Book Release

Just wanted to point out that The Rise of Nine hits shelves last week.  It's the 3rd book in the Lorien Legacies series by  Pittacus Lore.  I LOVE this series and have been anxiously awaiting thisnext installment.  I strongly suggest you check this series out if you haven't already.

Last Week's Holiday Recap

So another week of festive holidays down.  I have to say, this week was a bit of a challenge.  Some very...odd holidays.

Mon Aug 13th was International Left Handers' Day.  I was left handed for a whole week once, after I cut part my finger off on a swing set, but that's another story for another day.  I am not left handed now.  Neither is Freeman.  In honor of the day, we both wrote our names with our left hands.  Let's just say I should steer clear of swing sets!

Tue Aug 14th was National Navajo Code Talkers Day.  Let me just say that I was impressed that Freeman actually knew what this was.  I sure as heck didn't.  Since I really couldn't come up with a way to celebrate this, I shall give you a brief history lesson instead.  Ready class?  In short, the US Military enlisted the help of Native Americans to transmit messages--their native language was unknown to opposing forces, making it pretty much impossible for them to intercept any information from them.  That's as Cliff's Notes version as I can get it, but it's really pretty interesting stuff.  Here's a longer version if you care to enlighten yourself:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navajo_Code_Talker#Use_of_Navajo

Wed Aug 15th was Best Friend's Day. Freeman and I were going to be the bestest of friends for an entire day.  We were even going to wear matching bracelets and everything.  But then job duties took Freeman out of the office for the day, so I was forced to celebrate alone.  It was very sad.  So, so sad.

Thur Aug 16th was National Airborne Day.  As I was working on wrapping up a tedious project, I threatened several times to throw things at people.  Thus making said inanimate objects "airborne."  Unfortunately that was about the extent of the festivities for the day.  I hate it when work gets in the way of a good day of celebrating something.

And the week ended on Fri Aug 17th with National Hug Your Boss Day.  Seriously.  I can't make this up.  Some bosses obviously enjoy this holiday more than others.  Period.



Weekly Holiday Recap

Mon Aug 6th brought us National Fresh Breath Day.  I chose to celebrate by offering some of my favorite gum--Shaun White Stride Mint--to everyone I encountered.  You would be surprised how many takers you can find when you are giving away something for free, even if it IS just gum.  Unfortunately, Freeman was out of the office doing work stuff all day.  Wherever he was, I hope his breath was minty fresh!  I told him that is step one to catching a wife.

Tue Aug 7th was National Lighthouse Day.  A few fun facts about lighthouses: The oldest active lighthouse in the US is the Sandy Hook Light in New Jersey.  The first lighthouse in the US to use electricity was the Statue of Liberty.  Who knew!?  Seriously, pretty near impossible for me to truly celebrate this one, given that I live in the middle of a state with no nearby major body of water requiring the use of a lighthouse.  But I thought about them a lot on Tuesday.  And at lunch I drove by this nearby house that I have always thought looked like a lighthouse and took a picture.  That will have to do.

Wed Aug 8th was National Sneak a Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor's Porch Night.  Seriously, I can't make this up!  Unfortunately, I did not have any zucchini at home, mainly because I don't eat it and thus never buy it.  But I DID have some peppers and bananas.  So those would have to work.  I certainly hope Ashley enjoyed her tasty treat the next morning.

Thu Aug 9th brings us to the International Day of the World's Indigenous People.  Yeah, um... So first off, I had to look up what that actually meant.  10 minutes on Wikipedia later, I still had no idea how one might celebrate it or how to "show respect for Indigenous people, their unique cultures and contributions to societies" like Wikipedia told me I should be doing.  The first thing that popped into my head was 'Native Americans' and how can I show my support for them?  Naturally, being the poker addict that I am, 'casinos' was the next thing that popped into my head.  And while I couldn't exactly leave work to go gamble for the day, I could change my screensaver to a picture of a casino I have been to before.  (Let's just say they got a lot of support from me that day.)

