Old Photo Weekend

This post is early because I'm leaving in about an hour. Normally during the last weekend of April I'm at the Pennsylvania Organization of Mothers of Twins Club State Convention. This year I'm going to the Hemlock Girl Scout Council's Delegate Assembly. Not as a delegate, but as a visitor. I recently became our Service Unit's Ass't Director (now, if only I could get someone to take my old position as SU Treasurer ...), and our SU Director is new, too. Since she had hubby's hotel points burning in her pocket, we decided it would be a good thing to attend. It's in Williamsport, the home of Little League.

This week's photo is of me as a Junior Girl Scout. TLP was a leader and camp director when we girls (Actonbell and AP3 and I) were in Girl Scouts. The photo itself is only two inches square - it scanned pretty well.

Have a great weekend everyone! I'll be checking in on Sunday most likely.

Working on that list

I've been working on that list that I posted last week. Argh. Left too many things to the last minute, of course.

1. I did work out a change in the banner for our church, and mom/TLP is going to ask some super sewers if they'll put my design to fabric.
2. Right now I'm working on that "diversity" artwork - it's due in (framed) to the Art Center by Friday.
3. The girls are back from the band trip to Walt Disney World and we've been hearing lots of great stories. Hopefully they'll post them soon.
4. I've got a proofer for the camera club newsletter, so the corrections just need to be implemented.
5. I still need to mail AP3's wife's birthday gift. It's sitting in the dining room, but I need to get a box ...
6. I have to get the Outdoor Odyssey display done by Friday, too. I'm going to Delegate Assembly Friday afternoon, where it will be set out.
7. I'm ignoring the rest of that other list for now. Tomorrow (Thursday) a girlfriend from work and I are going to a particular outlet in Lancaster (just because we get employee discounts ... not that I actually NEED anything from there ...). I do need some clothing, and will see if I can get some bargains while we're there.

Recycling

Our trash is picked up on Monday mornings, so every other weekend I get the newspapers in paper grocery bags to put out for recycling. I try to do my bit! Actonbell posted a link to check what your "footprint" is on Earth.

This weekend, while I was putting the newspapers in the bag (which was on a chair), Salem decided that he wanted to be recycled, too.

That Salem! He'll get into any box or bag, especially if the space is small.

Oldish Photo Weekend

This week's photo isn't so old ~ it's from six years ago when we went to Walt Disney World as a family.

We got up at 3 am this morning. God, that's early. Our girls' HS band needed to be at the school before 5:00 am to take a bus to Baltimore to fly to Orlando, FL.

I tried to get to bed before 10 pm, but it didn't quite work. I took a sleep aid, which did get me to sleep fast, but then I woke up at midnight and had trouble getting back to sleep. I kept thinking about things I needed to confirm that they had packed, or had thought of things that I wanted them to take or do. So I finally got up, went downstairs and started a list. Turned on the TV and finally fell asleep.

Just moments before we had to get out the door, Bookworm came downstairs. Goa'uld had been down for a while. They took one look at each other and started to have a disagreement.

Over what, you ask?

The fact that they were wearing the same thing: khaki capris and a Wicked t-shirt.

Nod and I could only laugh. This has happened before, and one of them has always changed to avoid it. But this time we had no time for that. We just continued to laugh and say "it's a TWIN thing!"

They were not amused. Goa'uld put on a sweatshirt to look different (okay, it was 44 degrees F this morning, so it was justified).

Bookworm called at 9:00 am to say that she and her sister had just passed thru Security (and they had to take off their shoes - for some reason that really tickled them). Now, they would've gotten in to Baltimore by 7 am, and their flight was supposed to leave at 9:20. She said that half the band still needed to go thru Security. Nod was worried that the band would miss the flight. I was hoping that Bookworm didn't really know how many still had to get inspected.

Anyway, we didn't get another call, so I assume that the rest of the boarding went fine. I just checked the airline's flight status website and it says that they're arriving now. (This is a pretty neat feature.)

This is the first time my girls have been so far from home without a family member with them. I'm a tad nervous about it, tho' I know I shouldn't be. I'm sure they'll have a good time.

