???

Huh?!

Unpatriotic

Call me unpatriotic if you must, but I did not care for Kristy Lee Cook's rendition of Lee Greenwood's God Bless the USA on American Idol last night. She can't sing, she rarely hits the correct note - her voice is usually just under it.

The problem with saying I didn't care for her song last night is people take it as I'm dogging the song. I LOVE that song! Lee Greenwood wrote an amazing lyric with that song. Kristy Lee Cook knew she had to pull this song out to rally the troops behind her. Her only fan base is redneck, country music-loving people. I'm a listener of country music, so I can say it.

She is a nice girl but I just don't like her as an American Idol winner.

On the other hand...David Cook rocked it out with Billie Jean. OH, yes, he sang that song. And he completely rocked it! Don't worry, it wasn't Micheal Jackson's version. I can't remember the arranger's name, but I loved it. David Cook is becoming the front runner for this season and I think he has a very good chance of winning it all.

Quote to ponder

This quote came from an email I read from a website email group. It made an impression on me and would like to share it with you. I don't know where this saying came from, the email writer did not give a source.

Beauty only attracts attention, but personality captures the heart.

Those few words carry a powerful punch when meditated upon. Think about the friends and loved ones in your life; isn't it the personality, the character, the inward man that attracts you year after year? Physically beauty is only skin deep and its affects are fleeting.

It's like major surgery!

Imagine with me: I have Boots, my older cat, pinned between the couch and my hip. My left palm cups her chin while my fingers reach up to pull the bottom of the eye down. My thumb has wrapped around to the top of her eye, pulling it open. My right hand is holding what Boots sees as an instrument of torture, an eye drop medicine. After a few failed attempts to get the timing down, I'm able to get a single drop in Boots' eye before she claws her way out of my arms. (Wipe forehead...only two more times today to do this.)

Boot had a visit to the vet yesterday and found she had an eye infection. Now, I get to be the mean mommy who holds her down and force something in her eye. Boots doesn't care too much for the whole thing.

Interesting part? Sugar, my younger cat, seems to forget who Boots is by the time we return from the vet! Last night was filled with Sugar hissing at Boots and then her running away to hide. Can we say short-term memory?

New glasses

Well, what do you think? I like them a lot! I'm all stylin' and stuff ;)

And, yes, my hair has grown very long. I'm considering growing it out a couple more inches then donating to Locks of Love.

My babies

I have to share some great pictures with you of my babies...and I mean my cats. Until, or if, I have children, Boots and Sugar will be my children. I take way too many pictures of them. But isn't that what parents do? ;)

They have separate beds yet they love to snuggle into one! I'm just amazed they stayed still long enough for me to snap these pictures. Boots looked smaller than Sugar, don't be deceived. Sugar loves to plant herself where she finds comfortable. Sugar is laying partly on Boots. I don't think Boots minds though.

My favorite part of the second picture is Sugar's paw lovingly stretched across Boots. So cute!

Well, no wonder!

Have you heard the report of pharmaceuticals in our water? Yep, it's true. This story tells you all about it. I'll give you some time to read it...I'll sit here and wait...go ahead and read it.

Are you back? Hope you read the story because I'm not focusing on a recap; I'll bring up a few points. I think it is interesting for this to come out in a study since our society is so addicted to pain killers, mood adjusters, hormones, etc. I think our over-indulgence of pills is affecting our children and environment.

Think about it: If our children are drinking this water, how has that changed things in their bodies? I wonder if we can attribute it to the increase in food allergies? So many children suffer with mental issues like autism, physical issues like diabetes. Has this development contributed to it?

And I wonder if we can attribute changes in animal and plant life we have recently witnessed to this find? The study says they found these medicine levels in fish.

One part of the study struck me funny, although it shouldn't. It's what type of medicine they found in high levels in different areas of the country. I guess I found it somewhat indicative of what that area would suffer with physically. New Jersey had a high level of mood-enhancers; San Fransisco had a high level of sex hormones; high levels of anti-anxiety medicine in southern California; Philadelphia fared the worst with 56 different pharmaceuticals found in their water. Yikes!

I'm not sounding an alarm and calling up the calvry...just thought this was very interesting in light of the increase in mental and physical problems our society is facing.

Winter wonderland

This morning I awoke to the beautiful snow-covered landscape you can see in the pictures! The best part of the snow is I don't have anywhere to go today. It can snow all it wants :) For Tennessee, this is a lot of snow.

Attention please

My name is no longer Mindy New; well, according to a wedding invitation I got in the mail yesterday it is not. I guess my name has always been Mindy Newland. My dad has been mistaken about our family name his entire life!

I have no clue as to where these people got the name Newland. My friend is the groom in this wedding party so I guess the bride's parents got wrong information. Maybe they couldn't believe my name is only New. I am frequently asked to spell my last name. Come on people! It's only the word New!

Event-filled morning

There I was at work, sitting at my desk and checking email. The morning was moving along like most mornings do. Then - my vision went all weird. Remember what it looks like when you look at a light then away, and the light shape is still in your vision after you look elsewhere? Eventually, your vision return to normal. Mine didn't, and I hadn't looked at a light.

After fifteen minutes, my vision was still messed up. I started to worry, as I think most people would. The strange vision became like a kaleidoscope so I called the eye doctor. They had me come right in...that didn't settle my nerves any.

My doctor did a few tests, including the fun dilation of the pupils that leaves you unable to focus for half the day! Come to find out, I probably had an optical migraine...didn't even know the things exist. Instead of the migraine giving me a typical headache, the migraine affects the optical nerves. No harm done...just my insides all torn up.

The interesting part of the morning was when I ordered new frames and lenses. The doctor said my prescription has changed and new lenses might keep any future optical migraines from happening. I was looking through the myriad of frames they have available, thinking the whole time the guy helping me looked familiar.

Finally I said to him, "I know I know you." He then said, "Yeah, you look familiar." Ends up we went to college together back in 1995-1996. He lives here in Nashville with his wife...Melinda is her name. I just have to laugh at that; my name is Melinda, I just go by Mindy. So, what started as a frightful morning ended with new glasses and a meeting with an old acquaintance.

Stuff

When I started this blog, I thought there would be regular postings. Maybe I set my standards too high. By the way, my space bar is not working every time I hit it. My typing sounds harsh since I have to hit the space bar with force. For those who watch Project Runway, I'm typing fiercely!

Lesson from tonight: There's nothing on TV on Monday nights! Absolutely nothing!

I've been in a weird "funk" this past month...no...more like the past six months. I'm realizing my life is not what I want it to be and there's not much I can do about it. Sorry, I won't stay on that thought.

This isn't much of a post, but I want to get myself in the habit of writing.