Oh brother

So...
remember earlier in the year when I locked my keys in my car? and I said I don't have a spare and asked if YOU had a spare?
I never did get around to having that spare made. Guess what? I locked my keys in my car last night. *sigh* Okay, really, honest, THIS WEEKEND I'm getting a spare made!!!!

My honey bunch is still getting a little better every day. He's starting to get a little frustrated about not feeling A LOT better though. I suspected that would happen. The next 3 weeks could be much longer than he's like. But I'll do my best to clap and cheer :-)

Oh! We had an earthquake this morning. 4.2! That's pretty big for our area. Being from California, we knew right away what it was. Lots of folks wondered though. It was kind of like a sonic boom. If you live in Cali, you know just what I'm talking about.

We're ending our below average cold and above average snow December with a 55 degree day. tomorrow. Weird. Now it's just going to be muddy and ugly. Rats

So nice

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas filled with smiles and love and joy. I did! I bet you could have guessed that though :-) We even got a little more snow. But the big storm dodged us. I guess that's alright. But it's going to be in the low 50's by the end of the week. Rats!

Bill told the kids Christmas day, about the big ugly word. They both took it well. Mostly because he started out with "I'm okay". That softened it quite a bit. Now he's feeling pretty good to have that off his chest. Other than that, I think he's doing a little better every day. He says he sorta still feels the same, but I can see that he's moving around better and his face seems a little more relaxed.

My brothers step-son had a baby Christmas morning...now he's a grandpa!!! hahahahahahahaha. He said he's too young to be a grandpa. I think it's great! His daughters think that being an Aunt is cool and the baby is best thing that's EVER happened! So sweet.

It was fantastic to have 4 days off but now it's back to the grind stone.

The nicest thing happened to me this morning. One of the supervisors here at work (one of them I don't do much for as a matter of fact) came over to my cube this morning and said she thought of me over Christmas break...she and her husband went to a local candy store last week, looking for candy canes that were made in the U.S. They were chatting with the owners and discovered that a little further off the beaten path, was a honey farm. So they went to check it out. It's called Hunter's Honey Farm. Anyway, they had tee shirts...tee shirts that said...can you guess?
Bee Happy! So she bought one for me. Wow. How thoughtful was that?! I'll bee smiling all day about that :-)

Best gift EVER!

A cancer free pathology test!!!

Yesssssssssssss!

It really is a wonderful life :-) I'm so frickin' happy that I don't even care about Christmas anymore and what's done or not done! Oh okay, I'll probably care tomorrow. But today I don't have a care in the world!

Happy Winter!

Today is the first day of winter, officially. It's also the shortest day of the year. That makes me happy ~ the days will just get longer from here on out.

Yea!!! Snow!!! We got more of it last night, lots more. This morning was warm though, 32, so the streets were nice. There was also super light traffic because most schools were on a 2 hour delay. Aaaand it's beautiful out this morning. It was the wet kind of snow that sticks to everything. I love that! Well, except for the dogs. Seriously, it's the weirdest thing ever, all those little snow balls that form on them. WHY does that happen? I had to stick them in the sink and rinse them to get it all off. I hate that. Especially because I was already dressed for work. Needless to say, I had to change. Phooey. I really liked my little red frolicking reindeer top.

In case you have NO idea what I'm talking about, take a look;

Also, last night I decided not to stress out about what's not done. In the grand scheme of things, is it really so important that I don't get to vacuum or clean off the coffee table? Nope. If I have to stuff a couple gifts in bags instead of wrapping them, does it matter? Nope. If I don't get some of the cooking done until Christmas Eve, or even not at all, will it be okay? Yep. I feel so much better now too.

Today is the last catheter day for Bill. He's SO ready! I hope the next phase is easier for him. I have found that I have to remind him that it's only been a couple weeks since he had major surgery and he needs to be more patient with himself :-)

Oh, and Bill totally poo pooed my Santa collecting idea. Duh. He said I should go for the worlds largest Miniature Schnauzer related collection. Hmmmmm. He might have something there.

Only one more day of work for me. Hooray!

Ho ho ho!

Are you ready? Not me! December has been stressful month for us. All of a sudden I feel like I haven't done anything. I didn't decorate as much, I'm not done shopping and I haven't wrapped a single gift.

Bill is feeling A LOT better but he is pretty anxious to get rid of the catheter. He's still behaving and doing what the Dr. told him. He's a little antsy about the lack of mobility though. We still haven't gotten the results back from the pathology report so I thing that's holding him back from being too happy. Maybe it's those rose colored glasses but I don't like to borrow trouble. Also, the girls are just crazy for him right now. Even that rascally Pepper, who doesn't really like Bill, fell asleep on his lap last night. Awwwwww. Greta naps with him during the day too. Dogs are cool.

I did squeeze in a couple more Christmas movies over the weekend...Scrooge, w/Albert Finney. It's the musical version, my favorite. And Home Alone. Yeah, yeah, I've seen it a dozen times. But is there really anything better than slap stick? I laughed till I cried when he was letting the robbers have it! I'm smiling now just thinking about Joe Pesci slipping on the steps. Seriously funny! All that's left now is "White Christmas" and "It's A Wonderful Life" Maybe Thursday while I'm finishing up the house chores.

Speaking of "White Christmas", yep, we're going to have one! Hooray for snow!

my new goal

I want to top this guy!

By Lisa Marsh
TODAYshow.com contributor TODAYshow.com contributor
updated 12/16/2010 2:37:32 PM ET 2010-12-16T19:37:32

Jean-Guy Laquerre, a retired geography teacher, has a Santa Claus collection that contains 25,189 individual pieces. That’s a ho-ho-whole lot of Santas and has earned him a spot in the 2011 Guinness Book of World Records for the largest collection of St. Nick memorabilia.
The 74-year-old native of Boucherville in Quebec, Canada, started collecting Santa Claus items in 1988, when he inherited a papier-mache Santa, dating from 1910, from his wife’s aunt. Since that time he has added figurines, cards, postcards, pins, brooches, toys, posters and more all bearing the likeness of the jolly old elf.

It only took him 22 years. I'm pretty sure I could do it in 1/2 that time. Oh the joy! I'm really considering it :-) Hey, don't laugh ~ I'm serious. Now I have a legitimate reason to shop the after Christmas sales!!! Woohoo!

Suzy Toronto

I bet you've seen her art before.


If not, check it out;


http://www.suzytoronto.com/

I love this one...
http://suzytoronto.com/component/option,com_virtuemart/page,shop.product_details/flypage,shop.flypage/product_id,2264/Itemid,40/
click on the picture to enlarge it, so you can read it.

whew!

Tomorrow I go back to work. It's been a long week. Well, it's been even longer for the hubby! Poor guy, didn't get to come home until Sunday, but he's really happy to be here. I'm happy too!!! The hospital is a crappy place to hang out. Thanks Mom! ~ for watching the girls!!! So far, everything is going pretty good. He's getting up and around and eating real food. He's got lots of staples though! The last hurdle is the report from pathology. But there isn't any reason to think it will be negative. Now, if he can just make it through the next 5 weeks without being bored out of his mind.... He has promised me though, that he will behave. Not like Mom, who was soooo stubborn!!!

Thank you again for all your prayers and good thoughts. It really means the world to us.

On a lighter note, I've been wanting to post these pictures for awhile now...

This was the sunrise the morning after the big ugly word was said. Stunning. And I really need that reminder too.

