Princess Bride

I took Madz's Princess Bride quiz. Why I came out looking like a guy, I have no clue. I've heard of this movie but never seen, so I'm really at a loss here.

Note on new Blogger: I tried to sign in with old user name and it politely directed me to my new Google account. I don't really get the connection, why I have to have a Google account. Blogger and Google must have gotten married something.

What's All This About New Blogger?

Don't these people know curmudgeons don't like change? I barely figured out the old blogger. Darn it anyway.
This picture is of Mexican Train Dominoes as we are putting it away. Each person builds their own train and since there were three of us, the fourth is called the "Party Train" where anyone can make a play.

Tonight Boy12's basketball team lost their Sectional game. They were one step away from going to State. Oh well. He didn't get in the game at all, so I'm not disappointed. I am proud that he won his class spelling bee and will compete against 12 other kids in school next.

I'm very exhausted, but will check the other blogs before retiring for my dose of intrigue.

A Nice Day

This was a special day last May of strawberry picking and eating them warm from the sun. I don't know how people take such nice pictures of their scrapbook pages, but I hope to be enlightened! This was a pretty feeble attempt. Also, a very plain layout. Nothing fancy. I made the strawberry myself! Anyway, it captures the memories for me of Eli, Cal and Ethan enjoying each other's company.

Oh, What A Night

I am going to go ahead and post without the gaming pictures from last night, since I know you all are waiting with bated/baited breath.

A fun night of games with Jen and Becky. And I thought my family was into games. Ha! These two are crazy about games. First, we played Finkelmeir (sp?). This was really clever. You use Scrabble tiles and each take seven. Everyone builds their own word puzzle until someone uses all their tiles, then they yell, "Finkelmier" and everyone takes another tile. This continues until all the tiles are gone, and the first one out wins. Somehow, by luck, I won the first round, followed by Jen then Becky. We went a fourth round for the tiebreaker, in which Becky prevailed. It was actually much easier than it sounds to use all the tiles, however, if you get a Q, you better have a U. A quick check of the dictionary afterwards revealed all words starting with Q are followed by U, and we couldn't think of any words containing a Q that did not also use a U.

Next up was Blockus. This was a totally different type of game, but fun. I won the first round again. Later I decided they were just being nice to me. This is a spatial game of placing different shaped tiles onto a grid, this time trying to have the fewest squares left at the end. See photo. There is strategy involved in blocking others from moving.

Finally, a couple rounds of Mexican Train Dominoes. I sure hadn't heard of this version. Becky has unique ways of setting up her dominoes before play begins and which way you can and cannot arrange your train. There is actually a choo choo horn where the double 12, 6 or whatever sits. I think you had to be there. Normally, they play from the double 12 down to the double zero. Jen suggested Becky spend some time at nursing homes, playing with the residents. Tomorrow for fun the girls are going to put a 1000 piece puzzle together!

In the midst of the gaming, we broke into three part harmony on "Close to You" by the Carpenters (not really). I gave Becky's BIL (brother-in-law) a ride to work in my town (25 minutes) for his night shift. I was pleased as I think he was impressed with my football knowledge. He also said he thought I was in my twenties. I said, "Oh, you didn't get a good look."

Becky: I got results from the fiber tabs on both counts, much to my surprise. Luckily, after Bill got out of the car.

I Must Blog

Oh, the blahs of January.

I don't have much to say, so I will introduce Pearl, the eight year old tale-less, fat cat. Boy 13 loves to take pictures of her.

I watched the Australian Open finals last night. Why? I have no idea, but it was interesting. I was completely ignorant of the rules and procedures of the game. All I did know was Love means Zero. My husband patiently explained all about the sets, games, faults, deuce, advantage, etc. Wow. It seemed so complicated. I think he was a little surprised at my naivete. Kind of surprising that I once took tennis lessons. Obviously, not a good student. Like all other sports, I sucked at it. Serena is a powerhouse. What thighs! Maria: lots of little rote movements, like the hair behind the ears, and the little hop jumps.

