Blogging into the Future

OK so...
as much fun as I've had with the Bucket, I think the time has come to try a new platform.
I've been using A Gibson Girl, on the tumblr platform, for about a week, and I really like it. It's easy to upload web stories, photos, text, quotes--all the stuff I love. Plus the format is much cleaner.
So--I will be moving my blogging over there. If you've got me bookmarked, change it to http://agibsongirl.tumblr.com.
Don't worry, the email (janeandessie@gmail.com) and this blog will remain, although this blog will be mostly for archival purposes. Not sure what I'm going to do with CPG yet.
I'm so glad that y'all have been reading and following my post-tx adventures. There is more to come, so jump over to the new blog, won't ya?

Seven Quick Takes Friday--Vol. XXI

I. 

This edition of 7QT brought to you by Caribou Coffee wi-fi. :) (mmm Northern Lite Latte!)

II. 

It has been a slooow week. I don't mean it's gone slow, I mean I've felt slow, like I'm moving through syrup. I think the ridiculously high pollen count might have something to do with that, even though I'm not technically allergic to anything. Claritin has been my friend this week. 

III. 

No blogging this weekend--I'm going here for a silent retreat. (You may remember I've done one before.) The weather is looking sort of blah, which is too bad, because the grounds are beautiful, but I"m sure it will be a fruitful weekend nonetheless. 

IV. 

I really do like the silence. If you know me, you may find this hard to believe. But it's so wonderful to take a break from computers, phones, television--noise in general--and attempt to listen to that still small voice.

V. 

Books of 2010: No Time To Wave Goodbye (really good), A Thousand Tomorrows (very, very bad). Mother Angelica's advice book, and her book on the scriptures. Also reading Deep Conversion/Deep Prayer, The Eternal Woman (bringing this on retreat) and The King's Good Servant.

VI. 

Great music stuff this week. I'm singing "Wouldn't It Be Loverly?" and "Stranger to the Rain" at an open mic event next week. And I joined St. Pat's choir! First up--singing for Confirmation on Sunday. 

VII. 

A housekeeping note: I do update the tabs on the top of the page, from time to time, so check it out! My vocal repertoire (under 'theater') gets the most updates, but I've also added video and stories about my transplant to the transplant tag.

Update--unexpected trip

I'm writing this from my family's hotel room in the 'Burgh.
My grandfather, who was diagnosed with cancer in October, died on Monday (which is also one of my aunt's birthdays.).
There are two visitation days--today and tomorrow--and the funeral is on Friday afternoon.
The hotel has wi-fi, which makes it easier for me to keep ahold of my email, but I probably won't be blogging too terribly much.

Quiet on the Western Front

It's the triduum....so I'll see you after Easter!

Just for the record...

I don't control which ads come up, but know that if it's Michael Moore, I am NOT supporting you buying that )(&%#)_&@#%*. (your choice of word)
Just a note. In case you were curious about where I stood on that.

New blog stuff

OK, so, I guess I've sold out--I've added AdSense to the blog, so there are ads now.
(This blog post brought to you by...)
So far, they are small and mostly inconspicuous. But if you feel the urge to click, go right ahead.
The Amazon stuff (see post below) is more obvious. Yeah, OK, it's part of an ad program, but I talk so much about books/movies/CDs, and link so often to Amazon, that I might as well have the cool Amazon things here. And if you use the Amazon search box, I get money. :) (And no, it's not like a Google search, it's like if you're looking for something on Amazon.)
A little pocket money never hurt anyone, so I might as well...
Thus ends the commercial. :)

Housekeeping

The "My transplant story" tab has been updated with video! So you can get the quick gist of the blog by reading that (if you're new), or, if you're an old hand, you can see the videos. One is the longer (5 minute) spot for the Children's Miracle Network show. The other (1 minute) is a TV spot that aired on our local CBS affiliate.

