The 4th Anniversary of Me

Today is the 4th Anniversary of Me. It might seem silly that I celebrate this day, especially b/c it's been 4 years. It's very important to me though, to remember that even though I have sad, crappy days, I'm ALLOWED to. And most important of all, I'm safe. This is a day to remember that it CAN happen to you-and that you CAN survive. And no matter how much I feel like life sometimes stinks...it's never as bad as it was when I was laying on the steps of my house unable to move my right arm and bleeding from my forehead, not knowing if I'd be able to scam my way into one more day alive. Today is the Anniversary of Me...

From Brokenness to Happiness

From the depths of despair
when my world fell apart
I felt all alone
and heavy in heart -
My life had been shattered
by a tight-fisted hand
Who could I turn to;
who'd understand?

He made me feel worthless
to the depths of my soul
I was just a possession
for him to control -
Always blaming me
whenever things went wrong
Though physical scars heal
emotional live on.

So with no self-esteem
and in a broken mess
I made a decision
about my happiness -
It took all my courage
that I could find
To make a stand for myself
and leave him behind.

Those first few months
were the loneliest I'd been
But I knew it was worth it
not to be hit again -
And in finding myself
I cried a river of tears
Learning to love me
and facing my fears.

Though the memory remains
but the hurt has gone
My scars have all healed
my emotions live on -
Over four years have passed
since I walked out that door -
No need to look back,
no fear anymore.

© Christina
15 August, 2000

And the Winner Is...

Cue the Minka lighting, it's time to announce the winners!! First, I'd like to once again thank you all for playing and for spreading the word. This contest was such a huge success and it's all because of you-I'm working on a post with everyones links and also trying to get a contest blogroll going for my sidebar. If I can't send you goodies, at least I can give you linky love! This was so much fun I'll plan on doing this again in 2009.

What's that? You want me to stop jabbering away and just announce the winners already? Oh, ok! I can tell you that the 2 winners are by are, in my mind, the most deserving and I am SUPER psyched that they won...

Both are amazing WOMEN...

MOTHERS....

and WIVES...

and so, it is with great pleasure that I announce to you, the FIRST "Life is Short: Eat Dessert First!" contest winners....

Runner Up:
Marilyn of More Random Than Average

Grand Prize Winner:Donna aka Desert Songbird of The Ice Box

CONGRATULATIONS TO BOTH OF YOU!

Please email me your mailing addresses so that I can send your prizes. :)

Last Day!!

Today's the day!!! The Life is Short: Eat Dessert First contest ends today at 5pm EDT. I've already started making the ballots (considering there are almost 90 entrants!). Before the day is out, you will know the lucky winners are!

There will be 1 GRAND PRIZE and 1 RUNNER UP...who will it be? Come back later tonight to find out...

It's not too late to play-just leave a comment on the ORIGINAL post below...don't worry, the prize is NOT replica watches...

Life is Short: Eat Dessert First! (Contest)

Sticky Post Until 11/21-Scroll Down For Today's Post



Hello & welcome to the first (maybe) annual Life Is Short: Eat Dessert First Contest! This year I would like to send a few edible gifts to people who live far away but I have a dilemma-I do not know how they will ship! Help me determine which gifts stand up to shipping and which ones do not...

The rules are simple:
1. Leave a comment ON THIS POST telling me you would like to be submitted. You MUST have a name-I can not award "anonymous" as I don't know who you are!

2. To earn more entries, have other bloggers (who are not on my blogroll) come by to enter by commenting on this post. THEY MUST SAY THAT YOU SENT THEM. Their name will be entered and you will gain 1 more entry! The more people you send, the more entries you get!

3. If you are chosen as the winner, you must email me to tell me what items stood up to shipping and which items did not. After all, that is the main reason I am doing this.

Contest ends at 5pm EDT, Friday 11/21. At that time I will compile all entries and pick 1 grand prize winner. Depending on the number of entries received, I may also choose a runner up.

Winners will be contacted via email (as well as announced here) by 10pm EDT 11/21.

Please note, you must be willing to provide me with your *real* name and mailing address in order to receive the prize!

OK, so you want to play-but what is it that you will win?!?! Prizes may vary, but they will all be homemade edible gifts made by me.

So...do you want to play?! *Look for ways to earn bonus entries throughout next week*

99 Things

Here's a meme that's been making the rounds. Thought I'd throw my three cents into the foray... The items that pertain to me have been bolded and italicized:

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business (Not a linear motion business)
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

What the Puck?

Tonight was definitely a fun night. It started out with burgers and beer at a local place near the Garden...Danielle chose a nice Blueberry beer which she said was fantastic. What I liked most about her beer was that the blueberries actually floated and fell and then did it all over again. Sort of like a blueberry beer lava lamp, if you will...

If you remember, I told you that I got these tickets for free simply by looking on Craigslist at the right time. (Totally a fluke, by the way!!) When you get free stuff, especially tickets to a sporting event, you sort of expect them to be crap seats, right?? Well, not these! They were in the loge section and were quite nice!


