Deep In The Forrest

The following quote, which I first ran across some time ago is one that merits daily reminder, but we get so caught up in our day-to-day grind and are so busy 'white knuckle gripping' the things we are so hellbent on worrying and stressing over that we allow it to fall to the wayside. "Until Further Notice... Celebrate Everything!" Now I am not certain the origin of this quote, though I have seen it repeated many places, and also seen it as the title of published materials. No matter, the concept is one of the best pieces of advice we could receive. As most of us have experienced, or will realize soon enough in life, nothing is certain, nothing lasts forever, time flies and as Stephen King said it best in his novel '11/22/63' (which I highly recommend reading, by the way), "Life turns on a dime. Sometimes towards us, but more often it spins away, flirting and flashing as it goes: so long, honey, it was good while it lasted, wasn’t it?" So ce...

When you're a teenager, there is this little 'magical, electrical' feeling you get sometimes when you're excited about something that, in my own personal experience, just doesn't happen later in life, or at least not past the 20s. Maybe it's just me. Crushes and fun moments always felt that way though. Originally, I started this post yesterday to recognize "Remember Your First Kiss Day", but I got busy and didn't get to finish. So we'll still say that we are celebrating "First Kisses", and you get a fun story to boot. You see, during  High School, when we got our class rings, there was some sort of ritual about 'turning our class rings', which I believe I misunderstood. I thought it was that you turned your ring when you received your 'first kiss'. How I came to this conclusion, I am still not sure. Because in searching a bit about it on the internet, there is a 'ring turning tradition' but it has nothing to ...

We talk about our Moms a lot here on the blogs, but that's because to Chelly and to me, our Mothers were such role models and strong, hard to forget women, just like we aspire to be. Now, to know me as an adult, you would never even imagine me outdoors doing anything remotely close to building a fire, setting up tents or learning to cook in the ground or over a flame. Stepping on a snake, or lying awake all night under the stars while getting eaten alive by Mississippi's state bird (Mosquito) are things that I avoid with every ounce of my soul.  I mean,  my gosh . Girl Scouts are always doing things like cleaning up trash on the highways and getting stung by bees, singing "Kumbaya", hiking in the swelter, mucking around outside in the stinky, muddy, sweaty outdoors.  However, there was a time that I, Auntie Jax braved the elements and did my time learning survival skills, earning patches and of course, selling those famous cookies we all know and love. Things have...

Life is uncertain, so let's continue finding something to celebrate every day. Now, I am not the most consistent person when it comes to my trends, or my writing. I am trying hard to make the effort. You can keep encouraging me. I have included today's list below, and out of these, I chose "National Crayola Crayon Day" as it peaks my inner child's artistic enthusiasm, as well as reminds me of a funny story about myself and my heart-thumping 5th/6th grade crush, Ken. Oh lord, Ken... He and his family were from deep in the heart of Texas. Ken was the middle son of three boys, and six years my senior. With that rich, Texan drawl, and his sky blue eyes and sandy hair, he was the wild child star of my middle school dreams (insert hilarious giggle there). His parents and my parents were best friends, they hung out and visited one another, had dinners, coffee, played dominoes, all that.  Funny how you think at that age, but I was convinced that if I could just have one...

Get Your Tongue Outta My Mouth Cause I'm Kissing You Goodbye! No, I'm not going through some gut wrenching breakup, or yet another heartache, I'm celebrating today's chosen obscure silly holiday. Of which I listed below, my choice to recognize is "Quirky Country Music Song Titles Day". Why? Because it reminds me so much of my Dad always singing silly lyrics and making up just that, funny country song titles (or perhaps repeating those he had heard)., that and several other song titles I've seen around are pretty funny. Enjoy the video below (one of many funny titles in country music you can find)... just for a little early-week laugh. Observed annually on March 27th: Celebrate Exchange Day National Joe Day National Spanish Paella Day Quirky Country Music Song Titles Day World Theatre Day Enjoy the rest of your week... smile. Just me, Jax

Everyone loves a holiday. I happen to prefer the type of holiday that gets you a paid day off from work. However, any cause for celebration can be fun. If you're a regular on Facebook, or any other social media tool, you've likely seen people post up trivial "national  (    fill in the blank     ) day" at some point. I've seen some interesting ones lately. Yesterday, evidently I missed "National Puppy Day". There's always some interesting, crazy, or funny holiday that someone has tagged up, and I'm not saying they're not legitimate, but pretty odd at times, you have to wonder. So after googling it... Today, March 24th is apparently recognized for the following: -National Cocktail Day -National Chocolate Covered Raisin Day (yum!) -International Day for Achievers --and last but not least-- World Tuberculosis Day So interestingly enough, today in history reflects the following amazing and wonderful fact: 1882  Robert Koch...

Ask anyone who knows me really well, and they will attest to the fact that I am usually an upbeat, funny person to be around. I always want to uplift people, and I crack jokes, and keep people laughing and smiling as much as I can. It's a part of me that I inherit from my father. I would like to do the same thing when I blog, or write. I see the contrast between the person that I am when I am sitting at the table having coffee with you, to the person that I am through the written word. That's difficult sometimes though. I want to write comically all the time, but sometimes I just have to vent and get rid of aggression, anger or sadness. I've been thinking about so many things I wanna blog about and I will note them and safe them to refer back to later, and then when I finally get time to go back they are basically no longer relevant. So it's like I really should blog right when I am thinking about these ideas or they go flying moot out the window... what's a terribl...

