Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Week 8, 2014


At work this week we were filming a video for a General Managers Conference. It was LOL. Here are just a couple of pictures I took of employees and guests helping out.



Saturday morning I passed 100,000 views!!


I worked a long shift on Wednesday, I come home, and go to post last weeks blog, I sign into Twitter, which I rarely do on the laptop, and see that I am "following" over 800 people. Wrongo. I was hacked!! Motherhackers!!!

I had to go block each one of the 500+ people that showed up. Changed my password.

We have a new neighbor. He looks like Santa Claus.

I have awesome people in my life:


For 4 days last week I did not have an appetite at all. I ate cereal for breakfast, whatever I grabbed for lunch at work, and didn't even want dinner. One night I ordered my favorite pizza, and ate one piece. And didn't even want that, but I sure wasn't going to waste it. Just nothing sounded good to eat. I lost 9 lbs, too. #fatty

My new Birchbox came in!!

Next door to our hotel is a Huddle House. Boss lady ordered a salad. She had to take her own bowl over there, they were out.

Not too long ago Scott ordered our lunch and he came with two real plates. We washed them when we were done and returned them.





This is how people thank me:


One of my Facebook peeps posted this. I rarely wear makeup at all these days:


Pictures I "borrowed" from Rebecca. Lily's first church service.



The only thing I have watched all week on TV was the extremely long Daytona 500. When Dale Jr won the sport's biggest race, he broke the internet.

There were over 2,000 Tweets on my timeline regarding Dale and the race. I was not putting them all on here :)

Emma what?










I bought "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Anne Shaffer and "The Bone Box" by Gregg Olson. Remember "A Wicked Snow", Rebecca?

Ordinary GraceOrdinary Grace by William Kent Krueger

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book was a nice change for me. I am usually all in to crime novels, forensics, action, mystery, and usually a book or two about some duo saving the world from the Apocalypse. I love books set in the 50's and 60's. Don't get me wrong, people die and they have to find out who done it!! I recommend.



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AbandonAbandon by Blake Crouch

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Around chapter 6, I abandoned all other books I was reading and finished this in a day. The only let down was *possible spoiler ahead*, you believe there are supernatural acts at work, and it turns out only to be man, and greed.
A must read.



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Lost in Babylon (Seven Wonders, #2)Lost in Babylon by Peter Lerangis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars






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Torch Ginger (Lei Crime, #2)Torch Ginger by Toby Neal

My rating: 4 of 5 stars






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I am feeling very tired this week, so this coming week, I am going to rock it out.


And to close out the week, a life changing moment.

Toy Story: The True Identity of Andy's Mom Makes The Movie More Epic
By Jon Negronion February 24th, 2014 at 3:17pm· 16m saw this· 249+ people are talking

Andy's mom has always been a bit of an enigma. In the first Toy Story, we barely even saw her face. That's all fine because throughout the movies, the real focus has been on Andy and the love he has for those toys.

But this is Pixar, and it stands to reason that there is more than meets the eye when it comes to the Davis family (Andy's last name).

In order to understand who Ms. Davis really is, we have to start with something seemingly simple: a hat.

In the picture below, you see Andy's cowboy hat that he plays with throughout his childhood. Study it closely.


Notice anything weird about the hat? It looks nothing like the hat worn by his favorite toy, Woody. Why wouldn't Andy wear a hat that was brown?

We don't think about it because most of us are normal human beings with things like jobs and tax exemptions. But I want you to take a quick journey with me: Andy got this hat from his mom.

In Toy Story 2, young Andy Davis left for summer camp, and his mom held a yard sale. "The Chicken Man" found Woody in one of the boxes (he was trying to save a fellow toy) and pleaded with Ms. Davis to sell him because Woody is a collectible from the 1950s.

Ms. Davis refuses, acknowledging that Woody is "an old family toy." Not that much time has passed between the Toy Story movies, but we know that Andy has had Woody since Kindergarten, according to Mr. Potato Head. Andy's 6th birthday is in the first Toy Story, which makes him 7 or 8 in this movie. Woody doesn't seem all that old in comparison.

