Lake Seminole

The lake is wonderful right now, sunny and not too hot.  I did get a bit of a burn last Saturday, so this weekend I wore more sunscreen.  I know, you would have thought my first picture would be of the lake, but its the sky and sun.

Luckily, this wasn't our boat being towed!  :)

Jim Woodruff Dam (and lock).  I told my dad I would be a lock-keeper if everyone had to ask for passage using an old english accent.  He just kind of boggled at me.  whatevs.

Watch out for the snags!  The first time I saw this sign, I thought it said "snakes" and thought snakes could drop out of the tree limbs on to my head.   I was not happy.  Then I learned to read.  Amazing.

Charleston, South Carolina

This past week I had to go to Charleston, South Carolina for work.  I must say, a great change from DC every two months.  I have come to the conclusion, based on this trip, that I am a huge fan of Charleston.  It is a great city!  I spent the entire 3 days there, texting and twittering my parents, urging them to take a trip to Charleston; hopefully it worked!  The city is very historic, with Fort Sumter and such, and they appear to have a great historical preservation program to keep the old buildings intact.  

We stayed at the Charleston Place Hotel which was VERY nice (www.charlestonplace.com).  I also ate enough shrimp and grits to last me for a while, the best was at Fleet Landing, right on the water.  And lets not forget about the pounds of different desserts I consumed, from Kominsky's and River Street (I think) candy shop; the pralines were AMAZING!

We had the opportunity to go to the outdoor market which I heard was the slave market back in  the day (the day being like the early 1800's, not 1970).  The market is now below the confederate museum.  Luckily we were there in early May during the weekday, because I can imagine that place will get HOT and crowded over the summer.  I am a fan of unique jewelry (I don't want something you can buy in the mall) and purchased a very lovely necklace.   

Overall, it was super sweet to go to a meeting outside of DC (DC can get old after a while).

More pictures can be seen here...http://www.flickr.com/photos/26507866@N03/sets/72157617847764028/

The Osprey

First, "The Osprey" would be a cool name for a book, song, or something.  Second, my dad and I went out for a boat ride yesterday, (I said "today" at first, I really have not been paying attention to things lately) and saw an osprey nest.  We got close and took a couple pictures.  However, when we got too close, she/he/it starts squawking at us, either calling for assistance, shooing us off, or both.

Reading...It's what I do (maybe)

One of my New Year's Resolutions (sorry mom, I do make them) was to read a bit more.  Now, I was never an avid reader.  I think the only books I ever read when I was young was the Sweet Valley high series and the Babysitter's Club.  Not exactly profound and life altering reading, I know.  Well, after I graduated college I actually got more in to reading.  For the past few years, I read so much more than I ever used to.  Part of it is due to traveling and it is easy to read a book on a plane and part of it is I have found books I enjoy.  Whatever the catalyst, I am reading more, and that is a good thing.  This year I have decided to alter my reading focus a bit.  While I have historically focused on mystery and sci-fi (I will admit, I have read all of the books in the World of Warcraft series), I have decided to alternate fun/fictional reading with non-fiction.

Since about mid-December, I have been reading the Sookie Stackhouse books.  Yes, I am a huge fan of "TrueBlood."  Well after blowing through the first 8 books, ending in about mid-February, I decided I need to read something a bit more enriching.  I was at Borders and a book caught my eye; any book that has something "street gangs" in the title as GOT to be good, right?  Well I picked it up and it is actually about the history of Sesame Street.  Side note (but related): I grew up on Sesame Street.  During the Iran-Contra hearings, my sister and I watched more PBS than you could even imagine.  

Well anyway, I am now on my "non-fiction" book and it is "Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street."  I have finished the first few chapters and it is actually pretty interesting.  When finished, I will post a review.

http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=0670019968

Mean people are mean

A few years ago my mom told me a story about myself at a young age.  When I was in elementary school and middle school I always took my lunch.  Every morning I would wake up and make my own lunch, seriously, EVERY morning.  Now I remember doing this, but didn't have a clue that there was a reason behind it.  Well my mom told me that I told her that I did it because I was scared of dropping my lunch tray and everyone looking at me.  I can totally see me saying this.  I hate being the center of attention and drawing attention to myself.  I am more of a color commentator rather than a play-by-play kind of person (to use a sports-type analogy).  

