Who said what?

One of the most confusing things about Twitter is the "retweet". There are so many different ways that people add their own comments to a tweet it's sometimes hard to tell who said what. I wish there was a way everyone could agree on to do a retweet with comments.

Here's my way. And for the sake of this exercise, I'll use the same tweet for the different ways I've seen it done. Here's one I did a while back:

This is why I hate flying RT @???: My girlfriend just got off wicked, bumpy flight. Said everyone was throwing up. Even flight attendant.

See @??? wrote that piece about her friend and you can clearly see it was me who said I hate flying. Right?

Here are various versions of RT's I've seen:

"@???: My girlfriend just got off wicked, bumpy flight. Said everyone was throwing up. Even flight attendant."...This is why I hate flying

Note: I've seen it with and without the quotes

Or

RT @???: My girlfriend just got off wicked, bumpy flight. Said everyone was throwing up. Even flight attendant. > This is why I hate flying

Or

@???: My girlfriend just got off wicked, bumpy flight. Said everyone was throwing up. Even flight attendant <--This is why I hate flying

Or

@???: My girlfriend just got off wicked, bumpy flight. Said everyone was throwing up. Even flight attendant (This is why I hate flying)

Out all the styles, I dislike the quotes the most. And those without RT in them.

Tutorial anyone?

My friends are trying to kill me...

I have a couple of friends who go hiking just about every day. They asked if I wanted to go, and being the naive nice person that I am, I said sure.

Now this isn't hiking where you put a harness on and go up and down sides of mountains. This is where you go hiking in the woods and there are rocks all over the place, including rock ladened hills. You know, the type of place big slimy snakes like to congregate.


Photo from www.mountainbiketx.com

They told me we were only going for 30 minutes. 30 minutes my butt. We were traipsing out there for over an hour!

Luckily we didn't see any snakes on this outing but one of the dogs my friend had got attacked by a mixed Chow. That dog just picked up little Finland by her back and it scared me silly. Luckily she is ok.

I'll be out there again I'm sure. Maybe.

Goodbye Oprah Winfrey Show

Oh Oprah. After 25 years she's saying goodbye to her popular television show this month. Now I'll be honest and say I used to watch her show religiously. TiVo'd it every single day.

During my stint in Washington, DC my friend Renata and I made the trek to Chicago to watch a taping of the Oprah Winfrey Show. It was my first time in Chicago and I fell in love with the city. The taping of the show was everything you'd expect (no camera's so no pics) but we unfortunately had a bad show. It was titled something like "Get Something for Nothing" -- on how to get things free in life. Didn't help me one iota. I would have gotten more out of being at one of her "Favorite Things" taping but no! I'm not bitter or anything.

When I lived in Waco and didn't have TiVo one tv station even had the previous week repeated at midnight which was fabulous for a night owl like me.

Then I got DirectTV and they didn't let me keep my TiVo and in a show of defiance I refused to get their digital recording device. That'll show them!

So, since then I've been Oprah free. Until she went and bought her OWN station (literally and figuratively). Now I'm hooked on Oprah all over again through her Behind the Scenes series. It's genius I tell ya!

When I saw on her website that she was giving away tickets to two of her final shows I had to sign up. I even signed up for two different contests - one for you and a guest (and you had to name your guest so I put my momma because she never goes anywhere); and the other was a paid trip for you and four friends. Alas I won neither but I hope everyone who was lucky enough to win has a blast.

I am sure Oprah will do well in whatever she tackles next...and I'm sure I'll watch.

I'll leave the post with my two favorite quotes of Oprah's:

"When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time."

and if you take nothing else from Oprah's show all these years --take this:

"Listen to the whisper."

Peace out O!

I have become a painting fool

Earlier this month a friend and colleague wanted to do something different for her birthday so off we went to this painting class. But it's not just any painting class - au contraire mon frère - it's a painting class with wine and hors deouvres. Who could say no to that?