Further, Woody has no recollection of who he is. Many have suggested that this is because he was owned by Andy's father, who is never mentioned in the movies. Molly is a baby in the first movie, which means Andy's father either died or walked out not long before the movies started.

A reasonable assumption is that Andy's mom gave Woody, his father's toy, to him on his 5th birthday. After all, she gave him Buzz Lightyear on his next birthday. If Woody had been a new toy when Ms. Davis gave him to Andy, then he would know exactly who he is was, which is unlikely because he is so rare.

Now, back to the hat. I believe Andy received the hat from his mom, as well. There's another instance in the movies when this hat is shown:


Notice anything familiar? That is the same red hat with a white lace. Why would Andy have a hat that looks exactly like Jessie's? Because his mom did. Look at this:


See that hat on the bed? Emily, Jessie's previous owner, wears that hat throughout the "When She Loved Me" sequence in Toy Story 2. The sequence clearly takes place in the 60s and 70s, as evidenced by the decoration and qualities of Emily's things.


That is about as 1970s as it gets.

That makes Emily the same age as Andy's mom, who had him in the 80s. They also have the same hat, except the white lace on Andy's hat is missing, but you can clearly see where it once was. There's even a faded mark:


That makes this an old hat.

We know that Emily donated Jessie and her other "cowboy" accessories as a teen, so wouldn't the hat be included? If you watch closely, the hat isn't in the box. The box isn't even big enough to hold it.

We do see that Emily has short, auburn hair. It almost looks like...


Albeit her hair in the movies is lighter. Age is funny like that. And yes, Andy's mom is Emily, Jessie's previous owner.

Now you may be wondering if Emily/Andy's mom noticed that Andy suddenly had a toy she once had as a child. Think of it this way: how would you react if you saw that your kid had a toy that looked like one that you had? You probably wouldn't assume they're the same, even if you're in a Pixar movie.

The theory is that in a twist of fate, Emily (Andy's mom) loved a cowboy toy but gave it away during her adolescence. Her son would grow to love a cowboy toy as well, in a weird way that resembles the strong love she once had. She passed the hat down to him, and as destiny would have it, Andy would one day receive Jessie, as well. This would redeem his mother's abandoning of her, making Emily's story come full-circle.

And much like Emily, Andy also grew tired of his toys and moved on. He also gave them away and let them go.

And that, ladies and gentleman, is the true story of Andy's mom.

(This post originally appeared on jonnegroni.com)

You're welcome.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Week 7 of 2014.


This was a very uneventful week. Sleep and work. Aside from a grocery store trip and a mile around the walking track... sleep and work.
I did run unto a former neighbor from Alabama in our tiny town of Natchitoches, LA. Good times. He said he remembered we were "cool" and "our apartment smelled nice". :)

Courtesy of Rebecca:


The only picture I took this entire week was stuff for work. I fail.


I loved the first disc of Scandal so much that I ended up buying Season 1&2 off of Ebay. Sorry, Amazon, they were cheaper and had free shipping.


I laughed way too hard at this:








Books I bought:
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society- Mary Anne Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Inside Evil- Geoffrey Wakeling (free)
Curbcheck Reload- Zack Fortier (free)
Blackbirds- Chuck Wendig (free)
Broken Ferns- Toby Neal (free) (again, I was going to buy this anyway Amazon!! Haha!! I am still on book two, and because I read so slow, I have gotten book 3 and 4 of this series for free! WHAAAAT!!! 4 books and all I have paid for is $1.99 for the second book. Now I feel like a ham, and feel bad for the author)

Song of the week:
"England"- The National

I also bought 2CELLOS In2ition. I haven't listened to a song from the album yet, but I know it's gonna be awesome.

I don't know how you feel about people performing in the street, but I enjoy it!!!
I wish he were my best friend:


I like how near the beginning, the pigeon is like, "I do what I want..."

So that's my very uneventful week.
I hope yours was better.



Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Week 6, 2014. We could be dead.


