UPDATE: Friday November 2, 2007
I didn't win the pink Dyson :(
But that's ok, I'm sure the person who did win will really make good use of it!
Maybe next time :-)
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Final day, but I'm giving it a try anyway!
I just discovered this awesome contest going on over at The Domestic Diva. Dyson is known for creating a vacuum that never loses suction (Yay & finally!). Now they have one in pink that is intended to help raise breast cancer awareness. For every one sold, Dyson donates $40 to Breast Cancer Research!!!! I am doing my part here, in an effort to further this awareness and to possibly win one for myself.
I didn't win the pink Dyson :(
But that's ok, I'm sure the person who did win will really make good use of it!
Maybe next time :-)
I didn't win the pink Dyson :(
But that's ok, I'm sure the person who did win will really make good use of it!
Maybe next time :-)
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
European Vacation - Episode #3 Part A
Monday, September 17, 2007 - Cheltenham, England
Morning came very very early. I can't remember the exact time, but I believe it was around 4 am. A and I were up, showered and ready to go for the day! And what a big day it would be! So big, in fact, I am breaking up today's post into 2 parts in order to keep the length of each story down. After all, it involves 2 separate trips to 2 separate places and all the details of full adventures in each one!
So A made some wonderful breakfast sandwiches for the road with the fresh English eggs (yes, they are different-and very yummy, I might add) that she bought the day before at the store. Well, I assume that's when she got them, I was 3/4 asleep walking through there, remember? Anyway, off we were to the town of Swindon. Our friends "J and A2" were on a month long vacation all over England and Ireland. I have known them for years from here in St. Louis through A, they've been friends for years. So we fetched them from the train station and off we were to drive in the darkness. I really dislike driving in the dark, I feel like you miss so much scenery!
Today's 1st significant destination is Stonehenge. I've always wanted to see it. Not because I believe it has any special powers or because I really know anything about it per se, I just always thought it was cool! A has a special membership granting the privilege of early admission and access beyond the observation path to be allowed directly up to the stones themselves! Anticipation was mounting for me, my mind was racing! "Ken" (the Australian narration character of A & P's TomTom GPS unit shown in the below photograph towards the bottom mounted to the windshield) showed we were getting very close. The sun had already began to come up. Our reservation time was 6:45 a.m. and the sun began to rise around 6:35 a.m. We were just driving along the very busy road passing by fields and hills and farms and we came to just another open field and A said, "There it is!"
Just like that, it was just sitting there in a field, unassumingly. I thought there would be big signs and big parking lots and a long path and for some reason, I thought it was near a cliff. Anyway, the above photo was actually taken after we left, but it gives you the idea better, of what I am saying here.
So, there it is just perched in the middle of several fields. The only thing to see around there, are the roads that go around it and maybe a farm house or two in the distance. They have cleverly tucked the car park, ticketing booths, gift shop and toilets behind the grading of the countryside across the street and there is nothing obstructing or taking away from the view of or from the stones. They built a tunnel to take you from the car park, past the ticket booths and down under the road itself that comes out up onto the grounds of Stonehenge's fields. Even then, it's all hidden from sight, fantastic! Glad I thought of it!
Of course the gift shop is closed because we are there before opening for the day. I never did find the souvenirs for Stonehenge in other places like I wanted, so I'm a little disappointed by that but I'll live. Walking through the tunnel, they had murals painted that implied the story of how the stones got here and just at the other end, there is one panel that shows how the stones would have possibly looked originally.
Once you have crossed through the tunnel and up the ramp past the interesting murals, you are on a path that takes you near the stones. Here is my first unobstructed, unfenced sight of the stones!!! As you can see we're not the only such privileged visitors with reservations on this cold early morning.
There is a guard on duty, a few guards actually. But we passed them by and walked right up to the stones! This is a treat! And what a privilege to cross the chain barrier and walk amongst the giants. It's called being 'inside the circle.' A special privilege indeed. I did my best to take photos that were free and clear of other people.
The stones are eroding and sometimes there is stuff growing on them.
Some are tall and thin. Some are shorter-more narrow.
Some still have the capstones up on top.
Some look like teeth. Notice the vehicles on the road in the background here.
Here's me. It's very cold and I have flip flops on! I didn't notice really.
I was very distracted with the cold feel of the old worn rock and the height of them all.
As you can imagine, some have fallen down over time while others remarkably have remained upright!
This is having fun with perspectives. I heart photography! This was a photo graphical feeding frenzy for me!
I took many-MANY-photos here. It was very difficult to decide which ones to show you and which ones to leave out!
Notice here, the 'lego' type precision carvings of notches on the tops of the stones which allowed the capstones to stay in place.
Here you can see on this fallen stone, the groove craved into it that fits onto the notch at the tops of the others.
I was also able to walk out around the stones and captured many postcard quality shots like this one. Thousands of people gather here for summer solstice. The observation grounds outside the chain barrier reminded me of a drive in without the poles. Like I said before, I didn't feel anything particularly mystical about being there. But I'm so privileged to have gotten such an opportunity! I shall never forget this! The weather was kinda cold and overcast but the sun did make short appearances from time to time.
After we spent a short time here in Wiltshire's Stonehenge, we next made our way to Bath. I will pick this up next time at Part B. Bath, England and the Roman Baths and Abbey. Stay tuned...
Morning came very very early. I can't remember the exact time, but I believe it was around 4 am. A and I were up, showered and ready to go for the day! And what a big day it would be! So big, in fact, I am breaking up today's post into 2 parts in order to keep the length of each story down. After all, it involves 2 separate trips to 2 separate places and all the details of full adventures in each one!
So A made some wonderful breakfast sandwiches for the road with the fresh English eggs (yes, they are different-and very yummy, I might add) that she bought the day before at the store. Well, I assume that's when she got them, I was 3/4 asleep walking through there, remember? Anyway, off we were to the town of Swindon. Our friends "J and A2" were on a month long vacation all over England and Ireland. I have known them for years from here in St. Louis through A, they've been friends for years. So we fetched them from the train station and off we were to drive in the darkness. I really dislike driving in the dark, I feel like you miss so much scenery!
Today's 1st significant destination is Stonehenge. I've always wanted to see it. Not because I believe it has any special powers or because I really know anything about it per se, I just always thought it was cool! A has a special membership granting the privilege of early admission and access beyond the observation path to be allowed directly up to the stones themselves! Anticipation was mounting for me, my mind was racing! "Ken" (the Australian narration character of A & P's TomTom GPS unit shown in the below photograph towards the bottom mounted to the windshield) showed we were getting very close. The sun had already began to come up. Our reservation time was 6:45 a.m. and the sun began to rise around 6:35 a.m. We were just driving along the very busy road passing by fields and hills and farms and we came to just another open field and A said, "There it is!"
Just like that, it was just sitting there in a field, unassumingly. I thought there would be big signs and big parking lots and a long path and for some reason, I thought it was near a cliff. Anyway, the above photo was actually taken after we left, but it gives you the idea better, of what I am saying here.So, there it is just perched in the middle of several fields. The only thing to see around there, are the roads that go around it and maybe a farm house or two in the distance. They have cleverly tucked the car park, ticketing booths, gift shop and toilets behind the grading of the countryside across the street and there is nothing obstructing or taking away from the view of or from the stones. They built a tunnel to take you from the car park, past the ticket booths and down under the road itself that comes out up onto the grounds of Stonehenge's fields. Even then, it's all hidden from sight, fantastic! Glad I thought of it!
Of course the gift shop is closed because we are there before opening for the day. I never did find the souvenirs for Stonehenge in other places like I wanted, so I'm a little disappointed by that but I'll live. Walking through the tunnel, they had murals painted that implied the story of how the stones got here and just at the other end, there is one panel that shows how the stones would have possibly looked originally.
Once you have crossed through the tunnel and up the ramp past the interesting murals, you are on a path that takes you near the stones. Here is my first unobstructed, unfenced sight of the stones!!! As you can see we're not the only such privileged visitors with reservations on this cold early morning.
There is a guard on duty, a few guards actually. But we passed them by and walked right up to the stones! This is a treat! And what a privilege to cross the chain barrier and walk amongst the giants. It's called being 'inside the circle.' A special privilege indeed. I did my best to take photos that were free and clear of other people.
The stones are eroding and sometimes there is stuff growing on them.
Some are tall and thin. Some are shorter-more narrow.
Some still have the capstones up on top.
Some look like teeth. Notice the vehicles on the road in the background here.
Here's me. It's very cold and I have flip flops on! I didn't notice really.
I was very distracted with the cold feel of the old worn rock and the height of them all.
As you can imagine, some have fallen down over time while others remarkably have remained upright!
This is having fun with perspectives. I heart photography! This was a photo graphical feeding frenzy for me!
I took many-MANY-photos here. It was very difficult to decide which ones to show you and which ones to leave out!
Notice here, the 'lego' type precision carvings of notches on the tops of the stones which allowed the capstones to stay in place.
Here you can see on this fallen stone, the groove craved into it that fits onto the notch at the tops of the others.
I was also able to walk out around the stones and captured many postcard quality shots like this one. Thousands of people gather here for summer solstice. The observation grounds outside the chain barrier reminded me of a drive in without the poles. Like I said before, I didn't feel anything particularly mystical about being there. But I'm so privileged to have gotten such an opportunity! I shall never forget this! The weather was kinda cold and overcast but the sun did make short appearances from time to time.After we spent a short time here in Wiltshire's Stonehenge, we next made our way to Bath. I will pick this up next time at Part B. Bath, England and the Roman Baths and Abbey. Stay tuned...
Heads or Tails - Scary, Spooky or Halloween
Welcome to the latest edition of Heads or Tails. This week's theme is based on the Halloween holiday. Well, I wouldn't call it a 'holiday' per se (I mean, nothing closes for it LOL). Anyway, I have lots of fun memories from childhood regarding Halloween. From church activities to trick or treating in my neighborhood. I don't have any photos scanned into my computer to show you (aaawwwwww, shucks!) so I just grabbed some from google searches.
When my brother and I were young, mom would buy us those thick plastic costumes with the thin plastic masks. You know, the one where there's only 2 small circles cut out for you to see through, tiny nose holes and a small slit for your breathing abilities. I don't know about you, but I always used to sweat inside that mask from my hot breath getting trapped. I'd get a head rush from re-breathing the carbon dioxide I breathed out and couldn't stop running my tongue through the hole LOL I have no idea who these kids are, but I think we all have these photos from our childhoods.
I remember one neighbor lady saved her pennies all year long and on Halloween, that's what she gave out. Great. She'd give us a big handful of heavy pennies. Of course, being so competative, we would always count up our pennies and see who got the most. Because she liked us best, sometimes she'd give us 2 handfuls! LOL And she lived 2 houses down from us, we'd have to carry those heavy pennies the whole rest of the way! That bag or bucket got so heavy by the time we got back home, ah, those were the days!
I also remember mom having to check everything before we could open and eat it. Chocolate was always the first to go for us! But ultimately, it was all about who got the most pieces of candy. We would lay it all out on the floor and separate by our favorite kinds and count it all up. Much like this kid has done here (again, no idea who he is, thanks google!).
These things were important you know! I still remember the feeling of disapointment when you'd climb someone's stairs with your heavy bag of candy trying not to trip over your costume which by now had somehow began to fall apart and get in your way and your face was all sweaty and your ears were cold and your hands were hurting and you'd get all the way up to the door and they would want you to perform for the candy. UGH!!! So I'd tell some sort of joke and then they would go back inside to get the bowl (hello, did you think it was Avon calling? Bring it with you!) and then they would give you some kind of candy you didn't even like! That was the worst. Or the times they would reach right next to the piece you want and grab something else. Or it's the end of the night and they are about out and there's no choice at all. Or you're going up the stairs and they turn the light out on you. Thanks.On the other hand, we had a couple of houses in our neighborhood that always gave full sized candy bars! Or those rare occasions you were the last one they felt like dealing with, so they dumped their bowl in your bag and then turned the light out!! Too fun. I had a friend that I'd go out trick or treating with after we were far too old to be doing it. Of course she was a couple years younger than me, but still. We didn't need to be doing that. Some people were cool about it, but some were rude and tried to make us feel bad. Hello people, it's an occasion to hand out candy to kids, we don't want to every stop doing this!
