Did You Know?

This is our last evening in New Orleans, on the Riverwalk?

Street performers in the Big Easy mime as statues for money?

Nick Fazekas fouled out in overtime but Nevada prevailed anyway?

Bob Evans has a new menu and it is quite good (flounder)?

Mississippi has security guards posted at rest areas 24/7?

North Texas University players were seen walking down Bourbon Street before their game and may have caused their demise?

Red Hot Chilli Peppers can be agreed upon by all ages in the car?

When I listen to my Ipod, I expect "Mandy" to get stuck on the words, "uphill climbing, uphill climbing, uphill climbing" the way it did on my record in 1974?

I got accepted to University of Illinois School of Social Work master's program?
Staunton, IL doesn't really have a Casey's.

St. Patty, patron saint of driving

Blogger does not want to cooperate and upload photos tonight, but I will jabber anyway.

Pat logged 900 miles each way to and from New Orleans, and didn't let me drive a lick!

Last night we made it to Festus, MO and couldn't help but make fun of the name (we were punchy). InFestus, infested with what?? Boy14 followed up with, "Can you get my BagDad?" Ok, not that funny, guess you had to be there.

Boy14 asked today if we were eating dinner Grandma's and I said, "No, why?" He replied, "It's St. Patrick's Day." It has been a tradition for my mom to cook Corned Beef and Cabbage, some call it Boiled New England dinner, on Pat's Day.

Priceless

After staking out the New Orleans Arena (next door to the Superdome) for an hour this morning, patience was rewarded in the end. On our way back from Bourbon Street this evening and very near to our hotel, I spotted a bunch of tall guys in warm-ups, and signaled Boy12. He saw the Nevada logo immediately and sped across the street, so as not to miss the opportunity this time, to the Hard Rock Cafe where Nick Fazekas was gracious enough to have his picture taken and provided an autograph for Boy12. We're convinced he will make it to the NBA and do well. He has a new devoted fan regardless. He seems like a really nice guy, and humble. Doubt Joakim Noah would have been so accomodating, though who knows. Maybe he would've danced for us.

A Day in the Life

We started the day at Cafe du Monde (seems like 25,000 steps ago--well it was). I can't say there is much difference between a beignet and a garden variety fried dough/funnel cake at any carnival or festival around the country. The chickory coffee was good and strong though.

We then walked to the Superdome which was a little farther than it looked on the map (2 miles?). No one seemed to know anything about the NCAA practice schedule, or they weren't telling us. After finally convincing Boy12 to abandon post at the players entrance, we walked back for lunch at Jackson Brewery food court (renovated beer factory, reminded me of the Tivoli in Denver). The boys took in Ripley's Believe It or Not (and a visit with the world's tallest guy) while moi had a rest. Later a stroll through the French Market where Boy14 spent the money burning a hole in his pocket. Pralines for me!! Boy12 and I then sat through a pretty amazing street performance of the Calypso boys pictured above. $10 donation for white folk.

Dinner at some Creole joint for some authentic cuisine followed by a walk down Bourbon Street. We had a sighting of the North Texas basketball team, which we didn't even know was in the dance.

Where in the World is Nick Fazekas?

Nick was spotted outside Bubba Gump Shrimp near our hotel about 8:30 p.m. with his Nevada teammates waiting for the charter bus. They are in town to play Creighton Friday night. Pat ran back to the room to get the boys but they missed him by a few seconds, boarding the bus. Boy12 was majorly bummed.

The second guy is just a typical vendor on Bourbon steet. It's quite the place. Not necessarily family oriented or the best place for a prevention specialist to spend vacation. Spring breakers abound.

Smooth Operator

Here is our carriage driver. He was a real cut-up. Showed us where Brangelina lives. He was really entertaining, lots of vampire stories and historical information. Drove a mule called "Shannon", yelled at cars and cab drivers, and accused the other carriage drivers of DWI, while he appeared to be the one on "purple drank." He let the kids drive the mule then criticized their abilities. He made the lady in front of me (pictured here) take photos of St. Louis Cathedral with sunset behind it, then chastized her for making it into a "photo shoot."

