Hello and welcome to Politics 2008

Well ladies and gentlemen it's just about been settled now. We have our choice of McCain the Liberal or Barack Hussein Obama. The choice between these two is SO VERY DIFFICULT! I mean do I take the liberal baby killer or the liberal war guy? Neither is a fiscal conservative and both will SPEND this wonderful country of ours into oblivion. I'm so glad there are only 8 more months until the election of one of these two WONDERFUL candidates.
So democrat, republican, repubocrat, or demolican? Take your pick cause it's all the same in the end. However I'll tell you my money is on you know who...

OK I'm so very tired of writing this shite that I require repose. Hope everyone has a wonderful day and remember November is right around the corner...

what's up?

Uh, not much here...our baby is with her Nona for the week (Spring Break - which I don't get this year) Pretty quiet around the house...

What's up with American Idol? Tonight's show is just not doing it for me... still catching up on the DVR as I write this... Part of it may be that I feel incredibly OLD hearing the songs they choose (their birth year.) Back in 1987 I was playing atari and learning how to use our new-fangled VCR, and these kids were just born. Ugh! I can't believe that some of the contestants are still in the game. They have the Beatles, I think they should do some Zeppelin one week - that would be pretty cool.

OK - that's about it for now... Happy Tuesday!

Update: What kind of song did David A choose? I don't get it.

Update II: just saw David Cook... AWESOME! He's got my vote.

Easter Sunday

Hope everyone had a good Easter!
If you don't happen to celebrate the day, I hope your Sunday was warm and relaxing!

Housekeeping....

Yeah! Happy Spring!

More spring cleaning... last night, I spent about 4 hours organizing my office. I thought it was going to take me only about 90 min. or so, but I got a little distracted looking at the books and reorganizing them. All 592 of them. That doesn't really seem like a lot -- but those were just the ones in the office. There are more stashed here and there throughout the house.

When I unpacked the boxes, I just put them on the shelves because I wanted to get it done... now I'm happy to say they are organized! The Christie's are all cozy in one spot...my romances are all happy in love together...my classic lit books are pondering away in their own shelf...my dictionaries and grammar books (I have a tendency to acquire old dictionaries and old skool grammar books - New word for the 1930's: atomic)... my children's lit section is growing... Such a relief to have them all organized!

While I was organizing, I did miss American Idol... heard it was quite an upset! Apparently, the DVR taped Survivor over AI - so I didn't get to see the results. O well. Life goes on.

Our Baby Cat kept hanging around the office -- never knew he was a book worm. Here he is checking out the shelf before I add the beat poets and autographed books.


And here he is deciding which of the fiction to peruse.

Baby Cat is dismayed by the mess... honestly, they started out all stacked up nice and neat, but you know how rowdy the romance books can get! They just didn't want to stay in line.


While we are on the subject of books, here is the fall/winter recap list, so I can start anew for spring:

• Where Is He Now? Jennifer Green (357)
• Desperate Duchessess Eloisa James (384)
• Big Boned Meg Cabot (280)
• Size 14 Is Not Fat, Either Meg Cabot (344)
• Talk Nerdy to Me Vicki Lewis Thompson (357)
• An Affair Before ChristmasEloisa James (388)
• The Devil Who Tamed Her Johanna Lindsey (354p)
• The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression Amity Shlaes (464)
• Tangled Up In You Rachel Gibson (384)
• Queen Of Babble Meg Cabot (307)
• Consent to Kill - Vince Flynn (465)
• Then Came You Lisa Kleypas (371)
• The Nanny Diaries - Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus (368)
• Suddenly You - Lisa Kleypas (375)
• Ready or Not- Meg Cabot (238p)

If my math is right that's about 5156 pages... man, working during the day really cuts out of my reading time!

Why am I obsessed with books, I have no idea -- I just love 'em! The tactile experience, the smells of old books, the crisp pages - all just add to the joy of reading.

Happy Reading!

Chuck Norris

Normally I don't listen to morning radio shows, just because, well, they are usually boring. Until I found Dave and Jimmy. These guys are hysterical! Here is one of their songs - I heard it in the car the other day, and had to pull over I was laughing so hard. It's up on their web site, and youtube.

Enjoy Chuck Norris!

What's all that white stuff?

Remember that keyboard problem I was having with the letter C? Well, apparently that wasn't the only computer issue we were having. The power supply went kaput on our main computer, and instead of replacing the proprietary power part from Sony and pay for labor, it was actually cheaper to by a new tower. SO, now I am working with Vista (say it with me - OSX wannabe) for the first time, and trying to get programs and gear to work.

With that said, I now present our few images from the "Blizzard of 08" Last weekend, Columbus got a record 20.4 inches of snow. I think most of that ended up drifting in our yard. Here is what's outside our back door: (that's a 22 in drift - for the close-ups click HERE.)