I am really enjoying quilling :-)

BIG day tomorrow

Bill's surgery got bumped up from 4pm to 10am tomorrow. I think that's better. Now he doesn't have to stress out all day. AND, the doctor will still be fresh :-)

So far he's doing pretty well. He's usually dead quiet when he's bothered by something. Not yet though. He's also not one to talk about the things that bother him. But he's very chatty about this particular issue. I'm glad. I like knowing what's going on inside his head. Oh, and he hasn't bitten my head off once! I was prepared to cut him slack on that too. *whew* And so far, I think I'm doing pretty good too. I'm more nervous about his recovery. I guess I have a lot of faith in modern medicine. I hope it's not a Scarlett O'Hara thing!

I'd be willing to bet that neither of us sleep well tonight. Duh. But at this time next week, he'll already be back home and he won't have cancer!! Pretty great :-)

Thank you to everyone who has said a prayer for the man I love. He's a real pain sometimes but I'm sure happy I get to keep him longer!

things to do

More snow!!! Yes! It's going to snow all day tomorrow :-) I love 4 seasons. I'm pretty sure that a couple Christmas movies are in my near future.

Bill is starting to get a little anxious about his surgery. I suspect the next few days are going to be unpleasant. But that's okay - it beats the alternative.

I'll have a lot to do this weekend in preparation. I don't want to have things hanging out there after he gets home. Like finishing up the Christmas shopping and getting the grandson's presents mailed off. And comfort food shopping :-) And getting his MP3 all set up so he can have it at the hospital. Yup, lots to do.

This morning I woke up with a weird beeping sound in my left ear. It hasn't gone away yet. It kinda sounds like Morse code tones. I hope it just has to do with my cold and general stuffiness. It's REALLY annoying!

Cancer Sucks!

But life is good :-)

Remember last week when I said I had no clue how a man would handle knowing he had cancer?
I have a clue now. Of course my man is a fatalist, so you know where this is going...he was sure that his bone scan and CT scan would show that his whole body was affected. I was pretty sure it wouldn't ~ but I have faith and a more positive attitude. So for the last couple weeks, after hearing the words, "you have cancer" he's been telling me and showing me how to do things. Like how to reset the garbage disposal and how to cook Thanksgiving dinner. He's also been finishing up some things around the house and giving me extra long hugs. He's also been A LOT more appreciative of life in general.

OK, I admit, I was a little scared. But I was scared for him. I wasn't worried about what would happen to me or what I was going to do. I was scared about how he was going to handle things and how awful it would be for him, etc. He on the other hand, was scared for the exact same reasons...regarding ME! Ahhh love.

Oh yeah, so anyway, he's having surgery next week to remove the big ugly word and that's that.
His vision of life and the world around him has changed dramatically. It's nice and I hope this new found gratitude sticks with him. Faith, prayer, a positive attitude, love, all of it can move mountains. Of course I can't pretend to know how it feels to have the big ugly word inside you, but I can imagine. Thankfully, I haven't had to imagine anything worse. whew!

I believe it's true that the biggest and most important prayer you can say is...
THANK YOU

Yeah!

Snow!!

12 top holiday scams...

The 12 scams of Christmas 2010

Here are scammers' top online plans to steal your money or your identity this holiday season.
Posted by Karen Datko Tuesday, November 23, 2010 8:51:00 AM
This post comes from James Limbach at partner site ConsumerAffairs.com.

With Black Friday and Cyber Monday just around the corner, consumers are urged to beware of the most commons scams of the season.
To help you do that, McAfee, the Internet security firm, has revealed its "12 Scams of Christmas" -- the 12 most dangerous online scams that computer users should be cautious of this holiday season.

"As people jump online to look for deals on gifts and travel, it's important to recognize common scams to safeguard against theft during the busy season ahead."

IPad offer scams. With Apple products topping many shopping lists this holiday season, scammers are busy distributing bogus offers for free iPads. In the spam version of the scam, consumers are asked to purchase other products and provide their credit card number to get the free iPad. Of course, victims never receive the iPad or the other items -- just the headache of reporting a stolen credit card number.

In the social media version of the scam, users take a quiz to win a free iPad and must supply their cell phone number to receive the results. In actuality they are signed up for a cell phone scam that costs $10 a week. Post continues after video.

"Help! I've been robbed" scam. This travel scam sends phony distress messages to family and friends requesting that money be wired or transferred so that the "victim" can get home. McAfee Labs says there's been an increase in this scam and predicts its rise during the busy travel season.

Fake gift cards. Cybercrooks use social media to promote fake gift card offers with the goal of stealing consumers' money and information, which is then sold to marketers or used for ID theft.

One recent Facebook scam offered a "free $1,000 Best Buy gift card" to the first 20,000 people who signed up for a Best Buy fan page, which was a look-alike. To apply for the gift card they had to provide personal information and take a series of quizzes.

Holiday job offers. As people seek extra cash for gifts this holiday season, Twitter scams offer dangerous links to high-paying, work-at-home jobs that ask for your personal information, such as your e-mail address, home address and Social Security number, to apply for the fake job.

Smishing. Cybercrooks are now "smishing," or sending phishing SMS texts. These texts appear to come from your bank or an online retailer saying that there is something wrong with an account and you have to call a number to verify your account information. In reality, these efforts are merely a ruse to extract valuable personal information from the targets.
Cybercrooks know that people are more vulnerable to this scam during the holiday season when they're doing more online shopping and checking bank balances frequently.

Suspicious holiday rentals. During peak travel times when consumers often look online for affordable holiday rentals, cybercrooks post fake holiday rental sites that ask for down payments on properties by credit card or wire transfer.

Recession scams. Scammers target vulnerable consumers with recession-related scams such as pay-in-advance credit schemes. McAfee Labs has seen a significant number of spam e-mails advertising prequalified, low-interest loans and credit cards if the recipient pays a processing fee, which goes directly into the scammer's pocket.

Grinch-like greetings. E-cards are a convenient and earth-friendly way to send greetings to friends and family, but cybercriminals load fake versions with links to computer viruses and other malware instead of cheer. According to McAfee Labs, computers may start displaying obscene images, pop-up ads, or even start sending cards to contacts that appear to come from you.

Low price traps. Shoppers should be cautious of products offered at prices far below those of competitors. Cyber scammers use auction sites and fake websites to offer too-good-to-be-true deals with the goal of stealing your money and information.

Charity scams. The holidays have historically been a prime time for charity scams since it's a traditional time for giving. Common ploys include phone calls and spam e-mails asking you to donate to veterans' charities, children's causes and relief funds for the latest catastrophe.

Dangerous holiday downloads. Holiday-themed screensavers, jingles and animations are an easy way for scammers to spread viruses and other computer threats, especially when links come from an e-mail or IM that appears to be from a friend.

Hotel and airport Wi-Fi. During the holidays many people travel and use free Wi-Fi in places like hotels and airports. This is a tempting time for thieves to hack into networks hoping to find opportunities for theft.

McAfee advises Internet users to follow these five tips to protect their computers and personal information:
Stick to well-established and trusted sites that include trust marks (icons or seals from third parties verifying that the site is safe), user reviews and customer support. A reputable trust mark provider will have a live link attached to its trust mark icon, which will take visitors to a verification website of the trust mark provider.
Do not respond to offers that arrive in a spam e-mail, text or instant message.
Preview a link's web address before you click on it to make sure it is going to an established site. Never download or click anything from an unknown source.
Stay away from vendors that offer prices well below the norm. Don't believe anything that sounds too good to be true.
Make sure to use trusted Wi-Fi networks. Don't check bank accounts or shop online if you're not sure the network is safe.

