did I post these already?

I forget...

Cute isn't it? Happy belated Valentines!

Awwww

Yesterday while I was on poop patrol in the backyard, I was looking at the trees. We have a mighty oak that needs to be trimmed. Since we lost the 2 other big trees, we just have a few small ones left and a couple of dead ones. One of them is REALLY dead. Wood peckers have been making nests in it for a couple of years. I was out there, thinking about the man chopping down the tree, wondering how we (I) could tell if there were nests in the holes yet because I don't want him to chop it down if there are eggs in it! So I looked up at the holes and look what I saw...

In case you can't tell, it's a squirrels tail. It came out about an hour later. Boy, they can really squish their little bodies up!

uh oh

It's like a real live germ movie...

During super bowl week, some parent dragged their kid to super bowl village, who had the measles! Now there are at least 15 confirmed cases ~ it's practically an epidemic!!! Nope, I'm not sure why this seems like such a big deal to the media. Haven't most people been vaccinated, as a child, against the measles? I don't get it. Anyway, if there's a world wide outbreak of the measles, it started in Indy.

This bird feeder came with the house. It's kind of in the middle of the yard, with no trees around it. I'm still trying to figure out how this little sucker climbs up the pole! We need a new bird feeder.


This picture STILL cracks me up!!!

American Idol AND Survivor are on tonight. I love Ryan Seacrest and Jeff Probst. They're both the best at what they do. After just one episode of Survivor it already looks awesome. Who could have imagined that putting the tribes next to each other would have changed the dynamics soooo much! It's super duper interesting to see how all those women have just fallen apart! Wow. I can't wait till tonight!

things that spread

Fear

Ideas

Love

A virus

Anger

Your butt as you get older.

I happen to love a good virus/bacteria/germ story. The movie Outbreak is one of my favorites. A whole town quarantined to keep a virus, contracted from a monkey, from spreading around the world. Here’s this guy with the monkey virus in a movie theater, coughing and sneezing, infecting everyone in the theater. They all go home, unaware, and very sick. They infect their families and so forth and within 24 hours, practically the whole town is sick. All because of one person.

The novel, The Stand is one of my favorites. I especially love the small chapter in the beginning when the author tells how the virus spread…John Doe, who is already sick, eats at a diner where he infects everyone else, including a very gregarious salesman who is on his way to sales convention, a teacher - who goes back to school and infects her classroom who go on to infect every other student and teacher in the school who go on to infect their families and friends, a preacher on his way to a 3 day tent revival, etc…I was fascinated by that. Just one person with a virus…

Last month I read a book called The Hunger Games. The idea was pretty good...

Somewhere in the future, for reasons we don’t know, North American has been divided into 12 districts plus “the capitol”. The people who live in “the capitol”, live the life of luxury while the people who live in the districts are poor, starving, and forced to produce whatever it is their district specializes in. One district mines coal, another plants and harvests fruit, one produces textiles, etc. All of which goes to the capitol. Each year, a boy and a girl are chosen randomly from each district to participate in The Hunger Games. It’s a fight to the death for those 24, televised nationally by the capitol, and the survivor wins a nice home and a lifetime of food and clothing for themselves and their families.

OK, so here’s our protagonist and the boy from her district, the only two left at the end of the hunger games, which is a good thing because this year there gets to be 2 winners. Only the capitol reneges at the end and they are going to be forced to try and kill the other. Rather than doing that, she decides to die on her own terms and not the capitols. They grab some poison berries and just as they’re about to eat them, the capitol gives in and lets them both live. A funny thing happens in the districts after that. Even though there is no source of communication between the districts, (other than what the capitol lets them see) they all see her action to eat the berries as defiance and a very public rebellious move against the capitol. This teenage girl was ready to sacrifice herself rather than let the capitol control her. All across the nation there is a silent and secret revolution about to begin. That idea was so interesting to me. All it took was one girl. One girl who didn’t want to kill her friend. One girl who’s only real thought was, screw you! Just one person.

Imagine it. Just one person is all it takes.

No, I'm not trying to promote rebellion or revolution, although both appeal to me. I was more interested in the ONE factor. You as a single person/spirit/human/entity affect the world in ways you'll never know. Doesn't that blow you away?!

