Fun Test (xls file)

Eric sent me this very enjoyable logo/branding test today. Download the XLS and go for it. Comment with your results.

The Quiz File

I got 40 of them right. Eric said he got 46. Here are the answers. (Thank the Lord for Google.)

Sharing

Part of what I have discovered in my new life is that things really tend to be a little better when you can share them with someone. And I know, I know...I will be the first to admit that I am the reason behind not having one to share everything with, and please do not take this to be a sad post because I am very happy and content, and wow this is a long run-on sentence! ;-)

24
I get to share it with Carley at work! And it is very cool because she is just as excited about the show as I am.

Love for Music
I get to share my band love of music with Ms. Wendy - mmwwwaaa (working on the Fab women site tomorrow just as an fyi). And I get to share my love of rock-ish type music with Matt - mmwwwaa (you enjoyting my pandora station?)

Home Improvement
With my parents, because they are so cool.

And I am looking forward to sharing..

Snow Patrol & OK Go
With Carlo because he is gonna rock out with me on March 21!!

Hunter Gatherer Dinner
With Ryan because he and I need to catch up. Sad to know he may be leaving in the fall to get his PhD and we will not have had a good chance to become better friends.

The Superbowl
With new friends, because meeting people has become a core objective of mine. Thanks to Eric for hosting the party.

I am looking to share...

Shrimp & Clam Linguine
I am cooking that one night this week. It should be a great meal. (Actually having to cook it Tuesday, Wednesday, or Saturday. Thurs, Fri, and Sun are booked.)

A Walk at Congaree National Swamp
Because it is so pretty there, and have not been recently.

A Wine tasting at my new boss's house on Feb 8th - a Thursday - yes I am skipping band.
It is a fund raiser for the American Heart Association, or something. Coordinated through work thanks to Melissa.

The other half of a "couples" price for the Carolina Cup excursion
If you want a good time for the cup - let me know $50/person or $80/couple. Money will be collected early in Feb (as I have heard.) Price includes your tix, food, beverages, and ride there and back. The event is on March 31. Am I getting jipped because the person that invited me is the coordinator, thus cannot be the other half?? Single guys have been requested for attendance... Carlo?

I need to get to bed though...so long.

Tasty Sipping

Yum. I have had a very pleasant few days. After getting past the water episode of Friday (which was determined to be a freezing issue and has most likely been remedied completely) I had what proved to be an excellent Friday, lovely Saturday, and productive Sunday.

Got to see Iain and Jennifer for dinner in Florence after getting my hair cut on Friday evening. We ate at Carolina Wings, and I was brave and ordered a burger. Very glad I did because it was super tasty. Not sure if it was because the burger was that good or because I was wanting a burger that bad. It could have been a combination of the two. Bottom line was that I was very satisfied, and the company was quite fine.

Saturday Grandma had a handbell workshop. The group did a concert at 3:30 so I went with Mom before heading back to Columbia. It was a really nice performance. I had never heard that many bells all at once. Quite nice. Ended up having dinner that night at Uno's (Chicken Lettuce Wraps - I have never actually had pizza there. hmmm.) I ate with Eric, John, and Terrence. Afterwards I saw the Mythbusters sinking car episode and a episode of Futureweapons - very neat show. I had never watched it before. Really neat stuff.

Today Mom & Dad came up to take care of a few things. We (or in most cases Dad) moved the dining room light, fixed the disposal, better insulated the well pump, hung some shelves, moved some pictures, patches some dings in drywall, determined that the B&W video feed from the playstation was because the Component 1 and Component 2 slots on the tv required more than just a "yellow" RCA, got the tractor running (thought battery was dead, but really it was just not fully in neutral), and moved dirty. We had Mr. Bunky's for lunch. The collard greens there are so good. When I was outside on the tractor I was wearing a sweatshirt, jeans, and flip-flops... it is crazy windy today and rather cold. So, that brings me to my tasty sipping!

Hot Chocolate
It was mucho good. I needed to thaw out after my work outside.