We went to this little place called Painting with a Twist and had the best time. Our art for this visit was a field of bluebonnets. And it is so interesting to see the artwork come to life from beginning to end. At first you are thinking there is no way THIS...


is turning into THAT!


But as you can see it does.

I loved my first one so much that I decided to give it to my mom as one of her Mother's Day Presents then went back that same week to make another painting for my sis. They both loved them and my sis hung hers up that weekend.


My niece has now gotten the bug and has already painted four masterpieces.


I can't wait until next month as I plan to go a couple of more times. To try to redeem myself with redoing the leaves, uhm I mean relieve some stress this weekend, I even made a smaller version of the hibiscus painting for myself while at home.


Anyone up for wine and painting?

Why all the Negativity in Social Media!

I love social media platforms. Twitter. Fun! Flickr. Applause! Facebook. Yay! The only drawback is people who use it to spout such negativity on to other people.

It is no secret that I love watching NASCAR races. And Twitter plays a big part in the enjoyment of the races. So many people are tweeting what the drivers and crew are saying and sharing more information than you can get through tv. There are several drivers who are also on Twitter and interact with the fans which is an added bonus.

But there is a certain breed of people on these platforms that use it to spew negativity.

Focusing on NASCAR here, there are some people that find it easy to attack the drivers, media and other fans with such ease that it is scary. I wonder if they do it only because of the anonymity to a degree that comes with social media. Would these same people say what they write if they had the chance to have a face to face conversation with that person? There is a way to get your message across without getting personal or vicious.

Now I have mentioned my dislike for a driver on Twitter before but not directly to the driver and certainly not attacking them -- more in conversation with another tweep and only what I would say if I were there with that person in the same room.

I imagine the hatefulness gets to these drivers/spouses/media enough that they want to react. I've noticed a trend with some of them that they will retweet a hateful comment that they recieved and this encourages their followers to attack the tweeter. It happened tonight.

Someone attacked the spouse of a driver and she retweeted it with a response. It wasn't a bad response but it was enough to rile her fans. She didn't encourage her followers to attack this person but that is what happened. Yes what he said was uncalled for but it didn't warrant what he got. It could have easily been handled by the spouse responding to this person directly or just ignoring him.

You have to have a thick skin to be a celebrity or someone involved with a famous person. Always remember this: DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS.

There is one driver who actually encourages this kind of attack on people who tweet negativity to him. He's retweeted before with "go get 'em" on the retweet. Is that really necessary?

And it's not limited to NASCAR. A while back one of my tweeps made a comment about her thoughts on breastfeeding in public and within the hour there was an organized effort by a group of women to verbally attack her. It was vicious. She responded to them and it just got ugly. My mouth was dropped the entire time I was reading this.

Don't get me started on Facebook and the need for someone to attack their ex-spouse or family in a public forum.

Sometimes I want to just scream or tell someone something awful in reply - when that happens I write the tweet then delete it without sending it. It works for me. Try it.

Here's another idea: if someone attacks you or is hateful-- BLOCK THEM and go on with your life. No one needs to put up with that. It's enough to discourage people from joining these platforms.

Tip of the Day: iPad Battery Losing Its Charge? Close Out Those Apps!

For the past couple of months my iPad has been running through the battery at a high rate. I used to be able to leave it on all the time, play on it and not have to charge it for days. Then I upgraded it and started noticing problems.

I tried everything I could think of, which, ok, consisted of googling for an answer and asking a co-worker. He suggested closing out my apps. I thought I was whenever I would stop using them! So, nothing worked and I took it into the Apple store. I had visions of them upgrading my iPad to the iPad 2.

Hey it worked on my nephew. "Someone" (seriously not me but I don't want to upset her by saying her name) accidentally dropped his iPad on the concrete and shattered it.


I took it in and they gave him a new one since his couldn't be repaired. No such luck with mine. But they did tell me how to fix it. It hasn't worked yet but they said give it a couple of days.