 

Menopause, migraines and me.

For the last year I’ve been trying to figure out what, if any, are my migraine triggers.

At first I thought it was alcohol. But I hardly drink so I ruled that out.

Then I thought it was stress. But I’m not really stressed (consciously) so I ruled that out as well. All that leaves for me is menopause. But I’ve been post menopausal for about 3 years.

I think I finally figured it out this week. I had 3 of them last week. I was also VERY weepy last week. Geez, everything made me cry. It was awful! Oh, and it wasn’t all sad stuff. I got weepy over happy things! Ick. Kind of like PMS, only not. So when I finally figured out I was weepy because of my whacked out hormones, I realized that that could be my migraine trigger. Not that it matters in the least ~ it’s not like I can do anything about it. Grrrr 

It’s better knowing though. Like, what causes my allergies? Dust? Pollen? Kissing? Dogs? Toothpaste? What!? Mold, that’s what. Again, not something I can fix but it’s good to know that it’s not the dogs or toothpaste…or kissing J

Ahhh love...

....ain't it grand?

Did you know;

England's King Henry the 8th declared February 14th a holiday in 1537 for the first time.

NECCO has been making heart-shaped valentine candies, with sweet sayings printed on them, since 1902.

Sweden is the only country that does not celebrate Valentine's Day. 

It has been estimated that as many as one billion cards are sent world-wide each year on Valentine's Day.

Love doesn't make the world go round but it makes the ride worthwhile. 

You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving. 

True love stories don't have an ending :-)

Saint Valentine was beheaded by the Romans in 269 for marrying Christian couples, on February 14th.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Another Monday

Dang it! I think that if a season hasn't started by a certain date, it should just default to the next applicable season. Really, my flower bed should NOT look like this on February 13th;

See all those little pointy things? Those are, were, going to be my tulips when Spring came.
Yesterday when I got up, it was 7 degrees! That's a far cry from the upper 40's of last weekend. I'm really ticked off about the bulbs. I'm not really a garden outdoorsy kinda girl so bulbs are the perfect plants for me. Now look at them! sniff sniff.

It says, "creative minds have always been known to survive any kind of bad training."

I LOVE this cartoon!!! I like the grumpy faced teacher and the little blond girl just doing her thing with reckless abandon! SO funny.

Nothing could be truer than this;

Happiness comes in a LIME GREEN envelope in the form of a $10 off coupon at a SHOE STORE! Woohoo!!

And in case you didn't know, the best of the best are being showcased at Madison Square Gardens tonight;

I'll be paying special attention tonight since Bill said "You can have a 3rd dog...I think." I know it sounds noncommittal but that's a HUGE step in my direction!!!

Oh, I didn't have to go to the car show. I was ready to though and then he changed his mind. He said he would rather use the $$ to get another door. Imagine that. We're replacing all the interior doors. Taking down the ugly old plain brown 1970 doors and putting in new white 6 panel doors. Wow, what a difference it makes!!! So, 3 down, 5 to go.

I love cars...

...not. But I love my man so I'm going to World of Wheels this weekend with him. I'll pretend to be having a good time and he'll appreciate that I'm playing along. Still though, sometimes I would be just as happy to say, No honey, I don't want to go, I'm not interested and I don't feel like faking it. Usually I don't mind trading off like that but today I'm really not looking forward to marital obligation of playing along. Humph. I'm sure it will be fine once we get there. I'll take the camera and that will keep me occupied.

I don't like today. I think it's hormonal. I hope it passes soon. I forget, what's the good part about menopause? Is that really all we get out of it is no more menstrual cycle? I mean, it can't be the weight gain or the forgetfulness. It certainly isn't the grouchies or the hot flashes. WTF? I think we got jipped all the way around. Grrrr. Oh....hahahahahahahahaha, yup, it's hormonal!  :-)

Anyway, I think that's all that's 'planned' for this weekend. Tonight after work I'm going to help the mama pick out some new eye glasses. That will be fun. She has a coupon to the local Chinese buffet...I think we should go there for dinner. Then I'm going home and drinking.

How much is a homemaker worth?

Amen!

