Much Ado About Nothing

44th President of our United States of America

2008-11-05T00:18:00.002-05:00

I'm proud to be an American.

A Momentous Occasion...

2008-11-04T15:58:00.004-05:00

...and not just because I am finally blogging here after 4 months of not.

I have not blogged on my own site here since the end of June, but thought that today's groundbreaking and historic presidential election was a good reason to stop in. I had the immense pleasure of voting this morning, with Number One Son. He turned 18 in June and this is the first election in which he could cast a vote. I high-fived him after he came out of the voting booth, and gave him a big hug, that he didn't seem too embarrassed about. We then ran into one of his friends, who I also hugged and congratulated on his first election.

I am so excited about this election, and hope that our candidate wins to lead our country in a new direction. But my blog is not about politics and I really just wanted to share my voting experience. We took Little Grim with us, and I had packed a bag of things for her to do at the polls, in case we got caught in a long line. I packed crayons, her coloring books, and some flash cards. As we were leaving the house, she said she was taking her camera so she could take pictures of our candidate - she thought he would be there. I thought that was so cool - she is only 4 and a half and has gotten caught up in the excitement of the election. I've tried to explain about Democracy and why we are allowed to vote. She asked when she would be allowed to vote.

We are having a small 'Election Returns Watching Party' this evening, just to hang out and watch the results. My son and his friends are actually going to be here for at least part of the party. They became involved in the campaign many months ago, to my surprise. I was not politically-minded at their age.

I am so happy and proud that they have accepted their responsibility and right as Americans to vote.

Morris and Esther

2008-06-25T10:34:00.002-04:00

Morris and his wife Esther went to the state fair every year, and every year Morris would say,
'Esther, I'd sure like to ride in that helicopter.'

Esther always replied, 'I know Morris, but that helicopter ride is fifty dollars, and fifty dollars is fifty dollars!'

One year Esther and Morris went to the fair, and Morris said,
'Esther, I'm 85 years old. If I don't ride that helicopter, I might never get another chance.'

To this, Esther replied, 'Morris that helicopter ride is fifty dollars, and fifty dollars is fifty dollars.'

The pilot overheard the couple and said, 'Folks I'll make you a deal. I'll take the both of you for a ride.
If you can stay quiet for the entire ride and not say a word, I won't charge you!
But if you say one word, it's fifty dollars.'

Morris and Esther agreed and up they went.
The pilot did all kinds of fancy maneuvers, but not a word was heard.
He did his daredevil tricks over and over again, but still not a word.

When they landed, the pilot turned to Morris and said,
'By golly, I did everything I could to get you to yell out, but you didn't. I'm impressed!'

Morris replied, 'Well, to tell you the truth, I almost said something when Esther fell out,
but you know, fifty dollars is fifty dollars!'

Weigh-In

2008-06-23T22:34:00.004-04:00

Hello, I'm at 195.5 this week, down 8 pounds since we started this Challenge. It's been at least 5 years since I've seen a 5 in that number! As long as I continue to lose a half pound to a pound each week, I'm happy with my progress. I won't win the challenge by any means, but I decided I will continue to use my blog as a place to chart my progress throughout the rest of the summer. Realistically, I expect to lose a total of 15 by the end of the summer, and maybe 25 by the end of the year.

I will say that I have not been exercising at all. My right ankle and achilles tendon has been giving me some trouble lately so I can't do the aerobics I had started earlier. I'm going to give our non-impact exercise DVDs a chance this week, which should give my metabolism a boost.

Good luck to y'all this week!

Bunch of Stuff, including Weigh-In

2008-06-13T14:17:00.002-04:00

Hello. It's been a busy couple of weeks, with Number One Son's Senior Prom and Graduation, both my and Number One Son's birthdays this week, and then two days without electricity as a result of this past Tuesday's storm. Our power was restored last night finally. Fortunately our parents live close by and we were able to salvage a good amount of food by using their freezers and fridges. Some of our neighbors have gas-powered generators that were running outside for two days, so the yard was too noisy to play in, and smelled like truck exhaust for the duration. But that is over.

Now we've got two parties this weekend to handle, one at home here Saturday for the birthdays and Father's Day, then a big graduation party on Sunday for my son and his friend Ben. We are combining their parties at Ben's house, so more of their friends can attend.

I don't have time now to put up pictures because they are on the other PC, but I will add them later.

For the Weigh-in, I am at 196, down another half pound. That is probably the result of not having any food in the house for two days.

That's all for now, thanks for stopping by!

Brain Teaser !

2008-06-04T16:00:00.001-04:00

My daughter emailed me this brain teaser, called Funny Farm, and I think this is the best one I have seen. Use this link to look for the Funny Farm Puzzle.

We've been working on it for over a week now. It's fun and great to do with someone else. My daughter started it with her whole work team over the Memorial Day weekend holiday, and they finally finished every single answer to complete the entire grid. The idea is to guess the answers in each mini-grid and open up the other grids as you go. Great word fun, and addictive! Have fun.

Weekly Weigh-In

2008-06-02T08:04:00.002-04:00

Better late than never. I'm at 196.5, down two pounds from last week. Something is working!

Good luck to you this week!

Weigh-In

2008-05-24T19:39:00.002-04:00

I'm at 198.5 this morning, down 1 pound. Yahoo! Not bad since I just started keeping track on Tuesday.

Good luck this week, y'all! Long weekends are tough on the diet, especially with family parties, etc.

Movies

2008-05-23T15:09:00.003-04:00

I just happened to come across this list of 20 Movies that make Men Cry.

I've seen most of them and I know they made me cry. I think they should have included Field of Dreams, though. I always thought the storyline of Kevin Costner's character's relationship with his father was an especially poignant part of that movie. The scene where he gets to toss a ball around to his Dad always gets to me.

But, I always cry during the Godfather when Sonny gets gunned down at the tollbooth, so perhaps I am not a good barometer.

But enough about Meme.....

2008-05-21T12:04:00.004-04:00

Deathlok tagged me with a meme, So here it is:

"Books are scarce in the world. They are illegal in some provinces. They are not easily replaced, if not impossible to replace if lost in many if not most circumstances. If you can replace a book or buy one, it is usually through the black market at astronomical costs that you cannot afford. Yet you have been able to maintain one of the best collections in the world. If your entire library was about to burn up and you could only have one* book to take with you other than the Bible, what would that be and why?"

Simple Rules:
Answer the question.
Offer one quote that resonates with you.
Tag five people whose response is of genuine interest to you and inform him or her that they have been tagged. *and it cannot be an entire series of something, that’s cheating.

This is a tough one. We have three bookcases in the house, double- and sometimes triple-shelved with our books.

But, I think I would have to take my copy of Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte'. My copy was published in 1943, and is actually a reproduction of the second edition, published back in 1847. The illustrations by Fritz Eichenberg were printed letter press from electrotypes of the original wood engravings, and the book contains an Author's Preface dated December 21st, 1847. I first read Jane Eyre in 7th or 8th grade, a copy that I had borrowed from the school library. I've always loved the story, and have seen a few good TV/movie versions as well.

Recognized as a masterpiece when it was published in 1847, “Jane Eyre” is Charlotte Bronte’s extraordinary coming-of-age story of one of literature’s most independent and strong-willed women.

Jane Eyre is obscure and plain, but locked up in the attic of her imagination lives a woman so passionate, so wild, and so full of longing, she must be guarded night and day for fear of the havoc she would wreak.

Favorite quote:

"My spirit," I answered, mentally, "is willing to do what is right; and my flesh, I hope, is strong enough to accomplish the will of Heaven, when once that will is distinctly known to me. At any rate, it will be strong enough to search - inquire - to grope an outlet from this crowd of doubt, and find the open day of certainty."

Isn't that what we all want - an outlet from doubt and an open day of certainty?

Does this fur make me look fat?

2008-05-20T12:50:00.004-04:00

OK, so I have been very remiss in posting my weight progress, mostly because I have been very remiss in doing anything about it. So, I humbly ask that I be allowed back in the challenge. I know I cannot possibly catch up to Wyatt and RT (both of whom have made GREAT progress) at this point, since the challenge only runs until the end of June. But, I'm hoping my new-found motivation will keep me focused throughout the summer to reach my personal goals a little later. We have a bunch of new workout DVDs from The Biggest Loser, featuring the trainers from the show, that I'll be using, as well as going back on Weight Watchers.

My weight today is 199.5, up a couple from the last time I posted about it.

Keep up the good work folks!

Geek Quiz

2008-05-12T18:57:00.000-04:00

	I received 71 credits on The Sci Fi Sounds Quiz How much of a Sci-Fi geek are you?
Quiz by SheGoddess: Lose weight quickly

Your Score : 71 credits
You're a major sci-fi geek! Do you speak Klingon?

My Restaurant

2008-05-01T11:15:00.018-04:00

Loving Annie asked me a couple of questions pertaining to my last post and wanting to own a restaurant. So that really got me thinking – if it was at all possible and money was no object, what type of restaurant would I own, and what food would I serve, etc. So here is my dream. By the way, I look like Sophia Loren in this dream, in a peasant dress and half apron, with bare feet:

First, the location - I would love a multi-story building on the water somewhere, on a hill in a mild climate, but not in a big city. I want garden space so I can grow all of my own herbs and produce. I want to go outside at sunrise in my dewy garden with a basket and pick the herbs I need for the day. The restaurant will be in the ground floor, and we will live in the remaining space in the building. It will not be a big place; I want more of a café that can accommodate perhaps 30 people at a time. I want a big rustic building, with lots of stone and wrought iron railings and balconies, and big Italian tiles on the floors that are cool on your bare feet on a warm day. I want big wide open windows with long gauzy curtains so a nice breeze blows through all the time.

The location near the water is important because I want fresh seafood on the menu. There will be plenty of outdoor patio space out front and on the side for my quests to dine al fresco, with black wrought iron fencing. I love to eat outdoors. There will be beautiful plants and trees all over the property, to give the customers a feeling of seclusion while they are dining, but not too much as to block the fabulous view of the rolling countryside and water. There will be fragrant blossoms on the trees, the perfume of which will gently waft over you when the breeze blows the right way. And when people smell that fragrance elsewhere, it will remind them of my place and our town.

Second, the décor – Casual with an Italian flair, perhaps - I would have wrought iron tables and chairs, but the chairs would be comfortable with cushions, so passers-by would want to stop and sit for a long while to enjoy their meal and wine. No one would be rushed out of my restaurant. Candles in Chianti bottles, with the wax spilling down them, and a small bouquet of fresh flowers. I want linen napkins and tablecloths – not to be fancy but just to make everyone feel special. Mismatched silverware and serving dishes and plates. Wooden bread bowls, and mismatched wine glasses. If someone loves the glass their wine is served in, they can go ahead and have it.

Now, for the menu – I want it simple, with fresh ingredients. This is the way I would like to be able to eat all of the time.

For breakfast, I will serve my homemade scones and biscotti and freshly baked breads, and homemade spreads and fruit. Lots of good strong coffee and real cream. (My husband asked if there would be scrapple – absolutely not!)

For lunch, it will be a few unusual sandwiches with fresh meat and cheeses, and produce from my garden on freshly baked seasoned flatbreads and each table will get a bowl of roasted red peppers and olives. One soup every day, and a Homemade personal-sized pizza on fresh crust with only fresh ingredients – crushed tomatoes from the garden, basil, garlic, olive oil, cheeses. Each dish will come with a small green salad on the side – When we were in London all the food was served with a salad on the plate and I loved that. Some sandwiches will be grilled. And I will allow customers to make special requests, so if they don’t see something they like on the menu, I will accommodate them if I can. There will also be a few seafood choices – but no heavy cream sauces, only light citrusy, wine-based or tomato sauces with basil and garlic.

Dinner – a good seafood selection, broiled or sautéed or grilled, nothing fried. One good soup. Some homemade pasta, but again, no heavy sauces. The meat selection would depend on the region. I would not have a snobby wine cellar. I want to feature all of the local wineries, to give customers a choice of a few good affordable wines. And our service would be stellar – I have been in the customer service business for over 25 years, and would strive to give everyone the service they deserve.

Lastly, dessert – complimentary plates of small fresh cookies. If they preferred something else, they can order Tira Misu, my absolute favorite, and homemade sorbets, and other biscotti and pastries. I would also have assorted coffees.
Did I miss anything? Of course, my whole family would be working and helping there. I would have to move everyone and their spouses with us.

Wow, this post was a lot of fun to do. I think I’ve captured everything I want. I believe I must now move to Italy to make this dream come true. That is where I can picture it. Wow.