Big scary words…

There are lots of them;

Spider
Tornado
Broccoli
Foreclosure
Blizzard
Cancer

Cancer. That’s the worst one.
You can kill a spider.
You can take cover from a tornado.
You don’t have to eat broccoli.
But the word cancer strikes fear in your heart. There are just so many unknowns.
A lot of people survive cancer these days. My Mom did. But it isn’t easy. In the beginning, you worry about a hundred things…chemo, radiation, what if I lose my hair, what if I can’t work, how sick will I be. How is my family going to handle the news. Then you have all the tests done to determine how advanced your cancer is and a course of treatment is decided. I can only go that far because Mom’s cancer was relatively easy to beat. But even so, she has 3 more years to go before she can say she’s “cured”. Yep. Cancer is a big scary word. Mom’s doctor kind of danced around the word. He said it once, in a vague sort of way. He was good. He made it a lot less scary. Maybe because he deals with women? Women handle things much differently than men do. I can’t pretend to know how a man would feel or what his worries would be. In general, I’m guessing that his machismo would take a serious hit. Past that I don’t have a clue. Unfortunately though, I’m about to find out.
Cancer sucks.

Thanksgiving

Even if you don’t realize it, there are just about a thousand things to be thankful for every day.

When I look around in the morning, from the second I open my eyes…
I’m thankful for another day.
I’m thankful for the glasses and the new eyeball lens that help me see the day.
I’m thankful for my big pillow and the warm blanket on our comfy bed.
I’m thankful for the gas that heats the water so I can take a hot shower.
I’m thankful for electricity so I can see to put my make-up on so I don’t scare anyone.
I’m thankful for the coffee maker, non-dairy creamer and artificial sweetner.
See? I haven’t even gotten dressed yet and I’m thankful for a hundred little things!

When I look around during the day…
I’m thankful for my car (8 years old and still my dream car), covered parking (especially in the winter), my job, co-workers that make me laugh, my desk fan, lots of great places to walk at lunch, a tunnel to walk in when the weather is bad, light traffic and green lights all the way home!

When I look around at night…
I’m thankful that my husband is there and that he never forgets to smile at me and say, “I love you” And look at those cute little dogs wiggling like crazy because they’re so happy to see me too. I’m thankful for the salmon in the fridge and the fresh green beans. I’m thankful for the ice cream maker in the freezer – what a great convienence! I’m thankful for the home grown-straight from the hive honey in the pantry. I’m thankful for the stereo that’s playing my favorite country tune right now (a snappy little number by Tim McGraw). I’m thankful for cable and our DVR – set up to record my favorite soap opera every day. I’m thankful for my PC and internet connection so I can send this to you today.

Look around.
Look at everything you have. Look at everything you have that you don’t need!
Isn’t it amazing how much you have to be thankful for and how blessed you are?

Look ahead. The holidays are right around the corner. Time for family and friends, love and celebrations. After that, there’s a brand new year waiting to be filled with normal every day things, special things and extraordinary things to be thankful for.

Look back too. Was your calendar full of appointments, fun things to do, places to go, and people to see? Did something special happen this year? Did you overcome a particular challenge or achieve a personal goal? Did you get to vote this year?

I had more than enough to be thankful for this year. My Mom celebrated 2 years cancer free! Every day is a blessing. She also bought a lovely home in our neck of the woods and I’m delighted to have her right up the street. My brother and his bride celebrated their first wedding anniversary - Love ROCKS! I was lucky enough to get tickets to the final Brooks and Dunn concert, in Nashville –Yeehaw! Bill made it home safely from another big motorcycle ride with the guys – whew! There was Moto GP, the symphony, July 4th fireworks and elephant ears at the state fair. And in between all of those were a million little things to be thankful for. A million little things that make my life so beautiful. A million little reasons to smile. A million little blessings.

Take a moment, look around, smile and be grateful.

Life is full of joy, bee happy!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Seasons Greetings

haha*snort*hahaha*chortle*hahahaha

DON'T SMOKE!

Today is the Great American Smoke Out. I would love to participate but...

I DON'T SMOKE!!!!

Hooray for me :-)

Odd story

updated 11/16/2010 3:01:02 PM ET 2010-11-16T20:01:02

LOS ANGELES — DNA tests show two mummified infants found in a steamer trunk wrapped in 1930s newspapers were the children of a nurse who died 16 years ago — but the way they died may never be known, investigators said.
The remains were discovered in August by women cleaning an apartment building basement near MacArthur Park in Los Angeles.

The bodies were inside two leather doctor bags in a trunk that also contained ticket stubs from the 1932 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
"Coroner's investigators believe the two babies were brother and sister. One was a fetus, while the other appeared to be a full-term baby," a police statement said Monday. Exact ages were not determined.

The female baby had thick brown hair and her legs were folded up to her chest.
Investigators could not determine when or how the children died. It was not known whether the mother miscarried or may have had abortions.
There were no signs of injury, and drug reports were inconclusive so the cause of death probably will never be known, the police statement said.

The trunk's owner was identified as Janet M. Barrie, a Scottish immigrant who was born in 1897 and worked as a nurse in Los Angeles before moving to Vancouver. Investigators linked the children to Barrie through a DNA sample from Barrie's niece, Marlene Brown of Alberta, Canada.
Barrie lived in the Westlake building for decades. She was a private live-in nurse for Mary Knapp, the wife of dentist George Knapp.

Barrie married Knapp after his wife died of breast cancer in 1964. He died four years later and she moved to Vancouver, where she died in 1994. Her ashes were placed in the same urn as the Knapp couple at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale.

OK, so the dead baby part is odd but everyone grieves differently. What really struck me was the last part. They were all buried together? I think I could make up a story that would make that seem less weird, but still...

In my corner of the world, I FINALLY got all the bulbs planted! Geez. I don't know why I was dragging my feet about that. I actually like yard work too.

We watched Iron Man 2 over the weekend. It was fun. You know I love Robert Downy Jr :-) And we tried to watch Amelia, as in Earhart. It was very slow and about 1/2 through it I had to bail...I know how ends though.

I also got the Christmas tree up in the sun room! Chuck's daughter was right...it makes me smile and I'm happy for the cheerfulness.

Beware chocolate lovers...

I'm not a chocolate lover so this isn't the end of the world for me, but if you L*O*V*E chocolate;

The $11 chocolate bar?

A tough growing environment in Africa has led some cocoa farmers to drop their crops -- spurring predictions of a world shortage.
Posted by Kim Peterson Wednesday, November 10, 2010 12:16:49 PM
Time to start hoarding Hershey's (HSY)? Some experts in the cocoa industry say that the world could run out of affordable chocolate within 20 years, according to The Independent.Cocoa is headed for a shortage, they say, and eventually a single chocolate bar could cost $11 on average. The price of cocoa has already shot to an all-time high lately."In 20 years chocolate will be like caviar," said a conservation researcher in Ghana, a hot spot for cocoa production. "It will become so rare and so expensive that the average Joe just won't be able to afford it."The problem is that it's becoming too difficult to farm cocoa in traditional fields in Africa. The soil is depleted of nutrients, one expert says, and a labor shortage is hurting production. That's affecting cocoa crops on the continent, although cocoa can still be grown in South America, the Caribbean and Asia.

