17 Bruises

thank you World Class Fireworks

So, I counted them up in the shower yesterday and I have 17 bruises from working in the warehouse at Jake's. It doesn't help that I bruise really easily either or that I am a shrimp who has a hard time hoisting boxes around.

Most of the bruises I have are on my arms from the boxes. One of the big ones on my left arm is from the One Bad Mother 3 Inch... that one does a number on me every time. Then I have some on the tops of my legs from catching boxes and from using my legs to hold the box up. Then I have a huge one on my ankle from the darn forklift. AND... to top it all off.... my arms are soooo sore I can barely move them.

But I guess that's what happens when you work in the world of fireworks. I just hope my co-workers at my other job don't think I am a freak with all my battle wounds! haha.

One more month and then I don't have to do it anymore!!! WOO HOO! But by then, I'll probably be one big briuse!

RetroJunk.com

back in the days when cartoons were good

I love this website! I found it about a year ago and like to check it out once in a while as a nice de-stresser. It has television shows, movies and commercials from the 70s, 80s and 90s. Each one will have some info on the show then videos, photos, quotes, etc. Here's a few of the shows from my childhood that I like to reminisce about (there are so many I had a hard time choosing which photos to put on here, haha):

Well, there ya go....

it turns out that I AM a rockstar

it only took me a little over a month living here to make the local broadcast news! Not to bad for a newbie!

After the C-Span tour Beth and I attended a press conference for a new "Serve Kids Serve Time" campaign. Well, on the NBC news station there I was, on the 6 o'clock news sitting in the background listening. hehe. I even got the pleasure of meeting the county prosecutor and the Mayor of South Bend.

I knew it would only be a matter of time before I was on TV! :) AND, if we get the big federal grant we applied for later this summer I get to plan and speak at a press conference to announce the award!!!

Oh, South Bend will KNOW who Stacy Birk is. Why yes they will! :)

Hangin' out in the C-Span tour bus

it's been an eventful morning

I get into work today and the girls are all heading out to see the C-Span tour bus that has stopped in South Bend for a public tour. So, we walked downtown and across the river (our office is about 2 blocks from the center of downtown and we are parallel to the river) to where the bus was parked. I even got to walk by the National College Football Hall of Fame, the Century Center and a really cool Chocolate Cafe that has all kinds of chocolate and candies as well as a cafe inside. Looks like I will have to give it a try sometime. :)

The C-Span bus was actually pretty cool, especially for a news-junkie and former reporter like myself. I guess I have always watched more CNN or FOX and didn't realize that C-Span is a non-profit news organization that is funded solely by cable subscribers. They have no reporters, just cameramen (which explains the endless hours of the House and Senate proceedings that they air). Their whole motto is to show the entire speech, or entire event without reporters telling you what they said so that you can make up your mind about the candidates in a non-biased way. Sounds good to me!

We got to see where they interview everyone and where they produce the footage for the broadcast. It was pretty impressive! Roz and Beth even won t-shirts for guessing the names of several faces they flashed on a screen real fast. Then, Beth and Naomi were both interviewed to be on the local news! Way to go girls! They were calling themselves rock stars, but I wouldn't go that far, haha. I told them that this is only my first week and to give me time cause I will be a rock start too. I think they either think I am really cool, or just plain dumb. haha. Either way I don't care! They are fun and I love my job!

Fits like a glove

i am really enjoying my new job

I started my new job on Monday and I am really enjoying it. The staff there are easy to work with, they are all team players, fun and flexible (much like the office I came from). It also helps that I actually know what I am doing, which makes the learning curve much less grueling. Most of the learning I will be doing is about all their programs, grants and initiatives and meeting all the movers and shakers in the area (which I love to do).

I am off to make a difference in South Bend, Indiana!!!!!

After nearly 9 years...

it was time to say goodbye

When I was 18 years old I thought it would be really cool to get a bellybutton ring. My friend Angie had one and she talked me into getting one as well. She even took me to downtown Wichita to get it and then we enjoyed a lunch at Carlos O'Kelly's afterward. It hurt like hell and it didn't even heal up correctly. In fact every time I tried to change the ring out for a prettier one it would get all infected and I would have to put the other one back in. Yet, I kept at it.

At that stage in my life I was in pretty good shape. I was not, however, as teeny-tiny as my friend Angie but I would definitely give anything to look the way I did back then. So, the bellybutton ring didn't look too bad (once it healed up) and I actually showed it off a little.

Well, as the years have passed I have not maintained my 18 year-old figure. yet the bellybutton ring remained. Here's a nice visual for ya... now I have to hold up my jelly roll on my belly just to SEE the damn ring. :) I had thought about taking it out several times over the years but feared it would get infected. But, I threw caution to the wind last night and unscrewed it, said goodbye and tossed it in the garbage.

It feels a little weird and I have been using some neosporin creme to make sure it doesn't get infected.

I should have done it a long time ago, but I think I was still trying to hold on to a little bit of my youth, a little bit of the wild side of my life (not that I was totally wild and out of control), but we have all had a wild streak. :)

So, here's to growing up, here's to taking out unnecessary body jewelry, here's to full-time jobs and retirement funds, here's to making babies and here's to always remembering your past but always looking to the future.