Covey Run - 2005 Late Harvest Riesling from Columbia Valley
I opened this bottle the other day, but am finishing it tonight. Very good. Very, very good.

About to do some stuff for work. After my crazy Friday I got a little behind on a few things. So, Farewell...

Drip. Drip. Drip.

When I got up this morning to take a shower after about 30 seconds of the water running to get warm it all the suddent turned off. Shit, I thought. Checked the bathroom sink, the kitchen sink, nothing. Dammit Man, I thought.

So, I bundled up to head to the pump house. Turned on the faucet by the well itself, nada. Argghhh, I thought.

Dad thinks that it has just frozen somewhere and will fix itself. I hope that is the case. I really really do.

Justin is being nice and letting me take a shower at his place. Problem is that he locked his keys in the apartment last night so had to stay with a friend. Building services opens at 8:30, so I am about to head out hoping that by the time I get into town he will be in the place. I thank him greatly.

So. Leslie - dirty and out.

Kitty Washing Machine

Thank you Justin for sharing this with me. I love it. So funny!

The video.

Leslie, She's So Hot Right Now ;-)

Ha. Well, I am hot. Literally - just finished on the eliptical. It was enjoyable. But, if you think I am "hot" then thats awesome. Feel free to tell me I am whenever you feel like it - although I reserve the right not to agree with you.

So...this evening I went to a seminar called "Leading From the Front" (Web site) that was sponsored in part by SCANA's Women's Leadership Group. I almost did not go, but am very glad I did. It was a good evening. I came away with several things, but feel like these were the 2 most important ones...

Only say you are sorry when you are at fault. Ultimately it decreases your credibility to say you are sorry all the time. We are all tempted to say "I'm sorry" whenever someone stubs their toe or has a bad day or whatever. But is it really our fault that they encountered that situation 99% of the time no. So, don't say you are sorry unless you are really at fault. A good gut check is to only say it when you can sincerly say, "Please forgive me."

Everyone wants to be liked & respected. Respected should come first. It has to do with being authentic and yourself. If you worked to be liked first then you are often a chameleon fitting into different situations. But, if you are consistent then you are more apt to build the respect, which ultimately is more valuable and more important. 9 times out of 10 if you are respected then you are also liked.

So - take those for what they are worth to you.

Tomorrow is the day of Jammin Java. I have a bfast staff meeting there and then lunch with Eric there at 11:45. Considering the staff meeting ends at 10:30 I may as well not leave. I love that place though. :-)

Off for now...

Day of Music

I have abused my music resource today and found some great stuff...

- OK Go's self titled album
- Ok Go's album No Go
- Jet's album Shine On

I also was the recipient of some great Ryan Adam's duet's and acoustic pieces. Muchos Gracias!!

Other albums I obtained, but have not graced my ears with are...

- Keane's Hopes & Fears
- Ryan Adam's Demolition
- TV On the Radio
- and more...

iTurk here it comes.

257 Calories

According to the elliptical machine that is what I just burned. So, that is positive. I will cross my fingers that it took off one of the Mojitos from last night.

Yesterday was a fabulous day. I got up early and had breakfast with Chad so we could discuss work stuff, was productive in the office, had tasty lettuce chicken wraps at MCafe for lunch with some ladies + man from work, and visited with colleagues at the farewell drop-in for Tara. I also had a chance to catch up with Greg, new boss, and feel really good about where things are going.

After work I met Mr. Manning for a few drinks at Rust before heading to Wendy's most wonderful 30th birthday party/Night of Amazing Women outing. I can honestly say that I never would have expected to have such a wonderful time with 8 other women. We ate at Melting Pot and it ws fantastic! The reservations were at 7:10pm and we did not walk out the front door of the place until 11:00. My Mojitos were amazing too. :-)

The plan was that I was fixing pot roast for dinner tonight and Manning was going to come over, but Sid & Heather gave an invite to go to Bonefish Grill for dinner. Hmmmm...Leslie's pot roast or Bonefish Grill...pot roast can wait. Anyone up for a tasty meal tomorrow evening?

