Frank's Words of Wisdom

"...you can make things go as you want them, if you only try hard enough, and walk right over whatever stands in the way. I don't mean to give up my plans for any man; but, if I live, I'll carry them out - you see if I don't."

~Frank from Jack and Jill by Louisa May Alcott

Best Quote for Work Ever!

"It is impossible to enjoy idling thoroughly unless one has plenty of work to do."

~ Jerome K. Jerome

Mission Accomplished!

This past Saturday night Joseph and I were over at my in-laws visiting when my father-in-law asked if we knew of any way to copy a video offline and save it on his computer. Joseph and I both had a few ideas as to how we could manage this feat, but none of our ideas panned out. This led me to resort to desperate measures. I clicked on the "Contact Us" link and copied the email address down. The following is what was typed and received after I clicked on "Compose" in my email account. (the following has been edited to protect the innocent and their emails)

Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2011 8:34 PM
To: Admin@RiverDogs.com
Subject: Request for copy of 2010 Season Hilights Video from RiverDogs Website

Good Evening,

I was wondering if it would be possible to receive a copy of the 2010 season hilights video showing on the RiverDogs website. My brother-in-law, M--- played for the team this summer and my father-in-law would really like a copy of the video for his own personal viewing. This would be a personal video only.

Please let me know if this is a reasonable and possible request. It would mean a great deal to M-'s dad to be able to add this video to his personal tracking of M-'s baseball career.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Hannah

On Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 7:21 AM, Dave Echols wrote:

Dave Echols

EVP / General Manager

Charleston RiverDogs

(Okay, so he didn't really write anything, but he DID forward my email to Noel.)

On Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 2:28 PM, Noel Blaha wrote:

Hi Hannah,

Please provide me with a mailing address and I'll send a copy on a disc to you.

All the best,

Noel Blaha

Director of Promotions

Charleston RiverDogs

www.RiverDogs.com

Of course I replied to Noel's email with my FIL's address and thanked her profusely. So, yeah. WOW. It was a shot in the dark, but it worked and I am SO excited about it!

New Year's Resolutions - Or, Why I Don't Make Any

So, Joseph and I went down to Manassas together this afternoon to visit McKay's and Aldi. On our way down, I mentioned to Joseph that I was planning on curbing my spending of money on new books. Of course, he asked me what other things I had planned for this year. Or other things that I want to accomplish. (Basically, what were my new year's resolutions.) I had to admit to him that I don't make any new year's resolutions and thankfully, he didn't ask why. But, I got to thinking about it. Why DON'T I make any resolutions each new year? It's not that I think they're a bad idea. And, it isn't as though there aren't a few things that I don't do at the beginning of each year. I mean, I always make a point of praying that no birds poop on me each year. That prayer has been answered every year since I started requesting saving from bird poop.

No, I don't make resolutions because there isn't anything much more discouraging than failing a resolution. I've made the "lose weight" resolution. I've made the "eat better" resolution. The "be nicer to my family and coworkers", the "read more books", the "read fewer books", the "use the internet less and spend more time with Joseph", etc. The list never ends. But honestly, it never fails that I fall off the wagon and end up more discouraged afterwards than I had ever been before making the resolution in the first place.

Instead, I've learned to go with the flow and to choose to make up my mind each day. It's so much easier to make the choice daily than it is to choose to accomplish something in the long term. I know this doesn't work for most people, in fact, it probably doesn't work for hardly anyone but myself. But, it's okay. Because, for me, a goal is like faith was described in Daughter of Joy by Kathleen Morgan - It's a daily choice. We have to CHOOSE to believe in something every day. In the same way, I have to choose to eat right every morning when my day starts out. If I eat a good breakfast, lunch is easier to eat and supper as well.

What about you? Do you make New Year's Resolutions? Or do you have a different method of accomplishing your long-term goals?

Question to the World

So, I'm just going to jump right in and tell you how I feel.

I feel like my in-laws don't really like me. But, I'd like to get to know them better. They're both reasonably civil and sometimes even really nice, but there's always something holding them back. Unfortunately, I'm not exactly the most outgoing person on my own. I have to have someone to bounce off of. I tend to be the person that sits off to the side of a conversation listening to everything going on around me, but not really getting personally involved.