Me, Me, Me, Meme

2008-04-28T13:49:00.008-04:00

RT Tagged me with this one, I hope I can come up with 7 facts about myself that don't bore you to tears.

Here are the rules if you decide to play along:
1) Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2) Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3) Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4) Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1) I once shook John Travolta's hand, back when he was a 'sweat-hog' on Welcome Back, Kotter. I'm pretty sure he would remember me, I was the 13-year-old girl who gawked at him. Heh. I got his autograph too, but have no idea what happened to it. We won't discuss how long ago that was.

2) I like to cook, and at times have romantic aspirations of being a caterer or restaurant owner. I've always envisioned a small, intimate setting with an outside eating area, where I would greet people and serve them personally. This past weekend, I helped make and serve food for a fundraiser for my son and his friends that was held in a $3 million mansion. I had so much fun and got to know a couple of great women better that I haven't spent any time with previously. Fabulous!

3) I married the best guy in the world. When we first started dating, I had 4 teenage children from my first marriage he had to deal with. I knew he was a keeper when he actually agreed to pick me up at home for our first offical date, even though he knew the 4 kids would be there. The first time I met his extended family, we ended up having to pick up one of my kids at the local police station later that night. I won't name names - Story for another time. But my point is, he has helped me to deal with everything that has occurred since.

4) My biggest sorrow, aside from the death of my father 6 years ago, is that we were not able to have another child after Kara.

5) My secret vice - apparently I have become hooked on both good and bad reality television. I have watched Rock of Love 1 and 2, Flavor of Love (but only the first season), Celebrity Rehab, Multiple episodes of multiple seasons of The Bachelor (season finale tonight!), Biggest Loser (fave), Celebrity Fit Club (another Fave), multiple Seasons of American Idol (I predict David Cook wins this year), etc, etc, etc. Need I go on? I think I need a 12-step program.

6) I am fascinated by alternative lifestyles such as Polygamy - not because I want to live that way but because it is difficult to comprehend. I wish I knew a woman who lives that lifestyle so I could talk to her and ask her questions, like "Why?".

7) I have always wanted to live in the country. Unfortunately Grimjack is a city boy. Since I work from home, I can live anywhere but he commutes to the city by train. So unless he gets transferred to some city in Farmland USA, I guess we are stuck in the 'burbs.

Well, that was easier than I thought it would be, and probably more than you wanted to know. I don't have anyone left to tag specifically, so I'll have to break that rule. But if you haven't done this one and would like to, let me know so I can stop by and read it. Toodles!

Groovy....

2008-04-21T20:29:00.002-04:00

I scored a Far Out
75% on theQuiz by SheGoddess: Quick Weight Loss

I thought I would do better. But 75% is nothing to be ashamed about....wait, maybe it is...There was a lot of 70's music that was better than what is in the quiz, I should not have done this well. Thanks to Jeffro for linking it so I could steal it.

Mugshot Meme

2008-04-15T14:17:00.005-04:00

RT tagged me with the mugshot meme. All you have to do is put up pictures of your favorite 'beverage vessels', in the words of Cowboy Blob.

So, here goes - this one I don't have often, but when I do it means I did not have to make lunch that day for Kara and I, which makes it a favorite!

My favorite coffee mugs are from our Starbucks collection. When one or both of us travel, we go to a local Starbucks (or visit one in the airport if necessary), order coffee, and buy one of their 'City Collection' mugs from that area. The only rule is that you have to actually drink coffee there. No fair just buying the mug. We have a variety as you can see. We have two of some, when we travelled together, and singles of others from when we had separate business travel. Here's a pic below. The Detroit mug is cracked so that now is only used for holding Kara's paint brushes.
They are hefty and hold a lot of coffee.

Then, this is my favorite mug for tea at night during the winter. Once the weather starts getting warmer, we usually stop the hot tea at night until the fall. I like the shape and sentiment of this mug. I think it is also a Starbucks mug.

I don't know who else to tag, so if you want to do the Mugshot Meme, go right ahead. Let me know and I'll stop by to visit.

Happy Birthday Grimjack!

2008-04-15T13:33:00.008-04:00

Grimjack turned 45 this past week. In honor of this momentous occasion, I had 45 cows delivered for the front lawn for the whole weekend. Here's how they looked:

It was fun, but he ended up taking a half day at the last minute on Friday and they were delivered while he was here. So the surprise was lost - I really wanted to see the expression on his face when he drove up and saw them. We had a family party for him and my brother-in-law Friday night and everyone enjoyed the cows - especially Kara.

Some of you who know him may be wondering why the cow sign said 'John'. If you know him through a family member (such as Deathlok), you know him as Jack or Jackie. His whole family calls him Jack. His other friends and coworkers all only know him as John, as I do. So it was initially confusing to me when his mom would refer to him as Jack, because that is also his father's name (well, his father's name is also John, but anyway). Since I've known him as John for like 20 years, I just can't call him Jack.

The first time Deathlok called my house and asked for Jack, I told him he had the wrong number.

The name difference becomes a challenge at Christmas time, and other occasions when we send cards. If it is for his family, I need to sign Jack and Kathie, and if it is for my family, I sign John and Kathie.

Best present this year - new Flyers shirt from Lyn and Brad:

Here are some M&M/chocolate chip cookie treats we made for him for his birthday.

Happy Birthday, Dear!

My New Hobby

2008-04-01T15:09:00.001-04:00

I renewed my interest in sewing this year, and have now started quilting as well. Remember some months ago I posted about a pair of jeans I was wearing that split - well, here is a picture of what they look like now - I had held onto them and I made a cool purse out of them. I get a lot of comments on it and I'm proud of it! All I had to buy was the leather handles and buttons.

My sister and I are doing a 'Block of the Month' quilt at a local quilt/fabric store. Here are January and February's blocks. I have not had time to do March yet. I picked Batik fabric out of the three choices they had, so my quilt will be in a variety of colors, in similar fabrics.

I made this book for one of my grandson's for Easter:
+

I am also working on a small quilt for my other Grandson, since he is transitioning into a bed from his crib. For this one, I will be putting brightly colored buttons at each corner of the blocks. This is just the inside of the top, I have not yet added the borders.

I am starting a beginner's quilting class tomorrow night, and am so excited about it. I've made myself a sewing area in the basement by reclaiming some space from my daughter's 'salon' down there. By the end of the 8 week class, I will have completed a full quilt top. Quilting takes longer than regular sewing, in that you may not actually complete a project in a short period of time, so I am trying to work on small projects too, so I can feel like I've accomplished something.

Happy Birthday Steph!

2008-04-01T14:00:00.005-04:00

My third daughter turned 21 this past Sunday. What a milestone! This is a picture of Steph in her sister's wedding this past November.

We are so proud of her. She is a hard worker - she works full-time, second shift at NutriSystem, and then works in the hair salon on Fridays and Saturdays on her days off from NutriSystem. She went to cosmotology school and she really loves the salon, but she does not have any health insurance, etc from the salon so she has to keep a full-time job as well.

When she was really little, she was very attached to me and I couldn't walk out of a room without her screaming. I remember washing windows for her great grandmother once, and she was inside the house screaming in her infant seat because she couldn't see me. Then she could see me through the window and quieted down. It was tough for a while leaving her with other people.

She always put all of her efforts into anything she would do. She was very enthusiastic about things, and is very thoughtful and concerned about other people.

One thing she liked to do when she was little, like at 3 years old, was take things apart with a screwdriver. I remember when she tried to remove a doorknob from her bedroom door, and also she loosened the screws in a chair we had.

She always said that she would never move out of the house. Which is very funny now, since we hardly ever see her. her boyfirend lives nearby and they work the same shift, so they hang out after work, at midnight. Her stuff still lives here, though!

She sent me flowers for her birthday, and here is what the card said:

Mommy (yes, she still calls me Mommy), I wanted to thank you for everything you have done. Just think, 21 years ago, you held me in your arms for the first time. And because of you, I am the woman I am today! Thank you, Love always, Stephanie

It was a beautiful thing for her to say. As a single parent, there were many times when I thought I wasn't doing the right thing, or felt like I didn't have enough time in the day to give them each the attention they needed since I had to work to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table.

Her two older sisters said "oh great, now we have to do that every year!"

Happy Birthday Steph!

Glossary for the Upcoming Election

2008-04-01T13:45:00.004-04:00

Courtesy of The Onion:

Featured Term:
debate - A contest to see which candidate can answer the fewest questions.

absentee ballot - A form of voting that does not involve the inconvenience of having to get up off the couch and walk to a high school gymnasium.

ballot - An object recording a voter's decision that is frequently counted toward an election's outcome.

caucus - The process by which Americans are quadrennially reminded of Iowa's existence.

change - Can be found
1) In the air/wind.
2) At hand.
3) Inside us all.

convention - The best four-day-long chance a politically active, overweight Kia salesman from Tulsa has to nail one of them blond Fox anchors.

corruption - The most effective and efficient way to produce results in government.

delegate - A demented, often screaming individual who experiences intense arousal at the sight of a vertically printed placard bearing his or her state's name.

democracy - A moderately representative plutocracy.

Diebold voting machine - A sophisticated, computerized balloting terminal that electronically changes your vote into a vote for Mitt Romney.

election worker - A male or female at least 70 years of age.

electoral college - A process by which the number of states in the Union is narrowed down to the most important seven or eight.

experience - A quantitative score any politician may increase by slaying foes or solving riddles.

hope - An intangible object within every American that is destroyed every four years in November.

likability - The degree to which each candidate is able to hide the extent to which he or she is full of shit.

lobbyist - A better-paid legislator.

MoveOn.org - A company offering routine tests of your e-mail's spam filter.

platform - A list of the subjects that candidates are willing to discuss.
A raised structure, almost entirely covered by flags, upon which candidates are placed.

political consultants - Individuals who are very savvy politically, but don't have enough hair to run for office themselves.

political philosophy, conservative - A great way to meet chicks at Princeton University. U-S-A; e.g., U-S-A, U-S-A(!).

political philosophy, liberal - An ideology steeped in a proud tradition of ineffectual whining.

pollster - A person who willingly communicates with the elderly.

Rock The Vote - Something that is, apparently, still happening.

voter apathy - The reason most American politicians are able to achieve and maintain office.

Ways to keep your Sanity......just for Laughs

2008-03-21T11:31:00.003-04:00

1.At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and Point A Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.

2.Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don't Disguise Your Voice.

3.Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, Ask If They Want Fries with That.

4.Put Your Garbage Can On Your Desk And Label It "In."

5.Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks. Once Everyone Has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch To Espresso.

6.In The Memo Field Of All Your Checks, Write "For Sexual Favors". Do this even for the utility company payments!

7.Finish All Your Sentences With "In Accordance With The Prophecy."

8.Don't Use Any Punctuation

9.As Often As Possible, Skip Rather Than Walk.

10. Ask People What Sex They Are. Laugh Hysterically After They Answer.

11. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is "To Go."

12. Sing Along At The Opera.

13. Go To A Poetry Recital And Ask Why The Poems Don't Rhyme

14. Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area And Play Tropical Sounds All Day.

15. Five Days In Advance, Tell Your Friends You Can't Attend Their Party Because You're Not In The Mood.

16. Have Your Co-workers Address You By Your Wrestling Name, HOT MAMA

17. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream "I Won!, I Won!"

18. When Leaving The Zoo, Start Running Towards The Parking Lot, Yelling "Run For Your Lives, They're Loose!!"

19. Tell Your Children Over dinner. "Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go.

Wearing of the Green...And other Stuff

2008-03-17T12:05:00.006-04:00

Happy Saint Patrick's Day to ye all of Irish descent. We attended a St Pat's family party over the weekend at the Deathlok homestead - a good time was had by all. The Guinness stew rocked!

I made Irish sodabread this weekend, which means my weigh-in this week will probably be poor. I gave most to our folks, but left half a loaf here. If it is here, I will eat it. The truth hurts. But it is only once a year, so...

Here is a picture of our little Irish lass, opening presents at her Fourth birthday party last weekend. Today was her actual due date, but she was born a week early.

Other stuff that happened in the past two weeks:

Number One Son got accepted to Temple University (they beat St Joe's - sorry, Wyatt!). I made him a maroon and white cake to celebrate - white icing, maroon cake. When he cut it, he said "I don't think this cake is done, it looks a little rare."

Then a few days later, he and his friends were filming something for a documentary they are working on, and he got tackled the wrong way so we ended up in the ER Saturday afternoon. He has a sprained MCL (Medial Collateral Ligament) in his right knee and is now on crutches with an almost full leg immobilizing brace. He can take it off to shower but that's pretty much it. This will probably ruin his baseball season this year - he plays for our township and practices usually start after Easter when the fields dry up enough to be used. It inconveniences me because now I have to drive him into school every day at 7am, which means getting Kara up as well.

