Well remembering that I am now “thirty” is proving to be harder than I thought…

While in conversation with someone yesterday regarding family stresses (like my dad’s nerve thing, Tammy’s complications with surgery) I’ve been under lately.. I made the comment “I’m going to die from a heart attack before I turn 30..”

So, I guess that would make me dead, and mean that I’m blogging from the other side, which would mean that the other side has internet!

I’m starting to wonder if I’m ever going to actually get used to that? I mean, I don’t feel 30. I still feel the same as I did this time last year. I guess it’s just one of those ages that takes time getting cozy with, like 40.. 50.

I just have to laugh though, because I know that won’t be the last time I forget. Ha, ha!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve forgotten to back things up and regretted it. Not long ago I realized that my husband had accidentally deleted thousands of my photos from his computer. I’m sure you can imagine that I was upset, even though it wasn’t intentional at all. It was a huge wake up call though, as it made me realize that I really need to back up my photos more often than I already do. While many of those photos were just snapshots, there were still a lot that held sentimental value and would have been printed off and framed eventually. It’s definitely a lesson learned.. the hard way!

Buy.com has a nifty little solution for backing up photos, which is on sale for $19.99, and free shipping this week; Memorex SimpleSave Photo & Back-Up Discs. There’s no software that has to be installed. Once you insert the SimpleSave disc into your DVD burner, it automatically finds, organizes and backs up up to 10,000 of your photos! Best yet, it’s Write Protect feature will give you a little more peace of mind, as it’s switch prevents the data from being deleted accidentally.

It seems that these Memorex SimpleSave Photo & Back-Up Discs will be a wonderful solution for me, and will hopefully save me from any future accidental deletions! I still have thousands of photos on my external hard drive (moved from my old desk top computer) that need to be backed up. I am motivated to do that now!

Tammy (mom’s roommate) finally got to come home from the hospital! They removed 2 football sized tumors (both benign), did a full hysterectomy and appendectomy. A few days after the surgery, she got an infection that required they remove all of the staples. She’s home now, but still with an open incision wound, an abscess and an infection. They’re having to change her dressings twice a day now, which I know can’t be fun at all. They have her on 9 different prescriptions right now, and a nurse comes to the house twice a day for the dressing changes and I suppose vitals.

I’m working on some header stuff for some lovely ladies. Actually, I’m finished with one set and almost finished with the other (kind of scrapbookish, I’m loving it!). I’ve got 2 projects I’ll start this coming week, which I’m really excited about. I’ve sent out several other quotes too, and hope to hear back from them soon. I’m also hoping to whip out a few more premades, and possibly some freebies soon too.

And I can’t believe how chilly it has gotten. My gosh! It seems Winter is coming full steam ahead! Yikes! I guess Jo should have forgotten about cleaning the dust out of our stand-alone fan. We figured we’d have a few more days of mild weather at least. It was hard work! Was starting to think we should check out those Sebo vacuum cleaners to help do the trick! Well, it doesn’t matter now. We really won’t need it much longer. But yeah.. bleh to Winter right now. I hate driving under Winter conditions (snow, ice). It’s bad enough to be driving on rainy roads.. much less ice or snow.

Oh, before I forget. Does anyone have a clue as to why WP 2.6.2 makes duplicate entries to the database tables for wp_posts and pages? This is driving me nuts!

I’m really tired of having to stand up for myself because of the “rumors” that are floating around. I want to put an end to it all right here, right now.

- Like I said in a previous entry, I have never been fired from any job in my life. The last position I held with another design company (out of respect for the owner and the clients, I will not name it) is no exception. I left on my own. I don’t want to go straight into the issues I had, but I will say this; many things lead to my decision to leave.

I wish nothing but good things for this person and their company. I am really disappointed in them, yes. And really hurt by their lies and their petty attempts at trying to ruin my reputation as a designer. I’m trying very hard to remain as professional as possible in light of being accused of being “fired” for being “untruthful” and statements such as not hiring another designer because she loves her clients too much. I worked very hard for the company. I gave it my all, even putting in 16 hours a day at times. I work through revisions and new ideas, and work on a good schedule. For the month or so I was with the company, I never took a full month to complete anything I was scheduled!