Oh wait...I love chocolate cake and chocolate frosting. Oh no!

finally

We watched Avatar over the weekend. I started to loose interest about 2 hours in. Not because it wasn't good, it really was. But my little kitten attention span was struggling. I even missed the ending completely and had to rewind the last 10 minutes ~ twice. The 2nd time was the next day, so I got it :-) Man there was a lot of fantasy in that movie. Right up my alley. But it was too long. I want someone to do a show about the people who think those creatures up. Like on Star Wars...what are those people like, that actually made up in their heads what Yoda should look like. I bet those people are pretty interesting.
And Sunday morning I watched, How to Train Your Dragon. It's a must if you have kids. It was pretty stinkin' cute. I had to put it on a DVD so I could watch it again. Every once in awhile, I really miss having kids in the house. But then I get over it.

This weeks temperatures are back in the 70's. I have a 4 day weekend coming up. Thursday (Veteran's Day) I AM going to plant the bulbs!!! I hope it's not too late? Friday I'm taking off to be moral support when Bill has his biopsy. The rest of the weekend is open! Woohoo! I've been quilling snowflakes the last few days. Well, I've only gotten 3 done. But I feel like I'm on a roll :-) And I was thinking about getting the Thanksgiving things out but decided to skip it this year and go right to Christmas instead. Chuck's daughter is right...I need some cheerfulness around.

51

No, not area 51.

51. That's how many days are left until

It hardly seems possible.

this and that

Halloween was A LOT more fun at Moms place than ours! I'll be better prepared next year :-)
Except, she has this wacky neighbor that talks tooooo much...because he drinks too much. But he's a happy fellow so it's entertaining. Oh, and the Play-Doh was a hit. My brother said he dressed up as Slash for Halloween, complete with zebra print spandex pants. I'm gonna need a picture of that for sure! I don't know, my brother and spandex don't seem to work well in the same sentence.

I had a nice day off yesterday - you should only shop at Party City if you need party supplies!!! What a fantastic place! Mom and I went over to check it out. Good prices and just about anything you would need.
I'm glad the election is over now. I was really getting tired of all the snarky comments.

We're supposed to have flurries, as in snow, on Thursday! Whoa. I'm just not ready yet. But...I think I like Chucks daughters idea about putting the Christmas stuff out early this year. She's right, I like it so much and it makes me feel good so why not? I used to be one of those 'one holiday at a time' kind of gals, but I have to admit, all those cheerful decorations would sure bee nice to have around now.

I'm at a loss...

AP updated 10/28/2010 4:43:06 PM ET 2010-10-28T20:43:06

Judge: McDonald's must pay obese employee $17,500
Manager says job-related fast-food diet caused him to gain weight

SAO PAULO — A Brazilian court ruled this week that McDonald's must pay a former franchise manager $17,500 because he gained 65 pounds while working there for a dozen years.
The 32-year-old man said he felt forced to sample the food each day to ensure quality standards remained high, because McDonald's hired "mystery clients" to randomly visit restaurants and report on the food, service and cleanliness.

The man also said the company offered free lunches to employees, adding to his caloric intake while on the job. His identity was not released.
The ruling was signed Tuesday by Judge Joao Ghisleni Filho in Porto Alegre.
Filho said McDonald's could appeal the case, and the Brazilian headquarters of the chain said in an e-mailed statement Thursday it was weighing its legal options.
McDonald's also noted that it offers healthier food choices.
"The chain offers a large variety of options and balanced menus to cater (to) the daily dietary needs of its employees," the company said in the statement.

Fanatic

[fuh-nat-ik] –noun
1.
a person with an extreme and uncritical enthusiasm or zeal, as in religion or politics.

I'm not a fanatic about anything.

I have over 300 Beanie Babies but I don't know all their names and I still don't get the ''generation" tag thing. I just buy what I like.

I love Alan Jackson's music but I have no idea what his kids names are or when his birthday is.
Same for Brooks and Dunn. I've been listening to them for 20 years but had no idea what their first hit song was until recently.

It's the same for authors, actors, movies, TV shows, dancers etc.

I have a lot of craft type hobbies too. But I don't feel like I'm passionate about any of them. I know that old saying, "liking everything leaves little time for liking anything well" or "jack of all trades, master of none" but I don't agree with them. Why do I have to be a master at just one thing? Why can't I know how to do many things and like them all? Maybe, being a creative person with the attention span of kitten who is interested in everything is better than being a single minded person with just a couple interests.

HA! and you thought this post was going to be about Bill! hahahahahahahaha

Mom and I went to the Titanic Exhibit Saturday. It was a pretty abbreviated version from the one Bill and I saw in Chicago. But there were some different artifacts this time around so that was cool. If you ever get a chance to go see this exhibit, you should. It's a little morbid though. I mean, if there was ever a case of "whatever can go wrong, will" the Titanic was it. The rest of the museum was nice too. It was a good day.

Sunday, Bill and I went to the gun show. I got him all excited after I got my permit and said "I might want to have my own gun" Now he gets to hunt for me!! So funny. We've been to this show before but I am still amazed at how cram packed full of people it is! All kinds of people too ~ surly looking people, old, young, men, women, kids, you name it. I enjoyed it more this time, now that I've actually fired a weapon and have a smidge of knowledge.

Our pleasant Autumn continues and this week we will finally have some much needed rain. It's really nice not to have the heat or AC on and open the windows instead. I like the fresh air.

Lots of big doctor appointments for the family this week. Mom gets her final checkup to keep her spleen and get a clean bill of health. Really looking forward to hearing how that one goes!!!
Bill has a big appointment this week as well but I don't want to jinx it by saying anything worrisome :-) Got my rose colored glasses on.

Whiny me

I try not to be whiny and complain but some days it's just so hard not to. Like today.

First of all, there are far too many stressed out drivers on the road. This morning took the cake though. And because this guy was tailgating everyone, I was extra mean and stopped at every yellow signal when he was behind me. Jerk. Twice he had to swerve to keep from hitting someone. Dude, lighten up!

Second, you know I love to decorate...for everything. Especially at work :-) This month I have lots of Halloween Beanie Babies sitting around my cube. On my counter I have a dancing skeleton and a BIG bowl of candy. I like having visitors at my cube. BUT...if one more person comes to my cube - for free candy - and complains about the choices of (free) candy, I'm taking the bowl home. Some guy just said, "you should have..." I said, "buy your own damn candy. This isn't a candy store and there's no menu." His eyes got real big, he leaned back and said "excuse me" You're not excused. That was rude. Grrrr. I get SO SICK of gimme gimme gimme. Well, I will say though, there are lots of folks who come by, grab a treat and say thank you too. But those rude butt heads ruin it for me sometimes.

My last whiny thing is about odor. Have you ever seen the movie K-Pax? (It's one of my favorites) There's a guy in the nut house who is there because he says everything stinks. Not metaphorically but literally. Today, there are a lot of unpleasant odors around. Maybe I just notice more because my sinuses are a little more open? Maybe the world is just a little smellier today. I should have noticed right off this morning when I thought "you girls smell" when the dogs came to lay on me. They have no idea what tonight means for them...baths!!!

I think I'll take a walk at lunch. Walking to the tunes of Motown always makes me feel good.

Ha!

Did I do anything productive last weekend? NO. did I get the bulbs planted? NO. I had all these great intentions...oh, well I did help Bill rake and bag some leaves. I went to CostCo. Yep, that about covers it.