Fri Aug 10th, National S'mores Day!  Do I really have to mention that we looked forward to this one all week?  Only one way to celebrate this one, really.

Currently Reading

Just wanted to share with everyone what I'm currently reading.  I recently started A Game of Thrones, by George R. R. Martin.  I've been told by several people that both the books and tv series are amazing, so thought I would give them a try.  (A special thanks to my friend Lynn who gave me the books for my birthday.)

Happy Holidays!

If you follow me on Twitter, first of all, thank you!  Secondly, you may have noticed that I've been entertaining myself (and others, apparently) by celebrating random holidays.  I was asked to add this to my blog, despite the fact that it has NOTHING to do with writing or tips or anything of that nature.  I was told by a few coworkers and colleagues that while they enjoy reading about my progress as an aspiring author, they feel like the world is missing out on my unconventional randomness and that it would be great if I shared this entertaining part of my work days with the world to fill in the gaps while I work on my literary masterpiece.  (Ha ha ha, eh, if you say so.)

So let me offer a shortened explanation of what started all of this.  My coworker made the comment last week that 'Christmas would be here before you know it.' The very thought of that nauseates me.  (I mean, I still have so much shopping left to do!)  So I made the proclamation that I was going to forgo the holidays that stress me out this year, starting with Christmas and Valentine's Day.  (But I'm keeping Halloween, because I like free Chocolate!)  Jokingly I said that I would be celebrating all of the lesser, overlooked holidays instead. My other coworker--let's call him Freeman because, well, that's his name--thought this was a great idea and jumped on the bandwagon to help me spread holiday cheer around the office everyday.  Then, the conversation took a rather silly turn.  (That's right, because it wasn't silly enough already.)  And long story short, I have now been instructed that I must recap our weeks of celebration for all the world to see and pass judgment on.

So, without further adieu, for those of you who are still with me after that pointless rambling, allow me to bring you up to speed on the holidays YOU all overlooked.

We kicked off the festivities on Wed Aug 1st with....National Spider-man Day!  (Seriously, look it up.)  Now this excited me as I have loved Spider-man since I was a kid, waaay back since the days of The Electric Company (gotta love public television) and long before anyone had ever heard Toby McGuire.  So to commemorate this hero, Freeman and I changed our PC wallpapers:

At lunch, while killing an hour in the park, I contemplated trying to climb a wall.  However, there were no walls in the park.  I would have had to settle for the ballpark's announcer's stand and I just didn't think it would be the same.  Also, there was no one around to call the paramedics when I severely injured myself.  (Not that that would have happened.)

On to Thurs, Aug 2nd--National Ice Cream Sandwich Day
I mean, is there really any question as to how to celebrate this one?  Freeman enjoyed his ice cream sandwich.  He enjoyed it right in front of me.  For once I was able to find the will power to ignore an excuse to eat a dessert in the middle of the day.  But I did graciously offer my own ice cream sandwich to another coworker who looked hot and in need of a tasty snack.  And my phone runs on the ice cream sandwich operating system, so I really celebrate it every day.

Fri Aug 3rd--National Watermelon Day
My initial intent was to pick one of my own home grown from seeds watermelons from my garden to take to work for everyone, just so I can brag about yet another mad skill that my husband insists I don't have.  (He's in denial and very jealous.)  Unfortunately, none of the watermelons were ripe for the taking, so Freeman and I settled for watermelon flavored Sour Patch Kids instead, which honestly, I think I enjoyed more anyway.

We shared.  That's all that matters.  Now here's the thing.  I was told that the local radio station was discussing the fact that it was Watermelon Day.  I personally think that they knew that because they read it on my Twitter shortly beforehand because what are the odds that more than two people would actually know that, right?  At least, that's what I'm going to tell myself for now.

So until next week, when I bring you more exciting holiday adventures...um, celebrate something or make up a holiday.  Or help me think of a more witty ending next time.  (Or send me pictures of YOU celebrating holidays to mjstafford@rocketmail.com and I'll share them with the world too!)