Updated: Jan 30, 2012 09:34 AM EST
By Porcshe Moran

The life of a homemaker is one that includes an endless amount of demands and to-dos. Depending on the size of the home and family, the position of homemaker can go well beyond the usual nine to five. We examined some of the tasks that a homemaker might do to find out how much his or her services would net as individual professional careers. We only take into consideration tasks which have monetary values and use the lowest value for each calculation.

Private Chef
Meal preparation is one of the major tasks of most homemakers. From breakfast to dinner, there is plenty of meal planning and cooking to be done. The American Personal Chef Association reports that its personal chefs make $200 to $500 a day. Grocery shopping is another chore that needs to be factored in. A homemaker must drive to the supermarket, purchase the food and deliver it to the home. Grocery delivery services charge a delivery fee of $5 to $10.
Total cost for services: $1,005 per five day work week x 52 weeks = $52,260 per year.

House Cleaner
A clean and tidy home is the foundation of an efficient household. Typical cleaning duties include vacuuming, dusting, sweeping, scrubbing sinks as well as loading the dishwasher and making beds. Professional maids or house cleaning service providers will charge by the hour, number of rooms or square footage of the home. For example, bi-weekly cleaning of a 900-square-foot, two-bedroom apartment with five rooms, costs $59-$124. A 1,300 square-foot, single-story home with seven rooms runs $79-$150. A 2,200 two-story, three-bedroom home with nine rooms averages $104-$180. Additional tasks such as oven or refrigerator cleaning and dusting mini blinds can run an extra $20-$25.

Total cost for services: $118 per week X 52 Weeks = $6,136 per year.

Child Care
Homemakers provide full-time, live-in child care. This type of service from a professional provider would usually come with a host of perks including health insurance, paid vacation and sick days, federal holidays off, dental and vision coverage, and bonuses. The International Nanny Association's 2011 survey found that nannies make $600 to $950 per week in gross wages, on average.

Total cost for services: $600 a week plus perks/benefits x 52 Weeks = $31,200 per year.

Driver
A private car service might seem like a high-end luxury to most, but the beneficiaries of a homemaker get this service on a daily basis. Companies like Red Cap, which provides personal drivers that use the client's own car as the means of transportation, offer a glimpse into the cost of this homemaker task. An elite membership which includes 365 days of unlimited, round-trip service is $1,000 a year plus 33 cents - $2.03 per minute.

Total cost for services: $1,000 per year + [--estimated miles driven 8000 miles / 50 MPH) x 60 min/hr x $0.33 per minute] = $4,168 total per year.

Laundry Service
Clean clothes come at a cost when you have to pay for the service that most homemakers do for free. Professional laundry services charge by the pound. For instance, Susie's Suds Home Laundry Service, Inc. in Texas charges 90 cents to $1.00 a pound to wash, dry, fold, hang and steam your clothes. Items that take longer to dry such as comforters, blankets, rugs and winter clothes are assessed at a price of $12-$15 each.

Total cost for services: $0.90 per pound x 4 pounds of clothes per day x 5 days per weeks x 52 weeks = $936 total per year.

Lawn Maintenance
Basic maintenance of the exterior property is a less common, but possible duty of a homemaker. This could include things such as mowing, debris removal, edging and trimming the lawn. These services cost about $30 a week on average.

Total cost for services: $30 per week x 52 weeks = $1,560 total per year.

The Bottom Line
Total for a year of all services is: $52,260 + $6,137 + $31,200 + $4,168 + $936 + $1,560 = $96,261 per year.

The daily work of a homemaker can sometimes be taken for granted by his or her family members. However, these services could earn a homemaker a considerable wage if he or she took those skills to the marketplace. Homemakers in general contribute a lot more to the home in addition to these tasks, and no amount of money can fill those needs.

My Mom was WAY underpaid - hey! I was WAY unperpaid too!!
:-)

E*ART*H

I saw that cool bumper sticker again this morning on my way to work. I was struck by quilling inspiration!!

Here's the rough draft of my next project;

What do you think?

In the news

Mother Files $900 Trillion Lawsuit Against NYC For Taking Her Kids Away.
Well, the national debt is 'only' $15 trillion so I'm thinking that her lawsuit isn't going to be taken very seriously. Her children were taken from her 3 years ago because she was deemed mentally unstable by the court and she refused to seek treatment. Hmmmm. It's a head scratcher isn't it?!

