Nothing better....

Well I am back from Chicago and I did not come home a loser by any means. I just want to say that there is nothing better than spending 5 days with friends that mean more to you than they will probably ever know. I had a great time with them, enjoyed every moment and would not change a thing not ever the part where I did not shoot well. We did win the PJ shoot out so we did not come home total losers, but we did not fair well in the other events. One would be on and the other off and...not a good combination. But all in all it was a wonderful trip and I would not change a thing.
We (my b/f and I ) drove this year, and I am glad we did. I always love a good road trip, but having the car in Chicago was great. We go to see and do somethings that we would not have got to do with out it. Yes, we could take the "L" and do things but driving through the towns and seeing the different sites were much more appreciated from the car. We even got out one night to find a Sushi place to eat. As it was a little different than what we get here in Pittsburgh, it was very good. We also go to go out and get burritos at this place that is open 24/7...they were very crowded at 2:30 a.m. but it was worht the wait.
We did make it to Navy Pier this year and it was amazing to see, well what we could see of it, it was really foggy that day and could not see much of anything past the docks. But the pier has a lot of other attractions to see as well, like Bubba Gumps. "Stupid is as stupid does"...yes we ate at Bubba Gumps and it was very entertaining to watch the wait staff and the food was good. We also found a Harley store in town as two of the people that were with us are big fans. It was neat to see how the store was set up compared to the other ones that I have been.
It seems that every year the group of us that go from Pittsburgh gets smaller and smaller for one reason or another. Even though a great time was had, those that could not be there this year were truly missed. All in all it was a great trip and I can not wait to do it again next year.

Do you Believe...

Do you believe there is something more to life than what we see everyday? Do you believe that there is a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow, in fairies, in spirts of the dead, in psyhic ability? All these things are of great wonder, but do they really exist? There are so many things in society that make us use our imanigination do we sometimes get confused between reality and fantasy? Do we believe in things because we want them to be true?

I was raised Catholic, not strict Catholic but Catholic. I would go to church with my mom Saturday nights so I could ride on the bus to a Baptist church. What can I say I just wanted to ride the bus. So I grew up believing what I was taught all those years but now that I am older I find myself wondering if there really is something more out there. I do believe that there are spirits of people that have pasted, weather there are visiting or are trapped here for one reason or another. But can we and do we believe in something that is so different than what we are taught to believe in growing up. I think I do, but I am not sure. I think the values we are taught growing up have a bigger impact on our lives than what we think they do. It is what we do with those values that make us who we are. Yes, we do grow, learn and change from experience but behind all of that are the values we are taught growing up. With all of the different cultures we have here, we are open to other peoples beliefs and values, is it ok to change what we believe? Are there so many choices that people get confused as to what they believe in? Is it wrong to believe in something different than someone else? People are different and believe in different things, that does not make them a bad person as long as they let other people believe in what they want. There is so much judgement in todays society, we are separating our country by fighting over the different beliefs that we have. When you meet someone new, keep an open mind...live, learn, love.

Have a great weekend all, I will be back sometime next week.

Being a part of it all...

This is the Hyatt Regency O'Hare in Rosemont, Il, and it is the most beautiful hotel that I have every stayed in. Yes, I do not get out much. Ok, well I travel a lot but can not afford to stay in the upper class hotels, this is the closest I have come.

I have played on a few different sports teams growing up but I have never felt so content being a part as something as I do the being a part of the darting community. I am not even sure how to explain it, it is just an overwhelming feeling. The people that I have met over the years have all touched my life one way or another and being able to go to and play in the World Championship's you get to me a lot of people from a lot of other countries. Yes, I did say World Chanpionship's and yes I am playing, but do not get too excited, I am a good dart shooter but this is a whole nother world. To get into the tournament, you have to qualify in one of the many other state and regional tournaments that they host across the counrty throughout the year, I usually qualify here in Pittsburgh. Anyway the first year I went I was pretty confident that I was going to at least place in the money, little did I know. The shooters here are like no other, I am good but they are so much better. Needless to say I did not fare well that year. The next year I went, I knew what to expect and I did much better, my partner and I were one out of the money. But I did not care becuase we beat out one of our area's top competitors who had just been inducted in to the Darting Hall of Fame. That was a great accomplishment and I was very happy with how we shot. This year I hope for the same, I do not mind not getting into the money, I would like to, but the most important things to me is that we shoot well and have a great time. There is nothing wrong with losing if you do your best and have fun while you are doing it. You can always tell which teams are more serious than other, Japan for instance file all of their matches and then go over them to see how they can imporve their game. Yep, somewhere in Japan there is a film of me shooting a match against them...and losing to boot. It is a great time win or lose, the people are great, Chicago is a beautiful city, and I love being a part of it all.