I get all that, but still, I'm the lady who makes the kids tell jokes and if there are kids of varying ages at the door, I give the little kids 2 pieces and the 'too big' kids only 1. Hey, that's just me! If it wasn't for the 'dark side' of Halloween, it would be great. Of course I don't celebrate it for those reasons.Be safe, check your candy before eating it, walk with your kids, take a flashlight, say thank you, don't be greedy or push each other down, for best results let the kids pick from your bowl and for goodness sakes turn off your porch light if you aren't participating in passing out candy!!! Just a few tips for both sides of Halloween!
Click the photo for more trick or treating safety tips!I could tell stories of pumpkin carving, getting sliced open while pumpkin carving or even stories about people who would enact frightening bloody senarios as you would come up to their house just to frighten the wee wee out of you, but I think I'll wrap it up with a simple Happy Halloween all!!!
Monday, October 29, 2007
Wow, what a weekend!
Friday night I helped a friend do an At Home America party up in St. Charles. It was fun, a bit odd to not be a guest at the party, but all in all, not bad. It's always nice to spend time with a friend without kiddos or other people around. You get to talk adult talk, uninterrupted.
Sat. was one of those odd days. I slept in until almost noon. (Yay me!) But once I woke up and got moving, I barely stopped until late that night. I'm a kind of 'super procrastinator' type, and my bedroom was beginning to close in on me. Between the laundry and all the odds and ends that needed to be put away or reorganized or cleaned out or sorted or just plain gotten rid of, it took me like 8 hours! Just to do the bedroom!! And to top it off, I'm not done in there LOL I still have a few loads of laundry to finish, my shoe closet needs to be revamped and all the shoes I don't/won't wear removed to make room for some new ones. Apparently I've gone from a size 10 wide down to a 9 or 9 1/2 regular now up to an 11 wide! Seriously, what's going on with my feet lately?
Another google photo, apparently featured from the Oprah show, not my closet :-)
Anyway, Saturday was spent at home working. I never got dressed, never took a shower, never left the house. It was great! Well, except for all the things outside the house I was supposed to get done that day, like a much needed oil change. All that would have to keep for now. I feel great about how much I accomplished in my bedroom. It really-really-needed it. It was beginning to make me consider getting Botox for headaches just from looking at it all! So it's great to make such a big improvement. Maybe it will spark a cleaning frenzy in me to do the rest of the house!? Not right away...
Sunday I skipped church because my mom and I were given free tickets to the Fox Theatre to hear the St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra with James Taylor, a baritone, in a special performance put on by Edward Jones as a customer appreciation day. Wow, was that a fun time! They did the national anthem first. They did a montage of works by Henry Mancini including the full length version of 'Moon River'. My favorite by him!! They did some other works from various movies and Broadway shows. They did a set by Rogers and Hammerstein and Andrew Lloyd Webber. My fave was the set from 'Star Wars' they performed 4 from that one! They finished the day with 'The Bridge over the river Kwai' which was just fantastic! We all sort of marched our way back to our cars.
After this performance, mom and I headed over to The Hill to get something to eat. Which turned into quite a hassle. I'll spare you the details. Let's just say it took waaaaay too long to get a pizza that we couldn't eat and therefore didn't pay for. We left almost 2 hours later and still hungry.
Next I went to a friend's house to spend time with her for her birthday today (Happy birthday Shell!). We like to visit. She has 3 dogs and one of them is a brundle colored 1 year old English Mastiff. When Rocky is full grown around age 3, he will be approximately this big: (or bigger!)
I got this photo from google. No idea who the lady is.
She showed me the photos from their recent vacation back up to Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore and through the badlands. They got some really beautiful shots, and you know photos never do that kind of scenery justice! We also watched the movie '28 Weeks Later'. I hadn't seen it, but it was very interesting to see a movie set in London, now that I've been there! So cool!! Needless to say, I got home super late, but it was worth it. Good times were had by all! It sure was a full weekend! :-)
Sat. was one of those odd days. I slept in until almost noon. (Yay me!) But once I woke up and got moving, I barely stopped until late that night. I'm a kind of 'super procrastinator' type, and my bedroom was beginning to close in on me. Between the laundry and all the odds and ends that needed to be put away or reorganized or cleaned out or sorted or just plain gotten rid of, it took me like 8 hours! Just to do the bedroom!! And to top it off, I'm not done in there LOL I still have a few loads of laundry to finish, my shoe closet needs to be revamped and all the shoes I don't/won't wear removed to make room for some new ones. Apparently I've gone from a size 10 wide down to a 9 or 9 1/2 regular now up to an 11 wide! Seriously, what's going on with my feet lately?
Another google photo, apparently featured from the Oprah show, not my closet :-)Anyway, Saturday was spent at home working. I never got dressed, never took a shower, never left the house. It was great! Well, except for all the things outside the house I was supposed to get done that day, like a much needed oil change. All that would have to keep for now. I feel great about how much I accomplished in my bedroom. It really-really-needed it. It was beginning to make me consider getting Botox for headaches just from looking at it all! So it's great to make such a big improvement. Maybe it will spark a cleaning frenzy in me to do the rest of the house!? Not right away...
Sunday I skipped church because my mom and I were given free tickets to the Fox Theatre to hear the St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra with James Taylor, a baritone, in a special performance put on by Edward Jones as a customer appreciation day. Wow, was that a fun time! They did the national anthem first. They did a montage of works by Henry Mancini including the full length version of 'Moon River'. My favorite by him!! They did some other works from various movies and Broadway shows. They did a set by Rogers and Hammerstein and Andrew Lloyd Webber. My fave was the set from 'Star Wars' they performed 4 from that one! They finished the day with 'The Bridge over the river Kwai' which was just fantastic! We all sort of marched our way back to our cars.
After this performance, mom and I headed over to The Hill to get something to eat. Which turned into quite a hassle. I'll spare you the details. Let's just say it took waaaaay too long to get a pizza that we couldn't eat and therefore didn't pay for. We left almost 2 hours later and still hungry.
Next I went to a friend's house to spend time with her for her birthday today (Happy birthday Shell!). We like to visit. She has 3 dogs and one of them is a brundle colored 1 year old English Mastiff. When Rocky is full grown around age 3, he will be approximately this big: (or bigger!)
I got this photo from google. No idea who the lady is.She showed me the photos from their recent vacation back up to Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore and through the badlands. They got some really beautiful shots, and you know photos never do that kind of scenery justice! We also watched the movie '28 Weeks Later'. I hadn't seen it, but it was very interesting to see a movie set in London, now that I've been there! So cool!! Needless to say, I got home super late, but it was worth it. Good times were had by all! It sure was a full weekend! :-)
Friday, October 26, 2007
...KIT KAT BAR!!!
Ok, was anyone else *shouting over and over* "...break me off a piece of that KIT KAT BAR!!!" at the television last night during The Office? Andy is an idiot, we all know that, but come on, 'break me off a piece of that Fancy Feast'? Wow.At one point, I actually wished Jim (or Pam or any of them!) would have picked up a piece of office furniture and whacked him in the head with it! Maybe that would jar his memory.
I think I need to lay off the Sopranos...
Friday's Feast #166
Appetizer:
Name a great website you would recommend to others.
Name a great website you would recommend to others.
GoldToken.com It's a turn based game site. It has all kinds of fun games, traditional and new ones and you can buy a membership or play up to 15 games at a time for free! "15 games, are you crazy? How do you play that many at one time?" you say. Well, I'd love to answer that. You simply take 1 turn on each game then come back later or the next day or whatever fits your schedule (within the time limits set up on each game, I usually go for 3 days per turn) and if your opponent has taken his turn, it's your turn again! My favorite game is 'Dice Pipe'. I am sooooo waaaay addicted to that game! I have a lot of friends who play there too, so we always invite each other to games. It's one of the best websites I've consistently visited since I've been online. My username is 'Beccagirl', come play with me!
Soup:
On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 as highest), how often do you dream at night?
Um, 10, duh. Everyone dreams at night. You just don't always recall them upon awakening.
Salad:
Did you have a pet as a child? If so, what kind and what was its name?
A pet? Come on....how many people had only 1 pet in the 1st 18 years of life? We had dogs, turtles, cats, a frog, a hamster and numerous gold fishes. The most memorable dog was named Bear, he was a dark brown or black sheep dog type and you couldn't see his eyes unless he was running full speed. We had water turtle named Turdy and two box turtles named Starsky and Hutch. I've already told about the cats in my life. I had a pet frog one time that was the size of a dime, if that big, his name was Frawggy. It was hard to keep him fed, there weren't many ants to be found in the winter. These are the most memorable pets from childhood, I guess.
(PJ and Putty, I've had since I was 15 & 19 years old.)
Main Course:
If you had the chance to star in a commercial, what would you choose to advertise?
A sports car or some other high end product or service. I'd wanna get paid, baby!!! I've always admired Lamborghini...
Dessert:
What is your favorite kind of hard candy?
Jolly Ranchers still rock my world!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
A 'Friendly Site' Award
I kinda told myself I wouldn't do any more awards, at some point they are just redundant. But I really like this one because I do strive to have a friendly site! Sandee over at Comedy Plus has given me this:
Now, I couldn't find it's originator to find out what it's purpose was intended to be, but at this point, it does seem kind of obvious! Thanks Sandee!!! I'm gonna pass it on a little later.
Now, I couldn't find it's originator to find out what it's purpose was intended to be, but at this point, it does seem kind of obvious! Thanks Sandee!!! I'm gonna pass it on a little later.
Quick Question...
Sometimes I think too much. I begin to think about things that don't seem to add up and I begin to wonder how they went awry or astray in the first place. A good example of this, is life insurance. I know they have the kind of life insurance no medical exam is required on and the kind where a medical exam is required. So, what's the difference in coverage? If there's no difference, why do they even have the kind where an exam is required?
Or how about this: if a stick of gum has say, 10 calories, when do you get the calories? Do they escape into your saliva the moment you put the gum in? Or does it happen over the course of say, the first 5 minutes of chewing? Or is it the combined result of +20 calories for the gum and -10 calories you burn off during the chewing process? If the calories come right away, why don't we use a bit of water and use our hands to work it past that point, then the calories are all gone? Or if the calories come during the first 5 minutes, we could have someone else chew it until it was calorie free!
Ok, so it's not such a quick question. These are thoughts that swim around in my head...nice, huh?
Or how about this: if a stick of gum has say, 10 calories, when do you get the calories? Do they escape into your saliva the moment you put the gum in? Or does it happen over the course of say, the first 5 minutes of chewing? Or is it the combined result of +20 calories for the gum and -10 calories you burn off during the chewing process? If the calories come right away, why don't we use a bit of water and use our hands to work it past that point, then the calories are all gone? Or if the calories come during the first 5 minutes, we could have someone else chew it until it was calorie free!Ok, so it's not such a quick question. These are thoughts that swim around in my head...nice, huh?
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Meet Putty boy!