And this is what I saw when I opened the Garage to shovel. Mind you, this was about 5 hours after Chad left for work, it was maybe 2-3 inches at 6 am.

That's about 8 inches of snow to shovel, and it was still coming down! I started to do half the garage so Chad could pull the car back in. See, I'm a good wife who was thinking about her man. Thinking that if he could get in the garage, he could shovel behind my car in case I had to leave the next day. Well, he ended up staying over at work since "no one" could come in to cover his shift. Not only did he have to stay late, but he had to go in earlier due to the time change. What this means -- Skii shoveled the whole drive! Whoopee! See, I told you I was a good wife!

I wanted burgers for dinner, but could barely see the Grill for the cool pyramids stacking up.

Oh, and remember the aforementioned new computer? I made a little movie on how Izzy and I made some snow ice cream. Apologies in advance for the lack of sound and the quality - I made it in about 5 minutes.

Let me tell you, that was the first time I can recall making homemade ice cream from snow. One taste, though, brought back so many good memories of the days I worked at TropicalSno (shaved ice with flavors) Our vanilla ice cream made my taste buds pop from the sweet texture... yum!

Enjoy!

Hurray for Spring!

OK - so Spring isn't for another 17 days or so, but we just had to take advantage of the nice breezy weather today. At one point it was 66 lovely degrees. But this won't last long -- cold weather is right ahead of us. So, what did we do on this fine day? Cornhole! My dad made this awesome set for us (Thanks, Dad!) and we finally got a chance to set it up! Here are some shots:



And just so you don't think the entire household is a fan of the Steelers, here is a shot of the other board (my personal favorite!)



It's going to be a fun summer!

Rhyme and Reason have left the building... (or; stuff that's been happening lately.)

OK - there really is no one topic for this post... I guess I ould just give lots of excuses for why I haven't posted lately, but I don't want to waste your time. (By the way, the "see" button on my laptop is not working at 100% so for missed letters - my sinere apologies!)

I tried to take a pi ture with my new camera of the Eclipse Wednesday night. Yeah, apparently, my camera must not like the ombination of cold and low batteries, becasue this is what I got:

(Insert jokes here about what it looks like)
When I realized the zoom wasn't big enough on my camera, I tried for the video amera that takes stills, but the battery was dead. Anyway, it was very kool to see the eklipse - red moon and all. The night was krystal klear - very beautiful with a dusting of snow on the ground.

Quite different from last night, when it was icy and snowy mix... I peeked out after American Idol was on (why didn't they put Josiah through! He was so much better than the other ones they put in the top 24!) It was strange, being out so late and it being so bright, because of the dim streetlights boun ing off the snow! Hang on a minute....

ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc

Yeah! I got the C key fixed!! Good ol' duct tape!

OK, where was I?

Oh, our house -- here is a lovely pic of the finished home!







I do want to get some better pictures, but I think I'll wait till the weather gets a bit nicer. Here is one of our kitchen -- I LOVE my kitchen and all of the beautiful cabinet spaces (maple - toffee stain)









And what the heck... here is one of our living room... I need some ideas for the back wall -- I don't want to paint or to change too much with the walls until we have our 1 year inspection, but at least it gives me ideas for what I could do. Step into my living room:

I'm so nosy -- wouldn't it be cool to have a site where you could just peek into people's houses? I'm one of those people who will look into open windows as we are driving by (so leave your curtains closed if you don't want anybody to see!) Ohh - love google image search: http://tinyurl.com/2zjlgr



Oh, and here's one of our BabyCat in my favorite chair:






Just finished the book The Forgotton Man: A New History of the Great Depression. Worth reading! I'm going to start reading more on FDR... yeah, apparently, he wasn't the nice guy that they taught us about back in grade school! It's a good read and very informative! Kind of spooky how history is repeating itself.

TV: What I'm watching now... I've gotten back into Days. If I can't watch it, I listen to it on my radio when I work.. it's one of those Weather Band / AM/FM/ TV 2-13 ones, so it picks up NBC quite well. I've been watching that show for EVER, and it amazes me how many character have SORAS. Let 's hope the writing gets better now that the strike is over.


American Idol: Not seeing a definite favorite this year, hard to get totally into just now - Once the top 12 or 10 is named, it will get much better. I do like Alexandrea, Brooke, Amanda and Syesha. Wasn't that just aweful how they voted Garrett off --just "hey how ya doing? It's nice to be here, but you have to go home now" Could you be any more abrubt, Ryan? Garrett wasn't one of my faves, even if he was from Ohio, but still... give the kid a break!

Jane Austen: Yeah! PBS is showing her stories on Sunday Masterpiece for the next few weeks. I have a bunch saved up to watch.


Survivor is getting better... was sad to see Yao-man go, but this should be an interesting season.