For the most part the people around us were pretty nice. The man sitting next to Danielle introduced himself to her and told her it was "Just in case I spill my beer on you." Nice. The funny thing was that Danielle actually ended up spilling her popcorn on a little girl in front of us. The girl didn't mind though-in fact, she started eating it right out of the hood on her jacket!! (Later we gave the same girl the popcorn we weren't going to eat.) Poor Danielle-at least twice beer was spilled on her-not from the guy who put the disclaimer out there either-by two jackasses who sat behind us. Once they even blamed it on her!

About 2/3 of the way through the game I turned to Danielle and said, "Ok....I wanna know how we neglected to see the huge penis on the ice." She asked what I was talking about and I pointed to this:


I call that picture, "Penis on the Rocks". It's an unfortunate advertisement for "Barracuda" which, truth be told, I have no idea what it is and I'm too tired to go searching for it now. Maybe tomorrow. All I can tell you is that sitting in our seats, it looked like a huge dong on ice. (And I still want to know how we didn't see that from the start!!)

On the way out of the Garden we encountered a few rowdy boys who were being yelled at by the ushers. One very drunk boy got away and was muttering something when a cop swaggered up to him in a very aggressive manner and said, "Hey asshole-how old are you?"

I thought that was pretty lame. Really? That's all you have for this kid? You walked up to him like you were such a bad ass. I'm not saying he should have harassed the kid, but it was almost like once he got close, he lost his steam...(Maybe he needed a little Zero Halliburton)

I decided to walk up a few T stops to avoid the crowds. I didn't feel like I was in danger b/c there were so many people around. The only harm I felt was from the cold. When I was stopped at a cross walk though, some weird (drunk) kid stopped, huffed a little bit and turned to me like he was going to say something. But he didn't. He just stared at me for what seemed like minutes then turned and kept walking. It was weird but it made me smile for some reason. What girl doesn't like leaving a cute boy speechless? Ha ha ha...

By far the best part of the whole night was getting to hang out with my very cool (delightful) friend Danielle, who I hardly get to see anymore because I was a jerk and left for another job. :) It was great to see her and to catch up and also to share some laughs in person...

Thanks for a fun night Danielle! I hope you had a better/easier time getting home than I did! (WAY too many people on the train home.)

Busy 'n Stuff

I'm covering for someone while they are out this week and therefore am again supporting 7 people-this is why I've not been around your blogs and why I'm not updating. (When I get home, I just don't want to be near the computer.) I'm covering until Tuesday of next week, so it might be touch and go until then. I will, however, tell you who won the contest on Friday like promised...

Tonight I am going to a hockey game-which I'm pretty psyched about. I got free tickets a little while back and am extra psyched because my friend Danielle is coming with me! I haven't seen her in a while, and it'll be nice to catch up and chat over dinner and drinks before we go watch grown men beat the shit out of each other. :) I'll try to take pics and update you tomorrow...if there are any good ones, maybe I'll use them to make my photo holiday cards.

No tally for now, I'm sorry...rest assured though, I do have my spreadsheet updated with the entries and referrals...

Toosdae ?'s

I know I promised to have a tally ready for you last night, but I got home from supper club and was zonked. I was in bed by 10pm which is WAY early for me...I am counting them now and will post them shortly. While you're waiting, why not answer these questions?

1. What's your favorite beverage to drink with breakfast?

2. Between breakfast, lunch and dinner, which meal are you most likely to skip?

3. You're home alone (or with a special someone): What are you more likely to make for yourself for breakfast: An Omelet, Pancakes (of waffles) or Toast/bagels?

1. I love to have a big ice cold glass of orange juice with breakfast but I rarely do. Instead, I have a cup of coffee, which I like, but also (sadly), I need.

2. I'm most likely to skip lunch. When I get busy doing things I tend to look at the clock and realize I haven't eaten since breakfast but that it's too close to dinner to eat. Mind you-it doesn't happen a lot, but it happens.

3. If I'm going to cook myself a nice breakfast, I'm more likely to cook an omelet for myself-mostly because I usually have the ingredients to do so. I also cook French toast sometimes too.

Extra, Extra! (Entries)

It's been a VERY hectic morning and will be busy for the rest of the day for me-so unfortunately I don't have time to tally all of the extra entries and "votes" right now-but I CAN tell you that the response is AMAZING!! I will update you all on the entries later tonight after my supper club...

I told you last week there would be a way for you to get extra entries without asking others to come by to enter...well, here is your chance. It's a photo challenge-with you and what else? Baked goods! It's simple...take a picture of yourself eating, making or whatever else it is you do with baked goods and post it on your blog. Come leave me a comment on THIS post letting me know it's up and you'll get an extra point for every picture you take. It's that easy.

The MOST creative/silly/weird photo will receive an extra 5 entries!

So, get clicking-from now until Wednesday at 12pm EDT...have fun!

Picture Perfect

Before the show...

Cool girl on the T...
After we go drenched by a sudden downpour...Waiting for the show...still looking like drowned rats!The end. :)