10 Weeks / 19 weeks
Until the Carolina Cup / My Quarter-Century Birthday Celebration. I did really well from October - November about eating well and dropped 20 lbs. I have pretty much kept it off too. Monday I am serious about getting back into it. I remember before my 21st birthday I bought this really cute black dress that I intended to party my ass off in. Well, 1 - I did not get in shape to wear the dress and 2 - I ended up with some crazy illness for my 21st so I didn't party my ass off at all.

This year is going to be a different story. The Cup is half way to the big bash and I intend to be on-point for that occasion. (Speaking of, when talking about it to Justin the other day he asked "What happened to you? Have you started haning out with Preppy-Redneck-Fags?" it was pretty amusing.) And 19 weeks sounds like a long time away so the 10 week mark will give me a closer more tangible goal to work towards. So, cute dresses here I come. :-)

Well, I have some cleaning to do around here, and before I know it I will need to be heading out for dinner. One downside to living out in BFE is that you generally have to go meet people - they never want to come pick you up. Bummer.

Shiver

It was a day for snuggling by a fire, or in the bed. Hot chocolate and good conversations. Hmmm.

I had a good day. Was very productive at work, and succesfully drove someone up the wall - which is always fun - when done with good intentions. It is always enjoyable to watch the range of emotions people exhibit in awkward situations.

I had a good day yesterday too. A lovely day actually - until the end. It was sort of disappointing. Anti-climatic. Isn't it weird how a day can build and build? Like you think - today I am going to win the lottery - today is my day... and then blah. Nothing. I guess that is why it's life. Ups and Downs.

Past my bedtime though...

May I dream vivid dreams that are memorable!

Ready - O.K. (clap)

Gimme an S - S
Gimme an L - L
Gimme an E - E
Gimme an E - E
Gimme an P - P
What does that spell? - SLEEP!

Yeah!! Who-Hoo!!

I have slept for the past two nights! It has been wonderful. The prior several nights felt as if they were sleepless because of coughing, etc. So - while I still have a coughing fit here and there I am much more back to normal. Although, I have cheated a little on the sleeping and slept in a little extra the past two mornings in order to make up for the lost Zzzz's.

But, just wanted to make a quick update. Other than that things are going well!

Hugs to all!

Swollen Throat

Argh. I have been coughing so much that my entire neck feel swollen. Inside it even feel sort of raw. I don't know if it because I am coughing differently, but now that the pemiere of 24 is over I can blog about it. The past 2 hours have been quite enjoyable. My favorite part was when Jack Bauer bit the dudes neck to kill him. Very cool. Gross, but cool. I love that show.

So, the weekend was pretty grand. Friday night we had a party at Saucer for Tara, I went to a friend's place for a steak dinner - tasty, went out to celebrate someone's birthday - got to do a lot of people watching at Element - ha!, watched Say Anything on Saturday, and went to an Oyster Roast out in Irmo with the crew I met at YPS on Wednesday. Today Mom & Dad came up and brought my new mirror and dresser for the loft. It was another crazy hoisting fest to get the dresser into the loft. But, it is there now. :-)

I'm going though... so long for now.

Two - Four : Twenty-four : 24

OMG. So excited about the new season of 24. Seeing this review on Yahoo! as I was surfing for some HBA information just got me worked into a tizzy! A coughing fit even ensued! :-)

Night of the Bassoon

I celebrated "good chord structure" the other day. And I don't know if it was me being sick, but the band sounded MUCH better tonight that it has in the past. I also played the hell out of my bassoon. In fact - it turned into night of the bassoon to some extent at rehersal. Bill opened practice with "Chorale and Shaker Dance" which at the beginning has some exposed bassoon. Then we played "God of Our Fathers" - specifically the section with the basooon/piccolo duet. And I was rockin' out. I swear we played that part of the song 10 times. Then after break we did "Rhosymedre"(which translated to "beautiful" in Welsh - so Tim says). It is a nice song. And has a lot of exposed bassoon as well. In fact at one point Tim was working with the clarinets and then proceeded to call me out. "You all are lucky to have a good bassoon player," or something like that. Then REALLY called me out and had me play my part all by myself. Of course I sort of sucked it up, but it ended OK. He even complimented Betty (piccolo player) and I for the nice job we did earlier in the evening. :-) So - YEAH LESLIE! :-)

