Random Thoughts...

Whenever I feel like I have way too much going on in my head (which is often) I tend to write about a thing or two that's taking up a lot of real estate or I just write a bunch of random stuff down. Today will be a bunch of random stuff. I know, you're so stoked now. Take a deep breath to calm yourself down then proceed.

Random Thoughts:

• I'm really grateful at times for the shitty people I've known in life. And for the not so shitty people who have done shitty things. (Who isn't guilty of that at least once?) For those people and instances, I've learned a lot of different things. The biggest thing being realizing the kind of person I never want to be. There are life lessons I still haven't learned and sometimes it takes a bad situation or a crappy person to teach that lesson to me. It sucks at the time but I appreciate what I end up taking away from it.

• Turn signals must be really hard to use in some cars. Or maybe they don't come in every car. Maybe there are some crazy cars out there that charge extra for those. It can't be that people are literally too lazy or too preoccupied to be bothered with flipping a lever or a button to activate a signal that lets other drivers know you're about to switch lanes. Nah, couldn't be that at all. 

•  I cut off 4.5" inches off hair a couple weeks ago. I work in a bakery. It's hot as hell in there. I live in Texas. It's Summer. It's hot as hell. My hair was well passed my shoulder blades and between work and Texas being Texas, the long hair had to go so I could keep a smidge cooler. I felt so much lighter and all around better after I left the salon.

•  I get anxious about letting someone else cut my hair. I hate it actually. However, I love letting someone else massage my scalp and wash/rinse my hair. That's the only part of the actual salon visit I actually enjoy. It's one of the most relaxing things in the world.

• Soft pretzels are awesome. If they were healthy for you, I'd eat them every single day.

• I'm doing my first Walk to end Alzheimer's at the end of September and I'm really looking forward to it. Raising money for my walk team is great because all the donations go to the Alzheimer's Association to help raise funds for Alzheimer research, care and support. Which is a cause I care deeply about since Alzheimer's is what my grandfather died from two years ago. I still miss him dearly and I'm sure I always will. In doing this, I've already met some other people who understand what it's like to watch someone go through this disease. Also, it's great to meet other people who are passionate about a cause you really care about and I think it'll make me feel better to do more than just donate money to something.
   
• After a discussion with some co-workers yesterday, I realized it might not be as common as I thought it was to mix two cereals together when eating a bowl of cereal. Which is weird because it's delicious and cereal is awesome. Eating two kinds of cereal at once is even more awesome.

• A baby dragon would be one of the coolest pets ever. As long as it got older but didn't get any bigger.

I'm done now. 
Thanks for reading. ;)

Happy Tuesday.

Justifying your simple joys.

I’ll never understand people’s need to justify why they like the trivial things they like. I’m never ashamed or embarrassed by anything I find appealing or enjoyable because if it brings me joy and happiness, why should I care what anyone else thinks of it?

I don’t. And never will. And I guess it’s for that reason that I’ll never understand why people feel they need to explain why they like something and try to convince others of it’s coolness when they don’t agree. Everyone likes different things and some people you like aren’t going to necessarily be into the same things you are. If you feel you need to justify a song or a TV show or a food you like to someone, you’re probably too concerned with people’s opinions of you. And if liking a dorky TV show or an annoying song could jeopardize a friendship, you’re better off just letting that happen. If some one's opinion of you is changed in a negative way because of something you like, that's their problem. If they treat you differently because of it, then maybe they're not as nice as you thought.

Justifying things you like is silly. Almost as silly as the people who try to prove why their hobby, favorite sport, favorite song, etc is better than whatever it is someone else with a differing opinion likes. If it’s not hurting anyone and it makes you happy, enjoy it and stop worrying about what everyone else thinks.

Let's try this again.

I decided I want to try to start blogging again. I took a break for a long time because I felt like all I had to talk about were things too personal for me to put out here and negative things and I didn't want to use this as an outlet solely to vent and complain. 

A lot of things have changed in the last year.

I'm working a different job in a bakery and enjoy it far better than my previous job that I was miserable at. I'm working on starting my own business, too.

The boyfriend and I moved into a nice apartment larger than our previous arrangement and in an area that isn't ghetto at all.

My boyfriend is now cancer free, which is really some of the best news of all.

There are other things that have changed that aren't for the better but I don't want to get into those. Maybe at some point if I decide to follow through with blogging regularly again I'll feel like I need to. Or maybe if I just want to. For now, nah.