Here's the thing. My father-in-law just have a quintuple bypass surgery on his heart yesterday and I don't know much about it at all. Joseph isn't exactly one for talking about something like this and I feel weird calling my mother-in-law and asking for details now (that's it done and all). See, my in-laws didn't tell me about the surgery, Joseph did. My in-laws don't talk to me. So I kinda feel out of place in asking for information about something they didn't share with me on their own already. Would I be out of place in asking about it now? I don't want them to think I'm not interested in them, but it's just hard to show interest in someone that doesn't seem to be interested in me.

help! What should I do?? I need advice, please

I Laugh in the Face of My 2010 Reading Goal

Hahahahaha! Take THAT you huge number known as 150. I smoked you. Fair and square.

Oh, by how many books, you ask?

Do you really want to know?

*mumbles* 118

You didn't hear me?

*a little louder than a mumble* 118

FINE! Since you keep insisting on being able to handle the truth!

I Read 268 books in 2010. That's Two Hundred Sixty Eight books. Wow. That looks even bigger than a larger font does. I should write my high numbers out all the time!

*pats self on back* Yes, dear, you did a good job. Now put your ego away and finish up the significant number of books that you started last month but never finished. You lazy bum!

September, October, November, and December Tally

September

Clockwork Angel ~ Cassandra Clare 9/1

Quidditch Through the Ages ~ J.K. Rowling 9/6

Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them ~ J. K. Rowling 9/6

The Education of Bet ~ Lauren Baratz-Logsted 9/7

Persuasion ~ Jane Austen 9/8

Maximum Ride: Volume 3 ~ NaRae Lee 9/9

Wondrous Strange ~ Lesley Livingston 9/10

The Man of the Desert ~ Grace Livingston Hill 9/13

October

The Mystery of Mary ~ Grace Livingston Hill 10/16

A Bride Most Begrudging ~ Deeanne Gist 10/22

The Adventures of Holly Hobbie ~ Richard Dubelman 10/25

Love in the Dark ~ Barbara Cartland 10/27

A Wish Come True ~ Barbara Cartland 10/28

Royal Punishment ~ Barbara Cartland 10/28

Moon Over Eden ~ Barbara Cartland 10/29

A Gamble with Hearts ~ Barbara Cartland 10/30

November

Look, Listen and Love ~ Barbara Cartland 11/2

Winged Magic ~ Barbara Cartland 11/2

For All Eternity ~ Barbara Cartland 11/7

Paranormalcy ~ Kiersten White 11/8

No Time for Love ~ Barbara Cartland 11/8

The Knight and the Dove ~ Lori Wick 11/15

Harry Potter: Film Wizardy 11/19

December

Bless Your Heart, Tramp ~ Celia Rivenbark 12/24

Tess and the Highlander ~ May McGoldrick 12/26

Emily and the Scot ~ Kathryn Smith 12/27

Jane ~ April Lindner 12/27

And that's a wrap, folks. The end of my 2010 Books Read list. I'll tell you my grand total of books read in 2010 in my next post.

Happy New Year, My Loves

Good Afternoon, 2011. Welcome to the world. It's very nice to meet you. I have a few requests, if I may, that'd I'd like to ask of you.

First, would you be a dear and go finish up my laundry, start my dishes, and take down my Christmas trees (yes, plural) and decorations around my house? I'd be EVER so grateful if you'd make yourself useful. Thank you.

Second, I easily surpassed my reading goal last year, so I think I'd like to take it easy this year. I'm thinking about merely reading through my own bookshelves with a very few new additions. Namely, the last books in series that I've had started for quite some time already. (Think, Percy Jackson in paperback.)

Third, If you could find it in your heart to help me remember to take a walk around my neighbourhood as often as possible, I might be willing to name you as my best friend ever. Maybe.

Fourth, Let's have fun together, 2011. I'm going to bet you are going to be my best year yet!

Love,

Hannah