Funny Math

(this is from a friend who sends me jokes every day)

What Makes 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%? Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%?

We have all been to those meetings where someone wants you to give over 100%. How about achieving 103%? What makes up 100% in life?

Here's a little mathematical formula that might help you answer these questions:

If:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
is represented as
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

Then:
H-A-R-D-W-O-R-K is 8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%
and
K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E is 11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%

But, A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E is 1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%
and
B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T is 2+21+12+12+19+8+9+20 = 103%

AND, look how far ass kissing will take you:

A-S-S-K-I-S-S-I-N-G is 1+19+19+11+9+19+19+9+14+7 = 118%

So, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that
While Hard work and Knowledge will get you close,
and Attitude will get you there,
it's the Bullshit and Asskissing that will put you over the top

Idol Update

Nod and I had some scary moments last night with American Idol. Each week the bottom three vote-getters are revealed in a different way. Sometimes you can get a hint just by the order the contestants are sitting on the two couches. There were three sitting on the bottom couch last night (including our fav Taylor Hicks) and we instantly got nervous. But that arrangement was just so Ryan Seacrest and Rod Stewart could sit there, too.

Last night Ryan started to divide the seven contestants into two groups. On the far side first went Elliot (oh, no, this could be the "bottom" group!). Chris went on the near side (oh, this should be the group that stays!).

Paris then was placed with Chris (oh, surely ...) and Kellie with Elliot (oh, oh, she even said herself that she "butchered" her song ...). Then Ace went with Chris & Paris (oh, crap, he's staying!) and Katharine with Elliot & Kellie (WHAT?!).

That left Taylor alone on the couch. What could that mean?!

Then Ryan (after dragging it out a bit) told Taylor that he was safe. (oh ~ RELIEF!! Nod almost cheered). THEN Ryan asked Taylor to go stand with the group that he thought was safe (the crowd booed). Mind you, Taylor wasn't picking the bottom three, just was being asked which three he thought was safe or not. What a horrible thing to do!

So, Taylor stood in the middle with Ryan and looked at the groups to either side of him. Then he walked towards the Chris/Paris/Ace group and reached out his hand to Chris.

Ryan Seacrest started to say "Taylor, I'm so...."

THEN Taylor turned on his heel and walked over to the other group and stood. Clever man!!

Ryan paused and then continued "Taylor, I'm sorry, that IS the group that is staying."

good grief!

It was really strange that Elliot and Kellie were both safe - I looked at some of the A.I. blogs after the Tuesday night performances and most thought that these two were the weakest. I guess it shows that sometimes it's a loyal fan base and not always talent or performance that wins. Or maybe just alot of people with power speed dial (I tried for two and a half hours to vote and never got through).

So, Ryan let Paris sit down, safe, right away. Then it was down to Chris and Ace (Ryan said that they were the Matt Damon and Ben Affleck of A.I.) If Chris had gone home, then something is SERIOUSLY wrong with the viewers!

But it was okay, our least favorite Idol is now gone. (I'm bad ... but YEAH!!)


bye ACE!

Lists

I'm married to a list-maker. Nod keeps all sorts of lists that are on different slips of paper. I never could understand how he could do that - I'd be losing lists all the time (then again, maybe that's a good thing). Not him!

Lately I've been maintaining a list of to dos in a small spiral notebook at my desk here at my PC. When half the list is crossed off, I rewrite it onto a fresh page. (This spiral notebook is seven by seven inches and says "IMAGINE" in light grey across the middle. It was part of the bag of stuff we got at our company's annual meeting.)