(oh, and just for the record: I do not have bangs anymore. Bad look for me. And I do not normally wear gym pants in non-gym settings. It's just that no pants fit me. I weighed 83 pounds. My jeans were about "2 sizes too small." ) 

Lenten media

My suggestions are up at CPG.
(Just a note: Most, if not all, of my Lenten reflections will be up on CPG. I will cross-link them here, for ease of reading, but I move them over there so that the people who ONLY read CPG have something to read, and so that the readers over here who aren't Catholic/Christian can have the option of not reading my Lenten pondering, if they so choose.)

Seven Quick Takes Friday Vol. XXIII

(I'm going to try to be like Margaret and see if I can do this in 20 minutes!)

I. 

I am not a Saints fan--I am a Steelers fan. 

That said, the Saints might just have become my favorite NFC. I love Drew Brees and his adorable child. That picture post-game? Priceless. 

II. 

Snow, snow and more snow--and now icicles. At least now I am beginning to see more pavement in my parking lot, and even a few parking spot lines! So this is progress. Slush is better than snow, which is better than ice. There is hierarchy here.

III.

Weekend plans (for the long weekend--Monday off!): BalletMet's A Midsummer Night's Dream Tonight, at the Riffe Center; tomorrow, dentist in the AM and stuff with Tiffany; Sunday, Lay Dominicans after Noon Mass, and Monday? Just hanging out. Whew. 

IV. 

I'm back to blogging at CPG. I sort of neglected it while I tried to do 30 posts in 30 days over here, during  the month of January (check the archives--totally achieved that goal!).  With Lent starting next week (can you BELIEVE it?), that will be the place for all things Lent. 

V. 

Books of 2010 update: Death On a Friday Afternoon, Brava, Valentine, Lucia, Lucia. 

VI.

Blog housekeeping: Noticed those tabs up above? I really love them. They will be evolving, so keep an eye out. If you have any comments/suggestions/questions, click the contact me tab and shoot me an email, or just leave one in the com box. I do read (and respond to!) every email and comment from the blog. 

VII. 

I do not have a Valentine this year; I did, however, send my godson an e-card. And Nigella Lawson's Feast has a recipe for a single Valentine's Day meal. I'll be making that tomorrow (or Sunday) and posting the results here. Probably making it Sunday--on actual Valentine's Day.

(And my godson? He lives in Pittsburgh, and hasn't had school all week. I bet my Aunt is going stir crazy with two teenage (well, almost teenage, in Ryan's case) boys around all week. 

(7 minutes! I rule!) 

Check out more quick takes over at Jen's!

YAY!!!!

We just hit more than 10,000 hits!
Thanks guys!

back!

Photos to come!
And I'm going to see SARAH tomorrow!!!!!!!

Upcoming

Three things:
--Recap of my speech tonight
--Lion King Culture Cat
--Bookshelf--The Other Queen

See what you have to look forward to?
Oh, and if you like/hate/ are indifferent about the new blog look, let me know.

Housekeeping

A couple new things on the sidebar....

1) You can subscribe to this blog feed! So you get the Bucket right when I write it! How cool is that?! :) (OK I'm a bit too excited about this)

2) You can be a followed of my blog! That link is right below the subscribe on the right.

Blog hiatus?

I don't know if I'll have computer access in the OBX, so there may not be any blogging from the vacay site. But I will have full stories and a travel journal up when I get back! (Well, OK, probably in the days following my return.).

I am going to the state fair tonight w/ Andrea and Tom. I haven't been in years, so this should be a lot of fun!

Whew

OK so now that the show is like, really over...I am trying to dig out of the mess that is my apartment, since I sort of neglected it over the past, oh, month....
Hopefully I can make some progress!

Housekeeping

Lots of new stuff, so scroll down...

Upcoming...

In the words of Lizzy, there is "So much to acquaint you with!"

New books, new movies....news in general. Whew.
And it's coming. I promise. Now that my computer is back and working, we'll have new things up very, very soon!

Happy Easter!

The self-imposed Holy Week Blog Hiatus is over....so stay tuned for new things. :)

New layout!

As you can see, I've changed my layout--time for something new round the bucket.
I'm going to try to keep the colors liturgical. :) We'll see how that goes.

housekeeping

This weekend I will be upgrading my internet browser so that I can have some new features on the blog, like links and long-quote formats, to make it more user-friendly. Hopefully this will work out for all of us!