Bourbon Street was just starting to come alive at 8 p.m., about the time we retired.

Oh, by the way, the driver says "French Quarters," plural. I'm wondering which is right? He seemed to be a local who should know??

French Quarter

We drove 900 miles and all we saw is the lousy Mississippi River and threw ice at seagulls?? Just kidding.

We arrived in NO around 3:15 p.m. but took awhile to find our way to the French Quarter and to our Historic hotel. Very tight quarters around here. Narrow streets, close buildings. NO ONE can give directions or seems to know where anything is, leading to some frazzled tempers, especially the people checking in at the hotel before us.

Walked around a bit to get oriented and soak in the ambiance (beignets, beer and urine). Boy 14 wants to buy an alligator skull ($12.99) in the worst way, but we are holding him off for now. Found the Cafe Du Monde (3 blocks), street performers, and origin of the carriage rides. So far, no Brangelina sightings. The boys are looking for Joakim Noah, here for the NCAA 1st round games. Will post picture if we are lucky enough.

We found a Walgreens and got the much needed Colgate toothpaste. Burt's Bees lavendar and mint, dirt colored vintage 2000 toothpaste didn't cut it. Must run now and brush teeth before dinner...more later, dudes.

Memphis, TN

We are thankfully in an okay room in Memphis after driving 9 hours. I worked this morning, the reason for the late start. I had a new bunch of kids for their first anti-drug lesson, and it went okay. We're a little weary and a little crabby when we couldn't find our way to the Fairfield Inn (a reliable choice). The kids got a little freaked when Pat and I had words over a U-turn that turned us AWAY from the Fairfield. We landed at the Ramada, and already have had someone knocking at the door looking for Paul and Angie.

We stuffed ourselves, literally, at Red Lobster in Cape Girardeau, MO. I feel like a pound of butter is coagulated in my upper colon. I am going to read a bit before bed, while Cal does push ups on the questionable hotel floor.

Sorry for no exciting pictorials of Graceland, Jim Neeley's Interstate Ribs, or Darius Washington, Jr. Just the boys chillin' on the bed. Sports Center catching to do.

The Blue Jays have it

Just a quick reminder that Spring is here, but winter was not long ago. I'm so thankful. It's about 60 degrees, my car is clean and ready for our trip, along with myriad other errands being disposed of. I only have "clean the bathtub" left on my to-do list, and it may or may get done. Right now I am methodically going through all my digital pictures and deleting unnecessary ones. Most I don't even want print copies of, but can't part with them either, eveb though I'm afraid they are going to jam up my laptop. I knew when I started with the digital pictures, there would be major drawbacks, but the good outweighs the bad at this point. I recommend enlarging the bird picture.

Messiest Desk

This picture was taken for my entry in the Messiest Desk contest at our local newspaper. The prize was a free organizing session at your place of work. Needless to say I was too disorganized to actually submit my photograph, and I have to say the guy who "won" was way worse than me.

For you, a thousand times over.

I have to revise my assessment earlier this week of "The Kite Runner" after finishing it today. I was bored in places, but interestingly, when I would pick it back up it would draw me in again. I know I'm a little behind the times, the book was published in 2003, but I had it on my list of books to read a couple of years ago, if that counts for anything. Over Thanksgiving, my sister-in-law's boyfriend highly recommended it and that was the impetus to buy it for Adam for Christmas. Pat was the first to read it, me, second, and Adam has not read it yet, but I'm hoping he will at least start over Spring Break this week.

I was also disappointed when I realized this was not an autobiography, and the plot became somewhat unbelievable. This all led me to make some negative comments. However, there was something haunting and redemptive in it. I also appreciated the complexity and fallibility of the characters, which I argued with Pat about. I also fell in love with the little boy who becomes a central character. It ended on a positive, if not ecstatic note, which was realistic. The story came full circle and I found myself looking back to find familiar scenes and phrases. I love the way the author wove "for you, a thousand times over" into the fabric of the story. Very nice. I recommend it.

