but we did … gross foods. She doesn’t like mayonaise, so she was fussing about how “gross” it was. So I then began to tell her about how when I was in school we would have gross out contests during lunch and that I usually won. She asked what kinds of things I ate, and I listed the ones I could remember — my favorite being chilli and oreos. Yes, together. I tried it as a dare and loved it. LOL, this thoroughly grossed her out so I named another that I thought was “ok” but grossed my friends out: french fries and chocolate ice cream. She says “Now HEY! I like that!! That’s not weird!” LOL, funny how it’s not weird if *she* likes it.

So what “gross” things do you guys like and/or eat?