My current list:

1. Drivers Ed - I need to find a course for my daughters to take this summer. They will kill me if I don't.
2. "Diversity" - the local art center is having a "Point of View" exhibit where an artist and a photographer take a word and each creates a piece to illustrate it. Nod and I are working on the word Diversity.
3. UCH Banner - TLP and I have been asked to create a new banner for our church to use at the next General Assembly in June.
4. Are Calendars up to date? We've got so many different calendars: band, Girl Scouts, family stuff, work stuff, school and lessons, etc.
5. Make doctors appoints - I need to set up the regular check-ups
6. Cabana dvd - my daughters and the other Girl Scouts that are going to Mexico in July have to make a presentation to the other Girl Scouts and Girl Guides. Part of it was recorded to a videotape and needs to be transferred, plus a title page needs to be created.
7. Curtains - I bought fabric months ago for the kitchen/dining room, and new rods. Haven't gotten any further. (I also started to make Goa'uld a duvet cover last year ... never finished that, either.)
8. Start to pack for Disney - the girls are flying out with the band early Saturday morning. We need to nail down what they need and what we need to get. For example, they're not rooming with each other, so they can't share shampoo, etc.
9. Cows - I've been commissioned to replicate my CowParade cow for two people.
10. Coffee/Tea Basket - for a Girl Scout "raffle"
11. Newsletters - I did finish my church's newsletter, now I need to do the camera club's.
12. Outdoor Odyssey Display - I'm on the committee for an adult Girl Scout conference and need to update the display panel for an assembly
13. Me's birthday - which I'm late for. I am the queen of processing. My dad Niks is the king. This item is highlighted in bright yellow. Didn't help
14. Groundhog trap - this I did manage to borrow from the Boro. We've caught four squirrels. But not the groundhog (I blogged about this issue last year, here is a photo of him.)
15. Cell phone - and I did get this done, after much aggravation with Cingular. My daughters are annoyed with me. Not only does this phone have a camera (jealous) but I keep trying to take their pictures (annoying).

So, that's my list. You'll notice that I'm not doing anything on my list right now . . .

Old Photo Weekend

Sunday addendum: Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law Me Wonder Woman Pez!



I've decided to expand Old Photo Sunday to the whole weekend. (Pure laziness, I assure you.)

This photo was one I took around 1980. I had gotten myself a new Pentax K1000 camera and signed up for a photography course at Penn State. The cat was named Hagar (after the cartoon character) and the person is AP3. I developed and printed this photograph myself.

Clarification

The recent murders in Leola, PA, were not committed by any members of the Amish community - I didn't mean to imply that.

The family that was murdered by another family member were from New York City - but I don't want to imply that New Yorkers are bad in any way, either.

I guess what I was saying was that no place is really safe ~ even rural areas with alot of the "Plain" people live see their share of violence.

I think that many people here in Pennsylvania think that we live in a safe state. And maybe somewhere there are statistics to support that - I don't know. (I know that statistics can be made to support anything, so I am sometimes suspicious of polls and stats.)

Back in 2001, many in our area felt surrounded by the bad news of the 9/11 attacks. Shanksville is to our west, Washington, D.C. just to our south, and New York is an easy train ride to our east. Because there are Navy and Army depots here, and the Three Mile Island nuclear plant is here, too, there were alerts, lock-downs and other security measures. (My husband couldn't leave the Navy base that day for many hours.) Everyone knew someone who lived and worked in the affected areas. And then our governor, Tom Ridge, was called upon to become the first Homeland Security chief.

Okay, I'm rambling here. I guess that I'm just kinda feeling like the big, bad world is getting too close sometimes. I'm keeping the television off.

Murder in Amish Country

Many of you may have heard on the news about the murder of six in their home by another family member in Leola, PA. This wasn't someone going into a rage and shooting everyone in the house - this young man took the time and effort/strength to strangle and beat to death six young children, teenagers, and older adults.

This killing took place about ten miles from another murder - that of Kara Borden's parents by her boyfriend David Ludwig, which took place last November.

Lancaster County is known for the Amish that are there, and the outlet shopping. It is the fastest growing county in Pennsylvania. And with that growth comes problems. Of course, no place has ever been immune to trouble. In the past, the tragedy in Lancaster County seemed to mostly be that of drunk, driving teenagers wiping out an Amish horse, buggy and passengers (the roads are too narrow for cars and buggys).