Just as FYI - our folder is filled with...
- Rhosymedre, Ralph Vaughan Willams (arranged by Walter Beeler)
- Sea Songs, Ralph Vaughan Willams
- Chorale and Shaker Dance, John P. Zdechlik
- God of Our Fathers, Claude T. Smith (arranged by George Warren)
- "A Chorus Line" Spectacular!, Marvin Hamilson/Edward Kleban (arranged by Warren Barker)
- Old Comrades March, Carl Teike (adapted by Harold R. Gore)
- Santiago Carnival, Claude T. Smith
- Deep River, James Swearingen
- (and as always) The Stars and Stripes Forever, John Philip Sousa (edited by Keith Brown)

So - another REALLY cool thing is that Roger Pemberton is playing with us now. I don't think I mentioned that in the last post - or did I? I can't remember. He is a FINE musician. Very honored he is in our ensemble.

But, I will blog more later. Gots to get to bed!


(Oh and thanks to someone for telling me that the photos I put up in the last post busted the template - sort of.)

Still Coughing

So, I am still coughing a good bit. The chest congestion is a pain. Feels like concrete in my chest. Its worst in the morning because it all settles when I am lying down asleep. But, sleep is where I need to get to pretty quick. I have breakfast with Tara tomorrow morning at 8. That is early for me.

But - my new ring is in. I love it!


And - I am really liking the new iPod I got. A friend is buying my 4gb nano. So, I upgraded. From iGob to iTurk.


Its a 30gb one. :-)

I am off to bed though. Hugs to all!

I guess it is about time...

I think I am gettin sick. My throat and ears hurt. (I have on slippers Dad, don't worry.) I hope I didn't stir something up when I was on the ellipitcal yesterday. The workout felt really good.

But, I cannot complain. All in all I was VERY healthy in 2006. I only recall one bout with something early in the year - about this time actually. Drinking some OJ and stuff and will possibly pick up some of that stuff that they say to take when you feel a cold coming on. Cant remember the name, but a pharmasist will know.

I do not have time to linger though. Gotta get ready for church.

Later!

Celebrating Week 1

Even though there was not work Monday I feel like I got a lot done this week, so that gives me the first thing to celebrate... productivity ...it is my goal to continue that through the remainder of the weekend because I have a laundry list of things to get done around here (take down Christmas stuff, do laundry, sort socks - i hate sorting socks).

Band started back this week, and the music is our folder - while not great - is going to make for a good concert. We are playing 2 of my favorite classics too (one has a bassoon solo!!), so I am happy. The two songs, "Chorale & Shaker Dance" and "God of Our Fathers," let me celebrate... good chord structure ...i know the band is not that great, but if the chord is just fatty and sweet and we are sort of playing in tune I can use my imagination to get me the rest of the way there. I guess it does help that I know the two songs (even the arrangements) almost by heart. The concert will be Friday - Feb 23rd 7:30pm.

I got some sad news this week, by boss at work - Tara - is taking a new job and will be leaving us. One one hand I am crazy jealous because the opportunity is great, and I am very happy for her - but at the same time I am a little nervous. Not worried though, which is good. I also had a great dinner with Wendy before band (only one little incident there). So - those two people make me celebrate... alpha females ...because us ladies that know what we want and go after it are fantastic. Kudos to you if you are one, and if you are a weak lady - suckitup and go for it!! I am woman here me roar!!