Next up, Karl Lagefeld;

Asked about the state of pop music, the outspoken designer said: "The thing at the moment is Adele. She is a little too fat, but she has a beautiful face and a divine voice."


He was slightly more complimentary about US singer Lana del Rey who he said was "not bad at all".

Asked about Russia, the man known as King Karl said: "If I was a woman in Russia I would be a lesbian, as the men are very ugly."

Lagerfeld, who once said of Diana, Princess of Wales, "she was pretty and she was sweet, but she was stupid", also took aim at the Queen who he described as "a more smiley version" of her grandmother.

I just don't even have anything to say about that!
 
Wait! There's more!
In Indiana, an 8th grade boy has been banned from wearing one of those stretchy plastic bracelets that says "I 'heart' boobies". The ACLU (yeah, go figure) is suing the school because they have violated his first amendment rights. The lawsuit says the boy wants to wear the bracelet to be an advocate for breast cancer awareness and prevention.
Now, I'm fairly certain you all know how I feel about supporting breast cancer awareness. But what a crock of shit!!!! Not a single person in his family is or has been affected by breast cancer, he's 14 years old. Of COURSE he wants to wear something that says, I heart boobies. Duh. Come on. I'd just like to smack his parents for being such attention whores.
 
And speaking of parents, Robert Downey Jr and his wife just named their new son, Exton. I admit, it's a little odd. And parents can really saddle (burden) their kids with stupid names can't they?
Moxie Crimefighter, the daughter of Penn Jillette and his wife, Emily
Pilot Inspektor, the son of Jason Lee and his wife, Beth
Kal-El, the son of Nicolas Cage and his wife, Alice Kim
Speck Wildhorse, the son of John Mellencamp and Elaine Irwin (this from a guy who hated his original stage name~Johnny Cougar)
Sparrow James Midnight, the son of Nicole Richie and Joel Madden
Bluebell Madonna, the daughter of Spice Girl Geri Halliwell and Sacha Gervasi
Kyd Miller, the son of David Duchovny and Tea Leoni
Elijah Bob Patricius Guggi Q, the son of Bono and Ali Hewson
Daisy Boo and Poppy Honey, the daughters of Jamie Oliver and wife Jools Norton (I kinda of like these though)
Reignbeau, the daughter of Ving Rhames and Deborah Reed (rainbow, get it? hahahahaha)
Jermajesty, the son of Jermaine Jackson and Alejandra
But celebrities are expected to be attention whores. It's only natural they want their children to be "special". Good grief!

My Super Bowl experience

My experience excludes the big game but I'm part of almost everything else. The crowds affects me, the traffic affects me, I'm just as excited about the event as any other fan and yesterday I walked around downtown and went to the Super Bowl Village.

This is on the south spoke of Monument Circle;

 That's the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in the background

 "The Huddle" is temporary and occupies the space formerly filled by Nordstrom's. It's pretty nice!

 Those are the faces of the Super Bowl, aka the volunteers

 This is just part of the Village and even though it didn't open for a few more hours, there were tons of people out and about. I think it's still mostly locals.

Because there are so many streets closed to traffic, it's really something to be downtown and walking in the streets. How great for all the fan and visitors. I hear that Indy has gotten high marks for "walkability". That's so great!

 I LOVE all the graphics ~ signs and banners everywhere!

 Here's the ESPN broadcast booth in Pan Am Plaza

 That's the Convention Center, where The NFL Experience has taken over. I've heard that we have the highest attendance in history! So cool!

 That's where the big game is gonna be!!! Oh, and to the left, that's the tower for the zip line.

 Go GIANTS!

 BOOOOOOOOO

 This is St. Johns. I LOVE the sign they put out front. St. Johns sits on one of the closed streets...the one that the zip line zips down :-)

I know the city has several sky walks but I had no idea there were so many of them!

 Another sky walk, plus another one a little farther down

 Oh, that's who I work for :-)

The Giants get to stay just a couple blocks from the stadium. The Patriots are a couple MILES from the stadium.

 This is one of the newer sky walks

I added this picture for perspective, so you can really see how GIGANTIC that graphic is!!

the end