How to restore your iPad battery level:

You need to close out your apps from the multi-task bar. I mentioned how to bring up the multi-task bar in a previous post. Then you hold down one of the apps until a "minus (-)" sign comes up then click on the (-) sign and it will delete that app from the bar. Hopefully this will work.


And is there a manual some place for all these changes Apple made for the iPad that I have to find out about piece by piece?

Chicago Blackhawks in Dallas

I was lucky enough to get away and go to the Blackhawks game in Dallas recently. Oh how I love watching hockey - especially my Chicago team! For some reason they always seem to lose whenever I see them in Dallas which is really bad for me because Dallas has some obnoxious fans. And, of course, I wear my Patrick Sharp jersey to all the games I go to so my allegiance is right up front.
This time was no different. We went early so I could get good photos of them practicing. And I was pleasantly surprised to find our seats right next to the players bench! I don't know how lucky the players thought it was - they are just trying to do their jobs and there is this woman snapping 600 pictures of them while they are trying to concentrate or weep in peace. (Sorry Duncan Keith)
(note: that photo is with my iPhone with no zoom!)

Several fans in our area started heckling the players and there were quite a few Blackhawks fans around me so for a while there I thought some punches were going to be thrown. But it wasn't to be -- there were plenty of fights on the ice though. And yes they lost.

(in case you can't see the slide show and want to see all 156 photos I took...here you go: Chicago Blackhawks at Dallas Stars, March 17, 2011)

Until next time Blackhawks.

Tip of the day: iPad screen lock

Ever since I upgraded iTunes to the latest version, my screen lock has been gone. It's been driving me crazy. Sometimes I like to read in bed and if I turn to the side the screens turns too. It kept bugging me that Apple made the change of having the switch on the right side of the iPad be a silent mode instead of a screen lock. All this time I've been grumbling that it was so stupid of them to make that change -- and how in the hell do I get back my screen lock.

Well, leave it to my 10 year-old nephew Caleb to be the one to find the key to locking the screen. I love that little boy!

How to lock your screen on the iPad:

Double click on the Home button (right above the synch slot) and you will see your most recent apps used come up on the bottom of the screen. This let's you move from app to app. Now take your finger and slide that row of apps to the right. You will see a lock key and also a rewind, play and forward button; and a brightness and volume adjuster. (I didn't know these were there either.) Click on the lock to set it to whatever orientation you want. Simple.

Remembering Dale Earnhardt

Ten years ago today the sporting world lost a great man. Dale Earnhardt, Sr. lost his life in the last lap at the Daytona 500 on February 18, 2001. It was a brutal crash and this year, Speed TV put out a great story on Dale that includes clips from the race and footage I've never seen from after the race. The movie was so tastefully made and tells the story through the eyes of those that were there that day.

Dale Earnhardt was one of those men who was so good at what he did you either loved him or hated him. But through it all you had to respect him for his accomplishments. His nickname was "The Intimidator" and he drove the black number 3 car. Many who have raced since his passing have tried to emulate him but none will ever replace him. He was a special person and only wanted to do one thing in life -- race. He could care less if you liked him or what you thought of him but you'd better get out of his way.

These two quotes are my favorite ones of his:

“Put a kerosene rag around your ankles so the ants won’t climb up there and eat that candy ass.”

“God created bumpers for a reason."

I wasn't a fan of NASCAR in 2001. I didn't actually start watching it until around 2005. I had been a fan of Indy Car racing when I was a kid then after Danny Sullivan left I quit watching. My dad has always been a huge fan of racing so I started watching the NASCAR races with him as a way to spend some time with him. I'm so glad I did.

When I visited Charlotte last May, I had a chance to visit the Dale Earnhardt Inc. Museum and it was magnificent. Pictures, trophies and everything you'd ever want to see about Dale Earnhardt. I'm hoping to take my father and the kids there this year.

I know had I been watching NASCAR back then I would have loved Dale Sr. As it is, his death has impacted me so much all these years later and he simply won't be forgotten. Rest in peace Dale.