That being said, and to those of you being stuck with the badmouthing behind closed doors… I just hope you realize there is always a second side to the story. The truth may not always come from the person you trust the most in the situation.

I know what happened. I know how hard I worked. I know what the clients have said to me personally regarding their designs. I should have never been put into the position of having to fight for my good name, but when I’m being lied about…. I will.

I hope that the badmouthing will stop, and the assumptions too. Believe me when I say this; I’m not the only person that is in this boat.

I am just about to call it a night, or morning.. depending on where you are!

I’ve just shot off an email to my dad, which wound up being quite emotional. My dad and I haven’t had that “daddy’s girl” kind of relationship since I was a little girl. He’s always been a very hard-working man, holding down 2 jobs while finishing up his degree in Criminal Justice (I was like 2 then.. so I don’t actually remember that lol). He also raised 5 kids, and at 64.. he’s just as active as he was 20 years ago. He just has a few more aches and pains than he did back then. I don’t know why it got so emotional, really. I guess it really hit me just how much he means to me and I really wanted him to know this. I’ve been extremely worried about him since this whole nervous disorder came about. We might not be as close as most father & daughters.. but I love that man to bits, and realize just how awesome he is.

It got me to thinking though, how something as simple as an Eagle emblem can trigger memories of my dad and I at the Georgia Southern Eagle’s football games. He’s like.. they’re number one fan. He donates to the school each year and winds up with season tickets. I didn’t go to every single game with him, as my youngest sister and I always took turns, but I would love to be at the next game with him!

It’s funny how little things can trigger a memory like that though. Like different scents, songs, and even weather. There isn’t a time that I hear Ice Ice Baby (admittedly it isn’t with a gun to my head), that I don’t think about those ridiculous hyper color Ice Ice Baby shirts my mom used to buy for us. Yeah, they were in style.. but really.. is that style? Ha, ha. I also think of my mom a lot when I smell White Diamonds perfume - her favorite - or think of my grandma Mac when I smell Beautiful - her favorite. This happens a lot, especially lately. I can hear a song on the radio, or even sometimes on TV, and my mind is flooded with all of these memories. I can remember exact moments, exact emotions, and even remember exactly what I was wearing (unfortunately) back when. And sometimes, when the sun hits my cheeks just right on an Autumn morning, I’m taken back to 25 years ago; raking leaves at my great grandmother’s house on a cool Autumn morning.

Does this happen to you? I can’t imagine I’m the only one. :p

Most people are passionate about their cars. My mom’s side of the family has always driven Ford’s. It wasn’t until a few years back that I decided to invest my own money into a ford of my own. I had recently sold my car, which was costing me nearly $500 a month (when you included the monthly insurance payment). I could obviously afford that or I would have never signed a contract with a payment so high. I hated sending that check out each month though.

After about a year and a half of driving my first new car, I decided enough was enough. I was ready to look for a better deal. My husband had been after me for months about SUVs. I wasn’t really too keen on the idea at first because I honestly worried about how much gas it would guzzle (yes, even back then). We found ourselves on a Ford car lot, gazing at a fabulous Ford Escape. It wasn’t too large, and had a really nice price tag on it. After learning more about it from the sales guy (which I knew from work), we decided this was the truck for us. We got a great deal, and knocked about $150 off of our total monthly payment. We were happy too, to find out that it actually gets great gas mileage. We really haven’t had much trouble with our Escape at all, and much to our surprise.. we loved driving a Ford.

She looks a bit cold here, with that blanket of snow. I can’t find any other photos of her right now, so this will have to do!

We’ve had our Escape now for almost 5 years (next month), and have already been considering buying one of the new Escape Hybrids. Though I admittedly didn’t know much about Fords back then, I will be now that I’ve learned about Ford Car Reviews. For those looking for reviews on Fords, this is a nice resource. You can browse reviews by year, type and even price! Some reviews even include a photo gallery, full review, trims & specs and you can request a quote if you’re really serious about making a future purchase. This will definitely help with our decision making in the future.

I’m a girl, and aside from the basics, I don’t know much about cars. Anything that can help me with that has to be a awesome!

At last! It’s finally here! I know you’re all just super excited about it, huh?