Well, well... hope your day is going very nicely! Our summer heat is still in full force lately, and I can tell my air conditioner has a hard time keeping up. We have shut a couple of the doors, and closed off vents in hopes that the other rooms will be a little cooler. Hell, my folks grew up without air conditioning, and they lived! Of course, we're all spoiled brats these days, and I swear it is hotter than ever. Sorry to report that this week we aren't having a WWC due to the recent death in Tink's fiancee's family. She's just extended last week's, I think, and we'll resume next week! Still keep them in your thoughts please, because as we all know, losing someone is always hard, and it never gets easier. But you learn how to cope, and live, and move forward... I know though, that there is always a big empty spot. Also you should know that these loved ones will always be with you, but you have to pay attention, and be open to the little things. :) So inst...

This was a forward to me in an e-mail. It's really funny, and it makes me want to do this to the next people who piss me off. Even if I decide not to, it was a stress relief just to read it. You may or may not have seen it before, but give it a read. It certainly bears repeating, I giggle every time I read it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ANGER MANAGEMENT When you occasionally have a really bad day, and you just need to take it out on someone, don't take it out on someone you know, take it out on someone you don't know. I was sitting at my desk when I remembered a phone call I'd forgotten to make. I found the number and dialed it. A man answered, saying "Hello." I politely said, "This is Chris. Could I please speak with Robyn Carter?" Suddenly a manic voice yelled out in my ear "Get the right f*** ing number!" and the phone was slammed down on me. I couldn't believe that anyone could be so rude. When I tracked down Robyn's...

(and of course the Squirrels too!) This post was inspired by Tink , that's right, the director of our Weekly Words Challenge. We have a blast and if you haven't joined the fun, go here for details! Tink asked me on a comment yesterday how I got so close to the squirrel that was in my photo. Well, it's simple. The squirrels and the pigeons of Downtown Memphis are the tamest I've seen anywhere. I have proof in my story and photos below. The reason they are so tame, I guess, is that they are so used to people and being fed by all the visitors and the locals (including probably the homeless people), that they are not afraid of anything! Seriously. For instance, here is a squirrel I stopped to feed once. (Squirrel food Courtesy of Memphis' own Peanut Shoppe , if you're in Memphis you gotta go there, they have the best nuts in town!!) Here's a good story to illustrate my point. One day I was having a relaxing stroll down Main Street around lunch time. The weathe...

deer santa: I wud like a kool toy space ranjur fer Xmas. Iv ben a gud boy all yeer. Yer Frend, BiLLy Dear Billy, Nice spelling. You're on your way to a career in lawn care. How about I send you a frigging book so you can learn to read and write? I'm giving your older brother the space ranger. At least HE can spell! Santa Dear Santa, I have been a good girl all year, and the only thing I ask for is peace and joy in the world for everybody! Love, Sarah Dear Sarah, Your parents smoked pot when they had you, didn't they? Santa Dear Santa, I don't know if you can do this, but for Christmas, I'd like for my mommy and daddy to get back together. Please see what you can do. Love, Teddy Dear Teddy, Look, your dad's banging the babysitter like a screen door in a hurricane. Do you think he's gonna give that up to come back to your frigid, fat mom, who rides his ass constantly? It's time to give up that dream. Let me get you some nice Legos instead. Maybe you can bu...

As everyone probably knows but hasn't given much thought to, I have been participating all month long in the NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month November 2007 ) event, and today is the last day of November. It was trying at times, but I actually did it!! I posted, sometimes even more than one post PER DAY for the whole month! NaBloPoMo's site sported some cool "I Did It" banners, and I selected this cool little "Tattoo" version (since I love tattoos so much). Give me props people!! I did it! Yay! Thanks to everyone over at NaBloPoMo for being so cool, and all the other participants who made it, and even those who simply gave it their all, it's been tons of fun!!! As the month comes to a close, it's time to get all up into Christmas full-swing, right? Some of us have already begun discussing holiday stuff, such as the Fruitcake that I complained about yesterday and probably most of you are talking about drinking in the New Year already! Well, some...

You know your morning is getting off to a great start when you get behind the absolute most dilapidated, beat-up work truck (complete with run-down wooden bed on the back), going all of 20 miles per hour and bearing a bumper sticker that boldly states "Nowhere to go and all day to get there". I sighed, and waited patiently, driving along behind him without even a toe on the gas pedal. Isn't that irony at its best? And just my luck to get behind that guy... It seems like I have a knack for it. If you've ever seen the movie "Office Space" you know that first scene where Peter is trying to get to work and he constantly changes lanes trying to get into the one that is "moving", but just as he does it is that lane that screeches to a halt while the one he just left begins to go? Well that's ME! If there is an idiot on the road, you can rest assured you will find him driving blissfully ignorantly in front of me. Either that or they're behind or ...

Ummm, yeah... If you could go ahead and get Those TPS reports done, and turn them in by the end of the day, that'd be great. Oh and one more thing... I'm gonna have to ask you to go ahead and come in tomorrow... and Sunday too, so if you could just do that, That'd be Grrreaaatt... (Sound Familiar?? Only the greatest movie of all time, Office Space !! (Copy of the TPS Report above in PDF-really!). It's been a busy day, I'm ready for the weekend for certain. I just thought we'd end the week with a little humor... enjoy. Have a great weekend everyone!! Don't forget to check out all our Blog Talk Radio friends (See my Sidebar for direct links). That's Rockdog, and Yas, and still on Thursday nights, Meggy Moon.