Pennsylvania lawmakers have tried to save farmland by establishing protection for "master farmers" and preservation of farmlands. However, the Amish aren't too happy about being a tourist attraction (many Europeans come to look at them). It's no wonder that sometimes they sell out and move to other areas (Ohio and Indiana have a good many Amish communities, as well as the central counties of Pennsylvania).

The murders in Leola are dominating the newspapers and TV broadcasts here. It was weird to see local reporters on national cable news channels.

I've started to change the channel when the news comes on - but I have to admit that I'm waiting to hear why this young man killed his family. I guess that some part of me wants to make sense out of the senseless.

(It was just reported that he was angry at his family because they were about to kick him out because he was in trouble too often and they were tired of it ... )

MONIKA! DON'T LOOK!

Monika is following American Idol, but apparently the broadcasts are behind what we're seeing ... so I'm giving Monika a chance to look away now ...

So ...

Who

didn't

get

enough

votes

to

stay

??!!

The "bottom three" this week were Elliott (what!?), Ace and Bucky.

And

the

loser

is ...

Bucky. Yup. Elliott sings WAY better than Ace and Bucky (and everyone that I know who is following Idol agrees), so if he didn't get enough votes then something is wrong with the USA. (yeah, yeah, I know . . . )

btw, Bucky is an identical twin. Just a little bit of trivia.

A Confession

Okay, I've got something to confess.

I'm an American Idol watcher.

Yup. Haven't missed a show all season.

Mind you, I must tell you that I've never done this before. Sure, I saw some of those audtions in earlier years . . . they are hilarious!

But for some reason, I got caught up in this season. Have voted early and often for contestants.

And now, since I've invested so much into this, I thought that I might as well use it for some blog fodder.

First, the judges:

Simon may be harsh, but I think that his opinions are usually correct. I'm tired of everyone booing him so often, and I think that the tit-for-tat that he and Ryan Seacrest engage in is stupid. If it's done on purpose, then they should stop it. If they're doing it because they really don't like each other, then they need to grow up. Especially Seacrest. Paula is a waste of breath. She "loves" every one of the contestants. (this photo is from here.) I don't remember her ever really giving constructive advice to anyone. As for Randy - he really needs to learn new lines, because his script is limited to "check it out!" and "what's up dawg".

Each week the contestants are given an assignment - last week it was to sing a country song, and last night it was to sing a Queen song.

And now for the final eight:

Ace: His singing is just okay for me - there are moments when he's good, but he's just not on par with the rest of the contestants when it was down to the final 12. I personally think that he's still there because he's good-looking to many. He sang "We Will Rock You" last night and I thought it was pretty bad.

Bucky: I think he can sing the right song really well, but mostly he hasn't picked the right songs. Also, it's frequently hard to understand what he's singing - he needs to articulate better. Seems like a really nice guy. He sang "Fat Bottom Girls" and made it into a country song. Country is his style, and he did okay with it, but not great.

Kellie: As time goes on, she has really grown on me. I think she's been improving as time goes on. Poor girl needs some education - Simon is always baffling her with words and phrases that she's never heard before. For example, last night she sang "Bohemian Rhapsody" (I think she did a good job with it) and Simon said (I'm paraphrasing somewhat here) that "on paper, it looked like it was going to be a disaster" and she said "what? on paper?" To boot, Kellie said that she had a hard time understanding Simon's British accent. He replied that he had a hard time with her accent. THEN she said that she didn't have an accent. I hope that she was joking ~ Kellie's southern accent is pretty darn thick! I think she'll make it to the end.


Katharine: She does indeed have a great voice, but I haven't cared for her song choices the last two or three weeks. I think that perhaps Broadway might be a better venue than Idol. She sang "Who Wants to Live Forever" (from The Highlander movie) fine, but it didn't move me.


Elliot: The guy is a bit awkward and physically doesn't seem to have enough rhythm to move well while he sings, but I do think he's got a great voice. He's growing on me. Last night he sang "Find Somebody to Love" very well.

