by Pepper and Greta:
10. More room on bed, owner move over.
9. Stop begging and actually get a seat at the dinner table.
8. Give up dream of ever catching my tail.
7. Bark like a big dog.
6. Share my toys.
5. No more haircuts! (come Fall, I can go as a Komondor for Halloween).
4. Become alpha dog in my house!
3. Learn to roll down car window.
2. Eat more carrots.
1. Don't eat poo!
Happy New Year everybody!
xoxoxoxoxoxox
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Once in a Blue Moon
In case you didn't know, tomorrow is a blue moon. And in case you don't know what a blue moon is, besides a yummy wheat beer, it's the 2nd full moon in a month. The next one won't be until August of 2012. Oh! I guess I'll have a Blue Moon beer with dinner tomorrow! hahahahahahaha. Sometimes I crack myself up!! Mom and Bill and I are going out to dinner, early, then home.
Friday, I think we're going to the car show. It's something to do and he plays along with my stuff :-)
Friday, I think we're going to the car show. It's something to do and he plays along with my stuff :-)
Monday, December 28, 2009
The year is winding down...
Where did it go? In a blink of an eye and poof, it's the past.
Hope you all had a very merry Christmas! Even though it was just the 3 of us, we had tons of fun. My brother got us a motorcycle ornament ~ LIME GREEN!!! Isn't that the best?! And syrup! Not just any syrup...Knotts Berry Farm Boysenberry syrup. MMMMMMMMM. My sweet man made us pancakes for breakfast Saturday so we could have syrup. Awwwww.
I really like having a small budget for gifts. You have to be so much more creative and thoughtful about what you give.
We watched a lot of movies over the week;
Star Trek, A
Julie and Julia, B
Harry Potter, B
Night at the Museum 2, C
Bride Wars, D
and Fools Gold...again. I like that one for fun and fluff.
It was a quick 6 days for me and a long 9 days for the man. He said he was ready to go back to work to have something to do. Yeah, not even going there!
And we got our eyes checked. Bill said his distance vision has been bothering him. Well, he used to have 20/10 eyesight. Now he has 20/15 and 20/20. Boo hoo. Well, I guess that's not very nice. That is a big change. But compared to me, he's still seeing better than average. I got to hear the OD tell me I have Posterior Subcapsular Cataracts, which of course aren't the normal getting old kind. Grrrrrrrr. That bummed me out. I think I would like to hang up my "I want to be different" hat now.
In a few short days, not only will the year be in the past but so will the decade. I've been looking at all the "decade in review" articles. It's hard to believe that so much has happened in the last 10 years.
Hope you all had a very merry Christmas! Even though it was just the 3 of us, we had tons of fun. My brother got us a motorcycle ornament ~ LIME GREEN!!! Isn't that the best?! And syrup! Not just any syrup...Knotts Berry Farm Boysenberry syrup. MMMMMMMMM. My sweet man made us pancakes for breakfast Saturday so we could have syrup. Awwwww.
I really like having a small budget for gifts. You have to be so much more creative and thoughtful about what you give.
We watched a lot of movies over the week;
Star Trek, A
Julie and Julia, B
Harry Potter, B
Night at the Museum 2, C
Bride Wars, D
and Fools Gold...again. I like that one for fun and fluff.
It was a quick 6 days for me and a long 9 days for the man. He said he was ready to go back to work to have something to do. Yeah, not even going there!
And we got our eyes checked. Bill said his distance vision has been bothering him. Well, he used to have 20/10 eyesight. Now he has 20/15 and 20/20. Boo hoo. Well, I guess that's not very nice. That is a big change. But compared to me, he's still seeing better than average. I got to hear the OD tell me I have Posterior Subcapsular Cataracts, which of course aren't the normal getting old kind. Grrrrrrrr. That bummed me out. I think I would like to hang up my "I want to be different" hat now.
In a few short days, not only will the year be in the past but so will the decade. I've been looking at all the "decade in review" articles. It's hard to believe that so much has happened in the last 10 years.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Christmas trivia
In 1752, 11 days days were dropped from the year when the switch from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar was made. The December 25 date was effectively moved 11 days backwards. Some Christian church sects called old calendarists, still celebrate Christmas on January 7 (previously December 25 of the Julian calendar).
Alabama was the first state to recognize Christmas as an official holiday. This tradition began in 1836.
