Dentist Skit - Go Pee First :o)

I had a Project Management Meeting last night, and during the presentation, this clip was shown. We laughed so hard that many of us had tears running down our faces. So my warning to you is - go pee first LOL.

Tim Conway & Harvery Korman Dentist Skit @ Yahoo! Video

Presidential Family Death

The first family leaving the White House this month will be without one of its longtime members: the Bush family's 18-year-old cat has died.

The first lady's office said Monday that India, a black American shorthair named for former Texas Rangers player Ruben Sierra, died Sunday at the White House.

Bush daughter Barbara, then 9, named the cat “India” after Sierra, a former major league player, whose nickname was "El Indio." President George W. Bush was a former co-owner of the Texas Rangers.

When Bush daughters Barbara and Jenna went to college, the cat stayed at the White House with the president and first lady. The family affectionately called the cat “Kitty.”

Sheeba says "who says mans best friend is a dog, or the only friend a President can have - cats rule, dogs drool." The news feeds have said that the cat did not want to leave the luxury of the White House :o)

Sunday Silliness - Conformity :o)

Special second Sunday Silliness this week because I failed you last week while I was in Sin City :o)

When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.

Sunday Silliness - Compromise :o)

Let's agree to respect each others views, no matter how wrong yours may be.

(I am sure we have all met people like this LOL)

Change - It Is A Good Thing :o)

Change seems to be inevitable in today's day of age. Even planned and positive change can be tough. So what can we do to ease the transition???

One of the things we need to do is recognize where change may come from - relationships may change (retirements or moves), roles may shift (illness, children marry), routines may be altered (new job, new baby).

We also need awareness that our assumptions may change. Life changes (being laid off, a promotion, etc.) can impact our sense of worth, or our self-confidence. The change can be positive or negative, planned or unplanned, but that does not mean that we do not need coping mechanisms.

* Modify your thinking. Play down the bad parts of the transition, and play up the good.

* Modify the situation. For example, if in a new job, ask for an early performance appraisal.

* Develop a support system. Family, friends, organizations. This can help provide affirmation for the change, as well as assistance and a sense of feeling cared for.

* Cut stress. Steps could include counseling, exercise, massage - what ever helps keep you calm.

* Be patient. Some change can take a year or more to re-establish a comfort zone. Be kind to yourself during the transition. Also, make sure you are compassionate with others that are impacted and/or sharing in the change. You never know, the person you help may be yourself :o)

Vegas Baby - Paris/Bally's

We stayed at Bally's, which it turns out is associated with Harrah's, Caesars, Horseshoe, Flamingo, Grand, Harvey's, Imperial Palace, Paris, Rio, Sheraton, and Showboat. So we signed up for the TotalRewards card that will maybe, someday, give us some comps and discounts. For the gambling we did at Bally's, I have so far earned, are you ready, a $0.04 discount, whohoo :o)

Bally's and Paris were connected via a shopping/restaurant corridor. We did not spend much time in Paris, more just passed through on our way to shuttles and such, but I did want to share these two shots. The ceiling in Paris is painted to look like the sky, and you can see one of the legs of the Eiffel Tower in the first shot (there will be pictures coming on another day of the view from the top of the tower :o) The light blue ceiling with the clouds really made the casino feel open and inviting, it was nice.

One of the first things we noticed at Bally's was the lounge with the name of one of our dear Spotterville friends, it made us feel immediately at home :o)

As you can see from the last picture, we were very happy to be on our mini-vacation in FABULOUS Las Vegas :o) Notice our Vegas Bling we got for signing up for the TotalRewards card.

If you have never been to casinos, and Las Vegas especially, they try and entice you by offering points clubs for spending money at the casinos. During this trip, our friend Steve became the "Card" man, and I was "Coupon" man since we got three separate coupon books [one at check in, and one each when we signed up for TotalRewards] for drink discounts at Bally's (which we used as often as we could). These coupons also got us 2 for 1 on the Eiffel Tower experience.

Vegas News :o)

Sunday's travel day was not bad at all. Our flight out of South Bend was only delayed 30 minutes, and we had a three hour layover in Chicago, so had no problem with making the connection and getting into Sin City while the night was relatively young (we got to the hotel at about 8:30 P.M.). We forgot how long of a flight from Chicago it is, three and a half hours.

We met up with our friends Kim and Steve, had a cool amber beverage, and then headed to explore Bally's and Paris casinos. We will write more about them when we return, but the ceilings in Paris are painted like the sky, it is very inviting. We played a few slots, a little blackjack (only $10 tables, that did not last long) and some craps (this was fun because we were able to teach the rules to Kim and Steve). Alas, we did not win big the first night (down about $100), but all in all, a fun evening.