Other than that, an uneventful weekend. We picked out a new sofa for the playroom. Boy13 had two rather large friends over last weekend who plopped down on the (cheap) futon and busted the frame. I'm trying to finish a couple of books, and going to play games with Jen and Becky in a nearby town. I think they said Finkelmeister and Block something are on the docket. I'll give a report tomorrow (if I get my statistics homework done). I know Pat is going to make me bacon, eggs and fried potatoes tomorrow morning, and I am so excited. Boy 13 has friends over to play "Diplomacy". I'm not really sure what that is, but sounds like a cross between Risk and Dungeons and Dragons. Does anyone know?

Well, I have to get upstairs and clean my left contact lens out, something is killing my eye.

blogger nonsense

I had to delete my last two posts, as something occured which I had not intended. I disappeared the sidebar that contains profile information. I was at a loss how to fix it, so I started to deleting posts until the old format returned. Yeah! I'm progressing in a sense.

Photo of me in one of my reading chairs.

1. A book that changed my life: I don't really think of books as having that kind of influence, however, the book that steered my lifecourse would be a biography of Jane Addams I read when I was young.

2. A book I've read more than once: Animal Dreams, Little Women, All the Little House books

3. A book I'd take on a deserted island: How to Cook Everything

4. A book that made me laugh: Bridget Jones's Diary- sorry can't think of anything else and I know it is silly.

5. A book that made me cry: The Five People You Meet in Heaven (easy question)

6. A book I wish I'd written: The Master Butcher's Singing Club (beautiful)

7. A book I wish had never been written: Silence of the Lambs??

8. A book I'm currently reading: The Memory Keeper's Daughter, But Inside I'm Screaming

9. A book I've been meaning to read: Kite Runner, The Hand I Fan With, Hypocrit in a Poufy White Dress, God Shaped Hole, the list goes on...

Safier

Here is our nice young man from Safier Mediterranean Deli in downtown Louisville where we got some really good take-out Saturday evening of last weekend. I hope I don't blog too much about food, but it is one of my favorite subjects so here I go...
From memory- we had an appetizer of fallafel, hummus, spinach pie, and tabouleh. It was all good, though I contend falafel tastes like armpits, I like it anyway. I chose a chicken kabob on saffron rice with a light salad on the side. The chicken was marinated in something absolutely succulent, and I could only eat about half (two or three large pieces) of the meal. Betsy had her standard chicken shwarma. For my mother, we had to take a guess as she had not pre-ordered and was relaxing at the hotel. We were thinking Beef Kabob, but our friend in the picture HIGHLY recommended the ground beef patty, implying that the other beef might be hard to chew. I don't think he was even aware this was for a 70 year old woman, but she has all her teeth anyway and don't think she would have minded. As it was, she did say she liked it and barely touched the appetizers. There was mounds of leftovers which we never got back to but hopefully my BIL (brother-in-law, for the uninitiated)was able to eat on Monday.

BTW- I asked said young man if I could photograph him, and he said "yes". I did not ask if I could post his photo to my blog which has only one reader, but I am to e-mail him the picture tonight and I'll make sure it is okay. Maybe he will even become my second reader!

Oliver

This past weekend I took the boys to Clarksville to see my nephew Ethan (shown here in partial costume and make-up before the show) perform as Orphan 9 in Oliver! My father asked me to write a review of the musical for his monthly Family News. So here is my attempt:

Believe it or not, I have never read Oliver Twist, seen the musical Oliver!, and so was not familiar with the story line. Ethan was cast in the children's chorus and participated in the opening number, Food, Glorious Food. It was a strong, well sung and choreographed piece and sounded somewhat familiar to me. Ethan was center stage and sang his heart out. Even though a bigger girl attempted to push him off his bench, he didn't miss a beat. When he lined up to get his gruel, I felt his hunger pangs radiate out into the audience. I couldn't understand all the words to the song, but the sheer volume of the voices of the un-miked children absolutely blew me away. Oliver later sings a beautiful and touching soprano on Where is Love?