You may have noticed, I added this fun little guy to my sidebar which I have named Putty boy. No, not like putty in your hands...like "I taught I taw a putty tat". Maybe it would be better understood 'pooty' boy. But that's how I spell it, p-u-t-t-y. When my brother and I were young, we decided all cats should be named 'putty tats'. We've had 'Putty' he was a stray and our first cat. Actually this cat looks almost just like him, except he was all black with a white patch where a priest has that white collar. Too funny. Then there was Putty. I got her when I was 15 and I still have her! She's like 18 now...DO NOT ADD THOSE TWO TOGETHER, I AM 25 AND NOT A DAY OVER. Then we found a kitten in a box in our alley, so we kept him and called him Putty Jr. Which has now become just PJ, but he's 14. He's cute too. Now I have Putty boy for my blogging enjoyment.I nabbed him from another website and put him right up here at the top. If you have your speakers on, you can hear him purr when you put the pointer over his tummy. He's so cute!!! I used to regularly visit a website kinda like the 'Feed the Head' one where a larger version of this kitty was. I'd pet him and play with him and listen to him purr. He's the perfect pet! You can give him love and he doesn't give you poop in a box! I can pet him at work and not worry about cat hair on my clothes!
So when you come back to the blog, and I know you will, often, don't forget to look for Putty boy somewhere over in the sidebar and let him know he's welcome!! He likes his tummy to be petted!
Happy 1st Birthday, Baby E!
This past Saturday afternoon brought the 1st birthday party of my 'nephew' Baby E. He's special to me, I got to see him be born and he just lights up when he sees me, so I like him a lot! There were some friends and family there to celebrate his day. They got a pavilion at a local park thinking it would be a good place for the kids to be able to run and play at the playground and such.
The weather was a bit windy at times, but otherwise it was fantastic weather! I made a photo board of Baby E for his first year, so everyone could reflect on how far he has come and how many changes he's gone through and to really remember how precious he was and still is!
While we were watching mommy and baby open his presents, we noticed that there were a couple of boys just over from us riding their skateboards. At some point we saw this:
Oh no, roll out the healthcare cart and bandages! There were 3 RN's and 2 CNA's present but no one budged. We did yell over to check if he was ok, but after a couple of minutes, he sat up and they were off skating again! Boys will be boys!
All in all, it was a fun time. My mom always says, 1st birthday parties are really for the moms. The birthday boy didn't know what was going on, but he did like his presents and cake!!
Happy 1st birthday, big boy. Aunt BeccA loves you!!!
The weather was a bit windy at times, but otherwise it was fantastic weather! I made a photo board of Baby E for his first year, so everyone could reflect on how far he has come and how many changes he's gone through and to really remember how precious he was and still is!
While we were watching mommy and baby open his presents, we noticed that there were a couple of boys just over from us riding their skateboards. At some point we saw this:
Oh no, roll out the healthcare cart and bandages! There were 3 RN's and 2 CNA's present but no one budged. We did yell over to check if he was ok, but after a couple of minutes, he sat up and they were off skating again! Boys will be boys!
All in all, it was a fun time. My mom always says, 1st birthday parties are really for the moms. The birthday boy didn't know what was going on, but he did like his presents and cake!!
Happy 1st birthday, big boy. Aunt BeccA loves you!!!
Heads or Tails - Train
It's Tuesday again and time for another Heads or Tails. This week's theme is "Train" and I couldn't help but to think about my recent vacation to England and Italy. I was on trains in both countries and even though I haven't quite gotten to that part in posting about my vacation, I'll share a couple of photos here of me and my recent experiences with "Trains."In England:
Cautions
Waiting
Here it comes
RidingIn Italy:
Colorful
Long
From inside
Colorful
Long
Scenic(click it, you can see the mountains in the distance!)
Not so scenic
Throw momma from itSo there you have it. Some "trains" were clean, some were not so clean, some had actual tables, some had graffiti, some appeared to have never been cleaned before, some had beggars, some had locals, some had travelers, some were crowded and people had to stand, some were more scenic than others but they all did a great job getting us from place to place. Just a few of the photos I took of, on, from or in the trains on my last trip. I hope you enjoyed my montage, it certainly brought back some fun memories for me! Ok, not the last one, but I couldn't resist!
Monday, October 22, 2007
Pumpkin Patch Fun
Wow, what a busy weekend! Saturday morning I went to pick up some items from my dear cousin for a party coming up soon. Details to follow, later. I then went to meet my friends for the annual trip to the pumpkin patch! I really love this event. Every year it's more and more fun for me, partially due to the fact that the kiddos are getting older and partially due to the fact that there are less adults than in previous years-less specific adults, ones that I'm fine not seeing, if you catch my drift.
Anyway, good times were had by all! Here are the boys (which I call 'nephews') gathering pumpkins to put in the wagon.
I always like going to Stuckmeyer's pumpkin patch in Arnold, MO. You can go right out in the field and pick your own or choose from the one's they've harvested and are for sale inside. This pumpkin patch offers a country store, snacks of all kinds, kettle corn, drinks, a free and/or inexpensive extras like bounce houses, animals, free character boards to stick your face in for photo ops, playgrounds, sand box, petting zoo, pony rides, hay rides, train rides and this year they even had an area set aside with music and tables to sit and eat or take a break!
While playing on the playground, my friend brought to my attention, the view of one of the ends of a bounce house type fun house for the kids. Here's what we saw:
What were they thinking? I'm almost sure someone could have benefited from a little bit of market research on this one. You've heard of a 'baby factory', well this one looks more like a 'toddler factory'!
Good night, I'm still not sure what they were thinking on this design. Anyway, it was a great time, the weather was even a bit warm! This was just Saturday morning, mind you. The afternoon brought another fun event, more details later!
Anyway, good times were had by all! Here are the boys (which I call 'nephews') gathering pumpkins to put in the wagon.
I always like going to Stuckmeyer's pumpkin patch in Arnold, MO. You can go right out in the field and pick your own or choose from the one's they've harvested and are for sale inside. This pumpkin patch offers a country store, snacks of all kinds, kettle corn, drinks, a free and/or inexpensive extras like bounce houses, animals, free character boards to stick your face in for photo ops, playgrounds, sand box, petting zoo, pony rides, hay rides, train rides and this year they even had an area set aside with music and tables to sit and eat or take a break!
While playing on the playground, my friend brought to my attention, the view of one of the ends of a bounce house type fun house for the kids. Here's what we saw:
What were they thinking? I'm almost sure someone could have benefited from a little bit of market research on this one. You've heard of a 'baby factory', well this one looks more like a 'toddler factory'!
Good night, I'm still not sure what they were thinking on this design. Anyway, it was a great time, the weather was even a bit warm! This was just Saturday morning, mind you. The afternoon brought another fun event, more details later!
Mom said what?
I was just having a conversation with my mom, telling her about my time last night, watching my 2 nephews. I was telling her how cute it was that Baby E was following me from room to room, always right behind me and how I had to be careful when I stopped sometimes because I didn't want him to knock into me and fall down.
I was much like this with my mom when I was little. I was a momma only kind of child, actually and it sometimes caused issues. So my mom proceeded to tell this story:
"Well, that's why it's so hard to be away from your kids, because you get so used to them being right there with you. When they aren't there, you just feel odd. I almost drove your father nuts one weekend we were away from you kids! And when I left your dad that time and I stayed in the basement (long story, I'll tell ya later), he didn't know how to handle you. He made it ok the first day, the next day he took you kids out to your aunt's house. You were so clingy to me, you had to be right in the room with me. Your brother wasn't as bad, he could be off in another room, often within sight of me, but he didn't have to be right with me like you did. It wasn't enough to be in sight, you needed to be close to me. When you were little, if I would have died, you would have come out to be some kind of warped person!"
What? LOL I jokingly told her I am a warped person, but she had a point. I didn't take to anybody. I wasn't spoiled, I was needy. I needed her for security. I was terribly worked up into a frenzy if I could see her but couldn't have her. I was not the kind of child that could be left with a babysitter.
So I said all that to say this, sometimes when kiddos cry for mommy or daddy, it's not because they 'just need to grow up' it's more than that and you need to be mindful of that. Kids do need a break from mom and dad too, they need to learn that other people can help them when they need help and take care of them and have a good time with other people and they also need to learn that adults are in charge, even if they aren't mom and dad. But it needs to be done on their terms as well. So all you rude people out there who think 'Just cut the strings already' sometimes it's not that easy and you should try not to judge them.
*Steps down from soap box*
I was much like this with my mom when I was little. I was a momma only kind of child, actually and it sometimes caused issues. So my mom proceeded to tell this story:
"Well, that's why it's so hard to be away from your kids, because you get so used to them being right there with you. When they aren't there, you just feel odd. I almost drove your father nuts one weekend we were away from you kids! And when I left your dad that time and I stayed in the basement (long story, I'll tell ya later), he didn't know how to handle you. He made it ok the first day, the next day he took you kids out to your aunt's house. You were so clingy to me, you had to be right in the room with me. Your brother wasn't as bad, he could be off in another room, often within sight of me, but he didn't have to be right with me like you did. It wasn't enough to be in sight, you needed to be close to me. When you were little, if I would have died, you would have come out to be some kind of warped person!"
What? LOL I jokingly told her I am a warped person, but she had a point. I didn't take to anybody. I wasn't spoiled, I was needy. I needed her for security. I was terribly worked up into a frenzy if I could see her but couldn't have her. I was not the kind of child that could be left with a babysitter.
So I said all that to say this, sometimes when kiddos cry for mommy or daddy, it's not because they 'just need to grow up' it's more than that and you need to be mindful of that. Kids do need a break from mom and dad too, they need to learn that other people can help them when they need help and take care of them and have a good time with other people and they also need to learn that adults are in charge, even if they aren't mom and dad. But it needs to be done on their terms as well. So all you rude people out there who think 'Just cut the strings already' sometimes it's not that easy and you should try not to judge them.
*Steps down from soap box*
Friday, October 19, 2007
Seedless Pumpkin Carving!
My friend sent this to me in an email. I've seen it in years past but I thought I would pass it on in case there are others who like to play it and need a link or have never seen it before! Don't forget to bookmark this page so you can revisit and comment about the pumpkin carver!
(Click picture to go to the carving page.)
I made this one, but I could do it all day! This is great because you don't get your kitchen dirty with slimy seeds and candle wax! LOL Enjoy!!!
(Click picture to go to the carving page.)Friday's Feast #165
Appetizer:
If you were a dog, what breed would you be, and why?
If you were a dog, what breed would you be, and why?
I'm not sure on this one, I'm not a dog person! I'm more of a cat person, so not sure. Sorry!
Soup:
What does the color purple make you think of?
My mom and the movie 'The color purple' which is one of my all time best movies!
Salad:
Approximately how long does it take you to get ready each morning?
Main Course:
How many cousins do you have, and are you close to them?
I have 25 cousins on my dad's side and 5 cousins on my mom's side. Some I am close to, some are dead and some I rarely/never see. There may be more that not all of us know about, if you know what I mean. I'll list all the ones I can remember, in no particular order:
Deanna, Christina, Stephanie, Bub, Cathy, Brian, Darrell, Darrin, Charles, Lynne, Tony Jr, Roxanna, Nathan, Ladonna, Tonya, Paula, Vicky, Michelle, Timan, Nikki, Beverly, Curtis, Roy Jr, Amanda, Jerrod, Cassie, Kenneth, Cindy, Jeffrey and one that my uncle had a few years back that I only met once and have no idea what his name is.
Dessert:
Take your initials (first, middle, last) and come up with something else those letters could stand for. (Example: SFO = Sweet Funny Otter)
RLH: Really Long Hair (which I have, although this is not me, I do love her hair!)
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Awards are fun!
I have been recently given a new award! What an honor, it's from "...And Miles to go before we sleep..." created by Sultana Blog. It is a Community Blogging Award designed to 'celebrate people who reach out and makes the blogger community a better one.' Thanks, Miles to go, I just do my thang! (Sorry, I'm not sure of your first name, shame on me!)
I would also like to pass this award on to some people who do their part in making the blogger community a better one as well!:
To "Cherished moments with my 2 angels" because she's caring and always posts about her happy family and contributes regularly to my blog, making my blogging community a much happier place to be! I'm so happy to be giving you an award first for a change!