Electric Christmas tree lights were first used in 1895. The idea for using electric Christmas lights came from an American, Ralph E. Morris. The new lights proved safer than the traditional candles. (ya think?!)
Clearing up a common misconception, in Greek, Xristos means Christ. That is where the word "X-Mass" comes from. Not because some one took the Christ out of Christmas.
A traditional Christmas dinner in early England was the head of a pig prepared with mustard.
During the Christmas buying season, Visa cards alone are used an average of 5340 times every minute in the US.
Christmas caroling began as an old English custom called Wassailing - toasting neighbors to a long and healthy life.
Alabama was the first state to recognize Christmas as an official holiday. This tradition began in 1836.
Electric Christmas tree lights were first used in 1895. The idea for using electric Christmas lights came from an American, Ralph E. Morris. The new lights proved safer than the traditional candles. (ya think?!)
Clearing up a common misconception, in Greek, Xristos means Christ. That is where the word "X-Mass" comes from. Not because some one took the Christ out of Christmas.
A traditional Christmas dinner in early England was the head of a pig prepared with mustard.
During the Christmas buying season, Visa cards alone are used an average of 5340 times every minute in the US.
Christmas caroling began as an old English custom called Wassailing - toasting neighbors to a long and healthy life.
Monday, December 21, 2009
have a holly jolly Christmas...
I like that song. Oh who am I kidding, I like ALL the Christmas songs! It's the only thing I've listened to for weeks! I love all the lights and sparkle too. This year I've seen a couple of these;
I think it's a very clever idea...next year. :-)
And really, we need an inflatable biker Santa for the yard. Seriously.
I think it's a very clever idea...next year. :-)
And really, we need an inflatable biker Santa for the yard. Seriously.
Also, Dear Santa, bring more snow! This mornings weather forecast said rain on Christmas day. Phooey.
Bill started vacation on Saturday ~ 9 days off. He's pretty happy. He was going to be lonely too, so I'm taking Tue and Wed as vacation days. I get Thu and Fri off so I'll have 6 days off! I'm pretty happy too
Today I have on a necklace that has tiny little Christmas lights on it, that actually blink! Woohoo! (thanks Mom) It's so fun and I'm spreading the joy like crazy!!!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Do you noitce
how much the products you buy, change? Take for instance any canned soft drink. You actually have to hold them loosely now or you will crush the can. It used to be a much bigger deal to do that. Yet, it costs a whole lot more now. Now you have to buy the "double" roll of TP so it will last longer than a couple days. Stuff like that irritates me. Yup, gettin' old. I haven't even heard of 90% of the bands/groups that have tickets for sale on Ticketmaster or Live Nation. I'm okay with that though. It's just funny to me.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
The story of Rudolph...
Because he's my favorite :-)Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer
The Chicago-based Montgomery Ward company, department store operators, had been purchasing and distributing children's coloring books as Christmas gifts for their customers for several years. In 1939, Montgomery Ward tapped one of their own employees to create a book for them, thus saving money. 34-year old copywriter Robert L. May wrote the story of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer in 1939, and 2.4 million copies were handed out that year. Despite the wartime paper shortage, over 6 million copies had been distributed by 1946.
May drew in part on the story "The Ugly Duckling" and in part from his own experiences as an often taunted, small, frail youth to create the story of the misfit reindeer. Though Rollo and Reginald were considered, May settled on Rudolph as his reindeer's name.
Writing in verse as a series of rhyming couplets, May tested the story as he went along on his 4-year old daughter Barbara, who loved the story.
Sadly, Robert Mays wife died around the time he was creating Rudolph, leaving Mays deeply in debt due to medical bills. However, he was able to persuade Sewell Avery, Montgomery Ward's corporate president, to turn the copyright over to him in January 1947, thus ensuring May's financial security.
May's story "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was printed commercially in 1947 and in 1948 a nine-minute cartoon of the story was shown in theaters. When May's brother-in-law, songwriter Johnny Marks, wrote the lyrics and melody for the song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", the Rudolph phenomenon was born. Turned down by many musical artists afraid to contend with the legend of Santa Claus, the song was recorded by Gene Autry in 1949 at the urging of Autry's wife. The song sold two million copies that year, going on to become one of the best-selling songs of all time, second only to Bing Crosby's "White Christmas". The 1964 television special about Rudolph, narrated by Burl Ives, remains a holiday favorite to this day and Rudolph himself has become a much-loved Christmas icon.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Movies...
