Thursday, March 27, 2008

Lakerland

I know I haven't really mentioned this before, but even with all my girly girlness and my feminine ways I love to watch sports.


Well not all sports... I really like to watch baseball (GO ANGELS), UFC fights, sometimes Hockey (GO DUCKS) and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the LAKERS.


Today my cousin told me she had a surprise for me... 4 tickets to tomorrow night's Laker game at the Staple Center courtesy of her company (who happen to be a huge sponsor of the Lakers.... free tacos anyone?).

The catch is, being the good sister I am, I offered my ticket to my brother since it's his birthday (well we are actually celebrating his birthday tomorrow night....) and my dad claimed a ticket and then my cousin and her boyfriend got the other two. If my brother doesn't go, then watch out Lakerland.... here I come!!!















OH! And in case you are wondering why I would be so excited... is because we get to sit 4 rows behind the visiting bench and 11 seats away from the JACK! (Jack Nicholson that is!)

Even though I live in So. Cali, I still get star struck... no matter how many celebrities I know or meet or run into, it doesn't get old. I know, so cliche`... but it's still fun to star watch....

So cross your fingers that the Best team in the NBA (not looking at the numbers.....) will pull out a win for us tomorrow (o:


#24-MVP


The Purple & Gold Queen

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

How I Survived Monday




Yesterday was Monday.


Enough said.


Usually Mondays are hard, just because I am more tired than usual and envisioning the long week ahead. But yesterday? Yesterday was another type of Monday all together.

First off, I was the normal amount if not more tired than usual. When I got to work, I found out that someone I had recommended for a position at our office quit without telling a soul, including me... leaving us with the mess of trying to figure their work out... that in itself gave my blood a good boiling level. OH! And my computer had decided that the hard drive was too old and too tired to keep working, so that was off for repairs, leaving me at a strange desk, with a strange computer lacking many vital programs that I needed to get my work done.

Whew... that was all before lunch.

Finally a break!

Or so I thought.

I got in my car to get Mrs. Bingley and I some lunch at Taco Bell and as I waited for the traffic to clear so I could turn right onto the main street I looked this way and that and then decided it was clear enough to go. WHAP!! In a split second, I turned my head, hit the accelerator, saw an elderly man in front of my car, slammed on my brakes, screamed out a feeble scream that no one heard and barely missed hitting this guy by mere inches, if not less.

He was dressed in a white undershirt and some old tattered jeans. He shoved the hood of my car with both hands, screaming and hollering at me. Then he ran over to my window (I was on the verge of rolling my window down to apologize and instead quickly checked the locks to make sure my door was locked!) and started yelling at me calling me terrible names that I can not write on my blog. I just stared at him until he turned his back and strutted across the street, spring in step. Whew, I'm glad he got that off his chest at least! ha ha ha!

I was visibly shaking and close to tears heading toward Taco Bell thinking... only bad things could happen today. I felt horrible.

Sure enough, my boss picked up my computer from repairs only to tell me that they could not save the hard drive and that everything had been erased. All I could think about was my extensive music collection that I had on that computer and the amount of time and work it took to get it all.

Finally, good news came toward the end of my day. I finally had my computer back and turned on. I sat down at my desk expecting the worse. Lo and behold, all my files, all my programs, all my memory, it was all there! Thank you Jesus!!!!!! A rainbow at the end of the day!

I went home to my Easter basket (actually it was a cute patent leather orange purse full of fun goodies) and devoured TOO much chocolate and tried to ride out the evening, hoping that the Monday storm had passed.

I survived.

So Happy Tuesday everyone! We are Survivors!!!

Queenie Cat

Monday, March 24, 2008

Picture Perfect

This Picture was taken by my Uncle Danny Bingley. I thought it was so good and just wanted to share it with you all. Ironically, my sister Deb (the infamous Deb!) has a connection to bees. Her name - Deborah actually means BEE! Enjoy!


Sunday, March 23, 2008

There is a Hope

Happy Easter Fellow Bloggers!

I thank God today that I have a hope in this corrupt world.
There is joy after sorrow
There is Life after Death
There is a Rainbow after the Rain
And the brightness of morning will always follow the darkness of night...

And there is a Savior who paid my debt and the ransom for my soul.

I am forever indebted to the One who gave His life for me. Oh what a trade. I definitely got the better end of the deal!

Thank you Jesus! You are my everything!


Blessings to All!
Queen Cat

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Happy Birthday Baby Brother!













David Jonathan Bingley
Born March 19th 1985
In Orange County, CA

23 years!

wow.

Where has the time gone? When did I stop changing diapers and wiping snot and helping with homework and cleaning up scraps and making tuna sandwiches?


Happy Birthday David, my baby brother, my confidante, my dear friend!

I love you so much and can't believe the change in you this past year.
What a success you are and I know it's just the beginning...