Other actors such as Oliver and Mr. Bumble (a giant of a man) then took over before we saw Ethan again. Yes, they did a fine job portraying how Oliver was sold to the undertaker before escaping and meeting up with the cunning and Artful Dodger. Ethan then returned to stage for the encore of Consider Yourself. This song should be familiar to almost anyone with rudimentary awareness of popular culture. However, it helps to remember that Ethan was placed on London Bridge in this scene. One is easily distracted with the other children juggling, doing cartwheels and toe touches in front. A strong rumor has it that Ethan tried out with better toe touches than the girl who got the bit.

The first act concluded with the delightful Pick a Pocket or Two in the Thieves Kitchen. Let me add here, the set was solid, versatile and scene transitions were quick and seamless, a definite plus in the two and a half hour production. The musical accompaniment was an electric piano, skillfully handled by Robert Lee (yes, we were in the south but this was not the Confederate General to my knowledge). When Oliver goes out to pick his first pocket he is caught by a gentleman who later becomes central to the story.

The second act began with a tavern scene and the buxom Nancy, whom we later found out was only a junior in high school. Her well developed alto voice was the best in the show, and the men enjoyed simply watching her breathe. Although I suppose appropriate for the time, I didn't favor the alcohol consumption and domestic violence overtones in the show.

When Oliver is sent out on an errand as a kind of test, the clever Nancy steals him away, and he finds himself back in the Theives Kitchen. Most of the cast including Ethan join in on Who Will Buy. It is a beautiful 4-part round type of singing between the rose and strawberry seller, milkmaid and the knife grinder, and Ethan turns in another strong performance with his ad-libbed apple tossing.

After a few plot turns, Oliver finds the loving family of his dreams, and Ethan returns in the chorus at the conclusion of the show, leading a string of children out on stage. Eli was impressed with Ethan's ability to come in on the right cues and make a small part his own. Cal enjoyed the murder scene.

We all agreed that Clarksville Little Theater and Ethan in particular did a tremendous job with the challenging Oliver!

I Can't Believe I Did It

As I was going to publish my last post, something caught my eye. Next to the spell check was a little picture icon. I went back and clicked it, and guess what! I now know how to upload photos.

This adds a new goal to my list this year. Take artistic digital photos with gifted camera. In leiu of artistic pictures, I'll just throw in something I happen to have on my computer. So here you go, "gentle viewer". The last picture was me making Christmas tea, and I have no idea what I will choose this time. I do realize I can write more after I select the picture, but I'm lazy and impatient

Ok, this is Boy12 playing basketball. I was showing him a blog the other day where some German boys were referred to as Boy10 and Boy13, I believe. I guess that is to keep cyber stalkers off them, so I will follow suit.

Tis more fun to read than write

I spend so much time catching up on my favorite blogs, I don't do anything with my own. Since I only have one reader besides myself I guess it's not a big problem.

Dang it, I'm hungry. I ate mediocre pecan pie today already. I officially started my pedometer goal today. I need to average 7,000 steps a day, and am already falling behind (5739). I did walk a mile or so to Cal's basketball game, plus the perimeter of Wal-mart thinking that would be plenty. Not. I hear yelling from the "sports/plasma TV room". Ohio State fumbled and those were pained yells. We dislike everything Florida in the sports world. Go Bills, down with the Dolphins. You get the idea. Plus, I have an SIL (new abbreviation I learned for sister-in-law, how exciting I get to use it) in Columbus and she and her boyfriend (also a native of Buffalo, NY) have joined the bandwagon. Me, I asked if OSU was Oklahoma State tonight, haha.

(R)resolutions

Yes, I like resolutions, New Years and otherwise. I guess it goes with my fetish for lists, goals, etc. Let's review last year:

1. Make Little League All-Star video. Check.
I'm not sure how I knew I would need to be making this, but I'm sure I did it write it down at the beginning of 2006, since it was my first one. I did a kick ass job I might add. It was about 25 minutes long, 25 hours of editing work, 5 songs, and hours of videotape of 11 and 12 year old joys playing baseball along with informal moments of the whole near State experience.