Oh, and I discovered I have an eBay addiction, or at least it felt that way last week. I have a new quilting hobby and was buying fabric and instructional books on eBay last week. That's one of the reasons I didn't have any blogging time. I'll blog about my hobby later today, perhaps.

Beware the Ides of March....

2008-03-15T14:13:00.000-04:00

Just sayin'.

This Week's Weigh-In

2008-03-15T14:08:00.002-04:00

Hi, I'm here. I weigh 197.5 this week. Not that great for two weeks, but at least it is going in the right direction.

Good luck to you all this week, I'll be back tomorrow for more blogging.

This Week's Weigh-In, etc.

2008-03-03T08:26:00.003-05:00

Hi All, I weigh 198 this week, down half a pound. It's a Downward trend that I will continue. I'm being optimistic, and trying to stay focused. Good luck to everyone this week. I started doing the Slim in 6 (Beachbody.com) exercise program this week and feel very energetic today.

Another busy week, no time for blogging this past week and probably not this week either. We are working on the inside of the house, trying to complete all the projects we've started or been meaning to start over the last few years, but never finished or got to. Our goal by spring is to have everything minor finished so we can simply enjoy our weekends and relax outside or do day trips, etc. Last week, we completed the most of the painting up the stairs and in the upstairs hallway, including all of the newer doors Grimjack put in year before last. He got the ceiling and walls finished yesterday, and installed the new light fixture, which looks great.

Just to give everyone a frame of reference, I lived in the house for 16 or 17 years before he came along. The house is close to 50 years old, and since I was a single parent a good number of those years, I never had the money to make improvements other than painting. So we had the original kitchen and bathrooms, etc. So over the last four years we have tried to do many of the things that needed work long before then.

This week, I hope to get all of the trim painted. Little Grim's Fourth Birthday is this coming weekend, and we have a family party for her on Saturday, so the rest of the week will probably be spent preparing for that.

Hopefully, the busier I am, the less I will binge!

Comment Moderation

2008-02-24T12:30:00.004-05:00

I've been getting some weird comments from unknown individuals on my posts lately and think I'm getting spammed. So I have enabled Word Verification for folks when they want to comment. Sorry, I know it can be a nuisance but now I understand why everyone uses it.

Today's Weigh-In

2008-02-23T08:45:00.003-05:00

I weigh 198.5 this week, a loss of 2 pounds. WooHoo! I finally feel like everything clicked and the Pilates seems to be doing the trick - plus I feel better. That's probably the most important thing.

Good luck to Y'all!

Pierced Ears

2008-02-21T17:28:00.005-05:00

For her upcoming birthday, Little Grim wanted her ears pierced. I told her it would pinch when they did it, and she was fine with that. Here is a picture of her beautiful new earring:

Notice I said earring - singular. Here is a picture of her other ear, with a little purple dot where her new earring SHOULD be:

She would not let them do the second one. So now, she has a lovely pierced ear that she is very proud of. I really don't believe she has any intentions of going back for the other one any time soon. It is totally my fault, I should have gone when they had two employees working so they could have done them both at exactly the same time.

UPDATE: After some discussion last night, she decided she really wanted the second earring, so I took her back to the Mall at 8 o'clock last night, and she got the other ear done. She never even flinched.

A new meme

2008-02-20T17:36:00.003-05:00

RT and Aprilwine both tagged me with this meme. I'm supposed to write 5 True facts about myself. So, here goes:

1. My favorite ice cream is mint chocolate chip (the green kind, not white). I don't know why the color makes a difference - it just does.

2. I always wanted to have some great musical ability, either the ability to sing or play the piano well.

3. I'm 5'11" tall (unfortunately you all know my weight!)

4. I've always wanted to be a wealthy philanthropist, that could help all kinds of people who need it.

5. I've always wanted to be a guest on the David Letterman show.

At this point, I think most of you have been tagged, but if anyone decides to do this meme, let me know so I can stop by and visit.

Whew!

2008-02-19T22:17:00.004-05:00

So, the reason I was not concentrating on my weight loss this past week was, I went for my annual mammogram in the beginning of February. My mother is a breast cancer survivor and I started getting the mammograms 15 years ago due to the family history. In the beginning of last week, the office called and said I needed to come back for additional films on one side. The technician at that time said it wasn't urgent and they needed a clearer view, etc. Of course, I took the earliest appointment I could get, which was on Valentine's Day.

Needless to say, it was worrisome - I had never been called back for more films before. At that point, I figured my weight loss was the least of my worries.

Happily, the radiologist called late today and said although there had been an area they were concerned about, the new films were clear and the area just turned out to be shadows of some sort. So now we can relax.

PS - Apparently the birds in the photo are called Boobies. It came up when I did a Google Image search for boobies. I realize, men, that I could have picked something you might have liked more, but I liked this one.

Workout of the Week

2008-02-19T11:00:00.004-05:00

I decided to try a Pilates workout today. I have a book that contains Pilates, Yoga, Meditation and stress relief techniques. Occasionally I've picked up the book, thumbed through a few chapters, but then put it down without actually trying it. So today, I decided to actually go through the Pilates section, and do every exercise I could.

If you aren't familiar with Pilates, " ...the aim of Pilates is to work different muscles to tone and condition the body, while developing correct breathing, good posture, and mental concentration and focus. It improves overall balance and coordination while it streamlines the body and also helps to improve flexibility in all the musles and joints."

I have lower back problems due to bone spurs and spinal arthritis, so I have to be careful what types of exercises I do. I can no longer do Tae Bo, or anything that contains jerky movements. So I hoped the fluid movements of Pilates or Yoga would be a good choice. I had taken a Yoga class a few years ago, but had never done Pilates.

Well, I am happily surprised. The exercises in my book are very basic and not a full Pilates routine. Of course, the book cautions that if you have any medical problems you should consult your doctor before beginning. I did all of the upper body warm-ups, as well as some standing and sitting exercises, and a little leg work. The movements are very slow and controlled, and continuous, so the flow is smooth. Everything I did today really felt like exaggerated stretching. There is a certain breathing pattern that is suggested, which took me a bit to get used to but halfway through I got it down.

At the end of the workout, my muscles were nice and warm and I felt very good. I feel like I am standing straighter and I can actually tell I had a workout, even though it didn't feel like a heavy one at the time. I'm going to do this routine for the next few days until I am used to it, and then move onto a Pilates workout I have on tape/DVD. If the workouts turn out to be more advanced than my back can handle, I'll just go back to the book again. This, plus the treadmill, should have me feeling better in no time.

2008-02-18T19:12:00.003-05:00

I found this cute meme over at Saoirse’s and thought I would do it, too.

What kind of soap is in your bathtub right now?
Lever 2000 with Aloe, and minimum of three kinds of Body Wash, compliments of 20-year-old daughter

Do you have any watermelon in your refrigerator?
No, not this time of year here.

What would you change about your living room?
The size, too small for our clutter and piano and my 'office'.

Are the dishes in your dishwasher clean or dirty?
Clean

What is in your fridge?
Milk, vegetables, chicken, creamers, condiments, eggs & cheese, lots of half empty bottles of salad dressing, and some containers of leftovers that will probably still be there at the end of the week.

What is on top of your refrigerator?
Three boxes of cereal, three or four boxes of cereal bars, basket of snacks, oatmeal

What color or design is on your shower curtain?
Black and white pictures of famous travel landmarks, such as the Eiffel Tower, etc.

How many plants are in your home?
Three.

Is your bed made right now?
Yes, that is one thing I must do first thing in the morning after getting out of bed. I have to have one room give the appearance of being neat.

Comet or Soft Scrub?
Soft Scrub.

Is your closet organized?
Hahahahahahaha. (Um, that means No.)

Can you describe your flashlight?
We have a lantern-type one.

Do you drink out of glass or plastic most of the time at home?
Glass or coffee mugs mostly.

Do you have iced tea made in a pitcher right now?
Yes, but it's from a mix, not homemade.

If you have a garage, is it cluttered?
No garage. But our basement is cluttered.

Curtains or blinds?
Both on most windows.

How many pillows do you sleep with?
3

Do you sleep with any lights on at night?
Dark room for us, but we have a night light in the hallway, and usually keep the upstairs bathroom light on, in case Little Grim gets up at night. Plus that way, we won't trip over either of the cats.

Weigh-In, etc

2008-02-18T13:39:00.005-05:00

Sorry for the late weigh-in, my daughter and our grandson were visiting for a few days. I'm at 200.5 this week, which was not unexpected to me. Bad week, I was not concentrating on my weight loss or fitness this week. Better luck next week. I hope everyone else did OK.

Here is a picture of Kara and Benny eating pizza the other night, and our dog Maggie waiting patiently for her chance for a nibble.

Come Away With Me

2008-02-14T17:00:00.001-05:00

To Grimjack. My sister sang this Norah Jones song in our wedding. Love you!

Learn to Crochet

2008-02-14T07:52:00.003-05:00

----- A man and woman had been married for more than 60 years. They had
shared everything. They had talked about everything. They had kept no
secrets from each other except that the little old woman had a shoe
box in the top of her closet that she had cautioned her husband never to open or ask her about.

For all of these years, he had never thought about the box, but one
day the little old woman got very sick and the doctor said she would not recover.

In trying to sort out their affairs, the little old man took down the
shoe box and took it to his wife's bedside.

She agreed that it was time that he should know what was in the box.
When he opened it, he found two crocheted dolls and a stack of money
totaling $95,000.

He asked her about the contents. 'When we were to be married,' she
said, 'my grandmother told me the secret of a happy marriage was to never argue. She told me that if I ever got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and crochet a doll.'

The little old man was so moved; he had to fight back tears. Only two
precious dolls were in the box. She had only been angry with him two
times in all those years of living and loving. He almost burst with
happiness.

'Honey,' he said,'that explains the doll, but what about all of this money?
Where did it come from?'

'Oh,' she said, 'that's the money I made from selling the dolls.'

In keeping with the Valentine's Day holiday...

2008-02-13T21:27:00.003-05:00

I took this quiz over at RT’s Place....and got Erotic Thriller. Which is weird because the description doesn't match me.

Erotic Thriller

You've made your own rules in life - and sometimes that catches up with you.
Winding a web of deceit comes naturally, and no one really knows the true you.

Your best movie matches: Swimming Pool, Unfaithful, The Crush

If Your Life Was a Movie, What Genre Would It Be?

Happy Valentine's Day...

2008-02-13T20:36:00.003-05:00

To all of my kids, their partners, our grandsons, our parents, and to my husband, our siblings and their partners,

All My Love, Always.

Today's Weigh-In

2008-02-09T07:46:00.000-05:00

Today, I weighed in at 199.0. Not the best, but hopefully it is the beginning of a downward trend. I was surprised I only lost 1.5 pounds this week, because I thought I had done better. But, 1.5 is definitely an accomplishment. Slow and steady wins the race?

Really slow!

Some Valentine's Day Advice

2008-02-08T16:45:00.000-05:00

Here is some classic Chris Farley, my way of offering advice to those men out there who do not yet have a special Valentine to celebrate with next week. You still have time to make that important first impression, as Chris Farley demonstrates.

My Oldest Daughter

2008-02-07T15:04:00.000-05:00

My first born Lynda turned 25 this week, so I thought I would dedicate a post to her. I was 21 years old when she was born. I remember panicking the day I was supposed to be coming home from the hospital. I thought there was no way that I would ever be able to take care of a helpless infant. But I managed, of course, and learned as she grew.

Just a couple of stories about her growing up:

* The neighborhood kids were playing baseball down the street, when she was in grade school. Lyn was catcher, and she accidentally got hit in the face with the bat across her nose. Her cousin Chuckie, who is the same age, was also playing, and because they were great friends, took it upon himself to run up and punch the batter in the face, for hitting his cousin. It was hilarious afterwards (once all of the bleeding stopped). The nice thing is, she and Chuckie stayed friends all of these years, and they both now have babies and spend time together.

* She and her sisters liked to play dress up together and I have a 'flattering' picture of her doing a Steve Urkell impression - with her pants pulled halfway up to her armpits. She would never forgive me if I posted that one!

* When she was in high school, she and her friends adored the Monkees - yes, Davey Jones and Peter Tork et al, and Herman's Hermits (Henry the Eighth). They went out as The Monkees for Halloween one year. They also went to see Davey Jones whenever the old fogeys tour came around. They were in the Peter Noone fanclub, and he would let them know whenever he would be in the area. We met him for lunch one day up at the Bethlehem Brew Works when they were doing a show in Allentown.