So here's an ode to you, dearest Dave...

23 things I know and love about you!

1. Your sweet perfect nose!
2. The way you say "and then" which always sounds like "uh-then"
3. Your unique way of providing vibrato to your voice as you sing!
4. Your determination and resolve when you finally make up your mind.
5. Your sports superstitions
6. The Irish pride you have
7. Your conceited way of taking pictures of yourself! ha ha ha!
8. Your love of hats
9. Green Toes
10. You being a Mama's Boy
11. Your love of all things "testosterony" - Guns, Zippos, Cigars, Hunting, Fishing, Cars, etc....
12. Your loyalty to family and friends
13. Your unrelenting generosity!
14. Your hands that are so cushy and soft - perfect for back rubs and hugs
15. That little boy quality that still peeks through every now and again
16. Your dancing!
17. You are one of the bravest people I know!
18. Your love for God and the things of God
19. Your ability to see yourself in your true form and acknowledge your downfalls
20. Your high IQ - seriously, you are headed to MENSA!
21. Your nack for debating
22. Your devilishly handsome good looks and sauve personality
23. Your completely contagious laugh


I love you David. Happy Birthday.

(even though we are apart this year, well I will see you tomorrow, but still... I think this is the first birthday I haven't shared with you... I guess you really are growing up...)

MUAH
QC

Monday, March 17, 2008

Happy St. Patrick's Day!












I love St. Patrick's Day!

It's always been a big holiday in our family, as we are 1/2 Irish on my dad's side of the family. My Great- Grandmother is Irish, her maiden name was Carrig.


I love the traditions and colors and music and folklore that Ireland has to offer and hope one day to be able to visit there myself, like several of my family have already done.


This past Christmas, I purchased a VERY SMALL
plot of Irish countryside for my Gramps as his gift.
It's one of those gifts that you give someone who has
absolutely EVERYTHING!


It was so cool. The package I received came with
the land deed, a certificate of ownership, photos
of the land and a map on how to get there. Needless
to say, the leprechaun in my Gramps came to life on
Christmas morning! ha ha ha.


Seriously, I remember at annual Christmas parties
my gramps would have a wee bit o' drink and
immediately get an irish brogue. As a kid, I thought
it was hilarious and wanted to sit and talk to him all
night long!


Any hoo... Happy St. Patty's Day... may the road,
the sun, the sky and everything else rise as it should!


Q.C.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

"The Kiss" by Rodin


I just had to add this picture of the amazing work of Rodin, when it was really almost a supporting character in the book "Kissing Adrien" by Siri Mitchell. Seeing it stirred Claire's emotions like nothing else did (well, besides Adrien himself!) and cemented the notion that she needed to experience that one amazing kiss for herself.

I can feel your pain Claire...

Adrien? Where art thou? ha ha ha!!!

Passion, Longing and Kissing Adrien

Wow, It's been a while since I posted! I didn't realize how long!


(SEMI-SPOILER ALERT)(I won't spoil it too much)





I just finished reading "Kissing Adrien" by Siri Mitchell last night. I looked at the clock. It said 12:00 a.m. exactly. It felt very strange to be finished with this book. The characters had become a daily companion to me, even though it only took me about 3 days of sporadic reading to start and finish the book, it felt like much longer, or much quicker. As you can read, I'm a little befuddled at the moment.



I had such a love/hate relationship with this book. Everyone had built it up to the point that I felt like I was missing out on the next great world wonder if I didn't read the book, only to find that I got bored, then impatient, then interested, then excited, then impatient, then uninterested, then engrossed, then enthralled, yada yada yada..... even when I had a negative view about the book, I couldn't put it down or I'd put it down and walk away, only to have it occupy my thoughts until I picked it up again.



I was about 2/3's of the way done when I looked at where I was in the book, thinking that I had barely started, that I hadn't even reached the middle yet. I was shocked to see how rapidly the end was approaching. What! Hurry Claire! Hurry Adrien! It was a moment of panic that all would not end well.



So, back to midnight last night. I hurried through the last 20 pages of the book, my eyes eating up the words like a starved person, until I got closer to the end... then I slowed down and digested each sentence and let it sink in deep the culmination of all the miscommunications and passion and longing and misguided views of these two amazing people.



The End.



I put down the book and stared at the wall. It wasn't until about a minute later that I realized that tears were coursing down my face. I wasn't sad, or angry or upset... but I couldn't stop the tears. It was like a dam had been released and all the raging emotions that were so subtly there throughout the whole book came to the surface in one great release.



That's exactly what it was, release. Now I look back and everything I loved and everything I hated about the book all made sense and came together... nothing could be added or subtracted from this story. It all fit.







and I hear that the second read-through is even better than the first...





s.w.a.k.

The Queen