This should be called "The week we almost died". Scott started getting sick Wednesday after dinner. We we woke up Thursday morning, he was still vomiting and running a high fever. He stayed home from work, and my plan was to go to work and stay until someone came in to relieve me, but no one was available until 2pm (thank you KRYSTIN!!) The reason I was so worried? Refer to It was the worst of times blog. The symptoms were just the same. This time we had more knowledge as to what to look for, but I was still nervous. When I got home, he was the same, he kept hydrated with water, but as soon as it would hit his stomach it would come right back up. I couldn't sleep all Thursday night because I was worrying myself sick. LITERALLY. Friday morning, I still had not been to sleep, but I saw that he again wasn't going to work. I felt 98% at the time, Bailey and I went into town and got stuff for him to eat, drink, and medicine. I felt a little poopy in the store, my throat started to hurt and I had a headache. I bought popsicles. My favorite for a sore throat. We got home, had a Criminal Minds marathon, but by 7pm I knew I was sick.
Friday morning at 5:20am (ten minutes before my alarm) the wonderful Krystin texted (on her off day!!!) if she needed to go in for me. I could have squeezed her to death, I felt like absolute death. I think she knew that I would have never asked anyone to work for me and/or tried to keep me home so I didn't infect the entire hotel.
Sunday, Scott and I both went to work. We are still snotty, but we will live.

So this is actually a thing:
Billy Ray Cyrus' Hip Hop Version of Achy Breaky Heart

~
Books I finished:
Inferno (Robert Langdon, #4)Inferno by Dan Brown

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I began reading this book on January 15, 2013. It took 382 days for me to finish it. Around 80%, it started to get enjoyable. It didn't last very long. I dig Dan Brown, I do, but this was very uninteresting. It would help if maybe I were familiar with the area some of the sites he was at. I could not get a visual, so when he goes on and on about a painting or a sculpture I have never heard of, I was like "meh".
So....read it if you're a fan just to say you have.



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Help for the HauntedHelp for the Haunted by John Searles

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I was going to give it 4 stars, because right at the end I had an issue with a character, but it just seemed wrong. I am not a book critic. I definitely recommend it. On a helpful note, if you are reading this at work, right at the point where Sylvie encounters a "demon", and a ghost calls you from a room that is unoccupied, you're going to get freaked out and cry when you go in the room to investigate.



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Books I started reading:
Patricia Cornwell- Dust
Beth Moore- Believing God
This makes 21 books on my Kindle carousel that I am reading. 2 books I have read already (Matthew Reilly's Seven Ancient Wonders and Gertrude Chandler Warner's Blue Bay Mystery) and I also have the Bible app on there for my Daily Reading. I have 23 books that I bought via free Kindle app that are awaiting my eyeballs.


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So it snowed again today.


I think I threw up a little:



You gotta love Steven...
Regarding his comment, if it's too small to see, there were a pair of CAT work gloves in the basket.



We put up a Mardi Gras tree at work. It's leaning a little...it's had a few drinks already.


I didn't get to take any Lily pics, I am trying to steer clear of everyone. I am keeping my germ at my herm.
But, Rebecca took some :)

4 months old this week!!
~


I started watching Scandal. I am still on the first disc, but I think I will like it.
I finished season 3 of Sherlock. Gasp.
I am seriously slacking on Downton Abby.
Criminal Minds was awesome this week.

All of my Favorited Tweets this week:



Read this blog by Everyday Trish: 3 Reasons I Will Never Watch the Biggest Loser Again
She's pretty much awesome.

Let us just take a moment to glorify all that is a Dairy Queen chili dog. I am very particular when it comes to chili dogs, I either love or hate them. These are perfect. They don't jip ** cheat you with cheese, the processed weiners are cooked perfectly, and the chili does not have beans. Also, I am hungry right now, and I found this picture on my phone, and said "oh!! A Chili Dog Tribute!!"



**On an related note, I have always used the word "jip". My spellchecker said it was misspelled, so I Googled it, and it turns out it's a slightly derogatory term referring to Gypsies. My sincerest apologies to all of the Gypsies that are reading my blog right now.

BREAKING NEWS!! As I am adding the last picture and about to post, Scott comes through and says "I have to turn on the heat", I said "why I just turned it off!!" and he goes, "I have to poop!!"
Married life.
Bliss.