Now that the house is pretty much all settled, and the holidays are over this is the first week I have been able to just be at home (not that I was really home much cause I went out nearly every night this week, but...). Two of my favorite things about being here are sleeping 100% undisturbed (generally, unless a telemarketer calls or Justin decides to come by early and get the boat and knock on the door) and walking around half naked in the morning when I cannot decide what to wear! So, what does that celebrate... living alone ...which i was slightly nervous about espcially out here, but am quite happy.

As i mentioned, I have gone out a good bit this week. Hung at Carlo's house one evening - had Indian food with Ryan - had Mellow Mushroom & the watch FB at Wildwings with a combination of Ryan, SJ, Hannah, and Lance - dined with Wendy and went to band - the caught a movie with Carlo and some peeps. So, I celebrate... good company ...because while that has been what i have been most nervous about I seem to be doing well!

But, I ought to get off to doing some of these things I celebrate... so long for now!

Ha. 2006 Resolutions

I was just cleaning off my desk at work and found a journal that I started on jan 3 2006. It had my resolutions in it. Why this was here at work I have no clue. Maybe it was at GraySail for some reason and just ot migrated here....

1 - Lose weight - at least 30 lbs and KEEP IT OFF
I guess I may well have been pretty close to this. I think I lost about 20, granted it all came right at the end of the year - but I guess it is still off. :-)

2 - Be nice to Justin - especially at work
Well, I think we all know (or have an idea of) how this ened up. I will say no more.

3 - Get my PMP (project mgmt professional) certification
I would have it, but since I opted to leave GraySail right at the same time I was suppose to start the course work it got put off - this year though. For sure!

4 - Save $15,000 in preparation of having children
I don't think I need to comment.

5 - Buy Land
DONE! :-)

6 - Blog More - LeslieShearer.com
I had my moments, but was probably no more consistent than I was in 2005.

7 - Keep a Journal (ha ha - already started
Well, I did start. And seemed to do pretty well in January and part of February. After that it went to May (only 2 entries) and then to October 1 entry of 2 poorly written poems.

8 - Adanve my culinary skills
I would say I did not do this. This year though - perhaps.

9 - Travel
Nope. No luck. I did go to Niagara Falls, but that was pretty much it. Been to VA a few times. I say I failed to meet this one.

10 - Visit family more - especially Justin's side
The entire year was spent working on the land and house - if we saw people it was because they came to see us. So, again - no luck.

Back to work though.... this was just an FYI.

"Five Principles for Happiness in 2007"

The high points from an article on Yahoo!

"I believe each of us has the power to discover our purpose and become joyful in the process of journeying toward that purpose. It's not easy, however. Nothing important and meaningful ever is."

"Principle 1: Give Yourself a Break"
"Principle 2: Get Connected with Your Truth"
"Principle 3: Stop Judging Yourself"
"Principle 4: Stop Judging Others"
"Principle 5 : Pursue Fun with a Vengeance"

As Part of #2 - the writers suggests answering these questions...

• "What makes you happy at work?"
  
• "What makes you happy at home?"
  
• "What makes you happy with your friends and family?"
  
• "What makes you happy when you're by yourself?"
  
• "What do you love to do?"
  
• "What would you do with your life today if you weren't afraid of failure?"
  
• "What's not working in your life?"
  
• "What are you currently doing that prevents you from experiencing joy?"
  
• "What's working in your life?"
  
• "Who's not working in your life?"
  
• "Who in your life is subtracting value from and adding misery to it?"
  
• "Can you fix any of these relationships, or should you let them go from your life?"
  
• "What relationships are working in your life?"
  
• "If we were getting together one year from today, what would have to happen for you to be able to tell me that you now have more joy in your life?"
  
• "What's the single most important thing you've learned about yourself as a result of answering these questions?"
  

I suggest reading the entire article. It is linked through this post's title.

So Long.

Interesting Insight

I had a visit with an old friend last night. One that I ought to see more often, but stuff happens.

So, he told me 2 interesting things.

If you are a guy and want to know if you are in the friend zone, then just grab her boob. I think this sort of offends me, but at the same time can see how it would be a good test of the friend zone. I guess part of it depends on the exact way in which the guy grabs the boob. Either way - for this individual it seemed to work OK.