A View Looking In

I was looking for some inspiration in my pictures, and found this. Frankly, I'm a little burnt out on writing. At work today, it was kind of nice because I had all day to catch up on stuff. Most of it was writing. Meeting minutes and articles for the newspaper on social hosting (adults providing alcohol to minors) and parental communication and monitoring. Easier to give advice than carry it out myself. Actually, I'm pretty happy with my parenting skills overall.

This is the most complete room in my little dollhouse. My mom actually needlepointed the little welcome mat. I haven't put the kind of effort into it like I thought I would two years ago when I got it. I guess my girlhood dream should have remained just that. Since this picture was taken, this little living room contains a fireplace, a silver tea set and a kitten in a basket, thanks to some birthday gifts from Betsy. The other room that has gotten some attention is the attic. My plan is to have the kids sleep there. There are some miniature Cubbie pictures glued on the ceiling above where the beds will go. In the corner is a box of Christmas paper and ornaments.

Spring break for the kids has officially begun. We are going to take off for New Orleans on Tuesday. Not too much planned, we have a room in the French Quarter. Most of my ideas center around food (Beignets at Cafe du Monde, Emeril's, Quarter Master Deli). Maybe a swamp tour, voodoo shop, visit with Brangelina at their new home in the French Quarter, and cemetery walk. Any other suggestions appreciated!

Lost

Lost is such a weird show. It's playing in HD in front of me, and I can't get into it.

American Idol, on the other hand, is THE BEST. Actually, when I DVR it, I can skip most of the singers who I think are mediocre and/or boring, and listen to my girls a couple of times over. There is one guy who is growing on me, they call him "justin timberlake." He did a cool song last week, something about a "freak". This week I didn't care for his Keith Urban impersonation.

Better to spend most time reading. I'm trying to get through "The Kite Runner" though I'm finding the story too far fetched. I didn't really know anything about Afghanistan, other than they grow and export a lot of opium products, and the atrocities of the Taliban, especially with regard to women. So, I find any other cultural data very interesting.

Blogger Constipation

Blogger is running really slow tonight, wouldn't load my pictures, takes forever to go from window to window. I just commented to Pat that everyone must be blogging tonight because the system is all clogged up, just like our toilet after a big....

Now, to continue with the day. The boys got out on what was a very wet field, that froze over the last couple days. Good enough to skate on, until they started poking holes in the ice and the water erupted over the ice. That was it for our frozen tundra (I hope). Pat misses the ice, being a Buffalo hockey boy at heart. The groundhog said the spring would be early, and this is not early. I expect March to be much nicer than it has been so far.

Mercury Retrograde

Mercury must be out of retrograde, as I am feeling pretty good now. I don't know what that is exactly, just that I was out of sorts, disorganized, overwhelmed, and had problems in general last week. The full moon has also passed, and we are into waning crescent as of this evening. I am busy doing laundry, exercising, studying for a statistics test tomorow, and squeezing in a little blogging (for a reward and stress relief!).

Last night we saw the community theater production of "Harvey." This was all my kids, nephew, husband, sister. Everyone enjoyed it and found many parts uproarious. Elwood P. Dowd was played by a university theater professor. Just a really good performance, even if my dad thought he played him as something of a lech. I thought he was charming, poignant and yes, hilarious. My father played Dr. Chumley for the second time in his amatuer acting career, and Mom was Mrs. Chauvanet. She had previously played Myrtle Mae and Veta Louise, much meatier roles. I'll have to add here, the name of my blog was inspired by my idea of trying out for the role of Myrtle Mae a few months ago. I didn't know at the time, the character was in her twenties. Ha ha on pulling that off! Mom got the first big laugh of the show with her, "I thought you were dead" line. Dad was quite believable as the psychiatrist who begins to believe in the imaginary white rabbit who can stop time and take him to his fantasy of "Akron, cold beer and poor, poor thing." Not bad for a couple in their seventies. The play was an interesting take on the mental health profession of the 1940's. My how things have changed!