2. Speak my mind and heart. Partial check.
Some progress made, I suppose.

3. Photograph or video household items (in case of fire, theft, etc.). Nope.

4. Start blog. Check.
Interesting to note the time elapsed from start of blog on Jan. 2, 2006 to resumption and actual interest in blog Aug. 13, 2006. I really got going while traveling and blogging to New England in September. I also stumbled upon an interesting blog I read almost daily which led me to other blogs of interest.

5. Finish triathalon. Check.
Let me clarify, this triathalon took 2 months to complete (by design) for us athletically challenged folk. The biking was the most difficult, arduous, boring. I also didn't like going into the exercise room at 5:30 a.m. I saw all these different people I wasn't used to (some known, some unknown). Anyway, it was uncomfortable. I'm used to my comfort zone in the swimming pool at 5:30 a.m. where I know all the characters almost intimately, though I don't know all their names. With my new contact lenses, I can even make out their features rather just knowing their fuzzy blobs.

6. Stop talking about being fat. I tried, I really did.
I think I reduced it somewhat, but it is so ingrained, albeit, annoying behavior.

7. Ride motorcycle. No.
I don't know why I even wrote this down. I rode with my ex-brother-in-law the summer of '05, so I'm not sure what I was thinking I had to fulfill here.

All in all, pretty good job. I'll give myself a B+.

Resolutions 2007:

1. Stop talking about being fat (carry over).

2. Stop talking about people in a negative way.

3. Spend no money on scrapbooking supplies- use what I have.
I had urges both yesterday and today to break down and buy something, mainly because I knew I would be making some pages. Yesterday I wanted to look for strawberry stuff to complete a page on a day at Huber Farms picking stawberries last May. I ultimately made my own strawberry out of red and green construction paper scraps I found, with journaling printed on top. Today, I needed blue paper (I don't have stock paper- usually only buy the pretty or interesting patterned papers to go with specific themes, picking up solid colors when needed). My friend Heather suggested chalking a piece of white paper, voila! Blue paper. Crisis averted.

4. Clear debt.
This refers to mostly short term, Christmas accrued credit. I haven't carried credit card balances in many years. Not a big concern, but I thought I should put some easily achievable resolutions down.

Helio Boy

My young hipster (Adam age 18) has to have the latest. While admitting he is addicted to material things to fill the void he felt when we moved from Western New York to rural Illinois, he NEEDS it nonethless. This Helio thing is a phone/video screen/internet/who knows what. Well, he sweet talked me into partially funding it for his Christmas present.

Otherwise, we are pretty much ready for Christmas here on Christmas Eve morning. Pat overdid on the kids, but says it's okay. I hope they appreciate it.

Insomniac

I'm having a rare bout of insomnia. Watching the Carson Daly show, now 1:27 am. I don't see anything special about him or his show. Kind of boring. There is so much weird, creative stuff going on even on TV and these shows are so ho hum boring. Same format, same old celebs, music, etc. Two minutes of rote chit chat.

Got the laundry folded, though. That was good. The old sock and underwear pile under control. But there's still tons of dirty laundry all over.

These girls are singing all the words with Johnny what's his name of the Goo Goo Dolls. Old Buffalo band. I don't really like them, he looks like a male Cameron Diaz. The old rocker thing is really old, too.

Very negative mood I'm having.

horsey throat

My own kid didn't recognize my voice when I answered the phone tonight. We had a good night, driving to Havana (Illinois, not Cuba, no cigars)for Cal's 7th grade Bball game. Traveling along were Pat *the driver*, Jeff *a friend* and Helen *another friend*. It was fun camraderie, even though there was quite a bit of fog on the way home. We feeded up the boys on nuggets, burgers and McFlurries and let them ride the school bus home.
And one, finger roll, setting a pick, Cal hit a sweet trey.

After coming home from work for a two hour nap this morning, the day was pretty okay. Tomorrow at work should be a big bore.