* She and Brad have given us one of our perfect grandsons, Bo. He is fabulous. He can do animal noises now, so if you ask him 'What does a cow say?', he will Moo. If you ask him 'What does Daddy say?', he will say 'shit' in his tiny little voice. I'm so proud, my daughter taught him that one. We will stop asking him, obviously, since we don't want him to continue saying it. But it sure is funny now. And she could not have picked a better guy than Brad. We love him and he is good to her. For her birthday this week, he surprised her with a day at a Spa, for a massage, facial, manicure and pedicure.

This is a picture of the three of them at my sister's wedding last year.

* The best thing is, in spite of all my worries that I may have been parenting the wrong way or not handling things well, she has turned out to be a beautiful woman and a wonderful mother. Happy Birthday, Lyn!

The Bucket List Meme

2008-02-07T14:01:00.000-05:00

Corporate billionaire Edward Cole and working class mechanic Carter Chambers have nothing in common except for their terminal illnesses. While sharing a hospital room together, they decide to leave it and do all the things they have ever wanted to do before they die according to their bucket list.

Jeffro tagged me with this one. So here is my Bucket List:

1. Take a nice long nap. Being sleep deprived most days of the week, this is the utmost priority.

2. Take my whole family somewhere fun.

2. I would love to take a long car ride across the country. Just a meandering, relaxing, back roads, see-weird-stuff-and-stop-whenever-you-feel-like-it vacation.

3. I would like to learn how to ski (as long as I could do it without falling and breaking a hip, heh).

4. I would learn how to play the piano.

5. Plant a new flower garden.

6. See the seven natural wonders of the world:
Mount Everest
The Great Barrier Reef
The Grand Canyon
Victoria Falls
The Harbor of Rio de Janeiro
The Paricutin Volcano
The Northern Lights

7. I'd also like to visit Ireland, to stroll around, and Italy, to drink wine, eat good food, and stroll around.

8. Visit Machu Pichu in Peru, the Great Wall of China, Stonehenge, The Colossus of Rhodes, The Pyramids in Egypt, The Sydney Opera House in Australia, The Louvre (so I can see the Mona Lisa)....

I guess my list of places I'd like to see is endless, which is kind of funny since I don't really like to fly. But if money were no object, those are the places I'd like to go.

I think most of you have already been tagged, but if not, I tag YOU!

Our Yard is a huge Muddy Mess.....

2008-02-05T14:48:00.000-05:00

And so is our daughter, as evidenced by the pictures below. This mess was the result of about 15 minutes unattended in the yard with the dog, who fared better than she did.

All of the muddy stuff on the floor came out of her shoes or dripped off of her socks and pants.

Hopefully it will come out of her clothes. She will definitely need a new pair of shoes now.

Boobie Names

2008-02-04T19:54:00.000-05:00

Your Boobies' Names Are...

Love Muffins

Boobie Name Generator

Super Bowl Sunday

2008-02-03T13:25:00.000-05:00

Here is a particularly meaningful halftime performance, coincidentally another Patriot's Super Bowl.

And here's a little ditty from the Chicago Bears from 1985, just for fun:

And I can't leave out the commercials:

She's F***ing Matt Damon

2008-02-03T12:21:00.000-05:00

This is the funniest thing I've seen all week.

I Got Tagged

2008-02-03T10:49:00.000-05:00

Aprilwine and USA Admiral tagged me with this, which is Awesome!

Thank you both! Right back at ya!

Incidentally, Aprilwine just added tunes to her blog, making the experience even more enjoyable.

I'm permitted to award this to others, so here are my choices (that Aprilwine and the Admiral didn't already catch):

Wyatt
Grimjack (Nothing like a little Nepotism)
Loving Annie
H2O

Weigh-In

2008-02-02T21:31:00.000-05:00

Today, I weighed 200.5, up a half pound. Not nearly as bad as I expected after my bad weigh-in Weight Watchers on Tuesday. Counting my points the rest of the week kept me in check. Good luck to everyone this week!

I'm Discouraged

2008-01-30T13:29:00.000-05:00

I had a very disappointing weigh-in at Weight Watchers last night - up almost 2 full pounds from last Tuesday night, according to their scale. It actually almost brought me to tears, since I thought I had done OK this week. So obviously it was an eye-opener and resulted in me re-thinking my weight loss strategy.

I had been using their Core Plan, which allows you to eat specific foods without tracking points or portion sizes (within reason). Since I am having only limited success (and now failure) on that plan and was not doing as well as I thought, I've now switched to the Flex Plan beginning today. The Flex Plan requires journaling all the food you eat and tracking the points values of everything.

Hopefully this will get me back on track for our weigh-in this Saturday morning. It worked for me in the past, it is just time-consuming. So I went through our pantry this morning, and began labeling the foods I eat with the point values on the boxes and cans, so I can just grab something when I'm hungry without having to stop and calculate the points every time. I also will take the Point Finder tool with me to the grocery store to calculate points before I buy something.

Here hoping for a better weigh-in on Saturday!

New Tax Forms

2008-01-28T17:53:00.000-05:00

Thought for the day:

As income tax time approaches, did you ever notice:
When you put the two words "The" and "IRS" together...

it spells "THEIRS"?

Park City, Utah - Part 2

2008-01-28T17:11:00.001-05:00

The boys made it home safe and sound from the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday. This is them - they took a break from networking to have a day of snowboarding. Now I can relax for a while before any of them go on another trip. I'm always nervous when someone in the family flies. I know it is irrational, since flying here in the US is safer than driving. But, I can't help it. I always monitor the flights the days they are flying. My son told his friends that I was checking their flights while they were in the air, and they wondered why. They will understand when they are parents. At their age, they are invincible.

Here is my favorite picture from their trip, below. They met Rex Lee, who plays Lloyd in Entourage (HBO). He is apparently funny as hell, the boys said, and graciously agreed to pose with them while wearing one of their Ventilation X t-shirts. Number One Son is on the far left. That would have been the highlight of the trip for me, since we really like the show.

A good time was had by all, and no one had to be bailed out of jail (that I am aware of).

This Week's Weigh-In

2008-01-27T15:23:00.000-05:00

Sorry I'm a day late, I took my mother out of town Friday and didn't get back until yesterday and was too busy to blog.

This week's weight is 200.0, up half a pound. The fact that I went up instead of down just gives me increased motivation for this week. I already got on the treadmill this morning.

I'm going to try a new tactic as far as exercise goes this week to see if it improves my efforts. I usually try to get a full workout on the treadmill for 30-45 minutes at a time, but am having a hard time fitting that much time in, at one time. So I have not been doing it often enough.

So this week, I am going to start doing 20 minutes in the morning when I get up, and then do 20 more minutes right around dinner time. I should be able to keep Little Grim occupied for 20 minutes with a movie or something so I can fit it in. It's a lot harder to keep her occupied for 45 minutes.

I should be able to get two miles a day in that way. So that's my plan for this week, and going forward. I also started a Food and Exercise Log spreadsheet, where I am tracking everything I eat and my activity. That will visually tell me how I am doing.

Good luck this week, everyone!

I've Become my Mother

2008-01-19T16:27:00.000-05:00

Once again, I find myself saying the exact things that my parents used to say to us kids, at which I rolled my eyes and swore I wouldn't say to my own. Here is a list of those things, that I either have said or do say to my kids:

Close the door, I'm not heating the whole neighborhood.
Eat your dinner, there are kids starving in China. (Popular answer "Why don't we send them this, then?")
Money doesn't grow on trees, you know.
Don't make me pull over!
Do you want a spanking?
Who left the light on?
Go put on a sweater.
Who left the door unlocked?
If you don't pay the bill, don't touch the thermostat.
Clean your room.
Be careful crossing the street.
Don't pick your nose.
What is in that cup in your room? (The answer is usually something like "it was iced tea three weeks ago")
Get those dishes out of your room.
Did you do your homework? (The most popular answer to this one is always "I did it during study period")
Don't you need a coat (or gloves, or hat, etc)?
Wear your seatbelt!
You'd better behave.
The crusts are good for you.
You want to grow up to be big and strong, don't you?

And here is one that I use, that my parents never had to:

Pull up your pants, I can see your underwear (said to both genders).

Park City, Utah

2008-01-19T13:29:00.001-05:00

It's that time of year again, friends - time for the second annual trek to the Sundance Film Festival by my Number One Son. He and his friends are into film- making and music production. They made a film about extreme sports that they submitted to the film festival this year. It was not accepted for showing, due to a glut of submissions in their category. But they go anyway to network and rub shoulders with folks in the industry.

Last year they went for 4 days, this year they are staying for a full week. Number One Son and three friends, away from home for a full week with little adult supervision? We cringe. As always, I reminded him he was a minor and that if he got arrested we would have to fly to Utah to bail him out of jail. He doesn't want that.

He just called to say they landed safely and had picked up their rental car and were on their way to the condo. Now I can relax for a few hours until I start thinking about what they will do once they get settled and head into town for God knows what. It will be a long week!

Weekly Weigh-In

2008-01-19T10:24:00.000-05:00

Down to 199.5 this week. I weighed twice to double check the number.

New - Books Up for Grabs Section

2008-01-18T19:28:00.001-05:00

I like to read, but one of my New Year's resolutions this year is to reduce clutter here at home. To that end, I have added a new feature to my sidebar called Books Up For Grabs.

These are all used paperbacks that I've read, that I cannot sell on Amazon, because of the volume of the title already posted there for sale. Normally I donate them to our local library, but thought I'd offer them up to bloggers who might like to read them. I'll continue to add to the list as I clean out our bookcases. It is a short list right now.

My hope is that someone else will enjoy the book. The library typically puts them in their Book Cellar for sale, and paperbacks only go for a quarter or 50 cents, so I don't feel too badly about not donating them. If you would like a book, just email me your information and I'll put it in the mail to you. I don't expect to get them back so when you are through with it, you may feel free to donate it or pass it on to someone else.

I'm always looking for something else to read as well, so if you think you have something I'd like to read, feel free to let me know. I usually like mysteries/suspense, or funny novels. If there is any gratuitous smut thrown in, so much the better (heh).

You Got it

2008-01-18T14:42:00.001-05:00

I like Roy Orbison. This is just one of my faves.

Let it Snow

2008-01-17T21:10:00.000-05:00

We finally got a little snow here today, maybe two inches. Grimjack is in Phoenix, Arizona on business today and tomorrow so he missed it. It apparently is in the 50's there and the locals are complaining because it is 'cold'. He was heading out to dinner when we last spoke, to a restaurant that has rattlesnake on the menu. Hopefully he will try it. He thought he'd be OK with it if it tastes like chicken.

I took pictures of the dog and daughter checking out the snow and sent them to his phone. He was going to send back a picture of a cactus but thought better of it.

Perhaps he will come home with some turquoise jewelry for me.

He also needs to stop at a Starbucks to buy coffee and a Phoenix mug. Whenever we travel, we pick up the city's Starbuck's mugs - they do a series featuring landmarks/skylines from each city.
The rules are, we have to drink coffee there before we can buy the mug - just buying the mug is cheating. It's kind of like buying the concert shirt without going to see the band. Sort of. We've already got Philly, New York City, Detroit, Washington DC, London, and Minneapolis-St Paul.

We've had a lot going on this week. His father had surgery last week and is recovering, so Grimjack has been going over every night to walk the dog and run errands, etc. Then this trip came up with very little notice, so we'll be glad when the week is over.

Back to the snow. I'd like a lot, maybe a foot (the cats feel differently), so we can hunker down and catch up on DVDs, drink hot chocolate and play cards with Little Grim. I always loved snow days when the older kids were in school. In fact, Number One Son called around 7pm and asked me to let him know if I heard that they would have off from school tomorrow. He was out with friends and was delayed getting home because the roads got icy. He is almost 18, and the novelty of a snow day never wears off.

We need new phone service

2008-01-14T19:57:00.000-05:00

I hate Verizon. All told this afternoon, I spent close to an hour and a half on hold, trying to reach someone who can make an account adjustment for me. The first time I called, it took 40 minutes to reach someone and then the rep reluctantly told me she had to refer me to Financial Services. All I want to do is change the checking account that our payment automatically comes out of each month. That's it - nothing complicated.

So I get to Financial Services and that rep indicates I have to do that online. I said I had been unable to locate the place to do that so she gave me a Web Support number, because she could not help me with that. Now, I am no idiot, and I must have spent an hour going through their website trying to find the place to make the change to no avail.