Coincidentally, the movie version of Harvey was shown on TNT tonight. I have to say, Jimmy Stewart doesn't have anything on our Ray Gabica. He was a little too hapless for my taste. Just learned in the afterward, that Jimmy was not happy with his portrayal and thought it was not edgy enough. He later did it on Broadway and in a TV movie, a little darker and "crazier" and was much happier with the result. I would like to see that and become a real Harvey critic.

IPod Update and Ugly Cake

I posted this awful picture in case Christina looked over here to see how great her birthday cake really does look. I picked up a store cake the night before and this is it practically demolished after the folks came over to help celebrate. The IPod is sitting on top of the clear plastic lid. Somehow, I thought it would look artsy, but didn't turn out that way afterall.

I have already learned how to sync my IPod and added three CD's (Ragged's, Lucy Kaplansky, and Beatles Love) all by myself! It is so exciting to learn something new. I guess I will have to break down and buy some songs off ITunes, though I think $1 a song is ghastly. I haven't gotten to listen much as my sister arrived in town tonight so I didn't walk at the Y. I was listening and computering at work, and the boss walked in and startled the bejesus out of me. Guess I won't wear it at work anymore.

Has anyone else found a laptop to be much more comfortable on one's lap than up on a table or desk? I'm only a little afraid there is radiation seeping out into my thighs, it gets really hot.

Happy Birthday to E

We have a 14 year old in the house today. I tried to import one of his CD's to ITunes and my Ipod before he had even listened to it. He loves the Red Hot Chili Peppers. They are okay. But it was the Beatles CD I had heard good things about.

For his birthday, he got Mom coming into his health class and teaching drug prevention. Well, at least it was the last time he will have to endure that.

Happy Birthday to Me

Hello Ipod. I have definitely not mastered the new toy yet. Not even close. I have to get one of the boys to instruct on every step. Then it looks so obvious. The clip is so handy, though. Really nice for walking. Too bad I only had four songs. The color is awesome, the boys love it. The picture doesn't do it justice. That was after deleting over 200 I found had been saved on my computer by Boy/man18. No clue who any of the bands (?) were.

Chuck, aka Tag03, aka BIL, I wouldn't want to ruin Of Mice and Men for you, should you decide to watch or re-read it. Yes, I could see how it could upset a child or at least give them a creepy feeling.

Of Mice and Men

I went to a community college production of "Of Mice and Men" this afternoon. Damn, I forgot how sad a story that is. The students were cast perfectly for their roles. Lennie was BIG, Curly was a small man, and Slim was quite slender. Even forgetting the exact plot, you knew Lennie was going to do something really bad, which he did. Then his friend George handles the situation himself rather than having Curly take pleasure in it. I really teared up at the end. The sexism and politically incorrect treatment of the disabled didn't seem to interfere with the transmission of the timeless themes. If my brain were functioning better, and perhaps I had had an English class in the last 25 years, I would name those themes. The actors carried off their disabilities well and with dignity, and the accents were consistently applied. Bruce Springsteen tunes were used as house and transition music; I'm not that familiar with him but it was his haunting, lonely type stuff and fit the 1930's setting well.

Sneeder Birds

These are my favorite birds at feeding time at the state park. Turns out it was pre-feeding time, but when we went to put the seed out the birds all fled. Did you know birds are so afraid of people?

My favorite sign of spring is waking to the sounds of sneeder sneeder sneeder. As a kid I always thought these were sneeder birds. Later found out that is the sound of cardinals. Man, I love these birds. The males are the bright red ones, the females pale in comparison, the opposite of humans.

I wish I knew how to control where pictures go on this thing. The photo on the left is a distorted picture of sister Betsy and me.

I strained my neck and shoulder muscles in the shower this morning, it was very tense driving today, I have a lot of blog reading to catch up on, and I'm quite exhausted, so will call it a night.