Ice Storm

A supposed huge ice/snow storm has begun. Kids are way up for a Snow Day. The windows are pinging with icy pellets. The news says 8-10 inches which never happens here...

Giving thanks, a wee bit late, for a safe and great trip to Buffalo over the holiday. Seeing Ann Marie for about four hours. Cal survived the cut for jr. high basketball. Getting my feet out of constricting boots I wore today.

Tryouts for Harvey will take place shortly after the holidays. Am I really going to try out? Perhaps it depends on whether or not I am able to take the statistics course I registered for. That is, whether work will allow me the flexibiity to leave early a couple of days a week and make up the time.

I am very much looking forward to preparing for the holidays. Christmas letter (not the braggy kind, hopefully humorous), cookies, gift buying and making, tree trimming.

I'm hungry, maybe just craving food. I'm in a competition at work to lose weight per my personal goal. It was to lose five pounds over six weeks. This is week three and I am down a pound or so. Much better than gaining, the way I look at it!

Back in the Swim

Today marked my return to the Y pool after over a week. I have become so slovenly, though I could use the excuse of having my 'friend' visit this week. I was able to swim a mile which I haven't done in many weeks, maybe months. This used to be my usual Saturday workout. I kept waiting for my friends to arrive in the pool around 7:30 and conduct our weekly "chlorine klatsch" which I missed last week. No one arrived, thus I had to keep swimming the 36 laps...It could be the ladies are traveling this week for Thanksgiving, as two are retired, and one works at the university and has all of next week off. It's usually a good gossip/gab session while treading water in the deep end. I'm sure it annoys the lifeguard and everyone else in the pool.

I am somewhat (very) proud of my swimming ability as I never was confident of this growing up. I only barely made it out of Minnow in the Y swim lessons, which concluded with swimming the length of the pool. I made it, but not with any aplomb. When I started swimming for exercise 8 years ago (after noticing my flabby arm meat in an Easter picture one spring), I could only swim one length without resting. Gradually I went four and thought that was the pinnacle. When I swam 12 laps, I was elated! 25 laps was not much more effort. The goal was then one mile, or 36 laps. Just for the heck of it one day I swam 54 laps, what I figured would be equivalent to swimming to shore from Alcatraz (with some laps thrown in to account for the current).

new friend

I have my first internet friend (person met strictly over the internet). Maybe there's another word for it?? I tell my kids not to talk to strangers or meet people on the internet....

This is unusual because I don't know how to find my way around my own blog, let alone find someone known or unknown. I don't know what the dashboard is, how to search, etc. I will say I like blogger.com much better than myspace which is completely vulgar too often.

Anyway, here is some weird coincidences: she just discovered Il Divo when I did, she watched the Country Music Awards (I just started liking country music after mocking it my whole life), she cuts her medication in half with a cool pill chopper just like I do, we both watch Dancing with Stars.

I'm not a fan of Barbra Streisand or Kenny Chesney.

My 13 year old is listening to tunes, here's a sampling: Steely Dan Mr. Woo, The Fray How to Save a Life, The Beatles I am the Walrus. He's too cool.

Myrtle Mae

I took the name Myrtle Mae because I'm thinking of trying out for the community theater production of "Harvey." I asked my parents if there were any small female roles and they recommended Myrtle Mae. There is also the sister Vita Louise, but she has a much bigger part (and older, too). You can tell the play is dated by the names, huh? Well, Myrtle has special family significance to me, it's my mother's name, my great aunt's name, and my paternal grandmother's name. I'm just lucky my mother hated it enough to never consider passing it on to me.

I wanted to write a whole blog around the idea that my son who is 13 is in a band, Geeks Play Guitar (check my space), and I was asking if all the songs were about "geeks"? He said no, but they're all emo. Emo? Emotional. I hadn't heard that one yet. I try to keep up with current music, culture and yes, words. Now that I've said this, I don't really have any more to add. One of my problems as a writer, I can't really elaborate on anything, or develop any ideas.

Tonight at Walgreen's my 12 year old boy bought Tag body spray. Hmm.

I'm looking for some good chick lit or anything to read of value.