Chris: I like his family story. He married a woman with kids from a previous relationship, and has been a great husband and dad to them. That means alot to me. His voice is GREAT. He's into a harder rock style than the rest of the contestants, and sometimes his song choice or rendition doesn't please everyone. But he's been true to himself and has done a great job with all the songs. Last night he sang "Innuendo", which I don't think I've ever heard before. Turns out that Queen never sang that song live ... Anyway, I think he'll make it to the end.

Paris: The youngest of the contestants left - she's only 17. She does indeed have a powerhouse voice - no doubt that the girl has a future in the music business. She's been all over the place in song choice and appearance. That's youth and there's nothing wrong with that - but I guess that I would rather see an older person get the final prize because she's got so much more time and maturing to do yet. She sang "The Show Must Go On" last night pretty well. It was strange to see such a young woman dressed up and singing so seriously, however.

Taylor: the crazy Taylor Hicks is my and Nod's favorite. His voice was described as "whiskey tenor". He dances all over the place (or at least, that's what he calls it, it's wacky). He is so fun to watch, and entertaining. Last night he sang "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", which was right up his alley. Last week's "Country Roads" really wasn't a good song choice for him, and Nod and I were nervous that he wouldn't get the votes to stay. He's the oldest of the contestants, barely making the age requirements. I don't think that he'll end up the American Idol in the end, but it's great to watch him week after week.

Tonight we'll find out who's going home. I voted for Taylor about ten times, and about five times for Kellie, Chris and Elliot.

Beautiful Days

The friend that's always sending me jokes (see the pun post below) sent me a link to a page with rainbow photos. So, in honor of the absolutely beautiful day we had yesterday, and in hopes that today will be another one, here is one of those photos.



Be sure to scroll down and see all the photos, and check out the home page, too.

I'll add a bit later on after lunch ...

Old Photo Sunday XVIII

We've got Disney on the brain here. The High School Band will be going to WaltDisneyWorld in a couple of weeks to march in a parade. The Band Director asked me to create some posters to put in the band hallway ~ first, to generate some excitement among band members for the coming trip; and secondly to help retain/recruit the Middle School band members for the future. After making those Disney posters, I want to go!! (Of course, I spent more time on them than anyone else would have ...)

This photo is of me, Actonbell and our cousin Sonja at Disneyland. TLP will have to let me know what ages or year it is. Maybe I'm 8 and they're around 4. (I'm horrible at guessing ages and have gotten in trouble in the past for trying ...)

Let The Pun Begin

A the husband of a friend of my mom forwards funny stuff to me just about every day. Because I'm feeling lazy, I'll post one of them instead of anything really meaningful.

1. Two antennas met on a roof, fell in love and got married. The ceremony wasn't much, but the reception was excellent.
2. A jumper cable walks into a bar. The bartender says, "I'll serve you, but don't start anything."
3. Two peanuts walk into a bar, and one was a salted.
4. A dyslexic man walks into a bra.
5. A man walks into a bar with a slab of asphalt under his arm and says: "A beer please, and one for the road."
6. Two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other: "Does this taste funny to you?"
7. "Doc, I can't stop singing 'The Green, Green Grass of Home.'" "That sounds like Tom Jones Syndrome." "Is it common?" Well, "It's Not Unusual."
8. Two cows are standing next to each other in a field.. Daisy says to Dolly, "I was artificially inseminated this morning." "I don't believe you," says Dolly. "It's true, no bull!" exclaims Daisy.
9. An invisible man marries an invisible woman. The kids were nothing to look at either.
10. Deja Moo: The feeling that you've heard this bull before.
11. I went to buy some camouflage trousers the other day but I couldn't find any.
12. A man woke up in a hospital after a serious accident. He shouted, "Doctor, doctor, I can't feel my legs!" The doctor replied, "I know you can't - I've cut off your arms!"
13. I went to a seafood disco last week...and pulled a mussel.
14. What do you call a fish with no eyes? A fsh.
15. Two fish swim into a concrete wall. The one turns to the other and says "Dam!"
16. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.
17. A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories. After about an hour, the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse. "But why," they asked, as they moved off. "Because", he said, "I can't stand chess-nuts boasting in an open foyer."
18. A woman has twins and gives them up for adoption. One of them goes to a family in Egypt and is named "Ahmal." The other goes to a family in Spain; they name him "Juan." Years later, Juan sends a picture of himself to his birth mother. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband that she wishes she also had a picture of Ahmal. Her husband responds, "They're twins! If you've seen Juan, you've seen Ahmal."
19. Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail and with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath. This made him. (Oh, man, this is so bad, it's good. . .) A super calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.
20. And finally, there was the man who sent twenty different puns to his friends, with the hope that at least ten of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did.