Mad Skills II

My boy has Mad Trumpet skills. Boy13 took on 3 contest pieces this year (first attempt). Solo, duet and quintet. He earned a first for each. For those non-band geeks: a first designates something like an A. You could receive a 1, 2 or 3. His solo judge was impressed with his musicality, ritardando, and tone, and stated he was "feeling the music." I'm so proud.

This photo I took on my way home from Indiana. The roads were all clear, I saw this phrase that spoke to me, I turned around and snapped the picture.

Off-line

OMG

I just had my longest dry blog spell. It was totally unintentional. I have SO much news.

First up, the reason for my absence: the short story, someone invaded my unsecured wireless service and changed the settings around. It took awhile to diagnosis it, but my wonderful internet provider patiently guided me to resolution just this evening. I am now "secure" and on-line again. (I think the kids are happy, too).

Second, Ragged is a dear and sent me her homemade CD of Luv songs. It's great because it's a mix of new and old songs to me. I love Mandy, because it took me back to the feelings of sixth grade when Mandy was my favorite song. I don't want to stay there real long, necessarily. She included Lyle Lovett, one of my favorites, whom I saw in a great concert in Kentucky, her home state. I've really enjoyed this in the car and hope to add it to my Shuffle next week. Oh yeah, she warned me a couple of times that one particular song is not appropriate for little ones, so I preveiwed it, then promptly played it for Boys12 and 13. They weren't offended, but it wasn't really their style either.

The past two weekends I have had to drive in adverse conditions for different reasons. Last weekend I met my sister at a state park in Indiana, traveling snow packed and blowing snow conditions. When the road actually got better (interstate) I passed 25 cars in the ditch on an 80 mile stretch. I guess they were not very good drivers, because I thought the conditions were improving immensely. Today I drove in freezing rain for two hours, to take my mom to a plane which was cancelled 10 minutes after we got to the airport. Turned around and brought her home, two more hours. There's a family emergency and she was trying valiantly to get to North Dakota.

The picture above is a giant icicle we saw on a short hike we took. I was wearing some very uncomfortable boots, but it was worth hiking out a ways to see this. It helped my pedometer steps as well.

I have gotten way off my walking and swimming plan this week. I'm disappointed and afraid I have lost my healthy ways. Too many meetings, classes, emergencies and activities this week. Correspondingly, I have been cranky, blue and PMSing the past two days.

Happy V-Day

My mom helped me create these Valentine Boxes for the boys by taking apart a box obtained at a Stampin' Up party and cutting out a model. We share a number of rubber stamps and related supplies so I stamped them and she folded and put them together. Later I filled them with candy and added their names and mine.

This Evening

It was a busy day with stamping Valentines, eating too many corn muffins, making trips to Walgreen's for supplies, games of Diplomacy, and basketball. Unfortunately, there was more indoor activity than outdoor. After dark, the boys finally decided to play in the parking lot forts made from stacks of plowed snow, although it looks like Alaska, huh?

Nod to R.F.

The name of my last post sounded vaguely familiar. Isn't there a poem that goes something like this:


Whose plows these are I think I know
Their owners like to wake me so
Can't they wait till the sun comes up
And let us gently sleep with snow.

My little boys must think it queer
To hear their mummy grumbling near
And turning on the coffee pot
When all the world is sleeping dear.

I creep downstairs and check the news
And quickly do the closures peruse
I shortly forget the annoying plows
And gently sip and start to muse.

The snow is lovely, bright as day
And everyone has gotten their way
And hours to go in which to play
And hours to go in which to play.

Waking up to a Miracle on Snowy Morning

Did not get up in time (5:30 am) to go swimming (or so I thought). Could hear snowblowers and pickup trucks with blades scraping the parking lot next door for last two hours. Went downstairs to watch for school closing on TV. Not the best way. Hear Boy12 yelp. Check schools' websites. Kids school closed, Mr. D's college closed- wow it must be really bad. Looks like about 4 inches to me. No way my work is closing.