You'll be missed.

I hate writing about sad stuff but I need to get this out somewhere. I'm not good at talking about things like this and honestly don't have that many people I can talk to anyway. Writing always helps when words fail me verbally though.

These amazing photos of bears in the wild were taken by a talented and wonderful man, Philip Perdue.

I met Philip because he was friends with my boyfriend Shane and had been for years. Phil was one of the first member of Shane's car club that made me feel welcome and included me into their diverse group of members.

His talent with photography and the often very amusing stories that went along with the photos he took were one of the things I liked most about him. He had a passion for capturing the world through photograph and he was good at it.

I admired how upbeat & optimistic he was no matter what life tossed at him. He had some things he was fighting through and some days were enough to put most people into grumpy spirits. He rarely let anything get him down, though.

He had a great sense of humor. A little (ok a lot) weird at times but the man never failed to make me and those around him laugh their asses off.

As a free spirit myself, I can always recognize and appreciate that in someone else. I admired that in him.

Phil was one of the most genuinely nice guys anyone could ever be fortunate enough to know.
He was the kind of guy always ready to lend a helping hand to anyone who needed one without ever keeping score or expecting anything in return. He had such kind heart and so much joy to give.

Last night as I was getting off of a long 10 hour shift at work, my boyfriend called me from work crying. I was automatically worried something was wrong with him but he had just found out from a good mutual friend he shared with Phil that Phil had died unexpectedly. I was stunned to say the least. We had just gone through the death of a family friend a little over a week ago when the mother of one of the goalies on my brother's hockey team passed away unexpectedly and now this. I stayed on the phone with my boyfriend the remainder of his break then just sat in my car letting the news about Phil sink in. I ended up driving around a little bit then went to the boyfriend's job so I could be with him on his lunch break to offer comfort and maybe a few laughs. I didn't cry until I got home that night. I pulled into the driveway and the sky was so pretty with a few stars barely peeking through clouds. I thought of Phil and how much he loved photography and of a conversation we had about how gorgeous the night skies in Northern California were on clear nights. Then I sat there sobbing and realizing I'd never see him again. I'd never have another conversation, never hear his goofy laugh, never hear another story about a trip he went on to take amazing photos with crazy mishaps. Shane had wanted him to be the photographer at our wedding (we do plan to get married eventually) but now he won't be there walking around smiling his big goofy grin with his camera, making jokes and capturing so many moments through photograph.

He was always so friendly and genuinely nice to everyone. Until you did wrong to anyone he cared for, then he wasn't such a gentle teddy bear. He was loved and liked by so many, he will be greatly missed.

I'll miss that quirky little man with the big heart and goofy grin.

RIP Phil.

Toys for Tots Year 4 Final Post, Finally!

I apologize to those that have been patiently waiting for the Toys for Tots post to come up. I haven't been slacking on it, I literally just haven't had time to get on the computer for long enough to get it done lately. With the holiday madness plus 50+ hour work weeks and other personal issues going on, life has been hectic. Though I did get the images uploaded to Flicker and posted the link on Twitter about a week ago and sent it to many people that e-mailed asking so I don't feel as bad about not getting this posted in a timely manner.

I know plenty of you guys were sick of seeing me post and tweet about it but it really is one of my favorite charities and doing the blog fundraiser is a great way to earn money to be able to donate a lot of toys for it. I do a lot of charity and volunteer work through out the year and it's always sad to see how much more is needed. At least with this particular charity, I can try to reach out to others and get some help with it so some kids who would have otherwise gone without got something to brighten their Christmas morning up.

The first year I did this, I ended up with 83 toys.

Last year was the second year I did it and I was beyond stoked when I ended up getting 105 toys.

The third year turned out even better than last year did with a grand total of 132 toys.

This year? 146 toys. Each year gets increasingly a little bit better. Here they are all laid out, as usual....



I usually lay them out on the bed but I decided after last year being so frustrating trying to make everything fit for a picture, I'd try a different place and luckily I had the house to myself to get this done without interruption. 

As much work and as stressful as making this come together really is, I love doing it. And while I generally hate shopping, shopping for this is always so much fun for me despite having to keep track of everything I'm putting in the cart and the cost of it all. I didn't have a friend to help me this year but no big deal there. I try to get a good mix of toys for varying ages and get a good variety of things...