To "Cheaper by the half dozen" because she is definitely a great contributor of happy community blogging over there. She's constantly coming up with fun stories about her kiddos and keeping me entertained! She's an extremely talented writer as well!
To "Rants from Sunnybrook Farm" not just because we share a wonderful name ;) but because she has quite a nice little blog going on over there! Perhaps some day I can make it into her 'links' list LOL
And last, but certainly not least, to "Skittles Place" because she totally rocks! She created a great meme called Heads or Tails, I love her 'Caption This' post accompanied by her fake prizes, which I actually won once! LOL She is a great contributor to our blogging community and someone we could learn a thing or two from.
Thanks to all my recipients because you rock and you make my blogging community a better place to be! There were a couple more, but I could see they had already received the award! Good for you! Also thanks to Miles to go for considering me worthy of this award as well! Now get back out there and get ta' blogging!!!
I would also like to pass this award on to some people who do their part in making the blogger community a better one as well!:To "Cherished moments with my 2 angels" because she's caring and always posts about her happy family and contributes regularly to my blog, making my blogging community a much happier place to be! I'm so happy to be giving you an award first for a change!
To "Cheaper by the half dozen" because she is definitely a great contributor of happy community blogging over there. She's constantly coming up with fun stories about her kiddos and keeping me entertained! She's an extremely talented writer as well!
To "Rants from Sunnybrook Farm" not just because we share a wonderful name ;) but because she has quite a nice little blog going on over there! Perhaps some day I can make it into her 'links' list LOL
And last, but certainly not least, to "Skittles Place" because she totally rocks! She created a great meme called Heads or Tails, I love her 'Caption This' post accompanied by her fake prizes, which I actually won once! LOL She is a great contributor to our blogging community and someone we could learn a thing or two from.
Thanks to all my recipients because you rock and you make my blogging community a better place to be! There were a couple more, but I could see they had already received the award! Good for you! Also thanks to Miles to go for considering me worthy of this award as well! Now get back out there and get ta' blogging!!!
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Ebay or Yard Sale?
That is the question! Since I've been buying so many new clothes for my trip, now that I'm home, I loathe all my old clothes! The style of my new clothes better fits my personality now. Besides, there's no room in my closet for all the clothes at the same time. When I'm all caught up on laundry, my bedroom looks more like a wholesale clothing warehouse, what with all those white shirts I used to have, hanging everywhere! My closet throws up all over the room.
So the question is, should I try to ebay the clothes or throw them in a yard sale bag? I will offer some of them to my mom and some to my friends, but what to do with what's left? Some of the clothes are still in great condition! Some are just tired from being washed and worn.
I have to weigh all the factors: I stand to make more on ebay if I sell some as lots vs. $.50 each at a yard sale, but there's a lot more work involved with listing on ebay. The measuring and recording the tag info and taking photos of everything and typing it all out...
I guess I could always freecycle some too!
So the question is, should I try to ebay the clothes or throw them in a yard sale bag? I will offer some of them to my mom and some to my friends, but what to do with what's left? Some of the clothes are still in great condition! Some are just tired from being washed and worn.
I have to weigh all the factors: I stand to make more on ebay if I sell some as lots vs. $.50 each at a yard sale, but there's a lot more work involved with listing on ebay. The measuring and recording the tag info and taking photos of everything and typing it all out...
I guess I could always freecycle some too!
Birthday gifts
This month was a big birthday month for me. I had 3 adult birthdays and 1 child's birthday to plan for. Some people are easier to buy for than others. It also depends on how much time I spend with each person too. I find it more difficult to shop for guys than the gals. I've been known to give things I like to the person, if I'm not sure what to get, in the hopes that they will like it too. That plan has worked out well too. Sometimes, I keep notes all year long from different conversations that come up or different situations that result in a pretty good gift list. Depending on the conversation, I'd give someone a cordless phone battery if they were in need of a new one or some other useful item they need. Some things get put on that "I'll get one as soon as I get extra money" list and who knows when that will be! You'd be surprised how happy that kind of gift will make someone! You should keep a list of things people like from conversations, too!
Which city do you belong in?
| You Belong in Rome |
 You're a big city soul with a small town heart Which is why you're attracted to the romance of Rome Strolling down picture perfect streets, cappuccino in hand And gorgeous Italian people - could life get any better? |
I don't know about Rome per say but Italy, yes!!!!!! I left my heart in Firenze!! I was pleased with the results of this one. Now you try!
Where is it all coming from?
I have no idea why I've been getting so much spam in my inbox lately! I mean, where is it all coming from? I never had this problem until I started joining these free search engine sites to try and promote this blog! I don't think I've gotten any traffic like I'd hoped either.
And the spam is so filthy, how do they come up with this stuff? From secretaries to families to animals to pills! And none of it is spelled correctly! They have to try and disguise themselves, I guess. I just wish I could find a way to prevent the spam. Obviously my email server isn't doing a very good job of it.
And what about the fund transfers spam emails? Everyone knows they are scams, how are they even still around? I've even seen them say they were ATM transfers or from the president or hey, I've won a lottery in the UK! LOL
To all those spammers out there: Get a new job! Find a hobby! Go get some college football tickets or a massage, but leave me alone already! Sheeshk.
And the spam is so filthy, how do they come up with this stuff? From secretaries to families to animals to pills! And none of it is spelled correctly! They have to try and disguise themselves, I guess. I just wish I could find a way to prevent the spam. Obviously my email server isn't doing a very good job of it.
And what about the fund transfers spam emails? Everyone knows they are scams, how are they even still around? I've even seen them say they were ATM transfers or from the president or hey, I've won a lottery in the UK! LOL
To all those spammers out there: Get a new job! Find a hobby! Go get some college football tickets or a massage, but leave me alone already! Sheeshk.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Accentuate the positive
Accentuate the positive, that's what they say, right? I've been trying to do that lately, so here's a thought I've had brewing for a while. I've decided to make a list of reasons why it's better not to have a boyfriend! How do you like that? Ok, so here goes:
Top 5 reasons it's better not to have a boyfriend:
5. You don't have to shave your legs as often!
4. You can see any movie you want at the show.
3. You don't have to buy any valentines day gifts.
2. You don't have to fall asleep to the sound of Sports Center.
1. You'll never suffer through another 'hot box' situation!
There you have it, 5 good reasons not to have a boyfriend! ;-)
Top 5 reasons it's better not to have a boyfriend:
5. You don't have to shave your legs as often!
4. You can see any movie you want at the show.
3. You don't have to buy any valentines day gifts.
2. You don't have to fall asleep to the sound of Sports Center.
1. You'll never suffer through another 'hot box' situation!
There you have it, 5 good reasons not to have a boyfriend! ;-)
European Vacation - Episode #2
Warning: Long post ahead! (Remember to click the photos to enlarge!)
September 15, 2007 continued...
When we last left this story, I was in the Newark, New Jersey Airport. Upon arriving, I decided to find my departure gate so I knew where I would be going later. Much later. I found the restroom to be very interesting. In the largest stall there was this:
Upon further inspection, I discovered it's a baby parker. You know, you park your baby or small toddler into it with the straps so you can have your hands free to do your business! This is a great idea! I have never seen these in bathroom stalls in St. Louis. I thought it was nifty! So I set off to explore, I figure I'm going to need some eats later and a Starbucks. So I found the food court where I surveyed all my options.
Once I notice there was a Nathan's Famous Hot Dog place, I knew what I wanted! I mean, you can see specials about this place on the Food Network! I filed into line, which seemed to be moving at a steady flow. Here's what I ordered:
It looks great! Too bad it didn't satisfy my taste buds as good as it looked! I was a little let down, honestly. I mean, it was good. Just not great like I had anticipated. I thought, what's all the hype? I can get a better dog back in the Lou at a Cardinals game! So I decided that maybe it had everything to do with being airport food. If that makes sense. But even fast food that you are familiar with tastes different when you take it out of the neighborhood and put it in an airport, know what I mean? So I had some lunch. Topped it off with a Mocha from Starbucks. Took advantage of my ability to still be able to use my cell phone to make some calls and calm some nerves.
I stood and stared at the New York City skyline for a very long time. It's almost captivating! I vowed to return someday to take on the city and explore it. I'm sure the dogs at the real Nathan's are much better. New York is the kind of place that is so massive, it's a vacation and then some all in itself. There are so many things to do and see and eat and smell and experience! I fell in love when I saw it from the air. I can't wait to go there someday, but I also can't help but wonder, what it must have looked like from there before the towers came down.
I spent the afternoon walking, talking on my cell, watching tv, drinking mochas, revisiting the restroom and browsing the shops. Yep, it was that fun. Woo. My 6 hour layover was nearing it's end, so I decided to get up and walk over to get my last Starbucks before boarding time. Just then they called for us to line up so they could check our passports and such. That's ok, I'll sleep on the plane, don't need anymore caffeine for tonight anyways. And just like that we were off and flying again! The lights of New York are amazing from the sky!! Of course, I couldn't tell heads or tails about things down there, but we did appear to be going along the river and we could totally see all the skyscrapers from the plane. Unfortunately, taking a photo of lights at night doesn't really work so well from a swiftly moving plane. Here's the best I could get after many many tries. I enhanced it some to bring out the rows of lights better. I have no idea which state it was, honestly! LOL
The transatlantic flight on Continental offers dinner, tv shows, music, a movie or two and all the lights in the cabin to be switched off. Only the individual overhead lights of some passengers and the glows from the video screens are illuminated. It creates a very restful atmosphere. At first, the video screens were blue and toggled between flight and trip data and a flight map showing our progress. Very cool! I'd never seen anything like that. Oddly enough, we'd be flying up over Canada and making a huge arc over the ocean in a different direction than I had thought. Very interesting. It gave ground speed:483 mph, altitude: 38,xxx feet, outside temp: -11, time at destination, time at departure, total miles traveled and total miles completed. I added those together and discovered it would be about 3,500 miles. Wow!
After choosing 'chicken' from the choices of 'chicken or beef' I realized I chose wrong. It was quite horrible chicken, you see. Well, it wasn't the chicken as much as the red peppers it was swimming in. After this, I tried to sleep, I really did. I had my comfy new neck pillow, a blanket and all the other conditions were ripe for some nappy time too. It just didn't happen! I was very frustrated...and grew physically fatigued. Maybe I had one too many Mochas. Ok, 2 or 3 too many, fine! I did rest some for a while, but never slept for any significant amount of time. There was little turbulence to even speak of. Thank God! (Blessing!) I can't stand turbulence...ever since that one flight to Atlanta...'nough said. I did get up once. To stretch my legs and get some circulation flowing (and also to use the restroom.) It was my first time to go pee at 38,000 feet!! Of course, it must be documented!!
Look at the bags under those eyes!! And of course, there was the proverbial test flush to inspect the water coloring. Would it be???? YES! Why is it blue? I mean, that is some seriously blue water! The ocean could learn a thing or two about blue from that water! These are not the pictures everyone has been asking to see, I'm sure, but this is my trip.
So, I rested. It was announced at the beginning of the flight, that flight time would be about 5 hours and 55 minutes. Although, I had no real concept of time at all. I was in my own world on that plane, under that blanket, in that seat. My mind was full of wonder and excitement and nervousness. Would I be good with my money? Would I be safe? Would my big butt be able to keep up with the others? Would I run out of space on my memory cards on my camera? Let's face it, I love to snap pictures (If you haven't noticed & I've left out many)! I was only on my second flight and I had already taken about 100 photos. Before I knew it, and I mean that will all honesty, before I knew it I saw a glow of light under the wing of the plane.
September 16, 2007
Sunday's first light. I was on a journey into it! It gave it's warm welcome to the clouds and the sky.
It seemed to be almost pushing against the night, and it was winning the battle with all it's fiery might! The earth began to give way as well as the sky. There gave off the most beautiful exchange between the sun and the sky and the earth. A spectacular array.