Go upstairs at 6:30 to inform all they can stay home today. Boy12 says, "I know, heard on radio" by his bedside. Boy13 says "sweet". Boy18- forget it, he isn't due up for hours still. Mr. D has already showered and can't believe he has another day off (Lincoln's birthday yesterday). Phone starts ringing downstairs, and I listen to the answering machine when I get there. My work is closed. This is the true miracle. There have been two closing in 10 1/2 years, both this winter. I sort of prepared yesterday for Wednesday, and I'm glad I did.

Oatmeal and coffee have already been consumed. I will be taking some snow pictures later and sharing them with y'all. I could actually have a late swim now that I'm FREE for the day. Happy happy joy joy...

Bring on the Snow

I am with the kids here, SNOW DAY SNOW DAY SNOW DAY!! That would give me a picture to take (big kids sledding or playing in snow), plus something to write about. I would be expected at work, but since the school I guest teach in would presumably be closed, I could probably take a half day and come home for the afternoon. Fun. Has anyone west of the Mississippi seen this so-called snowstorm yet?? We had a doosey on Dec. 1st. The biggest snow I remember in 10 years in Illinois. Of course, nothing compared to my Buffalo, NY days. They are really getting it now and even back in October- a terrible ice storm that snapped so many trees and power lines.

Tag03 (aka Not Hamlet): at least write something on your blog so I can begin to guess your identity or at least an inkling of your personality.

My Love CD (inspired by Ragged Around the Edges)

For my two husbands (not at the same time, no, I'm not a bigamist):

Can't Take My Eyes Off You by Frankie Valli

Happy Together by the Turtles

Now onto the seventies:

You Make Me So Very Happy by Blood, Sweat and Tears

Can't Get Enough of Your Love by Barry White

Love and Affection by Joan Armatrading (though I didn't discover her until the 80's)

After the Love Has Gone by Earth, Wind and Fire

Baby Come Back by Hall and Oates

Entire Soundtrack from Saturday Night Fever

The eighties:

I'll Stand By You by The Pretenders

Every Little Thing by The Police

Kiss on my List by Hall and Oates

The Ninties (for my boys):

Baby Can I Hold You by Tracy Chapman (actually 1988)

Lullaby by Trout Fishing in America

Are There Angels? by Tom Stahl

Crush by Dave Matthews Band

Twenty first century:

Uh, I've gone blank, are there any good love songs out there?

All songs have special but personal meanings to me. I don't know how to burn a CD, but I am hoping to get an Ipod Shuffle clip-on for my birthday and have my kids help me download my songs. Mr. D. and I have been breaking out in song far too often (we can't carry a tune). We sound a little like the Sweeney Sisters from Saturday Night Live.

Where did this kid come from?

Each time I look in "My Pictures" I find strange things have appeared. Like this picture of what was labeled "hipster van". Apparently, this is what Boy13 is hoping to get for his 16th birthday. Luckily, we have two more years to prepare.

Mad Skills

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J30S6hkiyU

Call me unsavvy, call me uncool, whatever. I have no idea how to post a you tube video on my blog (I tried to follow the instructions to no avail). Well, here's a link to a really cool musical selection. Boy13 says, 'This guy has mad skills' and now he wants to borrow grandpa's ukelele. Also, Randy Jackson on American Idol said 'mad skills' tonight on AI, so I guess that's now an overused phrase.

I nearly made myself sick on sweets tonight, candy hearts (tart) and chocolates with fudge centers. I was packing some V-Day treat bags for 'my girls' in middle school. I'm going to try to write personal valentine notes to each noting their unique qualities.

I discovered my pedometer has been ripping me off. When wearing it on my waistband, I get about half the steps I get when I attach it to my sock. And I thought it was just the dirty, rotten weather that was killing my step goal. This has been three weeks of declining steps, and now in the last three days, I am skyrocketing. Fact is: I walked what I walked regardless of what the ped said. I know, but I am hung up on goals, and measurements!

Took my second chapter test in statistics this evening. It was fun. I like making histograms, frequency polygons, ogives, pie graphs, scatter plots, Pareto charts and time series graphs. Even though most of these are never used, and I will forget the formulas, simple as they are, tomorrow. There is no midterm and no final in the class, thus I really only have to retain the information a week or two at a time. Good for middle age students :) Perhaps I should put my step data into a time series graph.