Of course, no one answers in Web Support so I wasted another half hour on hold there. I got disgusted and hung up, and thought perhaps I should check the web again. Still no luck. I made one other attempt to call and ended up on hold way too long again.

I am now switching our phone service. We are getting gouged by Verizon and for those high prices we get lousy service when we need it. We have to switch.

Has anyone had any experience with Vonage? Their rates are cheaper than Comcast, but I'd like some personal experience to base our decision on.

Today's Weather...

2008-01-14T19:53:00.000-05:00

You can tell how wet a day it is here, by the amount of muddy paw prints on the kitchen floor after I let the dog back in from the yard. Anyone else hoping for snow?

We're so Proud....

2008-01-12T13:29:00.000-05:00

The long anticipated birth of small fry from our pregnant Orange Platy has occurred. That's the happy Mama in the left of the photo. I've learned that Platys can have multiple births as the result of one encounter with the male. Apparently the female stores the sperm and can reproduce every 35 days or so for up to six months, so we'll have to keep an eye on her. They are fascinating.

Unfortunately, she had them last night when we weren't home, so Little Grim missed the miracle of birth. We had segregated the fish from the rest of the tank a week or so ago because we weren't sure when they would be born. I wanted to make sure we could keep at least a few, so they will stay in the separate breeding box until they are large enough to avoid being eaten. Now Little Grim can watch them grow.

We ended up with a tank after my daughter's wedding in November. She used live fish in bowls as her table centerpieces so we brought a bunch home with us. It's just a 10-gallon tank, for now. We would both like to get a larger one, but space is kind of an issue right now. But if our population increases too greatly, we'll have to upgrade.

Weekly Weigh-In

2008-01-12T10:49:00.000-05:00

According to the scale this morning, I am down to 201.0 ! Woo-hoo! I am surprised, because I really didn't think I had done very well this week, due to other things we had going on.

Here are some of my food finds this week:

Wegman's Fat free Garden French Dressing
Serving Size - 2 Tablespoons, Calories 60, Fat calories 0, Sodium 410mg (17%), Total carbs 15g (5%)

This was probably the best fat-free dressing I've tried. I usually avoid them because I don't like the texture or after taste, but this one is very good.

My favorite low-fat dressing is Ken's Lite Country French.

Another thing I decided to do when starting this challenge, was broaden the spices we use. So I ordered some things from Penzey's Spices.

I thought we would do better using rubs instead of sauces. The Jerk seasoning was yummy, I did that on boneless chicken breasts. Then, Grimjack made chicken salad with the leftovers and that was good as well.

The seasoned salt is very good on popcorn.

I use the 'I can't believe it's not Butter' spray sparingly on the popcorn, and then sprinkle on the seasoned salt. Although the spray butter is fat- and calorie-free when used as indicated on the bottle, do not over-use it. Apparently the whole bottle is like 800 calories, according to some health expert on the Today show yesterday.

Good luck this week, everyone!

This Week's Home Improvement

2008-01-09T17:10:00.000-05:00

Besides stripping the wallpaper off the walls in our downstairs powder room, I decided to tackle some furniture refinishing. Grimjack's brother recently bought new tables, and wanted to unload two old end tables that have heavy marble tops. The tables apparently are about 50 years old, I find out now. The tops alone are worth something, so I said "Sure, I'll take them!

Of course, we had no where to put them and they weren't exactly our style (Ikea mixed with whatever we can get cheap). When I told Grimjack I took the tables, he said "you did what?".

Here is a before picture:

Since I loved the marble top, I was determined to update them and squeeze them in somewhere. So I removed and cleaned the top, and cleaned and lightly sanded the table. Then I lacquered it black, using a can and a half of spray paint. Then I changed the hardware on the drawer. So we spent about $10.

Here is the finished product:

When Grimjack saw the finished table, he said "I wish we had room for the other one". And his brother wants to know when I'm bringing the tables back.

Now I can't wait to go thrift store shopping for other 'buried' treasures.

Talk about Narcissism.....

2008-01-07T17:36:00.000-05:00

A bride had her wedding cake made to look like a replica of herself !

I wonder what the groom was thinking when he stuck that knife in?

Weight Loss

2008-01-06T10:42:00.000-05:00

I decided to not post a weight Saturday, since I just started this past Thursday. So my next official weigh-in will be next Saturday, the 12th.

My daughter and I are off to Wegman's this morning with a long list of healthy food to pick up. So we will be off to a good start later today that hopefully will carry me through the week. I had previously moved us all to brown rice, and whole wheat pasta, which Weight Watchers allows me to have on the Core Plan in unlimited quantities (within reason, of course). I try to buy whole grain foods and snacks when I see them in an effort to convert the family. Goldfish now come in a whole grain version.

Here are some other things I like to snack on:

When you are craving a dessert, try Jello Sugar Free - Fat-Free Instant Pudding, with skim milk. Once it is set, serve it with Fat-Free Reddi-Whip (the canned whipped cream). They have a Cheescake flavor that is pretty good, if you can find it. WW allows unlimited amounts of the pudding!

I like Triscuits, so I put some low-fat cheese, like Monteray Jack, on a few and microwave it until the cheese melts. Then I put a little salsa on each one. These are yummy but you need to eat them while they are warm to get a better taste.

I have a really good recipe for a Three Bean Salad that I will make a few times this week, because I can have all of that I want. Yes, I know, they are the musical fruit. But, they are full of protein and suppress your appetite for quite a while. Grimjack will not eat beans, so that is all mine. If anyone likes beans and wants the recipe, let me know. You could probably modify the recipe to use other veggies.

Good luck to everyone this week!

I'm in, too.

2008-01-03T08:08:00.001-05:00

After some deliberation, I decided to also join the weight loss group originally started when Sssteve challenged Wyatt to a weight-off. So, with those two and RT, SoHoS, and Grimjack (These are the folks I know are participating, there are more linking to Sssteve), I'm in good company.

I decided to post my actual weight. I know I need to lose weight and maybe having the figures out there in public each week will be more motivating. We'll see. I may also look for the most unflattering picture of myself I can find and post that as motivation.

I'm using Weight Watcher's as my nutritional support. I joined back in December and go on Tuesday nights. I'm hoping that if folks have a good weight loss week during the challenge, they will post what is working for them so the rest of us can learn and benefit as well.

My starting weight this morning is 203.5. The scale actually said 'Error' when I got on it - I didn't think that was a good sign, but perhaps it just needs a new battery. According to WW for my height (5'11"), my target weight at the high end should be 173, so my goal is to lose 30.5 pounds. I'll weigh in again Saturday morning and go from there.

Here's to a healthy year for all of us. Good Luck, Everyone!

Goodbye 2007, Hello 2008

2007-12-31T13:13:00.000-05:00

(Click on the Post title for a song)

It is the time of year when most people reflect on the past year, and have high hopes for what the New Year will bring.

Here are some good things 2007 brought to our family:

* Our new kitchen early in the year, that I had been wanting for 20 years in this house (the new built-in dishwasher is my favorite addition).
* A new Brother-in-Law, when my sister got married in March.
* My ability to quit my stressful job and work from home.
* Working from home provides me with a flexible schedule, that allowed me to spend more time with our 3 year old, and our grandsons.
* Our new Son-in-law, when my daughter Megan got married in November.
* A renewed focus on our health and well-being (our will power is another story, but we'll work on that).
* Continued contact with Good friends
* Supportive and loving families
* My kids did not have any major difficulties this year and are healthy.
* My new Bloggy friends !

Of course, the year brought bad with the good, but no point in focusing on that.

Here are my New Year's Resolutions, if you want to call them that. It's a list of what I hope to accomplish and be in 2008.

1) I want to take a few classes this year, for fun. The first class will be either a Health Food cooking class, or a Watercolor class. I'm undecided right now. The local Adult evening school offers both, so we'll see. I need to register in the next week or so. I'd like to take 2 more throughout the year.

2) Since I've been working from home, my brain has gotten a little lazy. I've found I need to keep my mind working more, so I am going to try to do crossword puzzles this year. I've always enjoyed them but don't often think of doing them when I have a spare half hour. I'm dragging out all my crossword books and keeping them in a visible place so I will be more likely to do them.

3) I love to read, but again, don't always have time. We have 3 tall bookcases in the house overly-crammed full of reading material. I've decided that instead of buying new books this year, I am going to start reading the ones we have. I've read some and have held onto them, but a lot are given by others and haven't been touched. Once I read them, I will either try to sell them on Amazon.com or pass them to others. I think I will add a sidebar to my blog soon, with books I already read and would like to pass on, and if anyone is interested, I'll send it to you for you to enjoy. I started a book swap at my old company and everyone loved it. I'd like to be able to get rid of one bookcase by the end of 2008.

4) I want to de-clutter our home and our lives. Our closet is the first place, then the living room, then the game closet, then the basement and...well, the entire house actually. Our house is very small, and I can't figure out how to hide the clutter, like DVDs and books and all of the other stuff that ends up laying around everyday. We are not sloppy, just cluttered, and it is hard to come up with new space for storage.

5) I want us to be healthy and more fit.

6) I want to be less critical. I try not to voice criticism often, but a lot of times I will think it. So I want to learn to be more tolerant.

7) I want to help my mother with things more often.

8) I want to be more firm with Little Grim when it comes to her sleeping in her own bed. She ends up in our room almost every night at some point, and it makes for a poor night's sleep most of the time. With her and the dog, we now need a king size bed. But when she knocks on the door at 3 AM, it is hard to be tough about it.

9) I'd like to have more dates with my husband, so we have to find time for that. Even if we just run out to a local pizza joint or the mall is fine with me. Getting out by ourselves is one of the biggest thing I miss because my income dropped this year. We don't get out the way we used to.

10) Hmm, I don't think there is a number 10.

So that is it. I'm sure I'll think of others. What do you hope to accomplish in 2008?

Happy New Year, Everyone! And Thanks to everyone who bothered to stop here and read my thoughts this year. I appreciate all of you - you help keep me connected (at times in some bizarre way!) with the outside world.

I'll leave you with this U2 song. Click on the title of this post (sorry, I couldn't get it directly on the post like most normal people). See you next year!

How much is your blog worth?

2007-12-20T17:03:00.000-05:00

I swiped this from USA Admiral.

My blog is worth $6,209.94.
How much is your blog worth?

Mine is worth $6,209.94, but I have no idea why.

Who exactly is going to be paying me this money? That's what I want to know.

Christmas Meme

2007-12-20T08:50:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited, RT tagged me for a Meme and it's my first one!

1. Wrapping or gift bags? This year, it is wrapping, I decided. I have the time, so rather than just quickly drop something in a bag, I thought I would wrap everything. I bought some nice bows and stuff.

2. Real or artificial tree? Real, I like the aroma. Although when I see the prices each year, I wish I had an artificial one.

3. When do you put up the tree? Usually three weeks before Christmas, because I like to enjoy it for a while.

4. When do you take the tree down? End of the first week of January usually.

5. Do you like egg nog? Gag; no! (I'm with RT on this one!) Why put the booze in a thick creamy substance? I prefer hot cider that's been heated with cinnamon sticks and slices of oranges in it. And it makes the house smell great.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Wow, that's a tough one. For years I wanted a pottery wheel, and never got it. Then I finally did and it was a letdown, cuz it kind of sucked. I guess it would be a doll I had could walk when I held its hand. That was pretty cool.

7. Do you have a Nativity scene? Yes, it is on top of the entertainment center in the living room. I don't put Baby Jesus in til Christmas Eve. I guess technically, the three Wise Men should be in another room since they haven't gotten there yet either.

8. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Maybe that pottery wheel, just for the disappointment factor. Or maybe the year my ex-husband shopped for me at the dollar store at the last possible minute and didn't think I'd be able to tell.

9. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards? Mail, we sent about a hundred this year. I don't have addresses for all of you folks or I would have included you as well. No email usually.

10. Favorite Christmas Movie? It's a toss-up. I love A Christmas Story, but I also love the Muppets Christmas Carol, with Michael Caine as Scrooge. That one is edging into first place.

11. When do you start shopping for Christmas? We try to keep our eyes out for things during the year, so I would say sometimes we've started as early as the summer. Then we put them in a bin in the attic to store them. But the bulk is done in December.

12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Gosh, another hard one. Snickerdoodles for the cookie choice, my mother made them every year forever. My brother does the baking now. And candy canes, for the candy choice.

13. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Both, I put clear lights all around the center of the tree, and the colored lights around the outside. It gives the tree kind of an inner glow. No blinkers this year on the tree, we must have got the lights mixed up because we ended up with blinkers outside on the front bushes.