A new day indeed, but where did it begin? For on the other side of this day was yesterday's night? Or tomorrow's night? Only God knows that, I guess. I was worried I hadn't gotten enough rest. The sunlight brought the final chapter to the long flight and yet seemed to begin an entirely new chapter. For where the one story ends, the next one begins. After a while, they brought around a wonderful breakfast. Hot croissants and butter along with fruit.
Soon, land was below again and the final descent was upon us. England, I can tell already, will be a beautifully green place for me. I can see white dots on the ground which are sheep! And the dark ones are cows!! I always thought the ground looks like a patchwork quilt, well England does too, except all the pieces are shades of green!!! Fantastic!
So, I'm here, in England. Bristol, England to be exact. I'm tired and excited and nervous! When we landed, I noticed that we were no where near the airport building. I wondered how long that walkway would be, when I noticed the sunlight coming in the open plane door. Cool! My first stairs!!!
By the way, I got into trouble for taking this picture. The officer on the left at the bottom of the stairs noticed me take this and began to yell at me, "No photography!!" I said, "Oh, I'm so sorry, it's my first stairs!!" It turned out ok, but it's not the last time on this trip for me to get in trouble with my camera. More on that later. After being in the wrong line in passport control I made it through successfully and retrieving my bags, I walked out into the airport. Looking around, I saw many people waiting for arrivals. For the sake of privacy, I'll call my friend "A" in this series. A had not yet arrived to fetch me. I stepped outside, I couldn't wait to smell the air. It was a very brisk air that met me with a bit of force. The sun was shining-some. It was around 10 am. This will be the only day she and I will share with just us on this trip. (Her husband, whom we will call "P", will return from a short stint in the states tomorrow.) She arrived shortly and off we were! Let my English experience commence!
The roads are sometimes extremely narrow and twisty in some of these towns, the speed limits are rather high and you have no choice but to go that fast! If not, someone will come along behind you going that fast and meet you unexpectedly.
You even get points taken off your driving test if you use your breaks on those curves! Insanity! I love it!! It was maddening when we would be just going along and all of a sudden, we'd have to share the road with oncoming traffic!
Bristol was about an hour or so away from Cheltenham, which is where my friends live. It's quite a beautiful little town. Everything here is so lush and detailed! And the hills!!! One hill just rolls into the next hill which rolls into the next hill and so on! First we went to their house, called Sturmy's Cottage. Actually, everything is so old there, you don't really have number addresses for each house. You tell them the name of the house and which street it's on! Cooky, I love it. We dropped off my luggage, took a tour of the house, I took a shower to refresth (but actually had the opposite effect on me) and off we were to go to the grocery store.
We stopped at the petrol station to fill up. Notice the palm tree on the very left? I love palm trees, and they were everywhere! I didn't even think about that, and you know I have a thing for fun trees! Also, notice all the cars and even the trucks were so narrow! To fit the narrow roads of course. You'd have all these lorries buzzing here and there that were so thin, but very tall! Right away, everything looked different-culture shock begins!
Before going into the grocery store, we ducked into a Sally Beauty store so I could splurge and get a hair dryer, since this wasn't something she had. I also used the ATM for the first time to get my first round of English Pounds. This was fun! At the grocery store, they even have different sized trolleys (shopping carts).
They sell smaller packages of everything than we are used to. They have tiny sized refrigerators there, so they shop often for what they need and more times than not are eating fresher foods than we do normally. I mean, Cheltenham only had 1 drive through and it was a KFC. People there just don't get take out to feed their families with. I think it's great, actually. Real food for your family!
So we went to Waitrose (the grocery store) and then we went to High Street. I'm not sure if this was the actual name for the street or not or if it was more just the name of the shopping district. A said there is a High Street in all the towns. But this was an area of a few streets that were full of shops and stores and a Post Office and restaurants. On our way through, I saw my first taste of an English icon, the call box. Of course, it had to be documented!
A saw a restaurant we could come back to. High Street even had a mall entrance, where I noticed it was not called a 'mall' but an 'arcade.' Interesting...we went in and found a store she likes to frequent called Evans.
I heart Evans!!! It's my new favorite store!!! I really liked the style and they were having summer clearance too! So I picked up a few shirts to add to my sellection. We did end up eating at the restaurant A picked out, although it was not an English type of restaurant. Actually, it was French. But I had this:
Salmon cakes with a small salad and we had some yummy bread sticks. Great meal! By this time, I was nearly lethargic. It was around 6 pm there and I had been up basically for 30 hours. I almost fell asleep standing up while we were in the grocery store. A said that the first day would be all about keeping me awake until atleast 8 pm. I think I was up til then, I'm not really sure actually. We fed the cat and figured out what time we would have to get up in the morning to pick up "J" & his gf "A" in Swindon's train station and drive to Stonehenge by 6:45 am. Yep, you heard me right! Oh, J & A are A's friends also from St. Louis who were spending a month traveling through England and Ireland.
Meet Spyke. He's a good boy, I really enjoyed him. Here he is knocking around a plastic mouse to retrieve the treats that are waiting inside. Don't let the plastic mouse fool ya, he's a great mouser! More on that later too. Spyke slept with me sometimes, but he likes to make happy paws all over you, and he's not been declawed. I'm not used to that. The English find it very barbaric to declaw a cat, but when you have a lover such as he, ooooooooweee! Anyway, more pictures of this furry new friend later. Now, I sleep, for tomorrow brings Stonehenge and Bath!!
September 15, 2007 continued...
When we last left this story, I was in the Newark, New Jersey Airport. Upon arriving, I decided to find my departure gate so I knew where I would be going later. Much later. I found the restroom to be very interesting. In the largest stall there was this:
Upon further inspection, I discovered it's a baby parker. You know, you park your baby or small toddler into it with the straps so you can have your hands free to do your business! This is a great idea! I have never seen these in bathroom stalls in St. Louis. I thought it was nifty! So I set off to explore, I figure I'm going to need some eats later and a Starbucks. So I found the food court where I surveyed all my options.
Once I notice there was a Nathan's Famous Hot Dog place, I knew what I wanted! I mean, you can see specials about this place on the Food Network! I filed into line, which seemed to be moving at a steady flow. Here's what I ordered:
It looks great! Too bad it didn't satisfy my taste buds as good as it looked! I was a little let down, honestly. I mean, it was good. Just not great like I had anticipated. I thought, what's all the hype? I can get a better dog back in the Lou at a Cardinals game! So I decided that maybe it had everything to do with being airport food. If that makes sense. But even fast food that you are familiar with tastes different when you take it out of the neighborhood and put it in an airport, know what I mean? So I had some lunch. Topped it off with a Mocha from Starbucks. Took advantage of my ability to still be able to use my cell phone to make some calls and calm some nerves.
I stood and stared at the New York City skyline for a very long time. It's almost captivating! I vowed to return someday to take on the city and explore it. I'm sure the dogs at the real Nathan's are much better. New York is the kind of place that is so massive, it's a vacation and then some all in itself. There are so many things to do and see and eat and smell and experience! I fell in love when I saw it from the air. I can't wait to go there someday, but I also can't help but wonder, what it must have looked like from there before the towers came down.I spent the afternoon walking, talking on my cell, watching tv, drinking mochas, revisiting the restroom and browsing the shops. Yep, it was that fun. Woo. My 6 hour layover was nearing it's end, so I decided to get up and walk over to get my last Starbucks before boarding time. Just then they called for us to line up so they could check our passports and such. That's ok, I'll sleep on the plane, don't need anymore caffeine for tonight anyways. And just like that we were off and flying again! The lights of New York are amazing from the sky!! Of course, I couldn't tell heads or tails about things down there, but we did appear to be going along the river and we could totally see all the skyscrapers from the plane. Unfortunately, taking a photo of lights at night doesn't really work so well from a swiftly moving plane. Here's the best I could get after many many tries. I enhanced it some to bring out the rows of lights better. I have no idea which state it was, honestly! LOL
The transatlantic flight on Continental offers dinner, tv shows, music, a movie or two and all the lights in the cabin to be switched off. Only the individual overhead lights of some passengers and the glows from the video screens are illuminated. It creates a very restful atmosphere. At first, the video screens were blue and toggled between flight and trip data and a flight map showing our progress. Very cool! I'd never seen anything like that. Oddly enough, we'd be flying up over Canada and making a huge arc over the ocean in a different direction than I had thought. Very interesting. It gave ground speed:483 mph, altitude: 38,xxx feet, outside temp: -11, time at destination, time at departure, total miles traveled and total miles completed. I added those together and discovered it would be about 3,500 miles. Wow!After choosing 'chicken' from the choices of 'chicken or beef' I realized I chose wrong. It was quite horrible chicken, you see. Well, it wasn't the chicken as much as the red peppers it was swimming in. After this, I tried to sleep, I really did. I had my comfy new neck pillow, a blanket and all the other conditions were ripe for some nappy time too. It just didn't happen! I was very frustrated...and grew physically fatigued. Maybe I had one too many Mochas. Ok, 2 or 3 too many, fine! I did rest some for a while, but never slept for any significant amount of time. There was little turbulence to even speak of. Thank God! (Blessing!) I can't stand turbulence...ever since that one flight to Atlanta...'nough said. I did get up once. To stretch my legs and get some circulation flowing (and also to use the restroom.) It was my first time to go pee at 38,000 feet!! Of course, it must be documented!!
Look at the bags under those eyes!! And of course, there was the proverbial test flush to inspect the water coloring. Would it be???? YES! Why is it blue? I mean, that is some seriously blue water! The ocean could learn a thing or two about blue from that water! These are not the pictures everyone has been asking to see, I'm sure, but this is my trip.
So, I rested. It was announced at the beginning of the flight, that flight time would be about 5 hours and 55 minutes. Although, I had no real concept of time at all. I was in my own world on that plane, under that blanket, in that seat. My mind was full of wonder and excitement and nervousness. Would I be good with my money? Would I be safe? Would my big butt be able to keep up with the others? Would I run out of space on my memory cards on my camera? Let's face it, I love to snap pictures (If you haven't noticed & I've left out many)! I was only on my second flight and I had already taken about 100 photos. Before I knew it, and I mean that will all honesty, before I knew it I saw a glow of light under the wing of the plane.September 16, 2007
Sunday's first light. I was on a journey into it! It gave it's warm welcome to the clouds and the sky.
It seemed to be almost pushing against the night, and it was winning the battle with all it's fiery might! The earth began to give way as well as the sky. There gave off the most beautiful exchange between the sun and the sky and the earth. A spectacular array.
A new day indeed, but where did it begin? For on the other side of this day was yesterday's night? Or tomorrow's night? Only God knows that, I guess. I was worried I hadn't gotten enough rest. The sunlight brought the final chapter to the long flight and yet seemed to begin an entirely new chapter. For where the one story ends, the next one begins. After a while, they brought around a wonderful breakfast. Hot croissants and butter along with fruit.
Soon, land was below again and the final descent was upon us. England, I can tell already, will be a beautifully green place for me. I can see white dots on the ground which are sheep! And the dark ones are cows!! I always thought the ground looks like a patchwork quilt, well England does too, except all the pieces are shades of green!!! Fantastic!
So, I'm here, in England. Bristol, England to be exact. I'm tired and excited and nervous! When we landed, I noticed that we were no where near the airport building. I wondered how long that walkway would be, when I noticed the sunlight coming in the open plane door. Cool! My first stairs!!!
By the way, I got into trouble for taking this picture. The officer on the left at the bottom of the stairs noticed me take this and began to yell at me, "No photography!!" I said, "Oh, I'm so sorry, it's my first stairs!!" It turned out ok, but it's not the last time on this trip for me to get in trouble with my camera. More on that later. After being in the wrong line in passport control I made it through successfully and retrieving my bags, I walked out into the airport. Looking around, I saw many people waiting for arrivals. For the sake of privacy, I'll call my friend "A" in this series. A had not yet arrived to fetch me. I stepped outside, I couldn't wait to smell the air. It was a very brisk air that met me with a bit of force. The sun was shining-some. It was around 10 am. This will be the only day she and I will share with just us on this trip. (Her husband, whom we will call "P", will return from a short stint in the states tomorrow.) She arrived shortly and off we were! Let my English experience commence!