I had a lot of wrapping to do for all the out of town family so over the weekend I watched all the Santa Clause movies. I love those. The first one was the best though. Then I watched UP, the Disney/Pixar movie. Fantastic animation. It was a sweet story too. I also watched a movie called The Women, with Meg Ryan and Annette Benning. Parts of it were okay, but it was dumb. I'm tired of dumb movies about women. Julia and Julie are on my list this week. I think Meryl Streep can do just about anything! Oh, and Rudolph and It's a Wonderful Life and Christmas Vacation and the musical version of Scrooge with Albert Finney. Woohoo!!
Friday, December 11, 2009
Only 14 more days
I'm still hoping for more snow. Not like some parts of the Midwest got, but more than just an inch or 2. This week has mostly been plain ol cold. In the teens. It's so refreshing! hehehehe
Tomorrow night we're going to the Miniature House Museum. They're having a special tour. It's just something to do. Other than that, I have to finish up the gifts for the Utah and California people, so I can get them shipped off. Yeah, yeah, tic toc tic toc. I know. But I'm planning on nice weekend filled with Christmas shows, chores and music.
Monday, December 7, 2009
You're never too old to learn
At least that's what I've heard.
We'll see...
One night last week we were eating at our local Chinese food buffet, where we noticed that most of the wait staff is now Mexican. This lead to some other conversation that ended with my other 1/2 saying, "I always wanted to learn Spanish". My reply was, "Me too!" So we decided that it's never too late and we're going to learn Spanish. And since I work for the state, I'll have lots of opportunity to practice :-) hahahahahahahaha
Usted puede enseñar a un perro viejo nuevos trucos.
Vamos a aprender algo más que las malas palabras!
We'll see...
One night last week we were eating at our local Chinese food buffet, where we noticed that most of the wait staff is now Mexican. This lead to some other conversation that ended with my other 1/2 saying, "I always wanted to learn Spanish". My reply was, "Me too!" So we decided that it's never too late and we're going to learn Spanish. And since I work for the state, I'll have lots of opportunity to practice :-) hahahahahahahaha
Usted puede enseñar a un perro viejo nuevos trucos.
Vamos a aprender algo más que las malas palabras!
Sure, they LOOK cute...
But they aren't. Both of them, little rascals...
I KNOW I didn't leave these out, within reach. Which means that one of them (Pepper), with the complete support of the other (Greta), found a way to get up on the dinning room table and pulled this bag of Kisses to the floor where they both spent a few heavenly moments chowing down.
Foil and all. Bill said they were in a good mood when he got home...sure, they're all amped up on sugar! Well, they'll have very sparkly poo for a couple days, but at least they have nice breath.
Good grief.
I KNOW I didn't leave these out, within reach. Which means that one of them (Pepper), with the complete support of the other (Greta), found a way to get up on the dinning room table and pulled this bag of Kisses to the floor where they both spent a few heavenly moments chowing down.Foil and all. Bill said they were in a good mood when he got home...sure, they're all amped up on sugar! Well, they'll have very sparkly poo for a couple days, but at least they have nice breath.
Good grief.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Lists are so subjective....
In the latest list of 100 books you should read, I've only finished 35 of them. Most of them I didn't care for. Like Catcher in the Rye. I didn't get it. And The Grapes of Wrath was sooooo long.
Some of them were required reading in school and some of them I read after seeing the movie ~ the books are always better :-) I'm also willing to admit that of the ones I haven't read, I have no intention of getting to at least 1/2 of them.
