back again

It's been 2 weeks since my friend passed away. I still feel that shock of finding out and that sadness that it's so real. I have thought about her, her husband, her kids, and her parents and sister every day since then. I can't even imagine what they are going through right now, and hope that somehow they'll find some comfort from all of the hundreds of people that have been praying for them. I know I'll continue.

A Helpless Feeling

I received horrible news yesterday that a friend and roommate from college lost her life and battle with depression. I feel numb, confused, and heartbroken for her and her family.

In My Prayers

Got some scary and sad news this weekend. My aunt suffered a stroke. She's only in her late '40s! The first reports back sound like she won't have permanent paralysis, but she's still in the hospital.

It's such a scary thing to hear about...I can't even imagine what it's like to experience or see someone else experience. Thank goodness my uncle was with her and called 911 right away.

I talk to heart attack and stroke survivors all of the time because of my job with the American Heart Association. But, this has been a big reminder to me about the impact it really makes on your life and all of those around you.

It definitely gives perspective to the most important things in life. Aunt P, you're in our prayers for a full and speedy recovery!

A Good Laugh

This has been forwarded to me several times, but I never get tired of watching it. For a good laugh, enjoy the Numa Numa Dance video:
http://www.lookatentertainment.com/v/v-576.htm
***Just found out that one version is a little PG-13ish. Woops. For the G-rated one, view the without subtitles version.

The Hippie Debate

Who knew that one little word would get my family into such an uproar? My blog has made its way outside of my immediate family to aunts, uncles, and cousins all the way in CA. (Hi y'all!)

They found some humor in my earlier post and reference to my parents as "former hippies." From there, my mom forwarded me an e-mail trail several long between the 50-somethings defending the fact that they weren't hippies.

According to my dad they weren't hippies, but spoiled white kids in the northern CA suburbs. I think my aunt nailed it on the head when she e-mailed him..."You grew up in the '60s, so you're a hippie by default." Isn't that funny but true? The perception of most people my age is that if you lived back then, had long hair, and/or wore bell bottoms, you were in fact a hippie. Guess I was wrong.

I wonder what the misperception years from now will be of my generation's time as teenagers?

Here's a factoid from BOA30: "17% of people in their early 30s say they are extremely happy; 41% very happy; 30% generally satisfied; 9% fairly unhappy; and 3% unhappy most of the time. "

56% of the US

.



How fitting. As of today, I've traveled to or though 29 of our United States (see red states above). A friend e-mailed me this website, and I tried it out myself. Go to http://www.world66.com/myworld66 to create your own personal map of the states you’ve visited.

Wade and I were just recently in Pennsylvania. Being the crazy spontaneous types (ha-ha), we went to dinner at a restaurant in Delaware, so we could add that state to our state list. I thought that the Delaware excursion would get me to the 30 mark. Nope another area of life I’m hanging on to the ‘20s as long as possible!

It would appear that I have a thing against the North. Am I a discriminating traveler? I like to think that I give all states the chance and opportunity to win me over, but I don’t seem to be Wisconsin or North Dakota’s target market for tourism.

I wonder if I could make it to one of my missing states and hit #30 before March 15? Road trip to Alaska anyone?

Breaking News?

I got a little nervous. Toward the end of Wednesday morning's early newscast, the news anchor said they had "breaking news." Oh no, not another terrorist attack or visit to the hospital by Dick Cheney?

No, the breaking news was that Angelina Jolie has confirmed that she and Brad are expecting! Then, the Today show begins and has that in their opening. I couldn't believe it!

Granted, I'm a pop culture junkie, but is her pregnancy really breaking news when our country is in the process of nominating a Supreme Court justice, Ariel Sharon is in pretty bad shape after a stroke, and we're surrounded by grass fires in TX and OK? Not so much.

I feel a little guilty about this and think maybe I've contribued to the media using "breaking news" to feed my fascination with Hollywood. The $4 I paid at the airport today for US Weekly probably didn't help either. I'm not sure if I foresee a complete cold-turkey turnaround for myself, but it definitely was a wake-up call!

To provide some depth to today's post, here's a factoid from the Book of Ages:30:
At age 30, Harriet Tubman made her first trip to the South as a free woman to help bring other slaves to freedom.

Oprah at 30

Having taken several journalism classes back in the college days, I had a little guilty feeling because I didn't attribute the 30-something trivia...so here goes:
Book of Ages: 30 by Joshua Albertson, Lockhart Steele and Jonathan Van Gieson

So here's the latest one...anyone that knows me knows that I have a special place in my heart for the one-and-only Oprah.

"At 30, Oprah Winfrey left her television job in Baltimore and moved to Chicago to take over the ailing half-hour TV talk show AM Chicago. Within a month, the show became the highest-rated talk show in Chicago. The following year, AM Chicago was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show. When she was 32, Oprah's show went national. 17 years later, she was a billionaire. "

Thanks to my thoughtful husband, I'm now the proud owner of Oprah's 20th anniversary DVD collection...6 DVDs chronicling 20 years of the Oprah show! Some may be shuttering at the thought of that, but I've loved every minute ( I think I've got 3 of the 6 down). :)

Parisian Romance

So the new series of "The Bachelor" is on right now. I guess there hasn't been enough romance on the show in the past, becuase they've set it in Paris this time. Ooo-la-la! I was hooked on "The Bachelor" in the early days, but now the show just drives me bonkers. I get really embarassesd for the women, but they do so many things that are worthy of the embarassment. It's like a bad car wreck that you just can't stop looking at.

Why are reality shows so successful?

A friend of mine and I recently talked about how refreshing it is to be real with someone. I know that's important to me in all of my relationships, so maybe that's why I like reality TV so much, too. Although as I'm watching "The Bachelor," it's a reminder that it's not very real.

$9.99

I just spent the best $9.99 that I have in quite some time...Journey's Greatest Hits. How could you resist Don't Stop Believin', Any Way You Want It, Open Arms, Patiently, and Faithfully? They really are the ultimate '80s cheese, but I can't get enough! It would be pretty embarassing if I was ever on the VH1 reality show, Motormouth, where they put a hidden camera in your car while you sing along. There's something about a good classic '80s song that gets me singing...loud (yikes!).

I grew up with parents that are former hippies/now-turned-yuppies who are still a little stuck in the '60s. In 30 years, will my kids be saying that their mom is stuck in the '80s? Kind of scary...thoughts of Guess jeans and jellies flash before me.

30-something trivia:
At 30, Elvis Presley was in a rut, John Lennon recorded Imagine, Paul Simon went solo, Pat Benatar wrote Love is a Battlefield, Bruce Springsteen recorded Hungry Heart, and Bono wrote the lyrics to U2's Achtung Baby.