This weekend will be different though. Saturday we're going to the Titanic Exhibition. We went to the one in Chicago about 8 years ago. Plus, even though we've lived here for 16 years, we've never been to the State Museum ~ that's where the exhibit is. So afterwards, we can check it out. Oh, and there's a gun show on Sunday. I made the mistake of telling my other 1/2, "maybe I would like to have my own gun" Hahahaha. Now he's all excited to help me pick one out. Do guns come in lime green?

And downtown this week is the FFA convention. 30,000 FFA's. By Friday you won't be able to walk anywhere downtown with seeing scads of navy blazers and kids! I had no idea there were so many of them! (That's 'future farmers of America' to you city folk)

Halloween is right around the corner too! This year I'll be over at Moms. I hope she gets more kids than we do. I got Play-Doh to pass out. How cool is that?!?!?!

Ahhhh

Autumn is back! 70's during the day and low 50's at night. It's awesome. I love driving a street covered with leaves. I love the smell of Autumn. I love it when it's breezy and it looks like it's raining leaves. Yep, definitely my favorite season.

On the west coast they have something called swap meets. We don't have those here. I used to like to go to the swap meet once or twice a year, they were kinda fun. Last weekend we discovered what we have...instead of a swap meet it's something held at the fairgrounds called a "liquidation sale" I see those commercials all the time and always wanted to check one out. What a bust. Nowhere near as good as a swap meet. Really, I think they make all their money with $7 admission fee. It was worse than the starving artist sale for sure. Well, at least now I know. :-)

Also, it just occurred to me about 1/2 an hour ago...I think I wore slippers to work today? I didn't buy them in the slipper section, but they have a very flexible sole and faux fur in the inside. The box says moccasins but...I think I'll keep them for around the house from now on.

Here today, gone tomorrow

Our Autumn weather is crazy. It's been perfectly wonderful outside, sunny, breezy, mid 70's. Downright Autumn like! Tomorrows high is 80, Sunday is 84. The humidity will be nice and low so that's a plus but I like the cooler days.


I have a nice 3 day weekend to look forward too. Why you ask? Well because it's Columbus day of course! Doesn't everybody get that day off??!! I get 13 paid holidays this year. But I'm NOT complaining :-)


Tomorrow morning we are headed to the mama's to finish up spreading all the dirt. It's going to be a nice morning to work outside. I think Sunday morning I'll plant all the flower bulbs I bought.

I got some tulips and some Hyacinth. They smell sooooo good in the spring. Both of them in purple.

Other than that, I have nothing on the calendar. Woohoo!

I forgot to mention a couple other things...the guitar masters concert we went to? It was awesome! I loved it and I really wasn't expecting to so that was a huge bonus. Of course Bill loved it. He hadn't listened to Andy McKee much but now he is a real fan.

And...I won't say I'm a fan of the Neti pot...yet. It's only been a week but I don't really notice any kind of difference in my sinuses. It was really weird the first time though. But after you do once it's a piece of cake. I will say that your nose feels nice right after you're done but as for any lasting effects, I can't say. I'll keep using it though. I want to give it a chance.

I love shoes...

...especially when they're retro. Clogs are making a big come back this Fall. I love clogs.

I used to own a pair like this;

They were the cheap ones that everybody had!

I also had a pair similar to these;

Real wooden soles. Man those babies were heavy! But they made a great clopity sound when you walked down the halls at school.

But clogs have a back now...they're still cute, but they aren't real clogs;

And I don't like that they are just stapled together.



These are stapled but at least they are true clogs :-) My brother might say that these come from a "good looking cow". lol

Unbelievable

Firefighters in rural Tennessee let a home burn to the ground last week because the homeowner hadn't paid a $75 fee.
Gene Cranick of Obion County and his family lost all of their possessions in the fire, along with three dogs and a cat.
"They could have been saved if they had put water on it, but they didn't do it," Cranick told MSNBC's Keith Olbermann.
The fire department from the nearby city of South Fulton would not respond because Cranick lives outside of the city limits. The FD provides service to those residents for an annual fee of $75. They showed up to stop the fire from spreading to the neighbors house, who had paid the fee but stood by and watched as Cranick's house burned to the ground.

Let me get this straight - The city of South Fulton is not a socialist community in a foreign land, but they charge for emergency services? The people living outside of the city limits pay the same taxes as the people inside the city limits. I don't get it. Wow.

October is...

Birth Flower - Marigold
Birthstone - Opal


Breast Cancer Awareness Month
National Apple Month
National Caramel Month isn't that handy how apples and caramel go together?
National Cookie Month
National Pasta Month
National Pickled Peppers Month
National Pizza Month I know someone who will bee happy about this!
National Pork Month
National Pretzel Month
National Seafood Month

October 2 World Habitat Day
October 4 National Taco Day I'm in!
October 5 National Apple Betty Day
October 6 National Noodle Day
October 9 National Dessert Day
October 10 National Children's Day I think children have way too many days dedicated to them.
October 10 National Angel Food Cake Day would it be bad to eat a whole one by myself?
October 11 National Sausage Pizza Day
October 13 National Peanut Festival Did Jimmy have something to do with this??
October 13 National Pumpkin Festival coincidence? I think not
October 15 National Mushroom Day
October 16 Sweetest Day
October 16 National Boss's Day I only had one boss that actually deserved his own day.
October 17 National Pasta Day
October 18 National Chocolate Cupcake Day
October 20 National Brandied Fruit Day
October 22 National Nut Day I like how fruit day and nut day happen in the same month
October 23 National Boston Cream Pie Day
October 23 National Mole Day are you kidding me? Is it be kind to a mole day or go ahead and kill one day?
October 24 National Bologna Day ewwwww
October 24 International Forgiveness Day yeah, that's gonna happen
October 24 United Nations Day
October 28 National Chocolate Day
October 27 National Music Day
October 29 National Oatmeal Day
October 30 National Candy Corn Day HOOORAY
October 31 Halloween!

Hot and cold

I know the west coast is suffering a major heat wave right now, but here in my hometown it's down right chilly out! 48 when I woke up yesterday morning. Today's high is 75 but come Sunday, it 'might' make it up to 60.

Yesterday I got pre-sale tickets to Lord of the Dance ~ 2nd row center! Woohoo!! It's not until March though. Can't wait...soooo much better than River Dance.

This weekend it the guitarist concert. It's being billed as Guitar Masters. Eric Johnson, Andy McKee and Peppino D'Agostino. Bill is really looking forward to it.

Aaaaand, we can go to the range this weekend! Yep, we both have our gun license now. I was kind of excited when mine came. I'm now an officially licensed gun owner...I can carry a gun...whoa...I'm a bad ass!!!!! hahahahahahahahaha

The last unusual thing I'm going to do this weekend is clean my sinuses. I bought a neti pot. Since I am a year round allergy sufferer and tons of people swear by the neti pot, I'm gonna give it a try. I'm a little nervous. I'll let you know what I think about it though.

Wild Hogs re-cap

The wild hogs road trip was sort of a bust this year. They had to change the dates several times and after the initial planning, couldn't decide where to go. They ended up going back to the Smoky Mountains. They left Saturday morning at 6:30 and arrived about 3:00 so they made pretty good time ~ it's about 400 miles.
Sunday, it rained all day so they were stuck inside. Monday, it rained all day but they went out anyway. Six hours of riding...in the rain. They were pretty miserable by the time they go back to the hotel. Tuesday was cool and overcast but at least it didn't rain! They got about 200 miles in. Today, they are headed home. I guess it can't be great every year and I bet next time they have a plan B.