The roads are sometimes extremely narrow and twisty in some of these towns, the speed limits are rather high and you have no choice but to go that fast! If not, someone will come along behind you going that fast and meet you unexpectedly.
You even get points taken off your driving test if you use your breaks on those curves! Insanity! I love it!! It was maddening when we would be just going along and all of a sudden, we'd have to share the road with oncoming traffic!
Bristol was about an hour or so away from Cheltenham, which is where my friends live. It's quite a beautiful little town. Everything here is so lush and detailed! And the hills!!! One hill just rolls into the next hill which rolls into the next hill and so on! First we went to their house, called Sturmy's Cottage. Actually, everything is so old there, you don't really have number addresses for each house. You tell them the name of the house and which street it's on! Cooky, I love it. We dropped off my luggage, took a tour of the house, I took a shower to refresth (but actually had the opposite effect on me) and off we were to go to the grocery store.
We stopped at the petrol station to fill up. Notice the palm tree on the very left? I love palm trees, and they were everywhere! I didn't even think about that, and you know I have a thing for fun trees! Also, notice all the cars and even the trucks were so narrow! To fit the narrow roads of course. You'd have all these lorries buzzing here and there that were so thin, but very tall! Right away, everything looked different-culture shock begins!Before going into the grocery store, we ducked into a Sally Beauty store so I could splurge and get a hair dryer, since this wasn't something she had. I also used the ATM for the first time to get my first round of English Pounds. This was fun! At the grocery store, they even have different sized trolleys (shopping carts).
They sell smaller packages of everything than we are used to. They have tiny sized refrigerators there, so they shop often for what they need and more times than not are eating fresher foods than we do normally. I mean, Cheltenham only had 1 drive through and it was a KFC. People there just don't get take out to feed their families with. I think it's great, actually. Real food for your family!So we went to Waitrose (the grocery store) and then we went to High Street. I'm not sure if this was the actual name for the street or not or if it was more just the name of the shopping district. A said there is a High Street in all the towns. But this was an area of a few streets that were full of shops and stores and a Post Office and restaurants. On our way through, I saw my first taste of an English icon, the call box. Of course, it had to be documented!
A saw a restaurant we could come back to. High Street even had a mall entrance, where I noticed it was not called a 'mall' but an 'arcade.' Interesting...we went in and found a store she likes to frequent called Evans.
I heart Evans!!! It's my new favorite store!!! I really liked the style and they were having summer clearance too! So I picked up a few shirts to add to my sellection. We did end up eating at the restaurant A picked out, although it was not an English type of restaurant. Actually, it was French. But I had this:
Salmon cakes with a small salad and we had some yummy bread sticks. Great meal! By this time, I was nearly lethargic. It was around 6 pm there and I had been up basically for 30 hours. I almost fell asleep standing up while we were in the grocery store. A said that the first day would be all about keeping me awake until atleast 8 pm. I think I was up til then, I'm not really sure actually. We fed the cat and figured out what time we would have to get up in the morning to pick up "J" & his gf "A" in Swindon's train station and drive to Stonehenge by 6:45 am. Yep, you heard me right! Oh, J & A are A's friends also from St. Louis who were spending a month traveling through England and Ireland.
Meet Spyke. He's a good boy, I really enjoyed him. Here he is knocking around a plastic mouse to retrieve the treats that are waiting inside. Don't let the plastic mouse fool ya, he's a great mouser! More on that later too. Spyke slept with me sometimes, but he likes to make happy paws all over you, and he's not been declawed. I'm not used to that. The English find it very barbaric to declaw a cat, but when you have a lover such as he, ooooooooweee! Anyway, more pictures of this furry new friend later. Now, I sleep, for tomorrow brings Stonehenge and Bath!!
I'm beginning to forget already!
I'm writing a post right now about my trip. It's Episode #2, actually. I have forgotten alot of stuff already!!! I'm so glad I took so many pictures. Although, I'm finding I don't have photos of things I remember taking pictures of, so not sure what's going on there. It's alot of work posting about this trip, I'm really trying not to give every single detail and yet, I've only made it to England and the day of my arrival!! I hope you all don't mind, but you wanted to hear about my trip! Also I just found out I can copy and past it into MS Word and print it! You know what that means, don't you?????
That's right, I can just print it out and add it to my scrapbook! that way I don't have to journal all this over again...cause let me tell you, it's alot of work typing this! I've spent waaay more time than I should, and I've only just begun! I just hope I don't forget any more of it! Another good thing is, if I remember more later, I can always update the post and add it in!
Wheeeeew! I'm gonna need a vacation in one of those Condo Hotels after I'm done writing these posts!!! But it's all good :-) I really hope you enjoy reading it!
Scrapbooking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's right, I can just print it out and add it to my scrapbook! that way I don't have to journal all this over again...cause let me tell you, it's alot of work typing this! I've spent waaay more time than I should, and I've only just begun! I just hope I don't forget any more of it! Another good thing is, if I remember more later, I can always update the post and add it in!
Wheeeeew! I'm gonna need a vacation in one of those Condo Hotels after I'm done writing these posts!!! But it's all good :-) I really hope you enjoy reading it!
Heads or Tails - 10 Things
This week on Heads or Tails, we are to list 10 things on any topic we choose.
So here goes, I choose Jesus as my topic (and my personal savior!)
1. Jesus is number 1 to me!2. Jesus came to die for you and me and everyone else too, so remember that when you encounter someone who is annoying.
3. Jesus gives us strength when we need it, even when we don't ask for it.
4. Jesus hears us when we talk to Him, and even when we don't.
5. Jesus is the light of the world!
6. Jesus is preparing a place for us.
7. Jesus is the name above all names.
8. Jesus is worthy of all praise!
9. Jesus is gracious.
10. Jesus totally rocks!
There you go, that's my list and I'm sticking to it!
Monday, October 15, 2007
70 days left...
until Christmas! Can you believe how fast this year has just flown by??? I remember when I was young, the 'old people' would always say things like: "Every year just goes by faster than the one before." or "The older I get, the faster time flies" Well, I've caught myself saying these things lately! The ironic thing is, they are true! Who'd have guessed, the 'old people' were right!
I've had a lot of memories on my mind lately that I haven't thought about since I was very young. Like, I remember hearing my aunt and uncle making jokes about playing strip poker, which when I think about now is just like, uh, gross! Or like remembering things your mom used to make for dinner that you loved and haven't had in forever!!!!? I heart nostalgia!
Now what to get mom for Christmas this year for all the great memories of yonder years? A pearl necklace perhaps?
Sunday, October 14, 2007
I'm a finalist!!!
I'm a finalist in a Whogets.com contest for a Pirates of the Caribbean DVD. If you wouldn't mind too terribly, could you please go over and throw a vote to me??? I really need it to catch up, someone has a lot of friends there! LOL
I'd love to get this movie and share it with all my friends and family too! My dad would like it if he hasn't seen it already. He lives alone in the country, so I try to pick up movies for him and stuff. Anyway, I try not to put sob stories on there, because so many people do and I personally think it's annoying! Besides, I have a blessed life, no need to spoil it thinking about unhappy things!!! Signing up is easy and free, so please check it out. I've won a couple of other DVDs that I passed to my dad too. Thanks everybody!!!
I'd love to get this movie and share it with all my friends and family too! My dad would like it if he hasn't seen it already. He lives alone in the country, so I try to pick up movies for him and stuff. Anyway, I try not to put sob stories on there, because so many people do and I personally think it's annoying! Besides, I have a blessed life, no need to spoil it thinking about unhappy things!!! Signing up is easy and free, so please check it out. I've won a couple of other DVDs that I passed to my dad too. Thanks everybody!!!
Happy Birthday, my friend!
Today is my friend Patrick's birthday...and since we both share a specific guilty pleasure, I thought I would tantalize him with a snipit! Although for me, I'm not sure where the guilt comes in, I have no issues with people knowing I like this movie...Anyway, here!
Enjoy and Happy Birthday! I hope you liked this token of cheer for your special day, I mean, it's no Hamilton watch or anything, but it's what I could afford LOL (Ps. You can comment if you like)
Enjoy and Happy Birthday! I hope you liked this token of cheer for your special day, I mean, it's no Hamilton watch or anything, but it's what I could afford LOL (Ps. You can comment if you like)
Friday, October 12, 2007
A busy weekend ahead...
Things are so busy right now! Tonight I have to pick up a cake for the Church Picnic tomorrow, go to church and help set up the dining hall, rush home and complete the craft for tomorrow's class at my mom's church.
Saturday will be packed as well, but it will all be very fun and rewarding. Saturday morning, mom and I will do the 1st two 45 minute classes about ways to display scripture on your walls and you life! I designed the craft which is a simple white frame that you can slip a page into that displays whatever scripture you like. We are offering a variety of 8 colors, and I think there is still 3 of them left to finish!
After the classes, as long as I feel my mom can handle the last class herself, I am heading on over to my church's fall family picnic. It shall be a great time! Pray we have great weather!!!
Sunday, is church in the morning then off to work! For the next 2 days I will be working almost the entire time I'll be awake! Sunday is also my friend's birthday, I hope I remember to call him :)
So lots to do, but it's all good! It's great to have a life with fun things that keep us busy!
Saturday will be packed as well, but it will all be very fun and rewarding. Saturday morning, mom and I will do the 1st two 45 minute classes about ways to display scripture on your walls and you life! I designed the craft which is a simple white frame that you can slip a page into that displays whatever scripture you like. We are offering a variety of 8 colors, and I think there is still 3 of them left to finish!
After the classes, as long as I feel my mom can handle the last class herself, I am heading on over to my church's fall family picnic. It shall be a great time! Pray we have great weather!!!
Sunday, is church in the morning then off to work! For the next 2 days I will be working almost the entire time I'll be awake! Sunday is also my friend's birthday, I hope I remember to call him :)
So lots to do, but it's all good! It's great to have a life with fun things that keep us busy!
Bad girl...
I've been a bad girl lately. More specifically, a bad employee! Since I've been back from vacation, I've had so much non-work related things to do that I have been letting my work stuff slip away unfinished whilst I'm working on my own stuff. I know people do this from time to time, but it's been boosted lately by the fact that I can't really use my home computer right now.
It takes forever to boot up, forever to open programs and so on. Most nights, I don't even turn it on when I get home. I sure hope I doesn't need a new hard drive! Along with my regular bills, I have a new card payment and a speeding ticket to pay for! Ugh...'Calgon, take me away!'
It takes forever to boot up, forever to open programs and so on. Most nights, I don't even turn it on when I get home. I sure hope I doesn't need a new hard drive! Along with my regular bills, I have a new card payment and a speeding ticket to pay for! Ugh...'Calgon, take me away!'
Friday's Feast #164
Appetizer
When was the last time you were surprised?
When was the last time you were surprised?
Last month, in Italy, my friends surprised me with an early birthday and early Christmas present of a Tuscan cooking class: Italian Immersion. It lasted for like 8 hours, included an informative trip through the Mercato Centrale (Central Market) and all the people who took and/or gave the class were just perfect! It really was way fun!!! We learned about truffles, olive oils, balsamic vinegars, wines, pasta making, gnocchi making, we made lasagna, tiramisu, a black olive chicken dish, crustinis with sausage and cheese...it was truly a great time. The best surprise I can remember right now! This gift was so great, I think they have the next several birthdays and Christmas's taken care of!!!!!!
Soup
Fill in the blanks: My eyes are ________, but I wish they were __________.