Today I began a new chapter with So Chic Design, my new web & blog design site. If you are interested in a custom, one of a kind theme for your blog, be sure you check it out! I’m currently scheduling for October and November, and will work with you regardless of your budget (so long as you don’t expect custom work for free). I’ve also made several premades available in the shop for those of you in a big hurry for a blog face lift. Personal themes run $45-55, while the photoblogs come in at $100.

Have a look around. Maybe something will interest you! Be sure you bookmark it too, and check occasionally because I’m planning to add oodles of freebies too (by the way, future Wordpress freebies will be available there in the future).

I’m really excited to have finally launched this, and it feels really good! I’ve already gotten several requests, which I’ll be responding to soon!

Well, not quite!

I have been on one heck of an emotional roller coaster for the last week and a half. Some of it deals with something I have no desire mentioning, while other things include; various illnesses in the family, missing my nephews to bits and wishing I could be at my friend Jess’ (childhood friend) wedding. It’s not so much that I’m boohooing, as it is that I can’t stop thinking about all of these things. It’s taking a lot out of me!

Anywho. Enough of that. I’m looking to more positive things, and hoping to launch my snazzy new design site by tomorrow morning (at the latest). I’m pretty much done, but have been making some minor adjustments to some of the pages.

We just had dinner about 30 minutes ago, so I’m pretty stuffed and lazy right now. I’m going to let my food settle a bit before I get cracking again. I have a lot to do tonight, plus the new season of Survivor starts tonight. Can’t miss that!

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of GPS Tracking is the use I’d get from it if it were in my truck. Like when I’m traveling across country, because there’s always a chance that I’m going to get lost when traveling in places I’m not really familiar with. There are, however, many more uses for GPS Tracking.

This key, which is small enough to conceal in your pocket, can record data such as; arrival destinations, route being traveled, time en route, the speed and direction of travel. The information logged with the GPS Tracking Key can be used with Google Earth, which would allow it to be displayed over satellite images and street maps.

As a former employee of a fairly large, local financial institution, I could see the use of of a GPS Tracking Key. Just think of the extra bit of peace of mind you would have if in the situation of robbery, but could rely on a GPS Tracking Key to aide in the capture and arrest of the suspect. The accuracy of this key has already been used in one such case.

Parents of teenagers will also appreciate the GPS Tracking Key, which makes it easy for them to monitor their teens location, rate of speed, and time of travel. I may not be a parent, but I can certain understand and appreciate the availability and convenience of something like that and would likely rest better at night.

Well, I was hoping I would have had my new design site launched by now. I’ve been working on it off and on since last week. So what’s the problem? I’ve been sick. It seems the flu is getting a jump start this year. I’ve had a really bad throat, stuffed up nose, irritated eyes, I’ve been aching all over, sick to my stomach, but thankfully no coughing or high fever yet. I’ve been trying to take it easy.

I want to finish tying up some loose ends for the design company I worked for until last week. I had a few clients I was still working with, one whose design I had just begun when I decided to leave the company. I couldn’t imagine leaving them all high and dry, so I’m trying to get that all squared away. Hopefully that will be all done with before the weekend.

I’ve also been working on redoing a header for a lovely lady (previous client). Nothing huge, but it’s taking me longer than expected because of the whole flu bug thing. That’s also my reason for not having So Chic Design launched yet. Will be busy over the next 24 or so hours for sure! I finished up the design for it, the shop, TOS, free quote form and am now trying to finish up the portfolio, FAQs and testimonials.

I’m going to go relax now, and try to get some sleep. I want to get up a little early tomorrow, so that I can get a head start on my agenda for the day (which is kind of intimidating right now ha, ha). Oh, and I’m so not proofreading this. :p

While we were in Corner Brook this week, we decided to do a little shopping. It was mostly window shopping though, since we didn’t find anything that we wanted on sale. One of the things we were looking for was an LCD TV. Jo knows more about this stuff than I do, so I left all of that to him. We found a really nice 42″ 720p at one of the local stores but were disappointed in the price of over $1000. Jo says that the 720ps aren’t really “high def” because of the resolution, and he really wants an HDTV. We decided to leave those “deals” behind us, and continue our search for a TV.