Today, we met up about 10:30 A.M., and headed to the Rio for a look around, and then across the street to the Gold Coast (the picture above shows the weather, in the high forties, and a bit overcast, and also the fact that some construction is still occurring, but it has slowed a bit). We had a blast playing some blackjack, and I ended up $70, and Beth down $50, so pretty good for about three hours of gambling. The picture here shows Steve, Beth, a wonderful gentleman (who helped Kimberly weather her first blackjack experience, she did great by breaking even over a three hour period), and Kim. The last hour, I was able to get a seat at the table, and we had a fun time with a guy from central Michigan.

We came back to the hotel, got cleaned up, and headed to dinner. We went to a burger place, and Beth had a Cobb salad and I had a Blue Cheese burger. The deserts were fabulous, we had a Cheese Cake with fresh berries, it was the smoothest I have ever had.

We then headed to the Mirage (a nice brisk walk to burn off some of the burger), and saw an amazing Cirque Du Solie (spelling?) show, LOVE, with a Beatles theme. One a scale of 1 to 10, Beth would rate it an 11, and I would rate it a 9.5 (mine is slightly less because I am not quite the music aficionado that Beth is, and the show had great dancing, but less tumbling and such). We had front row seats, and it was amazing. I will leave the graphic descriptions to Beth and her wonderful talent with prose.

Tomorrow we are headed to old Vegas for the Neon Sign Museum tour, some seafood buffet, and the whole Fremont Street Experience :o) I am sure there will be some more blackjack in our plans as well.

Needless to say, the first night and day in Vegas exceeded expectations. We have to pay for Internet, so are not going to be able to provide regular updates or many pictures until we return (besides, we are not spending very much time in the room :o). Hope your week is going well, and know that even though we are not visiting you right now, does not mean we are not thinking of you all and wishing you well.

Vegas Baby !

Not much to report from this end. Yesterday we ran a few errands and puttered around the house. We watched the Colts last night, but unfortunately, they lost. So both of our teams are out of the playoffs. So we think we will root for the Titans :o)

We are all packed, and our flight leaves at about 2:00. We are headed to Las Vegas for a few days. You can read the details over at Nutwood Junction, where Beth explained our plans and how we are meeting with our great friends Steve and Kim.

We are already in Vegas mode, staying up until the wee hours of the morning and sleeping in most of the morning. So, expect some weird posting times :o)

Enjoy your Sunday :o)

Is It Spring Yet ? :o)

The main goal today was to get the reclaimed bedroom set up as an office today. The thing is, I do not "spring clean" my files and such nearly enough. So today, there were two boxes of garbage and two boxes of burn barrel (things that have sensitive info on them, and we do not want to throw away, the whole identity theft thing, don't you know :o).

After disposing of the boxes, it was time to haul the roll-top desk top, solid oak file cabinet, and desk drawers upstairs (needed some help from my bride since the stairs are steep and oak is heavy), and then set up the desk and put the files back into the drawers. All in all, after five hours, with a few Mafia Wars on Facebook breaks (an amber beverage may also have been involved), the room has been set up.

The roll-top is closed because there is almost a year's worth of filing, in anticipation of tax preparation, that needs to be done. That is a project for another day. You can see that we have my desk set up, and two chairs for a reading room (see the bookcase in the background?).

Hope your short week is going well, and here is looking forward to the weekend :o)

Happy 2009 To Everyone :o)

My wish to you is that 2009 meets, and exceeds, your goals and desires.

I have set my resolve to focus on the people that are an active part of my life. This includes my wife, her family, my Mom and Step-dad, and of course my friends here in Spotterville :o) I will continue to reach out to those family and friends that we have become somewhat distant with, but that is a secondary objective. One thing that is exciting is that we know we will be meeting a few of our fellow Bloggers this year.

My goal is to spend more time in the yard this year, getting our veggie garden back to health, putting in a flower garden with waterfall, and working on our forest path. The added benefit is that this falls right in line with being healthy and getting excercise.

At work, I plan on focusing on the things I really need to get done, that add value, and not sweat the smaller things. There are lots of things that we can do to help make our workdays fun and less stressful, thereby improving our overall quality of life.

Last, but certainly not least, I will continue to search out ways that I can give back. A book I read several years ago (Halftime, by Bob Buford) has the following premise: "One of the most common characteristics of a person nearing the end of the first half (of the game of life) is that unquenchable desire to move from success to significance." I am certainly transitioning to the second half in this wonderful game of life, and truly look forward to the significance focus.

Picking our focus areas, where we can have the most impact, or get the best return, is certainly better than chasing the wisp of our pasts, wondering "What-If." I find the view through the windshield is much better than the rear view mirror. Happy New Year, and wishing you Health, Prosperity, and Happiness.