14. Favorite Christmas song? "O Holy Night"

I tag SoHoS, USA Admiral and Jeffro (if he's up to it!). Merry Christmas!

Holiday Happenings and Random Ramblings

2007-12-19T07:41:00.000-05:00

I've been a very poor blogger this past week and haven't posted anything on my own site since last Thursday. I think it's just the holiday fervor. Here is what has been going on here at the Grim household:

Last Saturday, my sister and her husband had a cookie-baking party. I know people who do cookie exchanges, but they usually bake them in their own house and then show up with 50 million cookies to share with the group. Instead, the family got together to bake them together. My sis has two kitchens that are sort of adjoining, as their house has an In-law Suite that they opened up to give them more space. So we had the ovens going all day. I made Paula Deen's Loaded Oatmeal Cookies. They were yummy. I did substitute dried cranberries for the walnuts since I don't care for nuts in my cookies.

Of course, by the time the day was over, there was not a whole lot left of everything to take home! And what we did bring home is already gone. So I will probably make a batch or two of something this weekend to have on Christmas Day. One of the best cookies of the day - one of the teenage friends made a chocolate cookie with a Rollo candy baked inside. The candy melted and there was gooey chocolate and caramel inside when you bit into them. I only got one of them, which is probably a good thing.

The next day, we were supposed to attend another family Christmas party, this time on my brother-in-law's side. We usually only see this part of the family for a pool party in the summer, and then at Christmas time. But the brother-in-laws got iced in and couldn't attend, so we were not obligated to go. While we enjoy all of their company, we were relieved that we had the day to catch up on our own stuff at home. So we dragged Little Grim out for an afternoon of shopping and an early dinner at the local Bennigan's. It was exactly the kind of day we needed to get refreshed - no rushing. Hard to believe with the holiday shoppers out there, but we actually had a nice relaxing afternoon.

Monday, Little Grim and I had dentist appointments. This was her first actual visit, although she had come with me six months ago and recently with her brother, so she was familiar with the office. She did terrific. She drew the hygienist a picture to hang up in the office while I was getting my teeth cleaned. She stood next to my head and watched, and asked all kinds of questions about what the hygienist was doing. She was concerned about the bib they put on you. Bibs are for babies and she didn't want one. But she hopped right up in the chair when it was her turn and wore the bib, and actually had a fun time. She asked for Princess dental floss and a Princess toothbrush, which she was given, along with Princess toothpaste.

The hygienist was great with her. I'm thinking about writing the office a letter to thank them for making her first visit a good one. When we got out to the car, she said "I LOVE going to the dentist!". I took pictures with my camera phone, but can't figure out how to email them to myself (duh).

I'm having dinner tonight with my friend Lisa from work that I haven't seen in a few months, so Grimjack and the Little are on their own tonight. Then a Christmas lunch with my bosses tomorrow that I am also looking forward to - they have made reservations somewhere but won't tell me where, so I am meeting them at their office (which is also their house, since we all work from home). They've mentioned a Thai place near them so I'm sort of hoping it's there. But anywhere will be good, I'm sure.

Saturday, Megan and Baby Benny are coming up from Jersey, so we are having everyone over Saturday night. They won't be coming up Christmas day, so we are doing a causal 'Christmas' dinner so she can exchange gifts with her Pollyanna, and pick up everything we have for her and Chris and Benny, so they can open it all on Christmas morning at home, in their new house. Chris lost his Mom a year ago to cancer, and this year has been hard on him, with their getting married and the new house and not having her around to enjoy it with them. So they are laying low this Christmas.

I think I've bored you enough! Happy Holidays to all of you, and Thank You to everyone who stops by to read!

I do plan to post my New Year's Resolutions later in the month. I'd love to hear yours as well.

I Declare Today is.....

2007-12-13T12:19:00.000-05:00

PAJAMA DAY!

Little Grim and I decided today was Pajama Day. She is sick this week, she had a fever over 103 last night, and decided to start vomiting all over me and the bed around midnight. So needless to say we didn't get a full night's sleep last night.

So after our shower/bath today, we both got into our fresh, matching blue PJs with the clouds on them, and are happily doing not much of anything today. Well, I'm working but it doesn't feel that way really, since I am in my...Pajamas! Oh, and a pink pair of Grimjack's socks that I accidentally washed with my red sweater.

Happy Pajama Day, All !!

Officer Chuck Cassidy

2007-12-11T09:54:00.000-05:00

I was just out dropping off Little Grim at pre-school, and I was sickened to hear that some scumbag broke into the Dunkin Donuts where Officer Chuck Cassidy was shot and killed, and stole the donation jar that had been put there to benefit his family.

How low can someone go? Pursue him with a vengeance, Wyatt!

Coolest gadget we have for the Christmas Tree this year

2007-12-10T20:02:00.000-05:00

Check this out:

The Christmas Tree Water Alert looks like a snowman ornament, and is attached to a sensor gadget that you place in your tree stand, in the water. When the water gets within an inch of the bottom of the stand, the snowman starts to flash. When the snowman flashes, you know it is time to replace the water in your tree stand.

We bought one two years ago at an after-Christmas sale for probably practically nothing, and hadn't used it. Grimjack tried it this year and it is awesome. I am always bad at remembering to water the tree, and usually after the first week or so, the tree starts dropping needles like crazy.

But now, I can keep the tree watered, making it less of a fire hazard. Sweet.

Remember These ??

2007-12-07T15:02:00.000-05:00

My Number One Son, who is 17 and a half, was cleaning out his closet this past weekend (A Christmas Miracle) while I was away, and came across this,

stuck in the back of his closet. Since it has hot pink hair, I reckon that this particular Troll doll belonged to one of his sisters, which probably makes this troll over 20 years old. So it has survived quite a lot - the tortures of 4 children, and a nice long hibernation in the back of a dark closet. Remember playing with them, and brushing their hair?

Well, here is what the troll doll looks like now, after 5 minutes with the dog:

A Triple Amputee. Nice. Luckily Little Grim hadn't gotten too attached to it.

But notice how nice his hair looks - I brushed it before I threw it in the trash.

Letter to Santa

2007-12-07T13:41:00.000-05:00

This is Little Grim's Christmas letter to Santa:

Dear Santa,

I want the froggy game. I will leave you cookies and milk, and carrots for the Reindeer. I love Reindeers.

Please leave balls for Benny and Bo. They are babies. I would like a new Bouncy Bouncy (this is what she calls one of those inflatable balls with a handle that she bounces on) and a ball for me.

You'll have to bring something for Lynda - maybe scissors. Maybe a pineapple for Steph, and a fish tank for sharks for Steve. For Megan, I would like a Peter Pan movie for us to watch at her new house.

I want a little dog that I can walk with dear Maggie (our dog). I want my own phone so I can call someone for real.

Thank you,
Love, Kara and Maggie

When I asked her if she wanted to expain to Santa who Benny and Bo were (they are our grandsons, and her nephews), she said "No, he'll remember". She apparently told the Mall Santa about them.

50 Things you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask....

2007-12-05T18:40:00.000-05:00

RT had this voluntary meme at her site. I thought I'd give it a try. I even swiped her graphic.

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought? Ugh, I need a haircut.

2. How much cash do you have on you? About $4.50 in change.

3. What’s a word that rhymes with DOOR? Floor.

4. Favorite planet? Saturn.

5. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone? My daughter Steph

6. What is your favorite ring tone on your phone? Silent.

7. What shirt are you wearing? Pink Tee with sparkly beads around the collar.

8. Do you label yourself? Sure, who doesn't.

9. Name the brand of the shoes you’re currently wearing? Some kind of sneaker from Walmart.

10. Bright or Dark Room? Bright.

11. What do you think about the person who took this survey before you? Fun chick

12. What does your watch look like? Don't wear one.

13. What were you doing at midnight last night? Sleeping.

14. What did your last text message you received on your cell say?
It wasn't actually a text message, it was an animated elf mooning me, from my sister.

15. Where is your nearest 7-11? Probably a mile and a half away. Two Wa-Wa's and a Cumberland Farm closer.

16. What's a word that you say a lot? Shit.

17. Who told you he/she loved you last? Grimjack, or Little Grim. I'm very lucky to hear it from my family frequently.

18. Last furry thing you touched? Rather not say, Heh! Actually it was the dog.

19. How many drugs have you done in the last three days? None.

20. How many rolls of film do you need developed? None, we went digital 4 years ago and got caught up.

21. Favorite age you have been so far? I don't think I really had a favorite, but I'm sure at the time that 18 felt pretty good.

22. Your worst enemy? Gummy Bears - I need a 12 Step program.

23. What is your current desktop picture? A picture of Little Grim when she fell asleep with a pretzel in her hand, and then she rolled over and it was stuck to her forehead. A Kodak moment she will hate me for later. See below!

24. What was the last thing you said to someone? I'll be right back.

25. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to fly what would it be? The money, since none of the rest of the family could fly with me.

26. Do you like someone? Sure, I like lots of people.

27. The last song you listened to? Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, sung by Little Grim in the car.

28. What time of day were you born? I actually don't know.

29. What’s your favorite number? My favorite number is 13, just because it was supposed to be unlucky.

30. Where did you live in 1987? PA, in the same house actually.

31. Are you jealous of anyone? Yes, people who do not have to work and can spend unlimited amounts of time with their kids doing fun stuff.

32. Is anyone jealous of you? All of my old co-workers, since I left the company to work from home.

33. Where were you when 9/11 happened? Home sick from work, watching it unfold.

34. What do you do when vending machines steal your money? I usually give it a smack to see if it will dislodge something, which never works, then I curse.

35. Do you consider yourself kind? 99% of the time, yes. If I find myself thinking unkind things about someone, I try to check my attitude - unless they deserve my unkind thoughts.

36. If you had to get a tattoo, where would it be? Well, I have two, so I would say base of spine (my son calls these 'tramp stamps') and...somwhere else.

37. If you could be fluent in any other language, what would it be? Spanish would be the most useful but I would like to learn Italian.

38. Would you move for the person you loved? Yes, unless it was MN, which is where Grimjack's corporate office is. Weather up there around the lakes is way too crappy in the winter. Last time I was in MN, it snowed the whole time and was only 2 degrees out.

39. Are you touchy feely? Yes, once I know someone well.

40. What’s your life motto? Keep a positive attitude, it can make all of the difference in the world.

41. Name three things that you have on you at all times? My purse, crayons, coupons I leave in a shoe box in the car.

42. What’s your favorite town/city? Of the ones I've been to, I'd say London. But I've spent the most time in Philly.

43. What was the last thing you paid for with cash? Two coffees and a cookie at Starbucks yesterday.

44. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it? I can't even remember. It's a dying art, unfortunately. I do always write things in greeting cards when I send them, though.

45. Can you change the oil on a car? No, but I can check it.

46. Your first love: what is the last thing you heard about him/her? That he had beat up the current girlfriend. That was years ago.

47. How far back do you know about your ancestry? Only three generations back on my Dad's side, to Poland and Slovakia.

48. The last time you dressed fancy, what did you wear and what did you dress in? My daughter's wedding two weeks ago, a long flowery dress that I borrowed from my sister.

49. Does anything hurt on your body right now? Lower back.

50. Have you been burned by love? Sure, who hasn't?

Happy Birthday RT !

2007-11-30T18:55:00.001-05:00

You should all drop by RT’s Place to wish her a Happy Birthday on Saturday, December 1st.

Have a Good One, RT!

Road Trip, Part Two !

2007-11-30T18:39:00.000-05:00

I'm heading back to Cape May tomorrow to help my daughter and son-in-law unpack. They moved into their new house this past week, in Erma NJ. Little Grim and I are going down until Wednesday, and we are leaving earlier than expected, due to the incoming wintery weather that is due Sunday. So, we are heading out tomorrow afternoon instead. I won't have any blogging time tonight or tomorrow before I leave, so have a good weekend, All, and I'll 'see' you later in the week.

Out of the Mouths of Babes....

