• Today was an alright day, I guess. My kids had appointments with their general doctors, but I totally spaced ‘em out. Way to go, Mom! Now I need to reschedule the appointments. Hopefully they’ll be able to get ‘em in fairly soon!

• I’m drinking some Newman’s Own Lemonade right now. Pretty acidic, but very, very tasty! Too bad I don’t drink anymore. It’d be really good with some Tequila in it. Oh well. Drinking Tequila isn’t worth losing everything I have.    

• I’m using Microsoft Office OneNote© to write this. Lonnie talked me into it…and I’m thrilled he did. What happened was that a couple hours ago I had written an entire edition of Random Randomness©. I’d gotten about 3/4 of the way done when my Opera browser crashed.         Needless to say, I was very upset. I’d lost everything I had written. Lonnie talked me into firing up OneNote©. I’ve owned it forever, so I might as well use it, ya’ know? Besides, it saves my work as I go, so even if there’s a power outage, my shiznit will be saved!

• My Mom bought me some new acrylic nails from Sally Beauty Supply the other day. I can’t even tell you how much I love them!! They’re the perfect thickness, length, and the white area falls EXACTLY where I want it. I should take a picture in a bit.

• I’m SO happy that Yahoo! Messenger has stealth settings. I love those things!

• I almost forgot to mention that the nail glue my Mom got me from Sally is amazing, too! Holy crap! I swear you could glue the bumper on a car with that shiznit!   

• I’m listening to Alice In Chains now…again. I’m pretty sure they’ve continued to make music after the death of Layne Staley. I wouldn’t know…nor do I care. I find the thought alone to be verging on disrespectful and blasphemous.     :(     Layne Staley has a place in my heart that very, very few people get. Especially people I’ve never even met. As far as that goes, he is the only one who I can say that about. Long story…many emotions attached.

• Speaking of long and emotional stories, I’m considering writing the story of my ex who committed suicide. I mentioned it to a couple people….Conor being one of them. He thinks it’s a good idea and is anxious to read it. I don’t think he’s anxious to read it from a nosey point of view. I think it’s just so that he can gain a better understanding of what happened, what I’ve been through, and everything that goes with it. So yes…I’m about 85% certain that I will write the story. I’m also about 85% certain that I will post it for others to read. You never know - perhaps it can help someone somewhere.

• BTW - for those of you who don’t already know Conor, I highly suggest you change that fact. He may only be 13 years old chronologically, but I’m tellin’ ya’ - the kid’s a genius. He writes stories…but generally speaking, he’s so intelligent. He’s got great conversational skills and he’s just a funny guy. Add him to your list…get to know him. You won’t be missin’ out!    

• Oh goodie…I just shed a tear…or four. The song “Don’t Follow” by Alice In Chains yanks at my heart strings like you’d not believe.

• Sunnabiotch! The Build-A-Bear Workshop just emailed me again. They gotta leave me alone! I feel stalked…by bears! We made the mistake of building a bear there once about a year ago. Now we get weekly emails begging us to come back!   

• I don’t think I’m going to make Opera Gingerbread Men this year. I think I’m going to do cupcakes. Yeah…and decorate them all individually. Gingerbread men are just SUCH a pain in the keister. Really. I mean, everyone is worth it, but damn. That’s A LOT of work!

• I got new slippers. We really could not afford it, but they were only like ten bucks and I really needed new slippers. I adore them. They are pink, cozy, and perfect. My feet are totally stoked!

• Now I’m listening to “La Sexorcicisto” by White Zombie. I like this album quite a bit…makes me miss my bass. I’ve been missing my bass A LOT lately.

• My neck is hurting SO much right now. I hate this. Luckily, my doctor’s getting me in with a pain management clinic. I’m not sure how they help you manage it, but I’m up for whatever. I asked him about Accupuncture, but he said they wouldn’t do that. I’m thinking it’s probably mostly done with medications…which doesn’t make me happy.

• I guess I’ll shut up and go do that SEO learning now. I cannot wait to gain a new skill. I love feeling skilled! w00h00! Thanks for taking the time to read my shenanigans. I love you guys!

Apparently the time has come to Nominate Your My.Opera Favorites.

By Friday November 21st (my Dad’s birthday!) nomination will close and finalists in each category will be publicly announced. Same as last year, we will rely on community vote, and voting will begin Monday November 24th and last for two weeks. We will provide everyone with cool banners and graphics they can put on their blog/site to increase their winning chances.

Last year they printed diplomas for the winners, but this year they’ve gone a bit farther and have something more cool: Moods of Norway Opera t-shirts!

They are exclusive t-shirts you can’t buy in any store.

So there we have it. Now we just need to think our nominations out pretty well prior to voting. Of course, I’m not going to lie and say that I’d not be THRILLED to win one or more of the categories, but I will be genuinely happy for whomever does win.Now I’ve got some real contemplating to do - as I’m sure the rest of you do as well.

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!

On one level or another, I truly believe that each and every one of us is worthy of one or more of these awards. There are just so many good people here on My.Opera.

Love you guys!

 • I’ve gotten a really good start on the site design for that fireworks company I was talking about previously. It feels good to have gotten so much work done today…although I probably should have gotten even more done.

• I’m listening to this album called “Arabic Lounge” right now. I enjoy this stuff quite a bit. It’s a lot different from the norm, but that’s a good thing.

• We watched “The Sasquatch Gang” two nights ago. I totally loved it. It’s from the same guys who made “Napoleon Dynamite“…and you can tell. It has the same feeling to it - not to mention lots of the same actors are in it. If you enjoyed “Napoleon Dynamite”, you’d probably enjoy “The Sasquatch Gang” as well.

• Dinner sucked tonight. Everyone else liked it, but I hated it. I decided to make Hamburger Helper…but with ground turkey instead of beef. (Lonnie and I don’t eat beef, pork, lamb, buffalo, deer…anything but chicken, turkey, and seafood.) Hamburger Helper is already pretty disgusting, but when you make it with turkey, it’s even more nasty.

• I need to make a bunch more designs for products in my shop. It’d be nice if there were more hours in a day. I hate feeling so bogged down with this ginormous To Do list.

• My coffee was SO good today. I got some fresh beans last night…Mmmm…  

• I’m going to the doctor tomorrow. I promised Lonnie I would. I hate doctors. They suck. All of ‘em. They’re never very nice…and the ones who are nice don’t seem to help much, anyway.

• The reason I’m going to the doc…well, there are actually two reasons. 1. My back/neck pain has gotten unbearable again. 2. I need an increase in dosage of my meds. The anxiety/panic and depression are getting super bad again, and I hate it. I’ll be okay…I just need the right level of chemicals in me.

• I’m hungry for dessert. I shouldn’t say that. I’m actually not hungry at all…just craving something sweet. Ice cream would be good. Or a Snickers would rock, too!

• It’s so weird that I like sweets so much lately. I used to dislike them a lot. I never ever craved sweet stuff. It seems like the older I get, though, the more I like them. Just what my thighs need!

• I switched back to the Mirage Alpha Opera skin yesterday. I needed a change.

• For those of you who use Twitter, you should really check TweetDeck out! I sent the link to Casey earlier today, and she agrees that it’s badass! Do it!

• I’m soooo cold! I wish I could talk Lonnie into turning the A/C off.

• I downloaded a new color browser today. It’s really awesome. I’ve already put it to good use while working on that fireworks site earlier. You should check it out if you’re into that sort of thing.

• These people should pay me to be advertising their programs like this! …just kidding, but wouldn’t that pwn?!

• Alright…time to go back to work. The last thing I need is to get out of my creative groove. That would TOTALLY suck!