Here is a great story NBC did on Dale.

Recommitting to Weight Watchers

The last time I was completely on plan with Weight Watchers was December 8, 2010. That was the last time I had a loss at a weigh-in. Then I started baking holiday goodies for my family and preceded to eat everything that wasn't tied down. When I weighed in again at the beginning of the year, I had gained 6.2 pounds in those short weeks. Incredible.

Was it worth it? Absolutely not.
Was I proud of myself? Absolutely not.
Did it kick my butt in gear and get me back on plan? Absolutely not.

What did make me want to get back on that horse was reading all these weight loss blogs and hearing the success other people were having.

I finally weighed in tonight and stayed the same which in my opinion was a success because I still had not completely gotten back to tracking everything until today. NOW I feel like I am on track and ready to get back to it! So thank you to everyone who is sharing their story!

This week's Twitter Weight Watchers chat (#wwchat) came while I was still at work so I'm answering the questions here again:

1) Do you plan your meals ahead for the week, why or why not, and does it work?
{I'm not that organized to plan ahead like that. I do have recipes that I know I want to make, like this sauteed shrimp and zucchini, but it just depends on how the work week is going.}


2) What are some of the ways you prepare or things you bring to work or travel to help you stay on plan?
{When I was traveling a lot for work, I would literally pack a box of goodies to carry with me so I wouldn't snack on fattening foods. I actually posted about this a while back. I also keep a drawer at work with WW friendly snacks as I tend to eat more when I am stressed - which happens at work a lot.}


3) What are some low point fast food options you reach for if need be?
{My local Randall's has this snack pack that has carrots, pretzels, grapes and cheese that comes out to 3WW points. I will keep some of these in the refrigerator at work occasionally. I also like to have apples, bananas and oranges readily available. And Jiffy Pop Kettle Popcorn and sweet pickles. My newest favorite though is this 2pt Lemon Mousse Pie mini bar from Weight Watchers - so delicious. Tiny but delicious.}


4) What keeps you going to meetings each week?
{I've been awful at going to meetings so I'm going to hope others can help with this question.}

Tip of the day: Size does matter -- at least in URL's

I am not a lazy person, but I do not like to hit the shift key when I am typing if I don't need to. I've been known to type sentences with a small letter starting the sentence because the computer/iPhone/iPad didn't change it for me.

But all that changed when I typed in a shortened link (from ow.ly) and got something completely different than what I was expecting. I was looking for the cupcake recipe Paula Deen shared on Facebook. I mean, come on, it was a microwaveable cupcake that baked in around :90 seconds. what I got was a gentleman who talks about social media. Granted, I'm now following him on Twitter but the point is that he's not what I was looking for. And all because I typed in ow.ly/3twhg instead of ow.ly/3TWhG.

So the tip is: pay attention to capitalization for shortened links; or make sure you copy and paste from now on.

my weight watchers relapse

I have been struggling with sticking to my Weight Watchers plan ever since Thanksgiving. That darn turkey and dressing did me in man! Instead of regrouping and getting back on the wagon I kept on eating right through the new year and broke the wagon.

When I am doing horrible with tracking and eating, I have a tendency to skip meetings. I finally worked up the nerve to go back to a meeting on January 5th. I wasn't shocked when the scale showed I had gained 6 lbs. but I was angry at myself.

I know better than to eat six cookies in one sitting. I know better than to grab a snack pack (fried chicken and fries) because it's on the way home. I know I'm supposed to drink water, lots of water, every day but still it sits there at my desk while I go buy another diet coke. Just because I drink diet now doesn't mean I can go crazy drinking it. I know the food I have been cooking isn't the healthiest but I do it so I can add something to my cooking blog. I know all this is bad for me so why do I let myself keep doing it.

Today's lunch was the end of the rope for me. Carl's Jr. thank you very much! Just because I got the low carb burger I thought I was doing good. Don't believe it. That burger WITHOUT THE BUN was 13 friggin points. That did it for me. After work I went to the grocery store and stocked up on fruit and points plus friendly lunches.