Mass Confusion

Did you ever notice that when you think that you have everything organized and under control, the world comes flying at you and you have to start all over again? That has been my Monday. Of course I have come to expect the unexpected on Mondays and I let me guard down today. I have been working extra hours to have everything done that I need done before my trip on Thursday, which I did or at least I thought that I did until today. All of the sudden there are people crawing out of the wood work that want something and I have 3 meetings the day before I leave which will take up most of the day. (Takes a big breath...ok all better now)

Usually on the way in to work I think about what I want to post that day, but for some reason this morning I could not come up with anything. Ok, it is not that I could not come up with anything but that I didn't for one reason or another. And now it is 4:30 and I still really have not put a thought together for my post even though I was really inspired by all the other posts that I read today. I have plenty to say, it is just putting it all together in to a complete post.

With that I am going to leave you with a quote, I am not sure who's it is but it is one that I have referenced for a lot of years (which would be why I can not remember who's it is).

"No one can over come those who over come themselves"

Books, Books and more Books

I love to read. I love to collect books, all sorts of books. Fantasy, Fiction, Sci-Fi, Mystery, Non-Fiction, I love them all. I love the covers, the smell of the book, but I especially love what they have to offer. I am one of those people who invision what they are reading, so while I am reading the words, I am standing there watching the story take place. Who would have thought that our imaginations could take us as far as inside the pages of a book. It is a great excape, an adventure that life my not be able to give us. I wish the everyone could take an adventure reading a book, but with all the technology they are busy playing video games, surfing the net, and watching T.V. I am guilty of this, not doing all of those things but letting my son do those things and not making sure that he is reading. Don't get me wrong, he gets his share of books at Christmas time and for his Birthday, I see to that. But I have also purchased PS2 for him and that is what he spends his free time doing. I can only hope that one day he will discover the world inside a book and be hooked just as I am.
Ok, what started me thinking about books this morning was the radio. The question: "If you wrote a book about your life, what would the title be?" Now being the optimistic that I am, I thought this would be great, I could not wait to hear the awesome titles people would come up with. To my dismay, they were awful and depressing. Doesn't anyone ever reflect on the good things in their life, do they all replay the bad things over and over? And who would want to read a book about all the bad things that happened to this lady on Wednesdays? Now that is an adventure that I do not want to take. Yes, I have read "Angela's Ashes" and a few others that were not so uplifting, somehow that was different that listening to these depressing people on the radio this morning. Stand up people, stretch and smile, you are alive today and have a chance to make a happy memory...take a chance and let the sunshine in.

Cats and Dogs

I love Cats, I am an animal lover. I currently have 3 cats (Piper, Roxy, and J-man formerly known as Jasmine), my boyfriend has 4 cats...yes that is 7 cats total if we ever decide to merg our families together into one home. Everyone and everything have different personalities, but it is just amazing to me how different our cats are. Mine are laid back, lazy and quiet, his are full of energy, loud and playful. I think that has to do a lot with the home environment...his cats seem to take after him...which is a good thing, mine take after my son..lazy, lazy, lazy.
My boyfriend (Mustang) and I do rescue runs for dogs, they come from a "kill shelter" and we transport them to a "no kill shelter" or to a place where they have a home for them. Now, we usually only do one or two of the legs, not all of them because sometimes these dogs are coming from states that are far way. But we love doing this, the only down fall is that it is so hard not to get attached. We have had some really sweet dogs and after one sits on your lap for two hours, it is really hard to say goodbye. But we know that they are going to a good place and look forward to the next run. I want a Greyhoud, I have always wanted one and I fret the day that we get one for a run. I do not think that I would be able to give it up. I know right now our life styles are not right for a dog but that does not make me want it less. Chalk that up to my list of hopes and dreams....taking one day at a time to make them all happen.

A New Adventure

I have been reading various Blogs for some time now and just recently someone asked me if I had one. At that time the answer was "no", but then I thought to myself why not. There is bound to be someone out there that would be interested in what I have to say, someone that would be interested in trading life stories. But since I have started working on my Blog, I have come to realize that it does not make a difference if anyone reads it, although I hope they do and enjoy it, but through this I have learned that I can do a lot of things that I did not know that I could. Now I am not computer illiterate but I have found putting together and shaping my Blog to be a little difficult, but I am workig through it and learning new things.
I have always thought about keeping a journal or something but never take the time to sit and write anything, for some reason this is so much easier. I guess I have been sucked in to the world of technology and have become a little lazy. We depend so much on technology that it scares me to think where the world will be in 10, 20, 30 years from now. Somtimes I wish we could go back to when things were simple, where people were better, they appreciate life and the world around them for what it was, not what it could be.

What do I want to be when I grow up?

There are people who have to work and people who love to work. I am one that has to work. Don't get me wrong, I want to work but just not at my current job, that I have been at for the last 12 years. I am one of those people who never decided what they wanted to do when they grew up, so I settled. I settled for a job, a good job that pays the bills instead of trying to figure out what I want to do for the rest of my life. I am not happy nor am I content, I just know that there is somehting out there for me, I just need to figure out what it is. I think it is in Graphic Design or something artsy and then I think it is something else. So at this point in my life I still have not decided what I want to be when I grow up, I just keep on searching and hoping that one day it will hit me like a brick wall. And then I can start a new chapter in my book and it sure will be a good one.
What did you want to be when you grew up?