I don't choose to complete this one, I like my amber eyes!! Well, I guess you could call them hazel or maybe amber? They are yellow sometimes and other times they seem to have browns and greens too.
Salad
If you were a Beanie Baby, what would you look like and what would your name be?
I wouldn't care because I'd have no brains, only stuffing. But I know what I would sing,
I could while away the hours
Conferrin' with the flowers
Consultin' with the rain
And my head, I'd be scratchin'
While my thoughts were busy hatchin'
If I only had a brain.
I'd unravel ev'ry riddle
For any individ'le
In trouble or in pain
With the thoughts you'd be thinkin'
You could be another Lincoln,
If you only had a brain.
Main Course
Name two things you consistently do that you consider to be healthy habits.
You could be another Lincoln,
If you only had a brain.
Main CourseName two things you consistently do that you consider to be healthy habits.
Eat food, and drink fluids.
Dessert
What brand of toothpaste are you using these days? Do you like it? Why or why not?
Ajax. No I don't like it because it's very harmful to my health and also it tastes bad. What kind of question is this? Who would choose to use toothpaste that they didn't like? (Aquafresh, yes, I like it because it cleans my teeth and tastes ok.)
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Oh happy day!
I'm not sure what changed about today. Maybe it was ordering cake (my fave!) for 2 upcoming fun and happy events. Maybe it's the weather. Maybe it's that things are better between my dear friend & I, as of late. Maybe I'm feeling good about being helpful instead of taking the lazy way about things.
All I know is, I'm in a fantastic mood! The day started off by getting cut off followed by some un-nice gestures and words with a fellow driver, but somehow has completely turned around! I mean, I'm not going to be putting on animal masks and dancing in the streets or anything, but I. am. feeling. good! I have a feeling something good is going to happen. I'll keep you posted!!
(I found this doing a google search for happy day!)
All I know is, I'm in a fantastic mood! The day started off by getting cut off followed by some un-nice gestures and words with a fellow driver, but somehow has completely turned around! I mean, I'm not going to be putting on animal masks and dancing in the streets or anything, but I. am. feeling. good! I have a feeling something good is going to happen. I'll keep you posted!!
(I found this doing a google search for happy day!)Elephant
My friend sent me a link to this game and it's fun! Warning: it's also sort of addicting! She called it dodge, the tab only says 'Elephant' so I'm not sure of it's official name.
It's a challenging game where you use the right and left arrow keys to jump a sweet yellow chick back and forth whilst the unpredictable foot of the elephant taunts you in every direction trying to catch you off guard so it can stomp you! All the while, it times you to see how long you can keep it alive! I have to have the volume almost off, so I can't make out what is being said, but it looks funny! My best time so far is 23.8!!! What about yours? Play it, then post your top score here in the comments section.
It's a challenging game where you use the right and left arrow keys to jump a sweet yellow chick back and forth whilst the unpredictable foot of the elephant taunts you in every direction trying to catch you off guard so it can stomp you! All the while, it times you to see how long you can keep it alive! I have to have the volume almost off, so I can't make out what is being said, but it looks funny! My best time so far is 23.8!!! What about yours? Play it, then post your top score here in the comments section.
So much on my plate!
Well, I am definitely back in the USA. I am also a sinner. Let's just say that right up front, I know I am so there you go. Sometimes I do things that later I look back on and wish I didn't. That being said, she had it coming! A pompous young lady on her cell phone in a car that displayed prior poor driving skills & mistakes, sharply cut me off today from a turn only lane directly into my lane. Before I could resist, my brow was furled, my palm was down on the horn and my other hand was waving the bird. Hind sight is always 20/20 and maybe the bird was a bit over the top, but she definitely had something coming. Rude!!! Maybe she was on her way to drug treatment, in which case I would have happily let her by! She certainly wasn't in her right mind to ignore all those ginormous white arrows painted on the ground in front of her car... It's good to be back, I can smell that familiar scent of road rage creeping back in!
So this is some of what I have going on right now:
*Tonight, getting all the crafts finished up for the class my mom and I are doing at her church for 'Bringing Christ's words to your living space'. There will be 3 classes on Sat. I am hoping only to have to help on the first 2 classes. Because...
*Friday night, set up for Valley View Baptist Church's Fall Family Picnic on Sat. It shall be a rip roaring good time. There will be much food, much fun for the kiddos with a bounce house and other stuff. There's going to be an old fashion pie eating contest and a pumpkin seed spitting contest too! I just ordered a cake, so things will be fun there, I hope to get to go for a while or the rest of the day after the classes are finished.
*Church on Sunday morning and then straight to work, there's a major deadline looming, you know.
*Sunday is also my friend Patrick's birthday.
*My craft class is starting back up on Tues. My student took a couple of summer months off, I am missing her so much, I have more fun than she does, I think!!
*Wednesday is church again.
*Sat. the 20th I have plans to go to the pumpkin patch with Jen & the kids and whoever else will be going. Also that same afternoon, we are celebrating her son Ethan's 1st birthday party at a pavilion in the park. That will be fun, I hope it's not too cool, fall happened yesterday.
*Sunday the 21st, I'm watching the kids so they can go out for a 'Between their birthdays' date. His is the 14th and hers is the 31st.
So as you can see, I have a lot going on. My cousin Misty is throwing that birthday party for her husband and I am trying to help her, so I have all that going on in the back ground too. Life is busy, but life is good. I dislike being bored and at least all these things are happy, fun occasions!
Keep me in your prayers!!
So this is some of what I have going on right now:
*Tonight, getting all the crafts finished up for the class my mom and I are doing at her church for 'Bringing Christ's words to your living space'. There will be 3 classes on Sat. I am hoping only to have to help on the first 2 classes. Because...
*Friday night, set up for Valley View Baptist Church's Fall Family Picnic on Sat. It shall be a rip roaring good time. There will be much food, much fun for the kiddos with a bounce house and other stuff. There's going to be an old fashion pie eating contest and a pumpkin seed spitting contest too! I just ordered a cake, so things will be fun there, I hope to get to go for a while or the rest of the day after the classes are finished.
*Church on Sunday morning and then straight to work, there's a major deadline looming, you know.
*Sunday is also my friend Patrick's birthday.
*My craft class is starting back up on Tues. My student took a couple of summer months off, I am missing her so much, I have more fun than she does, I think!!
*Wednesday is church again.
*Sat. the 20th I have plans to go to the pumpkin patch with Jen & the kids and whoever else will be going. Also that same afternoon, we are celebrating her son Ethan's 1st birthday party at a pavilion in the park. That will be fun, I hope it's not too cool, fall happened yesterday.
*Sunday the 21st, I'm watching the kids so they can go out for a 'Between their birthdays' date. His is the 14th and hers is the 31st.
So as you can see, I have a lot going on. My cousin Misty is throwing that birthday party for her husband and I am trying to help her, so I have all that going on in the back ground too. Life is busy, but life is good. I dislike being bored and at least all these things are happy, fun occasions!
Keep me in your prayers!!
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Party Games
So my cousin is planning a surprise 30th birthday party for her husband and she has asked me to be in charge of games. I have a few ideas but am looking for others too.
The first one I have is this 'Ring the bell' game which sounds kind fun, actually. I like games that give more than just 1 person a chance to win something. The idea is: every few minutes, I ring a bell to get everyone's attention. I then say, "I am looking for...(for instance) the person who drove the farthest to get to the party tonight." Then who ever it is, gets a prize! There's a whole list of things I'd be looking for and people have a chance to win stuff as the party goes on.
Another idea I have, which I'm calling 'Caption This', is to take odd photos of the
birthday boy and attach each one (maybe 5 altogether) to the top of a sheet of lined paper. The game is for people to create a caption for each one and then he can pick his faves for each one and they will win a small something too!
Do you have any idea for games like this? I'm looking for all age, family appropriate, simple games that don't take alot of time. Any suggestions would be appreciated!! I have until Nov. 2nd to nail it all down and be ready for the party. Thanks!
The first one I have is this 'Ring the bell' game which sounds kind fun, actually. I like games that give more than just 1 person a chance to win something. The idea is: every few minutes, I ring a bell to get everyone's attention. I then say, "I am looking for...(for instance) the person who drove the farthest to get to the party tonight." Then who ever it is, gets a prize! There's a whole list of things I'd be looking for and people have a chance to win stuff as the party goes on.Another idea I have, which I'm calling 'Caption This', is to take odd photos of the
birthday boy and attach each one (maybe 5 altogether) to the top of a sheet of lined paper. The game is for people to create a caption for each one and then he can pick his faves for each one and they will win a small something too!Do you have any idea for games like this? I'm looking for all age, family appropriate, simple games that don't take alot of time. Any suggestions would be appreciated!! I have until Nov. 2nd to nail it all down and be ready for the party. Thanks!
46 in a 30
This morning, on my way to work, I suppose I had this coming...I just wasn't paying attention to my speed. I was hungry and very late for work. Now I'd be even more late for work and have a court date. That's what I get! The motorcycled officer was very apologetic...even to the point where I was tired of hearing him say it, so I said, "It's ok, it's not your fault!" I think he felt bad because I was being so nice and respectful. Some people yell and cuss and all that, I don't understand why they do that. Although I was hoping he would let me off, which didn't happen. But there's no need to yell at him. LOL Wonder how much this will cost me? And my court day is the day we have tickets for Wicked!!!!!!! 12/18/07
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
A missed Award!!!
Apparently my friend Alison over at Cherished moments with my 2 Angels gave me a nice "You make me smile" award back in SEPTEMBER and I missed it! So without further adue...Thanks, Alison for the recognition that I can still make someone smile around here!
As you know, I admire your blog and visit often as well! I love hearing all about your work as a teacher and mom and wife and daughter and member of your church! Seriously people, it's good times over there! Go visit her blog and see!
I'd like to pass this award on too, it is nice to do! Thanks again, really, I love making people laugh and enjoy their days! I want them to come back again and again, and you know, you can catch more flies with your mouth open...or no wait, it's honey in your mouth....no wait it's the flies mouth....now I just sound like Tommy Boy!
To those who make me smile:
Patrick
(Who probably will just laugh in my face, but he does make me smile!)
Anna
(Who I just got to trading comments with today and I think her blog is nice!)
Skittles
(Even though she already has it, I just like to let her know I think she's great!)
Tina
(Whom I've forgotten all about because she's not on my blogroll!!! Sorry, gonna change that right now!)
That's all I can think of for now. Thanks again Alison!!! And thanks to all those I chose to pass it on to. You make me smile and that's a good thing!
Heads or Tails - Explore
Explore
Wow, what a great Heads or Tails topic for this time of my life! I've just been on a huge adventure, so this one is a no brain-er. Only problem is telling too much out of sequence, I mean I've only made it through Episode #1! LOL Maybe I'll just stick to a different aspect of the topic.
Ok, so explore. What does explore mean to me? I love it! I'm a big girl, and the older I get the more I realize - I have limitations! But I still enjoy getting out and exoploring the great green earth that God gave us. It's a mighty, wondrous place you know!
Speaking of wonders, how about the famous 7 wonders of the world? Actually, I'm finding out there are more than one kind of wonder! So I pick natural wonders, since this is what someone would find if they were to 'explore' the earth way back when. Let's see what the explorers might have said when they stumbled upon a couple of them...
The Grand Canyon:
"What the heck happened here? Looks like someone flushed all the floods of the earth down this pipe! (scratching their heads) How are we gonna get around that?"
Mount Everest:
"Whoah! How high does it go? Newbie!!! Go see, we'll wait here...and take some extra water, it might take you a couple of hours! (scratching their heads) How are we gonna get around that?"Well, there you are, some imagined commentary from explorers of way back when. Get out, explore your world. It's what it's there for! You'll enjoy it. There are many things to see, and on that note, I will leave you with a lovely photo I took whilst exploring on my last adventure. No commentary needed.