A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens check
Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll check
Bram Stoker’s Dracula – Bram Stoker check
David Copperfield – Charles Dickens check
Diary of a Madman and Other Stories – Nikolai Gogol check
Frankenstein – Mary Shelley check
Les MisÃrables – Victor Hugo check
The Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas check
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne check
The Thirty-Nine Steps – John Buchan check
The Time Machine – H G Wells check
Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stevenson check
Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte check
1984 by George Orwell check
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor
A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
A Room with a View by E.M. Forster check
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner
All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
Animal Farm by George Orwell
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe check
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller check
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White check
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell check
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Howards End by E.M. Forster
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote check
In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Jazz by Toni Morrison
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence check
Light in August by William Faulkner
Lolita by Vladmir Nabokov
Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
My Antonia by Willa Cather
Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
Native Son by Richard Wright
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck check
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
Orlando by Virginia Woolf
Rabbit, Run by John Updike
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier check
Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut check
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence
Sophie's Choice by William Styron check
Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Bostonians by Henry James
The Call of the Wild by Jack London check
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger check
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck check
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald check
The Hunchback of Notre Dame – Victor Hugo check
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding check
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway check
The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells check
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
The Wings of the Dove by Henry James
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
The World According to Garp by John Irving
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee check
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
Ulysses by James Joyce check
Where Angels Fear to Tread by E.M. Forster
Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne
Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence
Some of them were required reading in school and some of them I read after seeing the movie ~ the books are always better :-) I'm also willing to admit that of the ones I haven't read, I have no intention of getting to at least 1/2 of them.
A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens check
Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll check
Bram Stoker’s Dracula – Bram Stoker check
David Copperfield – Charles Dickens check
Diary of a Madman and Other Stories – Nikolai Gogol check
Frankenstein – Mary Shelley check
Les MisÃrables – Victor Hugo check
The Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas check
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne check
The Thirty-Nine Steps – John Buchan check
The Time Machine – H G Wells check
Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stevenson check
Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte check
1984 by George Orwell check
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor
A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
A Room with a View by E.M. Forster check
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner
All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
Animal Farm by George Orwell
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe check
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller check
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White check
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell check
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Howards End by E.M. Forster
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote check
In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Jazz by Toni Morrison
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence check
Light in August by William Faulkner
Lolita by Vladmir Nabokov
Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
My Antonia by Willa Cather
Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
Native Son by Richard Wright
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck check
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
Orlando by Virginia Woolf
Rabbit, Run by John Updike
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier check
Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut check
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence
Sophie's Choice by William Styron check
Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Bostonians by Henry James
The Call of the Wild by Jack London check
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger check
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck check
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald check
The Hunchback of Notre Dame – Victor Hugo check
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding check
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway check
The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells check
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
The Wings of the Dove by Henry James
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
The World According to Garp by John Irving
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee check
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
Ulysses by James Joyce check
Where Angels Fear to Tread by E.M. Forster
Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne
Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
A long long time ago...
No really....a long, long time ago, when I was in high school there were several fun jewelry trends. One was anything turquoise. Way back then you could get a super cool ring for $5. ~sigh~ The other one was puzzle rings. Especially these
Usually you got 12 bands. Sometimes though, you could find one with 24! I loved these.
The other kind of puzzle ring looked like this
This one was harder to figure out. I had an Uncle in the Navy that sent me a two tone one when I was in my early 20's. I wore it on my thumb up until just a couple years ago, when it broke. I was going to have it fixed but then I lost one of the rings. Phooey.
Anyway...I've been wanting to replace it but then I got to thinking about that other kind and wondered how come you never see those in a store or gift/craft show? So I Googled it. I found a lot of the 2nd kind. Then I checked Ebay. Eureka!! You can really find anything on the www. I'm continually amazed. Oh yeah...so I bought it, the one with 24 bands!!! I'm so excited. I can't wear it on my thumb but it will be so fun to have, in a nostalgic sort of way.
It was less than a pair of shoes, which is usually what I buy when I'm angry with my man. He got off cheap this time. Remember ~ happy wife, happy life.
Usually you got 12 bands. Sometimes though, you could find one with 24! I loved these.
The other kind of puzzle ring looked like this
This one was harder to figure out. I had an Uncle in the Navy that sent me a two tone one when I was in my early 20's. I wore it on my thumb up until just a couple years ago, when it broke. I was going to have it fixed but then I lost one of the rings. Phooey.
Anyway...I've been wanting to replace it but then I got to thinking about that other kind and wondered how come you never see those in a store or gift/craft show? So I Googled it. I found a lot of the 2nd kind. Then I checked Ebay. Eureka!! You can really find anything on the www. I'm continually amazed. Oh yeah...so I bought it, the one with 24 bands!!! I'm so excited. I can't wear it on my thumb but it will be so fun to have, in a nostalgic sort of way.
It was less than a pair of shoes, which is usually what I buy when I'm angry with my man. He got off cheap this time. Remember ~ happy wife, happy life.
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