2007-11-29T16:55:00.000-05:00

HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHO TO MARRY? (written by kids)

You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like, if you like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep the chips and dip coming.
-- Alan, age 10

No person really decides before they grow up who they're going to marry. God decides it all way before, and you get to find out later who you're stuck with.
-- Kristen, age 10

WHAT IS THE RIGHT AGE TO GET MARRIED?
Twenty-three is the best age because you know the person FOREVER by then.
-- Camille, age 10

HOW CAN A STRANGER TELL IF TWO PEOPLE ARE MARRIED?
You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids.
-- Derrick, age 8

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR MOM AND DAD HAVE IN COMMON?
Both don't want any more kids.
-- Lori, age 8

WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE DO ON A DATE?
Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough.
-- Lynnette, age 8 (isn't she a treasure)

On the first date, they just tell each other lies and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date.
-- Martin, age 10

WHAT WOULD YOU DO ON A FIRST DATE THAT WAS TURNING SOUR?
I'd run home and play dead. The next day I would call all the newspapers and make sure they wrote about me in all the dead columns.
-- Craig, age 9

WHEN IS IT OKAY TO KISS SOMEONE?
When they're rich.
-- Pam, age 7

The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn't want to mess with that.
- - Curt, age 7

The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should marry them and have kids with them. It's the right thing to do.
-- Howard, age 8

IS IT BETTER TO BE SINGLE OR MARRIED?
It's better for girls to be single but not for boys. Boys need someone to clean up after them.
-- Anita, age 9 (bless you child)

HOW WOULD THE WORLD BE DIFFERENT IF PEOPLE DIDN'T GET MARRIED?
There sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn't there?
-- Kelvin, age 8

And the #1 Favorite is........
HOW WOULD YOU MAKE A MARRIAGE WORK?
Tell your wife that she looks pretty, even if she looks like a truck.
-- Ricky, age 10

Mrs Grim's Holiday Gift-Giving Tips

2007-11-28T07:16:00.000-05:00

In the spirit of the upcoming Christmas Holiday and since we are deluged with junk gift catalogs at this time of year, I decided to seek out some interesting and mainly useless gifts for you to give your loved ones this year. So here they are.

This is my favorite - For the pregnant missus or girlfriend. If I had a pregnant friend, I would seriously buy her this shirt, but I don't. But Wyatt, if you are interested, you can find it at www.femailcreations.com.

Here is a towel you can give, in case you know someone who is confused after their shower. Or maybe they are just a buttface and you want to let them know that.

This one is for that special homeless friend who is living in their car. It is a heated blanket that can cover up to two people (for those nights when a special friend is invited to sleep over), the cord of which can only be plugged into the lighter of a car. In the old days of Drive-in Movies this might have come in handy.

Here's one for the good cook in your life. It is an egg separator. Personally, I wouldn't be able to eat anything that came out of his nose, but the ad says "You get the job done - with a giggle!". How about with vomit?

Here is a good one for the bitter, scorned woman in your life. I'm not hanging up a sign in my house that says testicles, but if you know someone whose favorite song right now is "I will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor, this is the gift for them.

Here is another personal favorite. What a Turn On! Cuz we women love a man with a square penis.

Here is a party game I bet you don't have yet. Sit around with your loved ones after your holiday dinner and share the sounds of laughter (and much more). NOTE: Includes compact disc with flatulence noises that can alter the course of the game in an instant.

Watch out for that 'Silent But Deadly' penalty card.

Or how about a 'Bog Monster' for your nervous friends who are afraid of everything. Imagine their surprise in the middle of the night when they lift the lid and this guy jumps out. I guess I'm old school, I think Saran wrap over the seat is funnier for your guy friends. And for the special woman in your life, just leave the seat up so her a$$ hits the cold bowl. Hey, I just saved you $16.95 with that suggestion.

Lastly, we all know someone who is saving for something special - maybe a trip or home improvement, or something for their kids. Why not give them a place to put their spare change? As an added bonus, the bank makes farting noises when coins are deposited! Who wouldn't love that? This will make saving their money so much more entertaining. This can be yours for the low, low price of $14.95.

Those are my holiday gift tips for today. I hope this was helpful.

Take the Booze test....

2007-11-26T13:13:00.000-05:00

82%LUSH

Colorado Springs Dating

I swiped this from Jeffro at The Poor Farm.

I didn't expect to be a Lush, I guess I know more about alcohol than I actually drink it.

Count Your Blessings

2007-11-22T09:54:00.000-05:00

From our Family to Yours - Safe travels to everyone going to visit loved ones, and we hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving! Don't forget to count your blessings!

My week

2007-11-20T22:26:00.001-05:00

I haven't been doing much blogging lately, either on my own or on others' blogs. The last few weeks have been busy, as they are for everyone. With the upcoming holidays, things will probably not calm down until after New Year's.

Here is what has been going on this last week:

* I've started working on some Christmas gifts. My newly married daughter Megan was in the Campfire Girls for about 6 years, when she was younger. It's sort of equivalent to the Girl Scouts but they don't sell cookies. They earned badges, went camping, raised money themselves for traveling to events, and so on. They sewed or glued their badges and beads onto ceremonial gowns that they made themselves and would proudly wear to meetings and events. One of her Campfire leaders, Jackie Bolger, was a wonderful woman who became a mentor of sorts to my daughter. Jackie encouraged her in everything she did and I'd like to think that my Megan became the wonderful woman she is, in part due to Jackie. A few months ago, Jackie became ill. I had been wanting to do something with her Campfire gown and decided to make two shadow boxes, using parts of the gown and all her awards that she worked so hard for all those years. Jackie died the day before Megan's wedding. I completed the shadow boxes this weekend, and they turned out beautifully. I made them to hang one above the other, so it looks like the front of her gown. Jackie would be proud.

The other gifts I am working on are scrapbooks for each of my older kids. When they were younger, they sometimes complained that they didn't have complete baby books. Two of them didn't even actually have baby books. With 4 kids in a relatively short period, who had the time? So I decided to go through all my pictures, and make each of them a scrapbook from their childhood. I just finished the oldest's book today. I know the girls will love them, I'm not so sure about the boy. But he will get one anyway, hopefully along with all of his Cub Scout gear and badges in a shadow box as well, if I have time. He'll probably care even less about that - his shadow box is more for me. I was his Cub Scout leader for a time so he earned a good portion of his awards due to our joint efforts.

Oh, shoot, I hope they aren't keeping up with my blog.

* Our dog has really been agressive lately, and even more so since she was boarded for those few days while we were away for the wedding. I work from home and she's been making my life miserable every day, by barking incessantly when she wants attention, and nipping. So tomorrow we have a dog trainer coming to the house to observe her and teach us how to re-establish leadership and dominance. Hopefully this intervention will help. Otherwise I'll have to replace her with a little tiny dog I can carry to the Mall in my purse. (I would never do that, but I have seen it in our local mall, and I don't get it. Why would you take your dog to the Mall? They don't even have a pet store in ours.)

* End of a Discussion between Little Grim and I (I don't recall what we were discussing but according to her, she was right and I was wrong and she was getting increasingly frustrated with me):

Me: I'm sorry, I'm afraid you're incorrect.

Kara: Well, I'm afraid you're...stupid.

That was the funniest thing she said to me all week. To her credit, she looked very sheepish when I turned and walked back into the room to explain that was very rude and she owed me an apology. She did apologize. I can't imagine what she will be like in 10 years.

* I joined Weight Watchers (again) last week. I go on Tuesday nights. Coincidentally, Kara's pre-school teacher, with whom I went to high school, does also, so it gives us a chance to catch up on the last 25 years. It's like my big night out, since I don't get much interaction during the day. My first week was very successful, I lost 4.8 pounds. That is a great motivator and hopefully this time I will see it through. I'll be 47 next year, and being on the slippery slope to 50 sure makes you re-evaluate your health.

* Oh, and I lost a part of a filling tonight during dinner so I now have to try to get into the dentist tomorrow.

Support Operation Bedding

2007-11-17T19:08:00.000-05:00

My daughter went to a fund-raising Holiday Gala last night, held at the William Penn Inn in Gwynedd, PA. The Gala was held to raise money for Operation Bedding. This link takes you to the website. The Gala included cocktails, dinner, Art Viewing and a live auction. Here is the information provided by Mary Conboy, mother of Lance Corporal Adam C. Conboy, killed in Iraq Friday, May 12, 2006. Mary Conboy attended the Gala and their Guest Speaker was Petty Officer Christopher Painter.

"Operation bedding came to be after a Sunday morning phone call from our son Adam. At the time he was serving in Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He asked if we could send him sheets and pillows, he requested forty sets. He explained that the troops had no sheets and the weather was so hot that the comfort of a clean sheet would be nice, Adam was concerned that his friends have the same comforts that he had and that's why he needed forty sets. He jokingly said, "Get Operation Bedding going, Mom."

That Friday he was killed.

Without even realizing it, Adam had inspired his own memorial fund. For the funeral services, we requested donations instead of flowers so we could grant Adam's last request and send a shipment of supplies over to his friends still serving in Iraq.

The outpouring of gratitude from our troops was so overwhelming, we knew this effort must continue. Since then, with the support and generosity of others like yourselves, we have been able to send nearly 10,000 boxes of basic supplies to our troops, bringing the comforts of home to Iraq. We believe it is a simple and personal way to express our gratitude to those so willing to lay down their lives for our freedom."

I just wanted to share this information. I only heard of this through my daughter, who is dating a former Marine. We have in the past sent care packages over to Iraq, but it has been a while and this was a good reminder for me to keep our soldiers in mind, especially with the holidays coming up. If my son or daughter was serving, it would make me happy to know that someone cares.

All Gave Some, Some Gave All

We're Back

2007-11-14T17:25:00.001-05:00

I finally have some time for blogging. Thanks to everyone for your Congratulations and Best Wishes!

My daughter's wedding turned out wonderful. They had to virtually do all of the planning themselves, with frequent phone calls to us, since they live two hours away. Everything was terrific, in spite of my daughter being the Supreme Procrastinator. (As an example of her procrastination - her aunt had to do alterations to her wedding dress the MORNING of the wedding - I kid you not).

My four girls are the two on both ends.

The ceremony was held at the Cape May Lutheran Church. My daughter was raised Catholic, but her husband Chris is not, but my daughter really wanted to get married in a church so they selected that one. The pastor was a young, very personable, former military chaplain. His personality came through and the ceremony felt intimate even though he did not know the kids well. Although I admit, we had to focus on keeping control of Little Grim, who was the flower girl, and our grandson Benny, who was the ring-bearer and is 18 months old. So we probably did not hear as much of the ceremony as we could have.

These are my four kids from my first marriage along with Chris the groom and Benny.

The flower girl and ring bearer walked down the aisle hand-in-hand, with him dragging the pillow next to him. Kara held on to him so tightly, she forgot to drop the petals from her basket. She decided to do that during the actual ceremony, which kept her busy for a while. Unfortunately we don't have clear pictures of them going down the aisle.

After the ceremony, we adjourned to The Peter Shields Inn around the corner for the reception, where our new son-in-law is a chef. He actually made the crab cakes for his own wedding. The kids planned the whole menu and the food was fantastic. (Two of the girls and I ate dinner one night there last summer, when Chris cooked, and it was the best meal I'd ever eaten.)

There was a digital baby grand piano at the Inn. If you've ever seen an old Player Piano, the keys move while the music is playing, as if someone is actually striking the keys. Kara thought that was great and was trying to play at the same time. So someone gave her a Tip glass. She made $2.25.

Cake Cutting

Here is the bride dancing with Kara, Benny and our other grandson Bo.

Here is a close up of their cake topper.

You CAN have your cake and eat it too!

We took Benny after the reception on Friday so the kids could take a short honeymoon in Williamsburg, VA. They picked him up last night - I am so out of practice with having more than one young child in the house. Fortunately he is a great sleeper, so we had some respite at night!

Here are Kara and Benny in our hotel room Friday night, enjoying their 'healthy' dinner - hot dogs and cheese fries from a local pizza joint.

We did take the kids out into town for while Friday night, since the reception was a luncheon, but we didn't spend much time walking or shopping,etc. Luckily for me, I am going back down around December 2nd for several days, to help them get settled in their new house. They have closing 11/27 and have to be out of their rental house by Dec 1st. We'll try to squeeze in some Christmas shopping at the Delaware outlets while I'm there. We can just take the ferry over.

A great time was had by all. It is hard to believe it is already over.

Road Trip !

2007-11-08T11:27:00.000-05:00

We are leaving shortly for my daughter's wedding down in Cape May, NJ. So I will not be blogging for a few days, but I'll stop in and catch up with all of your writings when we get back. I leave you a link to a song, click on the post title.

Toodles!

The Charles "Chuck" Cassidy Family Memorial Fund

2007-11-02T11:50:00.000-04:00

You may or may not have heard about Officer Chuck Cassidy, a Philadelphia police officer who was murdered this week. Our Philly detective friend Wyatt at Support Your Local Gunfighter is appealing to his readership to Please donate what you can to the Charles "Chuck" Cassidy Memorial Fund.