TGIF!!

Woohoo!

Tomorrow morning the guys leave for their ride at 6:00AM and will be back on Wednesday.

Tomorrow morning I will be free of marital responsibilities. I can eat what I want, when I want. I can watch what I want, when I want. I can listen to whatever music I feel like. OK, YES, I'll miss him. He's my buddy. But sometimes less responsibility is really, really great!! I have too many things I want to do so I guess I'll pick the ones that seem like the most fun :-)

Saturday is the Art Festival and it's free museum day. (go to http://microsite.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/ ) I got free tickets to the Miniature House Museum. It's going to be a beautiful day out too.

I was thinking about raking up some leaves in the front, but since Bill saw the big snake out there I don't want to be startled by myself. I mean, it's not poisonous but still. I don't want to be all freaked out without my buddy. So I already scratched that off my list. And just let me say, while we're on the subject, I love nature and all God's creatures ~ but do they all have to hang out at our house? Moles, squirrels, chipmunks, woodchucks, foxes, snakes, freaky bugs. Dear God, maybe next year we could just have birds and butterflies?

I want to paint a skull on the wall in the garage. One of those Day of the Dead skulls. Bill loves those. You know me, I love to color so one of those would bee lots of fun.

I would also like to paint my own tote bag...and there's quilling to do...and...

It's going to be a great weekend!

mmm mmm!

In honor of the first day of Autumn, someone here at work brought in some Candy Kisses;

PUMPKIN SPICE

CANDY CORN

CARAMEL APPLE

All of them are incredibly sweet. Whoa! But I liked the pumpkin the best.

It's here, it's here

Happy Fall Y'all !!

The Earth Dosen't Care...

What an interesting article in Newsweek.

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/09/12/george-will-earth-doesn-t-care-what-is-done-to-it.html?gt1=43002

I hear you saying, hmmmm, where is Al when you need him?

Mr. Cranky Pants

Woooweee! I had no idea that not eating for a day could turn you into such a grump! Dang.
You know, my husband still eats like a teenage boy. How he manages to stay so slim is beyond me. As a matter of fact, it's really irritating. How can you eat the equivalent of 5 meals a day and not look like a whale?!

Anywho...he's having his first colonoscopy today, so he couldn't eat all day yesterday. Wow! When I got home, his evil twin had taken up residence in our house. Throwing things around and filled with hateful, mean, dirty looks. I almost ran for the hills! But then my medicated self prevailed and my patience came back to me ;-)

I promised him anything he wanted for dinner tonight. My guess is that he'll take it easy until the weekend gets here. He'll be working on the AC most of the weekend. It's been so nice out that I told him he could skip it if he wanted too. I thought I would be miserable and a big baby but it really hasn't been bad at all. Still, I'll make myself scarce tomorrow. I bought a cow hide to hang on the wall so I need to find some hooks to hang it up. And I think I'll go fill the truck up with dirt and go over to Moms. She needs it so she plant some new grass. She really likes playing in the dirt.

One more week till Autumn!!!!

Who chose your vacuum cleaner?

In the 21 years that we've been married, we've been through 4 vacuum cleaners.
The first one already belonged to my other half. When it puttered out, I picked the next one. I loved that vacuum. It was light, easy to use, easy to empty, had a super long cord and only had a couple attachments. That one lasted 8 years. Pretty good for a family of 4 and a dog.

I was sad when it died. So I'm gettin ready to head out in search of the next great vacuum when the man pipes up and says he wants to go. That's fine, I don't mind his company. I had NO idea however, that he wanted to go because he wanted to choose the next vacuum! All I kept thinking was...why do you care what the vacuum looks like or has? You don't even use the damn thing! Seriously? I mean, his opinion counts but c'mon! In 21 years he's probably vacuumed the house a couple dozen times at best. Humph.

Anyway, he picked it...I hated it. It was heavy and complicated to empty and had too many filters on it to clean out. So every time I had to empty it, I asked Bill to do it. It didn't take him too long to figure out that I knew more about vacuums than he did. After a couple years, I started sucking up everything, in hopes of its demise. Rocks, nails, tacks, socks, big dead bugs on the porch, balls of hair from my brush. I even went out in the yard one day and sucked up mulch and dirt! Finally, when we remodeled the kitchen, I used it to suck up all the drywall dust :-) Yup, that did it!!! Hooray! I was so happy.

Our next trip to buy a vacuum was more balanced. I still didn't get the one I wanted but at least that one was a compromise on both our parts. I was still thinking though, why does it matter to YOU. It was an OK vacuum and the best part was the retractable cord. It only lasted a year though. I was mad because it was expensive. Why is everything made to be replaced? Grrrr.

The vacuum we have now is perfectly fine. (because I picked it) Super light, only a couple attachments, works really great and only cost $40 at Walmart. Bill is even using it more!

I brought all of that up because I read an article not too long ago that said men are the primary vacuum picker outers in the family and wasn't that silly because typically men don't vacuum.
So I forgave the man in my house ~ turns out, he's just normal when it comes to vacuums.

Monday, monday...

blah.

WHY do some migraines last for days? Ugh. What is wrong with my brain?!?!?!?!

I really love our community. I know we are a real city now, but I sure like living in the 'old' part. It's cool to have a Main Street that things actually happen on. Like the old car show this past weekend. Main Street is closed for a mile or so and there were hundreds of old cars lined up both sides of the street. I'm always surprised how many people turn out for Main Street happenings.

In a couple weeks, they'll close it again so we can have an International Art Festival. I don't know what makes it international though. Perhaps it's the entertainment? It's not the art for sure. But it's another one of those local events that draws big crowds.

Pretty soon, Main Street will be adorned with big bushels of Mums and pumpkins and scarecrows. Neat.

I got the schedule for the symphony last week...Vivaldi Four Seasons is on the calendar! Yessssssssss. And something by Bach that Bill wants to go to. It's hard to pass up at $15 a ticket!

It's kind of warm out today but the rest of the week looks like it's going to bee great out! Which is a relief, since the AC is out again. Rats! Thank heavens for a husband who can fix things :-)

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is September 11th;

he·ro
[heer-oh] –noun,
1. a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.

cour·age
[kur-ij,] –noun
1. the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery.

pro·tect
[pruh-tekt] –verb
1. to defend or guard from attack, invasion, loss, annoyance, insult, etc.; cover or shield from injury or danger.

thank·ful 
[thangk-fuhl] Show IPA –adjective
1. feeling or expressing gratitude; appreciative.

If you see a police officer, fire fighter or any member of the military, say thank-you.

Geesh!

A week ago today, we were walking around downtown Nashville.

WHERE does the time go????? Ugh

Some weeks just go by so fast that it makes me feel like Rip Van Winkle.
I really hate that.

*sigh*

good stuff

Let's start with the final Brooks and Dunn concert ~ ever.

It was really great! Everything about it, except the end. *sigh* It was the first concert I've ever attended that didn't include a mad rush to leave at the end. It was so odd. Everyone just kind of hung out for a while. So hard to believe they're done. But I hear that Ronnie Dunn has a new CD coming out at the end of the year! Hooray!

But who the hell was this guy??
We saw a lot of different things this time around. Like this;

See those dogs, sitting on that bike? Look closer;

No, that's not a costume. The owner really did let their hair grow out and bleach it. They were SO well behaved though. I hope they are well loved too.

Then we went to The Hermitage ~ home of Andrew Jackson.