Snow

We got snow last night. And then it rained this morning, so not much is left. It was 34 degrees when I drove the Kiddies to school.

Isn't it supposed to be SPRING yet?

Audited

Nod and I have had a husband-wife photography-art business partnership for almost 20 years. Every year, Nod worries over the tax forms, the rules, what to do and what not to do. He's a bear every year about it (this year he has made a den in the basement for himself).

Well, the dreaded IRS notice of an Audit came yesterday. Nod freaked. They said that we owed $800.00 ~ which we don't just have laying around, of course. So he went over the letter again, which was for 2004, and over our tax forms for that year. He called the IRS and spoke at length with an agent. The agent agreed that we did file correctly and should not have to pay that $800. He instructed Nod what to do in reply and ended the call with a laugh: "You need to educate those agents!"

Nod felt better about having done it correctly, was annoyed that our forms were not really looked at to start with, wished that he really could "educate" those agents but knows that we can't afford to tick off any of them.

The bother now is that this year's forms are just now ready to be mailed in, and it's the same bunch of forms as in 2004. Nod is now wondering if he should hold off mailing them in until we know for sure that the audit is going to be deemed incorrect.

argh

What Goes Around . . . Or, Reverse Pay it Forward

Our new super big Giant grocery foods store has a self-scan-self-bag-self-checkout system for those that are techie. Which I am. I've long disliked the way my groceries are bagged, so being able to bag for myself is a big plus. Also, there usually isn't a big line at the check-out station(s) that are reserved for this. (And in case you're thinking, how do they know you've scanned everything? There are random "audits" - once in a while the computer system will pick someone to have an employee re-scan the items in your bag. It only takes a couple of minutes and they give you a $2 off coupon for the inconvenience. I don't mind and I like that $2 off!)

However, today there was. This area has six check-out stations with an open space in the middle, three stations on each side. The whole area had a good many people and carts, so I waited just outside for my turn. Then a store employee walked past me . . . turns out that there was one open, but I couldn't see it from where I was standing.

Well, I was peeved when I realized that she was checking herself out (buying items for her lunch, apparently). If it was the other way around, I would have said "Ma'am, there's an empty station here." But I guess that her limited lunch time break was weighing heavily on her mind. Or perhaps her mother didn't teach her any better than that. (She was older than I am.)

Luckily, I didn't have to wait too long, or my peevishness might have boiled over. I was at the station next to the rude employee. I've gone thru this system many times and I've got it down pat. However, I had a coupon that said "present to cashier". Unfortunately, there were other customers that needed assistance, so I had to wait my turn.

But, lo~ the rude employee was still at her station ... what was the problem?! Heh heh, the machine didn't like her ten dollar bill. It kept spitting it back out. She couldn't finish the transaction!

But I was gone, off to drop off my cart at the valet station and then to get my van.

rofl

Old Photo Sunday

This week's offering is a photo of my dad and a friend. Dad's the one on the left. I'm sure that Mom will let us know later who the friend is. This photo was probably taken in Lancaster, PA. Dad was born in North Carolina, at the college that his father was president of - but his dad died when Dad was only two, and Grandma and her four sons moved back to Pennsylvania. Dad grew up near Franklin & Marshall College (in Lancaster), where he eventually went. Look at them skinny legs!

Rabbit Rabbit

Yes, it is yet time again for Rabbit Rabbit. For those that are not familiar with this Pezland tradition, go here.

This photo was stolen from Susie's blog, all because of Hoss.