Here are the details:

Members of the Philadelphia Police Department's 35th District have established a trust fund for the family of Police Officer Chuck Cassidy, who was killed in the line of duty on Thursday, November 1, 2007 .

Anyone wishing to make a donation can do so in the following ways:

By mailing a check payable to:

The Charles Cassidy Family Memorial Trust Fund
901 Arch Street
Philadelphia PA, 19107

Donations can also be personally taken to the 35th Police District, which is located at 5960 N. Broad St. Philadelphia PA, 19141 or to any of the following Philadelphia Police and Fire Credit Union Branches:

901 Arch Street, 7604 City Avenue, 8500 Henry Avenue, 3338 S. Broad Street, Leo Mall - Byberry and Bustleton Avenues, 7500 Castor Avenue, and 3330 Grant Avenue.

Thank You for your support.

Reminiscing about 1977

2007-11-02T10:23:00.000-04:00

Someone emailed me a post from the 15 Minute Lunch blog, which I had not visited previously. Apparently Johnny Virgil's post about a 1977 JC Penney Catalog he came across has rocketed his blog to insane viewing proportions. I'm sharing it here because it was hilarious and deserved pimping. Check out the rest of his Blog here as well.

Ah, the good old days.....

Perspective

2007-11-01T17:30:00.000-04:00

I had to go to Walmart the other day, for jeans (you know why, if you read an earlier post titled 'My Embarrassing Moment"). They carry Talls in jeans, which I have trouble finding. Plus, let's face it, they are cheap.

Anyway, I pulled into the parking lot, and noticed a black Hummer on the right. Not sure what model exactly, but it was one of the bigger ones. There were a few parking spots available past it on the same side, but I noticed a women standing in the spot next to the Hummer so I pulled in the one down from that. I got out of the car and went around to get Little Grim out of the back of the van and happened to glance over at the woman in the empty parking spot.

I then did a double take. The woman was....drumroll, please....DUSTING the outside of the Hummer, with some sort of duster. I kid you not. That is why she was standing in the empty parking spot.

I wanted to remind her that she was in the Walmart parking lot and most shoppers would not care if her Hummer was dusty. Now there is one woman who needs a dose of reality and has too much time on her hands.

Our Scurvy Pirate

2007-10-31T16:03:00.001-04:00

This is her best "Aarrgghh". She doesn't like wearing the eye patch, though.

Happy Haunting !

Iowa Taxman chooses Trick over Treat

2007-10-31T13:45:00.000-04:00

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- The taxman in Iowa is going after jack-o'-lanterns this Halloween.

Most pumpkins are used as decorations, making them taxable, Iowa has ruled.

The new department policy was implemented after officials decided that pumpkins are used primarily for Halloween decorations, not food, and should be taxed, said Renee Mulvey, the department's spokeswoman.

"We made the change because we wanted the sales tax law to match what we thought the predominant use was," Mulvey said. "We thought the predominant use was for decorations or jack-o'-lanterns."

Previously, pumpkins had been considered an edible squash and exempted from the tax. The department ruled this year that pumpkins are taxable -- with some exceptions -- if they are advertised for use as jack-'o-lanterns or decorations.

Iowans planning to eat pumpkins can still get a tax exemption if they fill out a form.

The new policy, published in the department's September newsletter, has some pumpkin farmers feeling tricked this Halloween. "I don't mind paying taxes, but let's get real here, people," said Bob Kautz, owner of the Buffalo Pumpkin Patch in Buffalo, just west of Davenport.

Fill out a form to eat a pumpkin? Nothing would be sillier.

Did You Know...?

2007-10-30T15:16:00.000-04:00

...that Pumpkins were once recommended for removing freckles and curing snake bites.

The largest pumpkin ever grown weighed 1,446 pounds.

Pumpkins are fruit. They are 90 percent water and contain potassium and Vitamin A.

Native Americans dried strips of pumpkin and wove them into mats. They also roasted long strips of pumpkin on the open fire and ate them.

Colonists sliced off pumpkin tops, removed seeds and filled the insides with milk, spices and honey. This was baked in hot ashes and is the origin of pumpkin pie.

Illinois grows more pumpkins than any other state in the country. It harvests nearly 12,300 acres of fruit.

Halloween also is recognized as the 3rd biggest party day after New Year's and Super Bowl Sunday.

Trick-or-treating is thought to have its origins in a European custom called souling where people would beg for "soul cakes."

Legendary magician Harry Houdini died in Detroit from a ruptured appendix on Halloween in 1926.

*Courtesy of The History Channel, Little Grim's Crayola Cookie Kit, and pumpkinmasters.com. Puking Pumpkin courtesy of extremepumpkins.com*

First 'Horror' Movie in Theaters

2007-10-30T11:11:00.000-04:00

In keeping with my Halloween movie theme, here is the first 'horror' movie that played in theaters for an audience, in 1895 - Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (The Lumiere Brothers). Apparently the audience completely panicked and ran out of the theater because they thought the train was actually going to hit them.

It's Alive !

2007-10-30T10:11:00.000-04:00

Since tomorrow is Halloween, I thought I'd blog about Horror/Suspense movies. The movies I like aren't necessarily about blood and gore. I like the feeling that you can't stand to wait for what is going to happen next, or the ones where you want to yell at the character "Don't open that closet door!" I've never been able to watch the Freddy Krueger - Nightmare on Elm Street movies. They just freak me out.

Here is a list of my top favorites, in no particular order:

Frankenstein, 1931
Halloween, 1978, with Jamie Lee Curtis
Night of the Living Dead, 1968 - Who doesn't love zombies, or brains?
Psycho, 1960 - The Janet Leigh shower scene is the best of all time. Incidentally, she is Jamie Lee Curtis's Mom.
The Birds , 1963 with Tippi Hedren - An Alfred Hitchcock classic
Jaws, 1975 - The shark music is probably the most recognizable tune, and great fun at the beach.
Carrie, 1976 - Makes you appreciate your own prom, doesn't it?
The Fly, 1986, with Jeff Goldblum - I liked the original as well, but the remake was way more disturbing.
Gaslight, 1944 with Ingrid Bergman - You may not have seen or heard of this one, it's kind of a mind-f*** movie. If you like old movies, it's worth a watch.
Rebecca, 1940 - Another Alfred Hitchcock, another mind-f*** movie.

There are probably a dozen more I am neglecting to add. Alfred Hitchcock is probably my favorite director of the horror/suspense genre. The effects were pretty good for the day, although today some may seem kind of campy. But that just makes them all the more fun and entertaining for me. I probably could have listed just about any movie he directed here. I also always loved the cheesy Japanese monster movies - Godzilla, etc.

Oh, I forgot the Manchurian Candidate, 1962, also with Janet Leigh, and Frank Sinatra. Oh, and The Boys from Brazil, and The Omen. Seriously creepy. I could go on and on.

What are your favorites?

I don't drink....Wine.

2007-10-27T23:37:00.000-04:00

You Could Be a Vampire... If You Had To

Like most people, the thought of being a vampire has crossed your mind. But you're not sure if you'd do it, even if you could.
Living forever doesn't sound half bad, if you could live forever with the people you love the most.
But do vampires even love? And would the vampire version of you even be you?
It's all too much to contemplate. Luckily, the chances of you ever becoming a vampire are astronomically low.

What you would like best about being a vampire: Living forever

What you would like least about being a vampire: Blood stained teeth

Could You Be a Vampire?

I'd hate to have to give up garlic. Swiped this from Jeffro.

New Wine

2007-10-25T22:12:00.000-04:00

We tried a new Spanish wine tonight, a Vina Tobia Rioja. Rachel Ray had cooked with a Rioja during an episode recently so I decided to try it. I really enjoyed it. The label says it has bright color; a clean fresh berry aroma and flavor; and a soft mouthfeel that carries into the elegant finish. It was very nice. Grimjack prefers a sweeter, less dry wine. It went very nicely with the meal, since I had used the wine in the Stoup (thicker than a soup but not as thick as a stew).

I'll keep this one on our list.

Yours, Mine and Ours

2007-10-25T22:04:00.000-04:00

Tonight is Henry Fonda night on the Turner Classic Movie station. Little Grim and I watched Yours, Mine and Ours, with Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball. There are very few non-animated movies that will hold her attention, but I thought I'd give it a try since there were so many children in it. It kept her attention pretty well, for the most part. At one point at the end of the movie, she said "Are they going to live happily ever after?"

Next on is one called Spencer's Mountain, with Maureen O'Hara. I've never seen this one but I love Maureen O'Hara (from the original Parent Trap, and The Quiet Man), so I'm going to try to get her to settle down with me and watch this one. There are 9 children in this movie, so here's hoping. This movie apparently was the basis for the TV show The Waltons.

My Embarrassing Moment

2007-10-24T14:12:00.000-04:00

Last night, we had Parent Night at Little Grim's pre-school in Glenside. I'm there frequently during the week, picking up and dropping off, so I pretty much know what is going on there. After getting cookies and cider, we walked down to her classroom and had to sit in those little tiny kiddie chairs. The teacher explained what the ciriculum is, etc and we were in and out in 20 minutes, which was great. Back through the hallway, past the cookie and cider ladies, and out we go.

Bear with me, there is a reason I am explaining how far we walked in public.

Grimjack's parents were at the house with Little Grim, so we took advantage and headed over to Willow Grove Mall to Ruby Tuesday's on the third floor for a late, quick dinner. Didn't get a close parking spot because there was a concert at the mall and the lot was full. After dinner, we walked through the mall to the escalators to Starbucks on the ground floor for coffee and an M&M cookie (which they were out of) for Little Grim. Then we proceeded through the mall back up the escalators to the third floor to walk through the parking lot to leave.

So we get home, and I'm walking around the kitchen talking to my brother on the phone, and my mother-in-law walks up behind me and says something like "You must not know your pants are split or you wouldn't be just walking around the house".

My what are WHAT???!!! Yes, apparently my jeans were on their last legs (heh) and split at the rear seam. The problem is, I have no idea when it happened. Did I walk through pre-school like that, after I sat in the kiddie chair? Did it happen when I sat down for dinner? I have absolutely no idea - I never noticed a draft or anything.

Below is a picture of my pants, minus my butt. AND, I was wearing a short denim jacket, so nothing was covered. And, at the risk of providing too much information, I was wearing a thong, so it wasn't my underwear anybody was viewing, it was actually my butt.

So, we decided it was Grimjack's fault, because if he had been watching my ass when he was walking behind me the way he should have been, I would have known it had happened. And to all the people at pre-school and the Mall who possibly saw my butt, Frak you for not telling me!

Disclaimer: Objects in this picture are smaller than they appear.

Any embarrassing moments you'd like to share?

Homer!

2007-10-23T12:15:00.000-04:00

You Are Marge Simpson

You're a devoted family member who loves unconditionally.

Sometimes, though, you dream about living a wild secret life!

You will be remembered for: your good cooking and evading the police

Your life philosophy: "You should listen to your heart, and not the voices in your head."

The Simpsons Personality Test

Gleefully stolen from Wyatt, who gleefully stole it from Pandy.....

Confucious say....

2007-10-20T19:30:00.000-04:00

We had Chinese take-out tonight for dinner. Here is what our fortune cookies had to say. We always add 'in bed' at the end of each, just for fun. Grimjack's were much better for that, this round.

Mine:

You would make a good lawyer (in bed).

Share your joys and sorrows with your family (in bed).

Your life will be happy and peaceful (in bed).

Your business will assume vast proportions (in bed). (If by 'my business' Confucious meant my butt, I agree)

Grimjack's:

God will give you everything that you want (in bed).

You are tasting the sweets of success (in bed).

The funniest fortune I ever got said 'You like Chinese Food'. I swear that's what it said, I saved it.

The Seven Dwarfs

2007-10-19T17:00:00.001-04:00

We were in the mall and decided to stop in the Disney Store to see what new things we could buy for Little Grim that she didn't need. They happened to have long sleeved adult-sized shirts and one of them had Grumpy on it, along with his name in big letters. So here is how my and Grimjack's conversation went:

Me: Oh, I have to have one of those Grumpy shirts.

Grimjack: You do?

Me: Yes, I can wear it when I'm grumpy so you'll know I'm grumpy.

Grimjack: Do you think you should get two?

Me: Why do I need two of them?

Grimjack: For when the other is in the wash.

Everyone's a comic, and point taken. So this week I will try to be a little less Grumpy and a little more Snow White.

If the dwarfs were women, they would probably have names like Bloated, Bitchy, Cranky, Sleazy, Irritable, etc.