God has made more than just "one person" for any individual. The way love in our society is often portrayed and talked about - everyone is under the impression that "Oh, I only have one true love." Blah. I really support this statement here, while I still question the first one. In explaining this he went on to talk about how one will probably meet more than "one," but it all depends on the circumstances. I think it is just important that if you meet someone like that, that you take advantage of whatever that person can give you because they are most likely put in your life for a reason.

Off to dinner though...

New Year's Day

Since I brought a bag of popcorn today to eat for lunch I figured I would take a quick moment to reflect on yesterday.

My wonderful mother always told me that what you spend your time doing on New Year's Day is what you will most likely find yourself doing a lot of throughout the coming year.

My New Year's Day
All in all I think I would like to have days like this. I slept in under a cozy quilt and enjoyed the sound of rain on my roof. I enjoyed a nice late breakfast (almost brunch) at OPH (Original Pancake House) with a friend and then we watched football. The later afternoon hours were spent napping, writing. and chatting with friends online & on phone. The evening wrapped up with me visiting some long lost buddies and crawling into a neatly made bed. :-)

I guess the only thing I would change is the time that I actually went to bed last night (or should I say this morning). It was about 12:30. Too late for me, but when I didn't leave W. Cola until around 11:15 - that is just what happens. I am also hoping that I may ultimately have a better mood. Come afternoon I was in a little bit of a funk, and it sort of subsided for a bit, but returned before hitting the sack. I can't really put my finger on what caused the mood, but I am sure it was something. Not to worry though - today is a better day!

So long for now though... so long.

Happy to the 2007

Festivities
I went to a party out in BFE - past Newberry, nearly in Greenwood - at a hunt club. They had cooked half a hog. It was tasty, but the BBQs I have hosted have generally produced better Q. No offense to anyone that might have been at the thing last night.

I went with what is best explained as a connection through work, and enjoyed cuttin' loose with everyone. It was nice. It did make for a late night though.

2006
I know I made some last year, but cannot find the list, and apparently did not blog about it because it is not in the archives. So, at the moment I cannot comment as to whether or not 2006 was successful.

I can however, recap some interesting things that happened.

-- Justin & I bought 21 acres of land in Hopkins, a tractor, and with much help and hard work cleared the land and built a house
-- I visited Canada for the first time & went to Niagara Falls and Toronto, which was amazing
-- I made a major decision to leave GraySail for a "big business", and regret it 0%
-- I cultivated a true and honest friendship
-- I made the most critical decision of my life thus far and as a result am now alone, but thankful for strength, happiness, and family/friends
-- I most recently lost about 20 lbs, but tonite do not feel like it because my dinner was crazy filling

I would say that 2006 was probably the most productive year I have ever had. It was also with out any doubt the most life changing year I have had so far, and even with the stress, sweat, pain, heartache, and hecticness I know the things done will be correct and put me in a much happier and healthier situation.

2007
Someone told me this afternoon that they were not going to make any resolutions that were outrageous. And I think I should do the same. Why set expectations of yourself that you really do not have any real plans for achieving. Besides, one of my issues is meeting expectations (real or fictional ones). So...

-- Continue to drop lbs. I would like to get the remaining 30 off my a hopeful trip to the caribbean (just not sure when that trip may be).
-- Plan less. I think planning is part of my problem, so I am going to choose to plan less and live more!
-- Celebrate life. Find (and hopefully blog about) one thing each day that makes me happy is worth celebrating.
-- Be true to myself and others. Which I guess is also one of my problems, so in order to do the other things I have mentioned I think doing this is a must.

So, the fundamental problem with these is that other than #1, they are not measurable and as a result I will not be able to measure success. Normally that would bother me, but not this year. Not in 2007. Happiness will be my measure of success and if I stick to the 4 items listed then I should be happier, and on this day next year I should be able to read through blog posts and old journals in order to determine if I did well. Heck, I should just know in my gut.

To a wonderful 2007. To a wonderful life!