When I got home I checked in on Twitter and saw that @foodiemcbody was in a #wwchat. Well hello! It was a sign! I found some peeps who are going through what I am going through and we can offer each other support. I'm looking forward to chatting with everyone. And thanks to @gettinfitbritt and @tryn2bfit for welcoming me with open arms. They shared some questions that were asked tonight so let me get to them:

1) What are your trigger foods? IE-- what are foods you can't keep in your house or avoid eating because you'd eat too much?
{I would say any sweets. Especially Girl Scout Cookies. And bread. Ugh I've got to get off white bread.}

2) What are things you can do to not eat when you're not physically hungry?
{Read. Or work out.}

3) What do you do when you find that you are eating emotionally or out of boredom?!
{I usually bury myself in work but that is not good either because I also eat when I am stressed. I could definitely use some suggestions here.}

4) What do you do to get the people around you exercising and healthier?
{I try to get my nephews to use the Wii or Kinect to get some exercise. I love to cook so I usually try to cook healthy foods when I'm not sabotaging myself.}

Tip of the day: Snapshot/Print Screen from your iPhone or iPad

I am a big believer in "print screen" on the computer. It has helped me out so much. There have been times when I am on my iPad or iPhone and wanted to grab a snapshot of what is on my screen. Like if I had a particularly hilarious auto correct that I would want to submit to "Damn you, auto correct!".

And then there are times when I don't want the screen to save and lo and behold it ends up in my photo library. Nothing dirty now, just a pic of my high score on Ranch Rush or something innocent like that.

I couldn't believe how simple it was to do this and how long I wondered how to do it. I hope I'm not the only one.

How to print screen/snapshot from your iPad or iPhone.

Simultaneously hold down the power button (located at the top) and the home button (smack in the middle at the bottom). You only have to hold them down together for a second and release it. You will see a blank screen for a split second and then it will show up in your library.

Easy peasy.

"A Family is a Gift that Lasts Forever" Mini Scrapbook

This mini scrapbook goes back to Mother's Day 2005 and is something that I absolutely treasure. It sits on my desk at my office and brings a smile to my face every time I see it. I made one each for me, my mom and my sister to get a snapshot of the kids favorite things, their handwriting and what they felt for each of us at 4 1/2 years old. Their answers were so funny and at that age, writing that much for 3 different books was not fun -- I had to do them with the kids in batches and in secret.









These do take time to complete but they are fairly easy to make and is something you will always look back on with fondness. I had completely forgotten that Caleb used to call me "Mr. Bossy Pants" until I saw it written down. I can't wait for him to wake up in the morning so I can remind him of this. I can actually hear him saying the words now. Or maybe I won't remind him - he may start calling me "Ms. Crabby Pants" now that he knows the difference between Mr. and Ms.

I've gotten out of the habit of scrapbooking but revisiting this book makes me want to start again. Maybe I'll try digital scrapbooking now. I plan to make Valentine's mini scrapbooks for the kids this year and will post those when they are done -- probably on the 15th.

I can always tell I've given someone a good gift if I make them cry. I know that's horrible of me but it makes all the hard work worth it.

Snow, snow, snow......

It is rare for our little area of Texas to get snow so when we do get some, we tend to be in awe. And, I'll admit, happy because that inevitably means a SNOW DAY from work. The snow we got last week was not very much. In fact, by early afternoon it had pretty much melted.

Now, the rest of the country got hammered. See that picture above? That was a picture from space provided by NASA and shows that pretty much everyone would be getting snow.

See that arrow in the same picture? That shows you about where we are. {sigh} So I guess we should be grateful for the dusting of snow that we did get.