Well, coming home from DC on Friday, I was on the ATL to TLH leg of my flight and this old man totally humiliated me.  Back story: I am a tall person, if you have ever met me you most certainly know this.  Well on most airplanes my knees always touch the seat in front of me, I have no choice in this matter.  Now the story: apparently, this old man's precious little wife (grrr!) complained to her husband that I was "kicking her seat" and so he turned around and kind of loudly (and quite curtly and surly) asked me to stop kicking his wife's chair.  Well, lets see...I am not 10, I have manners, and I AM TALL.  So I was not kicking her chair, merely moving my legs (heaven forbid!).  Unfortunately I was in shock and too mortified to say anything (if you have ever seen "You've Got Mail" and Meg Ryan's character makes the comment about never thinking of a good 'zing' when someone says something to her, this is how I felt), plus it was an old man and I do have respect for people.  But I was totally humiliated and mortified (not exaggerating).  The old man said it loud enough that everyone looked at me, and plus being publicly rebuked is not the most fun ever, either.  So I basically did not move the rest of the flight and just stared out the window, willing myself not to cry.

But, when we landed and I was talking to my friend I just started crying.  So congratulations Mr. Crotchety Old Man and Wife, you made a 30 year old cry.

I would like to think I am over it, but I am not.

Gettin' my groove on

Sigh!  Ok, I am a fan of novetly things, I can admit this.  I am also a fan of gadgets and such.  Well for the last month or so, I have been contemplating getting "Dance Dance Revolution" for the Wii.  I used to make fun of people who played DDR.  I remember walking by the arcade place in the mall before going into the movies and the DDR game was right in the front, by the window.  Seeing the kids playing it always made me laugh because they looked so silly.  Well, now I look silly.  It really is alot of fun though, and at least I look silly from the safety of my own home.  Until someone comes over and wants to play...then I will look silly in front of others.

I am a creature of the internet

So we are preparing for a conference at work and one of the breakout sessions I have been involved in has been regarding Web 2.0 which got me thinking (as well as the the fact that I use Google Chrome as my browser) about my internet usage.  Having a laptop only reinforces this because I don't have to go in the back bedroom to use the computer, I can just sit in the recliner in the living room and play on the internet and watch t.v. while Allie the Dog sits at my feet.

Michelle's daily websites:

1.  Myspace - yeah...I lurk!

2.  Twitter - I love to tweet!

3.  iGoogle - I can see my e-mails, jokes, news, and Digg stories from this page

4.  Facebook - This is moving up on my list and I waste way too much time here lately

5.  PerezHilton - I like celebrity gossip!  :)

6.  MSNBC - I try to stay somewhat up to date on news (ok, I go to the entertainment section alot)

7.  The WoW forums - This one is moving down...what with my lack of playing WoW

8.  My blog! - But I have a lot of links here now that I visit, such as failblog and graphjams and other blogs

9.  The Superficial - more celebrity gossip

10. Lolcats - those crazy cats!

11. ThePioneerWoman 

Other sites that I love

1.  Amazon (who doesn't love it)

2.  Chacha.com - this is quickly becoming one of my favorite

3.  Bestbuy - I love electronics and gadgets

4.  TDO.com - for local news

5.  Netflix - gotta keep up with my movies

6.  Youtube - My youtube addiction comes and goes

Things I never got into:

1.  Ebay

2.  Craigslist

3.  Other things that I don't know about yet!  :)

It really is amazing to me that I remember sitting in an 11th grade "libary/media" class where I just hung out in the library and one of our actual assignments was to use the internet to write a research paper.  This was the first time I ever used the internet, really.  I remember having an AOL e-mail account but none of my friends did so it was pointless.

Ah Web 2.0, I have a love/hate relationship with you!