Have you ever been insulted by a southerner? There is nothing like it.

There are so many stereotypes out, there’s especially related to the way people talk. For example, northerners think southerners are stupid, just because of their accents, Jeff Foxworthy says (and its better to hear him say it) would you want your brain surgeon to sound like, say, Forest Gump, just for arguments sake. No, you would not.

Southerners think northerners are stupid for their accents. Of course, it seems that guys think the other accent is cute and women are the same way, on the opposite sex of course.

The British are smart because of the proper way they speak, well not all of them. The French seem like something smells and I could go on and on.

So many misconceptions its not even funny.

When it comes to being insulted, you know it when a New Yorker insults you, it’s blatant and usually includes a few,well, lets just say, choice words. The British have some great insults or just fun words that we know are bad, but just not quite bad enough not to use. We all know at least one bad word in another language.

I was an actor with the GA Renaissance Festival, that was fun, we learned to insult each other in the King’s English, that was something, you were insulted, but it sounded great so you laugh! Monty Python knew how to do it, just watch The Holy Grail, some of you already know what I’m talking about.

Now, when a southerner, especially a southern woman insults you, you probably didn’t even notice, probably didn’t even register. I have learned a lot in my time living in the south. They have such a way of putting things, you’ll never see it coming until you are knocked out cold!

One of my favorite southern expressions is “bless your/his/her heart”oh boy howdy! You hear that, you run! Now, this could be a good phrase or a bad phrase, all depends on the context, isn’t that amazing? It is kind of a blanket statement, to cover a lot of things. “He’s had a tough time, bless his heart” that’s honest sympathy, “She picked that outfit out all by herself, bless her heart”, that’s not sympathy, it translates to “really? Did she even look in the mirror before she went out?”. You do something dumber than dirt…bless your heart.

Urban dictionary: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bless+your+heart
If you go to YouTube and put in Bless Your Heart, you get a whole mess ‘o options!

So my friends, be aware when you’re in the south, you might not see it coming and I have a feeling some of you are reading this and thinking…”she just keeps talking and talking and thinks someone out there is listening…bless her heart!”. Well, bless your hearts for reading this and putting up with me! (And that’s an honest compliment!)

The glitz, the glam, the bad jokes, the odd commercials.

Tonight I am doing something I haven’t done in years, I am watching the Oscars. As I don’t have TV, yes I said, I don’t have TV (correction, I have a TV, I don’t have cable) that’s another blog for another day.

One of my guilty pleasures is when I am in a hotel, I watch TV, usually reality shows to be exact, c’mon, that’s why it’s called a guilty pleasure! So, tonight, I am in a hotel watching The Oscars.

I will admit, I think I am liking it. Seth McFarland is hosting (for those of you who don’t know, he is the creator and several of the voices of Family Guy). I think he’s doing a pretty good job, as its been a while since I’ve watched and I remember all the bad reviews for Oscars past. Billy Crystal might be the last host I saw hosting, if that tells you anything.

The odd commercials, I say that because, well, some of them are just odd. They geared themselves towards the movies, a zombie car commercial? I have to tell you, I had no idea it was a JC Penny commercial until, oh I don’t know, 25 minutes into the commercial, and it was finally over. Same thing for the Galaxy phone, huh? Unicorn apocalypse? The commercials that were about making movies, those were ok. So not all bad. I do wonder what some of the commercials are like based on the region of the country they are in, for example, I don’t know if Chick Fil A is everywhere, so what would other parts of the country be seeing at that time?

Some of the presenters have been good, some awkward. They are using the music for Jaws when any winners go too long, that’s kind of funny. It’s also fun to try to figure out what movie the music is from in between each presentation and going to commercials. Not sure if I loved the pre-show, you know when they ask everyone what they are wearing, felt awkward, but I did like Anne Hathaway’s response about her dress “My mom says its business in the front, party in the back!” Kristin Chenowith’s response “I think I had a hairdo like that once!”