Enough of random thoughts, and it's off to bed. My eyes are killing me, and my stomach is not much better.

Looky What I Got

"I'm not Nutello, but I play one on TV." Took my husband shopping at Aldi's today for a few last minute Superbowl treats, and found this. It was a little hard to explain why I had to buy it, but he was in a jolly mood. There were actually two varieties, one being darker all the way through. We also came home with an Atomic clock, sweatpants, and some food items. Pat knew the clerk who rang us up, and he reported quitting Hy-Vee for $3.00 more per hour at Aldi's. I said, "Oh, the Germans are good to you!" He smiled. I'll let you know later how it tasted...

Now I know I am living a little too much in blogger world.

9:52 p.m. after the Superbowl, one vote of confidence in the Chocolate Duo from Eli. Good for dipping apples in.

Talkin' 'bout my generation

These fancy pictures I took of t-shirts I found in the laundry. I bet you're thinking of the two, the second is from my generation, and it is. And Peeps technically are Easter food from my childhood as well. But actually they are both t-shirts of my boys age 12 and 13. They both love the Beatles, and have many, many of their songs on their I-pods.

Boston

I had nothing creative to say this evening, but still wanted to say something. So I looked to my picture collection for something to inspire me. Well, here it is. This is my big brother, Chris, last September in his fave city, Boston. In the background is the new Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge (had to look that one up), part of the "big dig" which was I guess was a big, bungling mess. Anyway, this bridge was designed to mirror the shape of the Bunker Hill monument (top photo). Nifty, huh? To the left of Chris is the new TD Banknorth Garden. I'm having a bit of confusion here, but I think this replaced the Boston Garden, also known as the Fleet Center. I do remember Chris explaining that the new arena was built about one foot from the old building, which was later demolished. Chris enjoys all this construction trivia, as he is a civil engineer in the area, working with pre-cast concrete. He can talk about a parking garage forever. I have probably screwed this all up, but I'm a social worker, and wasn't paying that much attention, nor do I have the patience to research it all.

Haiti Girls

A friend from Connecticut turned me on to some beautiful products from Haiti. A friend of a friend who was a nurse started a project in Haiti to help the women in a village there make some money to sanitize their water, educate their kids, etc. They make beautiful embroidered pillowcases, table runners and nightgowns out of 100% cotton. I have one nightgown and it is my favorite one ever. They are really exceptional items, and reasonably priced. I am sure this is all on the up and up, and the website is accordingly very low budget. You can find out more at www.haitiprojects.org.

It's a quiet night, not a lot of blogging out there. I am going to try to figure out a few things...

Boy 12 got 8th out of 25 in the school spelling bee against 7th and 8th graders. He had to take a guess at "hearth," never having heard of it. Phonics didn't work on this one.

Lying About My Age When I Should Be Exercising

I was just doing my nightly cruise around the blogs (when I should be cruising around the BLOCK or at the Y doing laps around the track) when I noticed profiles contain one's Chinese zodiac year. I went back to check my profile, since I've always liked being year of the rabbit. Two astounding things then happened. I noticed it said my year was RAT. That would be my last pick, as if one could pick, and I realized I had lied about my age. I thought I said I was 25 (I guess hoping that more people would look at a 25 year old), but it now said 250! Okay, I went to edit and saw my birth year was 1756, and the zodiac year automatically corresponds. Anyway, I fixed that, and now you will know I am 43 and proud (sometimes).

The other surprise was that I had been stuck on 95 profile views forever. Today there were 121. I am so happy, even though only three have commented. This is getting more fun (and addictive) everyday. Now I have to find a picture.

This is all my boys and me on Pike's Peak in 2000. It was a traumatic ride up on the train, between my youngest being struck with a terrible stomach ache and my husband looking over the edge of the mountain saying, "I didn't know it was going to be like this," and battling vertigo.

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.