One funny thing to see as a result of this cold weather was the car washes and all the frozen sheets they had in them. The photo above was one my cousin took but I saw almost the exact same thing at another car wash but the one I saw also had the blue scrubbing brush down and icicles falling from it. But it was too darn cold for me to get out and take a picture.

my blog redesign

Last week I went crazy on Etsy and bought new blog designs for three of my blogs. I love them all but am now constantly checking out what new designs are up. These premade templates are definitely the way to go. You pick out which design you want, pay for it and send your title to the designer. They email you the files and either upload it for you or give you instructions to do it yourself. So simple and voila instant blog.

My blog about everything in general: just denise

(Design from Dream Like Magic)


My blog for my obsession with food, cooking and recipes: addicted to recipes

(Design from Erin Bradley Designs)


My blog/scrapbook for my niece and nephews: life with the Blomquist Triplets

(Design by Simply Fab Blog)

{note the header is off a smidgen but enough to drive me batty -- ugh!}

iPad vs. Kindle

Have you been considering whether to get a Kindle or an iPad? Since I'm the type of person who throws my opinion around, let me just help you out here with some pros and cons:

iPad Pros:
* you will use it more than you use your laptop
* you can load up your photos directly, edit and post to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr or your blog
* you can watch movies and television shows (ABC has an app to watch their programs free)
* Kindle app that synchs with your Kindle or iPhone
* can read in the dark

Kindle Pros:
* light weight
* instant download of books
* case has book light so you can read at night

Ah forget the pros and cons. Get them both. They are each worth it.

Sam Moon

If you are a purse fanatic like me, I hope to high heaven there is a Sam Moon close to you.


Late last year we finally got one in our neck of the woods. Every day on my way to work I would see the sign that said what day they would be opening. Having never been to one I was curious but didn't feel the urgent need to be one of the first ones at the store.

So I waited about a month to go and when I walked in, it was like a light from above was shining down on me. Pure Bliss. I had never seen so many fake, cheap purses all in one place in my life.

Now I am a girl who likes my cheap faux purses. I lived for the times I would take a trip to New York because I knew at some point I would be making a stop at one of the street vendors and buying a purse (or two).

One trip, after a meeting I said good-bye to a co-worker and made my way to the corner to check out the purses. I ended up buying four (not all were for me of course) and didn't have any money left for a cab to get back to the hotel. Or any cash to get to the burger place that was on my list of the top 20 burger places to try, much less the money to buy a burger. So I called my boss and asked if she was hungry -- I asked her if she could swing by and pick me up as I was just a few blocks away from this awesome burger place we had to try. She did and laughed when she saw the trash bag full of purses. It was even funnier having to go through the airport with that trash bag because the purses wouldn't all fit in my luggage.

I have found my purse Mecca in Sam Moon and have allotted a monthly shopping trip to my budget. If you haven't been to one yet, run to your nearest Sam Moon.

iPhone Valentine

How stinking cute is this Valentine craft printout from Living Locurto?

It is so easy too -- just print it out on color paper, trim and place around a candy hearts package. Make sure to tape it with double-stick tape and voilà cuteness in a box.

I first came across Living Locurto at the Bloggy Boot Camp in Austin last October and have loved her blog ever since. She always has the cutest things ever.

Check her out for photography tips, cute crafts and all around goodness.

I fell off the wagon....the Weight Watchers wagon

I have some serious issues. There are times when I do great at tracking my Weight Watchers points then there are times, like the last month, where I want to eat everything known to man and don't track to top it off. Christmas was especially bad food wise because I ate too much of everything I baked.

Well today was my day of reckoning and I went in to weigh in and.....by the way, if you didn't know this was the beginning of a new year, all you had to do was go to a Weight Watchers meeting and see the three long lines of people waiting to register. It is NEVER like that at meetings. I wonder how long people will stay at it?

Anyway, back to my weight....I knew I was going to gain weight for the month I was off the wagon but even I was shocked at the number. And there is no way I'm putting that number out here in print. I will say that it was more than 2 lbs and less that 7 lbs. I guess those cookies do add up. Back to tracking.