I’m sure we’ll wind up buying our TV via the internet when we do go to buy one though. You can’t really find any good deals on them around here, as it seems everyone is overcharging these days. Buy.com seems to have some pretty good deals on a couple of LCD TVs this week though. I’m especially drawn to the Westinghouse 37″ LCD TV. As you can see, it has that 1080p resolution that Jo said he’d prefer to have.

I personally like that it isn’t black, since most of our other entertainment pieces (DVD player, digital receiver box) aren’t black. I really like that it doesn’t cost $1000 or more too. I would have been so upset if we actually followed through with purchasing that other TV and found something with a better resolution, for a way better price! That’s usually how it works though, but thankfully not this time!

I think I’d love to go on one of those Bahama cruises. Jo’s also been putting in for that for the last few years. I’m starting to really give in to the idea lately. I’m not nearly as afraid of boats as I am planes. I guess that’s kind of silly, but anyway. So Jo’s really excited that I’m finally giving in. What we’re hoping for is to go on one sometime next year, 2009. Possibly around our anniversary, and inviting our families to go too. I think it’d be pretty awesome to have both families there. None of us have been on any kind of cruises before, unless you consider the ferry trip from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia a real cruise - I don’t!

I don’t know. I just think it’d be something we could all enjoy together. We’ve all been through so much these last couple of years, with the loss of my grandmother Mac, Jo’s grandmother Nan, various illnesses in the family, two huge moves.. etc. Winding down somewhere in the Bahamas would be a welcomed treat for sure! It’s been years since Jo and I have had a real vacation. Same goes for almost everyone in our families. I’m a little anxious about being on any boat for long periods of time, but I think that’s because of the nightmares I had after the movie Titanic. Same thing goes for planes too, I fear them because of nightmares after seeing crashes on the news or hearing my mom talk about her own fear of them. I think I’ll do much better on the boat though.. I hope!

It seems his allergies have gotten the best of him! He mowed the lawn yesterday, which was hopefully the last time for this year. If the mowing (push mower, and the yard is big) wasn’t bad enough, the air just made him so stuffy and sick. He’s been coughing so horribly, and his eyes have really been bothering him a lot. They’re so itchy and red! To make matters worse, he’s breaking out on his back and belly. I’m not sure if it’s from sweating or if it’s a reaction to something. Either way, he’s got tiny red bumps all over those areas. In some places it looks like a rash, but in others it looks more like acne. Poor thing.

We’ve both been dealing with sore throats and stuffiness the last couple of days. Neither of us have been happy campers, but he’s definitely gotten the rawer deal I think! He’s already ready to call it a night, and this is way early for him. I’m actually considering doing the same, should he actually head on to bed. I’ve been pretty tired all day today. Maybe with a little rest I can regain some of that energy I lost with all of that driving earlier this week!

I would just like to make a note of something, just so there is no confusion, assumptions, implications.. etc.

I have never, ever been fired from any job I have ever held. Offline, or online. I have always worked hard and gone above and beyond what was expected of me. My work has always spoken for itself. There have been times that I have gone out of my way to help the person before me, be it a patient or loved one from the ER’s I have worked in, a member/customer of the financial institution I worked for, or any clients I have worked with throughout my years of design and photography. I don’t simply do what is expected of me, I do what I think would be appreciated and what I would want if the shoe was on the other foot!

I have appreciated every single job I have ever held, as it helped with bills, luxuries and made me feel like I was helping someone else.

I just want everyone that reads my blog to know that for future reference if needed.

I have been a little quiet lately, I know. So, how’s about a good old fashioned update filled with lots of Teresa goodness?

• The Wordpress themes are back up! After much thought, and a lot of lovely messages regarding them, I felt like “Who am I to deny them!” I hope that you continue to enjoy them, and don’t forget about the Pink for October themes. October is just around the corner.

• Speaking of themes; I will be releasing 2 new freebies by the end of the weekend. I’ve been rather slack with those, I know!

• I would also like to let you all know that I will be launching my new design site by the weekend. I decided it was best for me to move on from Delicious Design. I was upset about it at first but like I said, I think it’s best.

• I will be away all day tomorrow and much of Thursday. My husband and I are taking a little trip out of town. It’s something I really need, that we’ll both benefit from.

• I kind of want a new laptop. What do you think of the Sony Vaio?

Well, that wasn’t exactly long.. but it’ll have to do. Big Brother is on!