Some of the speeches moved me, some were funny, no political statements so far, what? I thought these were the Oscars! The musical numbers have been great so far, Chicago, Les Miserables, Dreamgirls, Adele singing Skyfall.

I have to say, even though they were nominated, I’m not moved to see a lot of the nominated movies, even though I know they are probably fantastic. Watching the previews and now the wonderfully edited clips for the Oscars still haven’t moved me to want to see them. Amour looks wonderful and depressing, Les Miserables, I saw on Broadway when it came out, I didn’t care for it, I know, shoot me. Django looks more violent than I want to see and I like Quentin Tarantino, Zero Dark Thirty is not something I would ever see, DCM agreed, something I would never want to see, even though it was amazing. Argo, not sure, but Lincoln, I do want to see and I probably will.

I enjoyed the opening monologue, especially with the cameo by Captain James Tiberious Kirk and the good sports that the actors are, next is coming the In Memoriam, so if someone has a tissue, I would be very appreciative.

Bottom line, I am enjoying the Oscars and when everyone is talking about them tomorrow, I can actually participate in the conversation for once!

today was a very full day, I accomplished a lot and now I’m tired.

my day started with a 5k obstacle course call the diva dash, in Douglasville, Georgia. since it was going to take me over an hour and a half to get to the race this morning I decided to spend the night at a hotel. the hotel was pleasant, it was an Econolodge. The funny thing about the Econolodge, I got there last night after 10 p.m. and I asked if I could use the restroom in the lobby and they were closed, a hotel was closed? ok..

the nice thing was this morning I got to get up leisurely and make my way towards the race, my wave started at 11 a.m. it was raining all day yesterday, so I knew it was going to be cold and dank today. one thing I did not have with me was a long sleeve shirt to run the race in so I left the hotel and went to Walmart, where I found a long sleeve running shirt. While I was looking at the long sleeve running shirt at Walmart, I met two women who were going to be participating in the same race, we high-fived! its cool when you have that kind of bond with someone.

when I finally got to the foxhall where the race was being held, the ground was super muddy, which was good for an obstacle race. I did a warm up run, on one of the trails and then it was time to get going. I started the race running, got to the first obstacle and then did run walk around the entire course because it was quite muddy and very slippery.

the cool thing about doing these races, is you meet so many different people from all walks of life who are doing these races for all sorts of reasons. it feels good when you can encourage someone else to keep going and they are encourage you to keep going. I’m happy to say that I did the race in just under one hour, when it comes to a 5k road race, I normally completed in 41 to 43 minutes. when I compete in an obstacle race it usually takes me about 55 minutes mostly because it’s very slippery.

the very last obstacle was to walk across a refreshingly icy pond. then we were done, yippee!

the next thing I did was to drive to my friend TS’  house so I could shower and be there for her Pampered Chef party. I only got to stay for a few minutes as I had to leave to go meet SDL. it was good to see TS, although it was very brief.

I left TS house to make my way home as quickly as possible so that I could change and turn around and go pick up SDL.  we were going to a fundraiser for Miss A’s school. if you won a bid at the dessert auction, you got a ticket for the fundraiser. There was a silent auction, food, drinks.

we each went around the room and bid on different items and unfortunately I didn’t win mine. oh well… SDL donated quite a few pieces of her art work. there was autographed sports memorabilia, music memorabilia, gift baskets and so much more.

I hope there is a lot of money for the school because it’s fantastic!

Now i am home and going to collapse! Good night!

Tonight I was going to talk to you about a fantastic movie I saw, Warm Bodies, but something is bugging me so I will talk about it another day, all I can say, is go see it!

Tonight, I want to talk about customer service. As you know, there is good customer service and bad customer service. If you enjoy what you do, it shows and if you don’t…

Last night, CKM and I went to dinner at the Flying Biscuit, wanted some ‘creamy dreamy grits’ mmm…anyway…our waitress was Chanel, Coco if we wanted and what a treat she was. Very friendly, attentive and liked to laugh, making our experience quite enjoyable.

Tonight, DCM and I went to Don Pablo’s, the food was ok, but the service was good. Our server was training someone who was nervous, but the overall experience was good.