This is where he's buried, next to his beloved Rachel

And this is where Alfred is buried, right outside of the fence from the pres and his beloved.
Apparently, Alfred was a good and trusted 'servant'

We even went to an art museum. It was a nice long weekend and it's always good to get out of town.

Thanks for watching the girls Mom!!

They were very clingy today. Mom said Bud kept looking for them. Awwwwww. It's cuz he looooooves Greta.

too funny not to share...

"Men may have their say but women get their way"

Yep, uh huh, that's right!


.

too much stuff?

Well, I have to admit that I'm a fan of Farmville. I love Farmville. I love waiting to see what new things will be available in the marketplace :-) I love deciding which crops will bring in the most money. Right now you can buy barns to store your things in. For instance, I have a whole carnival, with games and rides and a big tent. But Halloween is coming and I don't want to sell my carnival things off. Instead, I'll store them in the barn. Problem is, the barn only holds about 20 items and I don't want to clutter up my farm with a lot of barns. A couple weeks ago, Farmville came out with a storage cellar. You can store 500 ITEMS in it!! Yesssssss! I was so excited I had to tell the man. Do you know what he said???? "Do you mean to tell me that even in a virtual reality game, you have so much stuff you've run out of room for it?" I hung my head in shame (but smiled wickedly when he wasn't looking!). Sometimes he really makes me laugh my fool head off.

Tonight we are taking the girls for their first sleep over at Grams. Hang in there Mom! We'll be home Sunday.

Really looking forward to the weekend away and the last Brooks and Dunn concert ever. sniff sniff.

ttfn :-)

September is...

National Chicken Month
National Honey Month bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
National Mushroom Month
National Potato Month
National Rice Month

September Flower - Aster
September Birthstone - Sapphire

September 3 National Welsh Rarebit Day - go ahead, look it up. I did.
Septmeber 4 Teachers Day
September 5 National Cheese Pizza Day
September 6 Labor Day
September 8 National Date-Nut Bread Day
September 11 Patriot Day - say thank you
September 11 National Hot Cross Bun Day
September 12 National Chocolate Milkshake Day
September 12 Grandparent Day -grandparents are the best!
September 14 National Cream-Filled Donut Day
September 15 National Creme de Menthe Day
September 16 National Cinnamon-Raisin Bread Day
September 16 Mexico-Independence Day
September 17 National Apple Dumpling Day
September 17 Citizenship Day
September 18 National Play-Dough Day -play dough has a day?
September 18 Thank You Day -I don't know, it's like telling you to have good manners
September 19 National Butterscotch Pudding Day
September 19 POW/MIA Recognition Day
September 20 National Punch Day - umm, to drink or to do?
September 21 National Pecan Cookie Day
September 22 National White Chocolate Day
September 25 One Hit Wonder Day
September 26 National Pancake Day
September 28 National Strawberry Cream Pie Day
September 30 National Mulled Cider Day

Hooray!!!

WASHINGTON – More than half a dozen states - including Indiana - are suing to overturn President Barack Obama's health care law are also claiming its subsidies for covering retired state government employees, according to a list released Tuesday by the administration.

About 2,000 employers have been approved for the extra help to cover early retirees, mainly private businesses. But the list also includes seven states suing to overturn the health care overhaul as an unconstitutional power grab by the federal government.

The seven are Arizona, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska and Nevada.

Hooray for September!

It's not even here yet and I already love next month.

This weekend is Moto GP so we'll be at the track most of the time. I'll have fun for a couple hours and then I'll pretend the rest of the time ;-)

Next weekend is Nashville and the final Brooks and Dunn concert. Bill will have to pretend at the concert that he's having fun. But the rest of the time he'll like it. We both really like Nashville.

Also in September, a very cool local car show on Main Street. Not just your typical cars either. We walked down there last year and had a good day so I'm looking forward to it this year. I'll take my camera this time.

Then at the end of the month is International Art Festival. Also lots of fun, and free! I can do that one with Mom because.....the guy ride is back on!! Woohoo!! Since they'll only be gone 5 days (vs. 9 or 10) they're going back to the Smoky mountains. I guess they really liked the riding last year. If it were me, I would absolutely want to go someplace different.

And to top it all off, my favorite season starts in September!

rebels no more!

Yeah, that's right, we were responsible adults today! Shocking I know.

This morning we went to our local police department to pay the local fee and sign some paperwork to get our gun permits. Part of the procedure also called for being "interviewed" by the Chief of Police. Whoa. I know they don't do that in the BIG city but really, we aren't just a tee tiny little berg anymore. He told us that because our state is so liberal with gun permits that before he signed his name on the back of a permit, he wanted to talk to the applicants.

But the REALLY shocking part? We both actually enjoyed the experience!!!
I'm not sure how I feel about that. Hmmmmm.

Earth Art

I saw a cool bumper sticker this morning.
It sort of looked like this;

EARTH

Isn't it amazing how one small word, viewed a tad differently, can convey so much!

Head scratcher

Let's start out with the rebuttal;

"Officials in LA say the new schools were planned before the economic crisis hit, and are funded by $20 billion in voter-approved bonds that do not impact the educational budget." That's fine but I bet the voters were not made aware that that $20 billion included "An auditorium modeled after the famous Coconut Grove nightclub" or "talking benches commemorating the site's history" or a price tag of $578 MILLION for a new school?!

OK, now for the story;

The nation's most expensive public school ever built is opening next month in downtown Los Angeles.

The Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools, a K-12 complex built on 23 acres of land, cost $578 million to build. Considering the school will house about 4,200 students, construction cost about $130,000 per pupil.

So, what exactly is included in that hefty price tag? An auditorium modeled after the famous Coconut Grove nightclub, a state-of-the-art swimming pool, and a marble memorial for Robert Kennedy, just to name a few of the school's upscale features.

"The poorest children in this school system, the most congested area in this school system, the most diverse in this school system are going to have one of the most beautiful learning environments to engage in learning," Ramon Cortines, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, told NBC News.

But not everyone is as enthusiastic about the new school. With the district laying off almost 3,000 teachers over the past two years and cutting academic programs in an effort to close a $640 million budget gap, critics say the amount of money spent on the new school was inappropriate.

"New buildings are nice, but when they're run by the same people who've given us a 50 percent dropout rate, they're a big waste of taxpayer money," Ben Austin, executive director of Parent Revolution and California Board of Education member, told the AP. "Parents aren't fooled."

Los Angeles is also home to two more of the five most expensive public schools in the country - the $377 million Edward R. Roybal Learning Center opened in 2008, featuring a dance studio with a cushioned floor, and the $232 million Visual and Performing Arts High School opened in 2009, which includes an outdoor atrium for Japanese raku pottery.

And here in my hometown, taxpayers were up in arms because it cost us $625 million for a new football stadium.

Lifestyles of the rich and famous

Over the weekend the media reported that Mel Gibson spends 600,000 A MONTH on living expenses. A MONTH! Yeah, yeah, I know there are wealthier people who spend more. That's not what this is about. What I was wondering is, what do you spend 600k on every month? I want someone to do a TV show about that. I want to know what the rich and famous actually spend their money on. And what are their "living expenses"? To me, that means your mortgage, utilities, cars/insurance, food, and any credit card bills you might have. That doesn't include travel or entertainment or clothes (unless you have kids). Honestly, what does Bill Gates spend his money on every month? How about Donald Trump? Or Kobe Bryant? Do they give themselves an allowance to buy clothes and/or jewelry? Okay, so they probably don't have an actual grocery bill, but what do they spend eating out every month? See, I think I'm being terribly extravagant if I go to Costco and spend $200 every few months. Or if we go to Maggiano's and spend $60 bucks on dinner. And I ask myself occasionally, would I really spend $200/$300 on a purse? The answer...a resounding NO. I found one I fell in love with recently on sale for $150. Could I afford it? Yup. But try as I might, I just couldn't find a way to justify spending $150 on a purse! So I would like to know why it costs so much to be wealthy. Uh huh, we've all had those, "If I were rich" thoughts. But would you really? Does it just become 2nd nature to spend 2 grand on a purse or a 100k on a car? That so weird!