Monday, October 08, 2007
Me too!
I just a conversation with my friend and she was telling me about her poor reading light issue. She said she just doesn't have a good light or any kind of table lamp for reading in her bedroom other than the ceiling fan, which of course is not convenient for other occupants in the room who are trying to sleep.
Well, I've noticed the same issue in my bedroom! I have the ceiling fan light or this tiny night light of sorts on my bedside table. It's a touch light that is a globe and actually has 3 different settings, but even on high, you just strain to see the words. I need some sort of reading light in the bedroom, but one that's stylish....maybe just a clip on book light? Anyone ever use one of these? I would imagine it's better because it puts light right onto the page. But can you even turn the page with it on there?? My birthday is coming up, maybe I'll get a fun one as a gift! *hint* ;-)
Well, I've noticed the same issue in my bedroom! I have the ceiling fan light or this tiny night light of sorts on my bedside table. It's a touch light that is a globe and actually has 3 different settings, but even on high, you just strain to see the words. I need some sort of reading light in the bedroom, but one that's stylish....maybe just a clip on book light? Anyone ever use one of these? I would imagine it's better because it puts light right onto the page. But can you even turn the page with it on there?? My birthday is coming up, maybe I'll get a fun one as a gift! *hint* ;-)
Email issues...
Lately, it seems, my email service has been having some issues. They have a blurb on their login page that says there will be a new website to access in order to retrieve your email as of October 16th. Maybe they are abandoning the current one or neglecting it's issues for the time being, but it's acting up, so hopefully the new one will be better.
It seems, sometimes, not all the time, when I click on 'send', it appears in the 'draft' file. As if it's not sent. So, I go into it and then click send. Well, someone just told me they've been getting double emails from me! Hmmm....
I'll have to keep an eye on this. I hope when they go to the new website, these things will be fixed! Anyone else using Charter Communications for email???
It seems, sometimes, not all the time, when I click on 'send', it appears in the 'draft' file. As if it's not sent. So, I go into it and then click send. Well, someone just told me they've been getting double emails from me! Hmmm....
I'll have to keep an eye on this. I hope when they go to the new website, these things will be fixed! Anyone else using Charter Communications for email???
Early morning wake up call
I was awakened at around 6:30 this morning (far too early for me) by my mom, sounding almost frantic, telling me that the security monitoring company called and the house alarm was going off. She still owns her house in the city, just a short drive from my house. I was startled awake by this interruptive announcement in my quiet room during my dream, but I managed to acknowledge that she shouldn't go by herself. She said, "I gotta go!" and just like that she was out the door.
Of course, laying there awake, my mind went through several scenarios that could happen to her once she arrived. What if someone was coming out when she was going in? What if, what if?
I actually dozed off, dreamed some crazy dream about the city blowing up (I have strange dreams) and woke up about an hour later. I called her and things were fine. Apparently there was a power outage. These things happen in home security sometimes. The neighbor had come out directly and checked everything out, too. It pays to have an alarm, but in times like these, one would think they would have a better system for letting people know what the issue truly was. It could have cost us a fee from the Police department, if they respond to a false alarm.
Of course, laying there awake, my mind went through several scenarios that could happen to her once she arrived. What if someone was coming out when she was going in? What if, what if?
I actually dozed off, dreamed some crazy dream about the city blowing up (I have strange dreams) and woke up about an hour later. I called her and things were fine. Apparently there was a power outage. These things happen in home security sometimes. The neighbor had come out directly and checked everything out, too. It pays to have an alarm, but in times like these, one would think they would have a better system for letting people know what the issue truly was. It could have cost us a fee from the Police department, if they respond to a false alarm.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
European Vacation - Episode #1
(Please click any of the photos to enlarge, some are taken far away!)
Well, I have been meaning to get started posting about my trip. Sorry to have neglected it for so long. There's just so much to talk about and all!
I'd first like to start out by sending out a huge "Thank You!" to everyone who supported me in planning and going and also everyone who gave me gifts too! Can you imagine, people just gave me love gifts to enhance my trip all that much more.
Among the love 'gift-ers,' my friend A that I went to visit has sent me a few packages over the past few months full of brochures and travel information as well as a travel care package complete with travel tp and toilet seat covers, I'm telling you, she thinks of everything! Also on this generous list, my cousin and her husband who surprised me by saving their change in a mason jar decorated with vacation stickers! So thoughtful!! And my Great Aunt Daisy, who sent me a card wishing me a great trip accompanied by a check so I could 'get myself something special' with it. Bless her heart, she's my grandma's sister. And well, since it was the kind of thing my grandma would have done if she were still here, it was a thoughtful gift that both touched my heart and reminded me how much I miss my 'Gamma.' My Secret Sister at church gave me a card and a new travel alarm clock! Thanks, whoever you are!!!
September 14, 2007
There were a few things I wanted to do before I left, including dinner with my family, seeing my friends that one last time and things like that. My friend Shell stopped by after work and visited with me for a few minutes while I packed. See the clothes everywhere??? I was deep into the outfit planning stage of packing at this point.
I really did take way more than I needed, I have just never been gone for 2 weeks before, I wasn't sure how much of some things and what variety I'd need of anything! I had an idea of what the weather would be like, but as it turns out, most of my clothes are for the summer, since I got them on sale on the after summer clearances. The weather in Italy was perfect, so I packed perfectly for there, but England on the other hand...was another story. Literally, I'll get to all that later. I'm not even done packing yet! LOLHere's one of my mom who was helping me pack (until 3 am, I might add!) she was trying to express her sadness at my leaving. I should also take this opportunity to thank her for taking care of my babies both furry and wet while I was gone. She is staying with me for right now, but still. I appreciated it! Thanks, Mommacita!!
So, I packed until 3 am, couldn't fall asleep and had to be up at like 6 am. I only got about 2 hours of sleep total. I kept saying, yes, but I can sleep tomorrow night on the plane. Oh boy...but I digress. I'm getting a bit ahead of myself now.September 15, 2007
So we got up super early, got ready, did the last minute packing and off to the airport we went. We went a little early so I could show my mom just where to park for picking me up. I don't know about the airports where you live, but the St. Louis International Airport can be a bit confusing. Especially for old ladies....I love you so much, mom!!
Dropping me off at the airport was emotional. Both for me and for my mom, of course. She kinda broke down a little and said, "I don't want you to go." Her voice broke when she said it and yep, for a split second there, I had a thought to ponder. But of course, I wouldn't stay. Here's a pic of us hugged up for a self portrait.
Yes, she took a couple of shots of me walking in loaded down with luggage. I had my purse over my shoulder, my carry on over my shoulder, I was pulling my small suitcase in one hand and the large one in the other. I took way too much, did I mention that?I had done the online check in, so I didn't have to wait in line (Blessing!). The weight limit on any one checked bag was 50 lbs. My big suitcase was, are you ready? It was 49.5 lbs! (Blessing!)
So I checked my 2 suitcases and began the walk to security. They've changed a couple of things since I last flew. You have to put all your liquids in a quart size zip lock bag and such. It's fine, I don't carry a lot of liquids so it was no problem. Going through security was really no big deal. I stopped at a store past security on my way down the concourse to my gate to hurry up and wait to buy one of those 1/2 moon neck pillows. You've seen them. I was afraid I shouldn't get it, thinking it was an impulse buy and I had a thought about how I was spending my trip money already! But I got it and now I'm so happy I did! It came in quite handy throughout my entire trip!
The last stop before my gate was a Starbucks. Now, I normally get super offended when I spend $4.50 on just one cup of coffee, but I was very tired from being up so late and all, so I ended up getting 2 before getting on my 1st plane. While waiting for boarding, I struck up a conversation with a nice gentleman who lives in New Jersey (my first destination). After talking to him, all of my thoughts for a fun but short New York adventure on my layover were shot down. And after I got to Newark Airport, I could see for myself it would have been a bad idea. The security takes way longer there.
(Click to see NYC)
(Click to see NYC)The flight to Newark was good. I took lots of pictures (of course!) from the plane, one of my favorite things to do, actually. I even saw New York City from the sky!!!! It's gi-normous! I'd love to go back there someday. I was on sorta the wrong side of the plane for better shots, I just couldn't tell what was what from my view. From inside the airport, you could see the Empire State building. Very cool. I took this one as the sun was setting. It made me happy to see a pinnacle such as this, but I felt a sadness at the missing towers. I wondered how or even if I could have seen them from here. I will never know.
When I took off again from Newark, we did fly sorta along the city over the water, but it was too dark to take good shots. I did take a few, but they are just blurry lights. So I'll spare you that LOLThis was a trip of firsts for me. Maybe some day I will finish the list of firsts and share it here. There are so many, including going pee at 39,000 feet! My first time to, and I did! LOL For now, I'll leave you at me being in Newark airport. Yep, I'll pick up from there in Episode #2. There's lots to talk about there believe it or not! :-) Thanks for tuning in, until next time, take care of yourselves and each other.
Friday, October 05, 2007
Friday's Feast #163
Appetizer:
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you look forward to your birthday?
I'd give it about an 8. There's the getting presents part, but it also means I'm another year older! I mean, I'll be '25' on my next birthday after all!!! ;-)
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you look forward to your birthday?
I'd give it about an 8. There's the getting presents part, but it also means I'm another year older! I mean, I'll be '25' on my next birthday after all!!! ;-)
Soup:
What is one word you don’t like the sound, spelling, or meaning of?
I don't like the word 'Smegma' it just sounds gross. I don't much like the meaning of it either.
Salad:
Do you wear sunglasses when you’re outside? If so, what does your current pair look like?
Yes, they are all plastic frames (so it doesn't get stuck in my hair when I put them on top of my head) and brown. I got them for cheap in Florence.
Main Course:
If you were to write a book, to whom would you dedicate it?
Depends on the book, for example: Top 10 techniques for giving the best 'BJ', I wouldn't dedicate this one to my 'loving parents for all their support'...get it? (email me for the rough draft)
Dessert:
Name a beverage that you enjoy.
Arizona's Green Tea with Ginseng and Honey
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
A 'Totally Fabulous' Award!
Thank you to my good friend Alison over at Cherished Moments with my 2 Angels for passing this award on to me! It's so fun to be thought of in times like these ;-)
I reserve the right to pass it along at another time, as I could only think of a couple of ladies at the moment to pass it to, and they happened to also be on Alison's list of recipients! LOL
Alison, thanks again for all the encouraging words and always visiting my blog and anxiously awaiting my arrival home from a long journey. I promise, pictures are on the way!!!! Thanks, Alison, you're awesome and totally fabulous too!!!
Award History: This award was designed by Mike At Ordinary Folk and was originally offered by Christy of Totally Fabulous. This award is for "bloggers who are fun, cool, and of course Totally Fabulous!”
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Heads or Tails - Stack
Well, I'm back from abroad! I had a great time, there's alot to tell you all. But first I want to take a few moments to do a Heads or Tails, since it has been a while and I'd like to jump right back into my much abandoned blogging!
This week's topic is 'Stack'. And we are on a 'Heads' week, so I can interpret it any way I'd like. So I will do a list using the letters in stack, it seems an easy and efficient way of attacking the topic.
S-Stuff, I like to stack all my stuff up as high as it will go before falling over. Sometimes it does fall over, then I just start a new stack of stuff!
T-Tits, Ok, I know what you are thinking, SHOCKER, but hey, it's what I immediately thought of when I read 'stack,' some women are 'Stacked' more than others...so t is for tits, since there wasn't a b for boobs in 'stack.'
A-All over the place, this is where you can find stacks at my house.
C-Clean em up, this is what I need to do with some of the stacks in my house.
K-Well, not a lot of words start with K, so I'm going to put it on a stack to figure out later.
There you go, my first Heads or Tails in a long time, but it feels great to be getting back to my blog!
Still to come, more info on the trip and PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!!
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