 


Once I got everything back off the couch and floor and into bags again, I got everything outside to my boyfriend's car. His Mazda has a far bigger trunk than my little two door Civic has so we always use his car to take the toys to the Toys for Tots warehouse. The bags took up all the space in his trunk and part of the backseat as well.

 

 

The location for the Dallas area Toys for Tots headquarters changes every year but it's thankfully always in the same general area so it's never too hard to find. Plus, they're always more than willing to give out detailed directions when you ask for them. ;) They're also super helpful in unloading the toys...





If you want to see the rest of the pictures from the shopping trip, more shots of them laid out and more from them being dropped off then you can see the full photo set here. There are a little over 30 pictures total.

I want to say thank you to those of you who donated. Whether it was $2, $10, $25, $50 or more; it doesn't matter. I appreciate it and I know the families that benefit from Toys for Tots doing what they do appreciate it, too. I have so much fun being able to do this. I've donated to Toys for Tots since I was a little kid and my mom let us each buy a couple toys of our choosing to give to them and kept doing so for as long as I can remember.  So blame her for getting me started into this one. ;) Doing it on such a large scale the last few years has been so awesome. I couldn't do it without all of your help so thank you. I also want to say thank you to everyone who posted on their blogs, tweeted links and otherwise badgered told their friends and readers alike about what I had going on in hopes of getting more donations. To everyone who donated or helped in some way... thanks so much! You're wonderful and I heart you. :) 

Now we're done for this year and y'all don't have to hear me go on and annoy the online world with this anymore. Until next year anyway. ;)

Happy Sunday!

Toys For Tots Blogger Fundraiser Year 4!

***NOTE: THIS POST WILL REMAIN AT THE TOP OF THE BLOG UNTIL I'M DONE WITH THE FUNDRAISER. Scroll down for new posts. :D ****

UPDATE: The cut off date to take donations via paypal for this year will be December 14, 2012. I'll go shopping and deliver the toys by the 17th. 

UPDATE: See this post for information on how you can enter for a chance to win a $25 Target gift card by donating or/and promoting the Toys for Tots fundraiser.

UPDATE: I have purchased my first round of toys for Toys for Tots, see the post and photo here. :) Remember, December 14th is the last day to make donations via paypal for the fundraiser then I'll be going toy shopping soon after! Thanks everyone!
 
I've had multiple people email me, ask via Twitter and message me on Facebook about this so I figured I better get this up and going for the fourth year in a row! :)

Every year I donate some toys to Toys for Tots. I pick and choose other things to donate to as well through out the year. I don't think I can make a big dent of change in the world but I can do little things to make things a little better for other people. Be it with toys during the holidays, money for food, donating clothing, etc. I bitch about things that I wish I could fix but really, all that bitching does nothing if you're not willing to step up and do something to help make it better. So, I do what I can when I can to help out. It makes me feel good to know I've done something good and I help out with a lot of different things.

In 2009, I got an idea to do a Blogger Toys for Tots Fundraiser. I got the idea damn late it the year though so there wasn't much time to work with for Toys for Tots. I did it again in 2010 and last year in 2011 as well. And now I'm doing it again this year. Don't know what that is? Let me inform you before I get on with the rest of the post.

Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, an IRS recognized 501(c)(3) not-for-profit public charity is the fund raising, funding and support organization for the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program. The Foundation was created at the behest of the U. S. Marine Corps and provides support in accordance with a Memorandum of Understanding with the Commander, Marine Forces Reserve, who directs the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program. The Foundation has supported Toys for Tots since 1991.

The mission of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community in which the campaign is conducted.

Like I said, I donate something every year. Sometimes in toys and sometimes in money. Sometimes more and sometimes less. Sometimes I don't have much money to spare but I do a little bit anyway because I know even if I'm hurting a little, some little kid and their family is hurting more. I prefer doing toys, though. I like going in to a store and picking out toys that I know will make some little kids happy. I never see the kids who get these but I always wonder if they liked what they got or if they were just happy for something, anything.

In 2009, 2010 and last year as well, I did a Fundraiser for Toys for Tots on my blog. The results were far better than I had expected in 2009 and they were amazing in 2010 and surprised me yet again in 2011. I was beyond touched at all of the help and support I got. I got so many people who donated little amounts and it all added up to so many toys that I went and purchased. I take plenty of pictures and get it well documented on the blog because it's important to me (and lots of you!) to get pictures to show that I was doing as I said I would. I had so much fun going to get the toys in 2009, 2010 & 2011. This year, I'm doing it again. :)

The final results from 2009: Here
The final results from 2010: Here
The final results from 2011: Here 

If you want to see more posts with more details and pictures, then just click here or go to the Toys for Tots tab at the top of the blog on the tabs section.