On a side note, Chuck's daughter brought me a big bag of candy pumpkins this morning! :-)
It's not even close to Halloween but it sure made me smile.

Friday funnies

OK, it's not from Friday but I just read it today...
Go check out the Aug 17th post on Cake Wrecks.

I laughed until tears sprang from my eyes!!! Seriously funneee.

Yesssss

Another new hobby to learn!!!! Woohoo :-)

Mom and I had a good day at the fair. The only thing that kept it from being great was the humidity. Whew, was it gross. I'm glad we got an early start. We ate smoked turkey legs for lunch. We've never had smoked turkey. It was pretty good. And yes, I got my elephant ear. Mmmmmmmmmm.

The new hobby? Rug hooking. No, not like latch hook - real rug hooking. Like this;

I saw a demonstration and though to myself, "I could do that" hahahahahahahaha So the teacher sent me over to the sheep barn where they some small kits for sale. I got one. I'm looking forward to adding it to my things to do when I retire list!

From trees

come the most amazing paper creations;

All of these were created by Allen and Patty Eckman. Very special, don't you think?

ZOMBEE (hhahahahahahahahahahahahaha)

Oh wow...

Beloit, Wis. –

Born when Ross Perot was warning about a giant sucking sound and Bill Clinton was apologizing for pain in his marriage, members of this fall’s entering college class of 2014 have emerged as a post-email generation for whom the digital world is routine and technology is just too slow.
Each August since 1998, Beloit College has released the Beloit College Mindset List. It provides a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college this fall.

The class of 2014 has never found Korean-made cars unusual on the Interstate and five hundred cable channels, of which they will watch a handful, have always been the norm. Since "digital" has always been in the cultural DNA, they've never written in cursive and with cell phones to tell them the time, there is no need for a wrist watch. Dirty Harry (who’s that?) is to them a great Hollywood director. The America they have inherited is one of soaring American trade and budget deficits; Russia has presumably never aimed nukes at the United States and China has always posed an economic threat.

Nonetheless, they plan to enjoy college. The males among them are likely to be a minority. They will be armed with iPhones and BlackBerries, on which making a phone call will be only one of many, many functions they will perform. They will now be awash with a computerized technology that will not distinguish information and knowledge. So it will be up to their professors to help them. A generation accustomed to instant access will need to acquire the patience of scholarship. They will discover how to research information in books and journals and not just on-line. Their professors, who might be tempted to think that they are hip enough and therefore ready and relevant to teach the new generation, might remember that Kurt Cobain is now on the classic oldies station. The college class of 2014 reminds us, once again, that a generation comes and goes in the blink of our eyes, which are, like the rest of us, getting older and older.

The Beloit College Mindset List for the Class of 2014Most students entering college for the first time this fall—the Class of 2014—were born in 1992.

For these students, Benny Hill, Sam Kinison, Sam Walton, Bert Parks and Tony Perkins have always been dead.

1. Few in the class know how to write in cursive
2. Email is just too slow, and they seldom if ever use snail mail
3. Los Angelinos have always been trying to get along
4. “Caramel macchiato” and “venti half-caf vanilla latte” have always been street corner lingo
5. With increasing numbers of ramps, Braille signs, and handicapped parking spaces, the world has always been trying harder to accommodate people with disabilities
6. A quarter of the class has at least one immigrant parent, and the immigration debate is not a big priority…unless it involves “real” aliens from another planet
7. John McEnroe has never played professional tennis
8. Clint Eastwood is better known as a sensitive director than as Dirty Harry
9. Parents and teachers feared that Beavis and Butt-head might be the voice of a lost generation
10. Colorful lapel ribbons have always been worn to indicate support for a cause
11. Korean cars have always been a staple on American highways
12. Trading Chocolate the Moose for Patti the Platypus helped build their Beanie Baby collection
13. Fergie is a pop singer, not a princess
14. They never twisted the coiled handset wire aimlessly around their wrists while chatting on the phone
15. DNA fingerprinting and maps of the human genome have always existed
16. Woody Allen, whose heart has wanted what it wanted, has always been with Soon-Yi Previn
17. Leasing has always allowed the folks to upgrade their tastes in cars
18. Leno and Letterman have always been trading insults on opposing networks
19. Unless they found one in their grandparents’ closet, they have never seen a carousel of Kodachrome slides
20. Computers have never lacked a CD-ROM disk drive
21. They’ve never recognized that pointing to their wrists was a request for the time of day
22. The first computer they probably touched was an Apple II; it is now in a museum
23. Czechoslovakia has never existed
24. Second-hand smoke has always been an official carcinogen
25. “Assisted Living” has always been replacing nursing homes, while Hospice has always been an alternative to hospitals
26. Once they got through security, going to the airport has always resembled going to the mall
27. Adhesive strips have always been available in varying skin tones
28. There have always been HIV positive athletes in the Olympics
29. American companies have always done business in Vietnam
30. The dominance of television news by the three networks passed while they were still in their cribs
31. Nirvana is on the classic oldies station
32. There have always been women priests in the Anglican Church
33. Rock bands have always played at presidential inaugural parties
34. A purple dinosaur has always supplanted Barney Google and Barney Fife
35. Beethoven has always been a dog
36. Having hundreds of cable channels but nothing to watch has always been routine
37. The US, Canada, and Mexico have always agreed to trade freely
38. They first met Michelangelo when he was just a computer virus
39. Galileo is forgiven and welcome back into the Roman Catholic Church
40. Ruth Bader Ginsburg has always sat on the Supreme Court
41. The Post Office has always been going broke
42. The artist formerly known as Snoop Doggy Dogg has always been rapping
43. The nation has never approved of the job Congress is doing
44. They’ve always been able to blast off with the Sci-Fi Channel
45. Honda has always been a major competitor on Memorial Day at Indianapolis

When I retire...

I'm going to be SO busy! There's so many things I love to do and dabble in. I bring this up because of the new and improved, BIGGER, Hobby Lobby! I think I heard angels sing when I walked in. And the Christmas section of the store made me downright joyful! Oh right...crafts and dabbling...

Let's see, there's quilling,

My miniature house,

Pysanky,

Needlepoint,

Cross stitch,

Punch needle,

Gardening,

Cooking,

Reading,

Painting - anything

Shooting,

and the world wide web!

I finally got Bill to understand why I have so many crafts...so when I retire, I'll have everything I need! That sounds good doesn't it?! I discovered when we moved, that I like to think that I'll like needlework. I bet I have a couple dozen needlepoint and cross stitch kits. I could have given them away - I mean really, will my little kitten attention span EVER let me do these? - then I decided to keep them (and add to them) so I'll have more to do when I'm retired! It all makes perfect sense to me :-)

Now I'm trying to find a way to make him believe that decorating for Christmas is hobby too! Why else would I have a dozen boxes full of Christmas decor? Right? Right?!