Before dinner, we went to Old Navy, they were having some good sales (DCM said I’m the only person he knows who shops for holiday gifts in February! Why not? Good deals throughout the eat, by the time the holidays roll around, I am done! Don’t have to fight the crowds!)

So…walked into the store, was greeted pleasantly, walked through the store, asked if I needed help, am I finding everything I need? Then I get to the register with my purchases and I stand there while the cashier is scanning gift cards with another co-worker or manage. Does not say a word to me for at least 3-4 minutes, then the co-worker says “she’ll be with you in a moment” neither person looked up from what they were doing. I wasn’t asking to be checked out immediately, I didn’t get impatient, I didn’t need someone to fawn over me, I was looking for someone to acknowledge my presence. When the cashier finally started to scan my purchases, she sideways asked how we were doing, never looked up, made eye contact or smiled. It was the kind of experience that if you had never eaten in a particular restaurant and had bad food or service, you probably wouldn’t go back. You’re in the customer service industry, try showing some customer service, you might by good results.

Here is my take on customer service…if you don’t like your job, get another one.

Ok, I am going to admit something that I am sure no one else is guilty of, yeah right! Here goes…sometimes I don’t brush my teeth.

Just don’t share this information with my dentist or hygienist and we will be ok. I really do try to brush them every day, but here is why I don’t always brush my teeth. Since I work from home, when I get up if I don’t go for a run, I will drink one of my juices or have breakfast, you know, the most important meal of the day, and if I am going to eat or drink something, most things don’t taste so good with toothpaste, you know? So…I may have a drink or eat something and then get started working and forget.

A lot of the time when I forget to brush, I do remember to brush later in the day, either something tastes funny or my teeth feel furry and I go and brush them post haste. I do end up brushing before bed most nights, so I’m covered, sort of. I will have you know that I floss often, especially when I am in the shower, I am multi-tasking!

Here’s a tidbit… If your teeth feel furry, dry brush them before you do your regular routine, it feels awesome!

It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen, so there, dirty little secret is out! You’ll never know, you can try and get close, but chewing gum is awesome!

Ok, so, you remember that I got a ticket for having my windows tinted too dark? Today I went to court to pay my fine.

When I was pulled over and getting the ticket, the officer told me that if I have the window tint removed and/or replaced, the judge would probably reduce the fine, well, I was good with that. I called Mr. Tint, on Saturday to schedule an appointment, I told him that my court appointment was for 2:30pm today and he had me come in at 9:30am, whew.

Mr. Tint was the man who put the tint on my last beetle bug, so I knew he would do a good job. When I got there, he was laughing and called me a troublemaker, you know me… Ha ha

I pulled into the garage, he opened the door and put a straight razor to the window and pulled. “That’s it? I could have done that!” Well, there is a lot more to it, he had a solution (soap and water, go figure) to clean the windows and scrape the glue off. When he was done, about 30 minutes and $80 later, my car was finished and felt naked. Not to worry Annie, I am going to schedule another appointment to have new tint put on. I will be calling Mr. Tint for the next appointment, he’s the one who tinted my first beetle bug, so he will be trusted with the new baby.

I drove out of the garage, went home, back to work and then it was off to my court appointment. I got there at 2:25, filled out a waiver and went to sit down with everyone else on the planet apparently! There had to be at least 75 or more people there to face the judge. The court officer started talking to us about 2:40, showed a video and it wasn’t until about 3:00 that the judge came in and got started.

The judge had moments of humor, how can you not, it went on and on and on…about 5:15 the judge took a ten minute break, can you guess where I was in the order? It was about 5:30/5:35 before the judge came back. I was hungry, had a headache and had to “make water”!

When it was my turn, since I had spent “so much getting the windows stripped” that the judge reduced the fine ($116.50) to a whopping $000000! Wahoo! I said thank you very much and I was outta there! The $80 I spent this morning was so worth it, thank you Mr. Tint!!!

Freedom at 5:45!!! I ran out the door, got into Annie and we were off!