On the right side of this blog on the side section under my profile, you will find that there is a PayPal donation button there.
If you want to donate money to help buy toys for Toys for Tots, just use that.

I will take all the money that gets donated and go buy toys. For proof that I'm doing what I say I'll be doing with the donations, there will yet again be pictures of the toys as I buy them and pictures of all those said toys being loaded into the car and more upon being delivered to a Toys for Tots location near my house once I'm done with the fundraiser.

I know with the economy being what it is, things are rough for a lot of people (myself and my boyfriend included) BUT if you can spare $5 that would be enough. With $5 I can buy an action figure, toy cars, Legos, a stuffed animal, various kinds of dolls, PlayDoh sets and various other things. $5 will buy a toy and in some cases more than one toy. I can get 8 or 9 Hot Wheels cars on $10 so no amount would be too small. If 15 people donate 5 dollars, I have $75 and that will buy quite a few toys to brighten a child's day. You can do something to help and leave all the work up to me.

Like I said, I know life financially sucks for a lot of people right now. If you can give just a little bit though, you'll be making someone happy and doing something good. It's not that big of a deal to let go of $3 or $5 to a great and very worthy cause.

And yes, I know Christmas isn't about the toys and other presents but imagine being 7 and not looking forward to waking up Christmas morning because Santa couldn't bring you anything this year. It's a bummer.

If you want, please feel free to post about this on your blog with links and send people over. I would appreciate that quite a bit. If you do pimp this post out on your blog, email me after you do so with the post link so I can include you in a post that's to come later on. Also feel free to tweet about it or post it on Facebook. A few dollars from a lot of different people goes a long way. :)

This post will stay at the top of the blog for quite a while. Actually, it will be up at the top until the time I'm done with the fundraiser. The cut off date to take donations via paypal will be December 14th. I'll go shopping and deliver the toys by the 17th.

There's also a tab Toys for Tots at the top of the blog if you want to go check out all the previous posts and pictures from the previous two years.



The tab just has pretty much what this post has plus links to the posts I did last year including all of the pictures as well as a donation link.

Happy Wednesday!

2 days left in the Toys for Tots fundraiser! & other stuff...

Two more days left to donate to the Toys for Tots Holiday Fundraiser and two more days left to enter the $25 Target Gift Card Contest.

If you've entered the GC contest and I haven't emailed or DM'd you on Twitter to let you know I've counted you, then please email me [amorousrocker (at) gmail (dot) com] and let me know. I'm working 50 hour weeks right now so keeping up with everyone has been a little tough with real life being so busy on top of working a lot of hours. If you didn't have me tell you that you've been counted yet, I haven't entered you into the drawing for the gift card yet and you need to email me. :)

Yesterday sucked. This month has sucked so far despite my best efforts to look at the bright side of things but I digress. I had a bad morning thanks to an early morning argument with a friend, bad day at work, burned my hand, broke the keyless entry remote for my car and then on the way home from work I got into a minor accident because some dumbass woman was busy on her phone on the highway and ran smack dab into the back of my Civic. So weird how people don't just fucking drive anymore while driving. A lot of people don't anyway. I'm fine and my car is fine, thankfully. I don't cry easily but I'm going through some stuff and a lot of stress right now and blah blah blah. Anyway I almost started crying when I got out to look at the potential damage and was so relieved to see nothing major that I almost started crying out of relief. Especially since she informed me she didn't "exactly" have auto insurance currently. Today will be a better day. Yep yep yep.

Anyway. I'm pretty much done Christmas shopping. I have my boyfriend, my family & most of my boyfriend's family members that I get gifts for covered. I'm glad I actually got started early this year so I don't have to deal with it when everyone really starts getting crazy because it's getting closer to the day and they're still not done yet. I hate shopping as it is the rest of the year but during the holidays? This is why I do the Toys for Tots shopping either early in the morning or super late at night. Stocked shelves and not near as many crazy people to deal with. Win/win. I'm super excited to go toy shopping soon and I'm sure a lot of people are equally as excited to not have to hear about it anymore after I do the final post next week, lol.

Happy Wednesday!