Now that Psych and Monk are over, guess I'll just have to watch the re-runs until the summer! Love Psych -- have I mentioned before how hot Shawn and Gus are?


And if you haven't seen this post on Castro by DG, it's a tear-jerker. And yes, we really did see him at Hometown Buffet tonight! Castro must like the American food buffet experience!


OK -- that's enough rambling for now...

L8r G8r!

The Day Izzy Almost Got a Butt Whoopin'

Last night, as I was putting Izzy to bed, she made a startling statement. So startling, I was just floored to hear my daughter has a potty mouth.

Here's what happened... I get Izzy tucked in, with her stuffed animals and sleeping bag. She has her "fresh water," the closet is shut and bedtime story read. Now, it never fails that by the time I make it to the bottom of the steps, she has "one more thing" she wants to get to sleep. Trying to be proactive last night, I asked her if she needed anything else.

As her little head nodded, I asked "What, sweetie?"

She said, in the calmest voice, "kiss my ass."

My mouth dropped! I couldn't believe she would say such a thing for she usually refers to it as "the bad A word."

Izzy got a panicked look on her face and as I tried to explain that that kind of language is not acceptable, she started pointing to her forehead.

Then it hit me... she wanted me to "kiss my ash!"

The ashes left on her forehead from Ash Wednesday.

I guess kids to say the craziest things when they are missing two teeth!

Um, Change

Yeah, I know it's been a while since the last post, but came across this vid this AM and thought I'd share.



Don't know who has more time on their hands, the politicians saying "change" or the guy who put this together!

In Memoriam

I'll miss you Katt!

In his own words...

And another one... This one's Good!

Second day of Christmas Songs....

The Mullet, Mustache and Moue wish you Merry Christmas

We're In!

AYO - we in our new househol'

FINALLY - we moved last week. Everything is still in boxes, but slowly getting unpacked. It is such a relief, and now that we are back to some normality I can catch up with what all my dear blog buddies are doing!

I'll have pictures... as soon as I can find the camera!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today was rather quiet - with Izzy at Grandpa's for Thanksgiving, Chad and I had a very quite day. We saw Hitman and ate at the Waffle House.

Normally, I'd cook a great feast for today, but just about every pot and pan I own is sitting in boxes in the garage, waiting for their new home. They'll be moving on Tuesday, and I'll be following! Yes, the day is finally here - TUESDAY, folks, and we'll be in our new home! Praise the Lord, and thanks to St. Jude and Our Lady of Hope - we are finally going to be in our home!

About Hitman - if you are a 13 year old boy - this movie is for you... I think mainly because it was written by a 13 year old boy. The dialogue was just horrible ("My father raised grapes." Really, I hope they turned out to be nice responsible members of the grape society. I normally like my grapes grown.) There were boobie shots, but the main character, 47 didn't respond - I don't think he had a clue about women, much like 13 year old boys. Lots of blood flying everywhere. The one good thing (**Spoiler alert: The US was made out to be the good guy in the movie, for once.) Mainly I was disappointed because I thought the Hitman was going to be Vin Diesel, but I think he just produced it (Hey, how many bald, buff men are acting these days?)

As for the previews: I Am Legend looks to be an awesome movie. I am really hoping that it's not one of those "message" movies... I really don't want to see one of those. I'll have to read up about it, but definitely one I'd like to see.

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving... we have so much to be thankful for!

Izzy's School

So, Izzy decided to play school today. I did pretty well, but I think Tootsie roll needs some extra help.

Time to get writing....and a mummy

Why I feel the need to do this during what will probably be one of the craziest months this year... I don't know, but it's something I really want to do!

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

In other news, Izzy was a mummy last night... I had fun making the costume - super easy. I found some muslin for 97c a yard, tore it into strips and pinned/knotted it to a black sweat suit. Well, it looked better on the hanger, and I didn't take walking into account, so much of it fell. I'm not sure if mummies had that much hair, but Izzy had fun in the costume!

Chad took her out for about 35 minutes -- she wanted to come back after about 15, but she trudged on. I think she had more fun handing out candy!

This is Izzy and "Shawn" our scarecrow. He's named Shawn because of his black vest. Fans of Psych will remember the bounty hunter episode and get the connection!


And the grapevine is whispering about my latest album - Skii Sings the Classics. Apparently two tracks have been released by an unnamed insider (you know who you are!) Who knows...more may be on the way!

Toothless!

Congrats Izzy on losing your two teeth!~

Hope the tooth fairy brings you something cool!

Love,
~~Mom~~

What's Been going on with... Sports!

Sunday before last, Chad took me to a Steelers game. I was a bit leery to go, since pretty much from birth, I've been a Browns fan, but the thought of going to a pro football game with Chad was exciting. It only took us a few hours to get to Pittsburgh, the drive Early on Sunday was quite pleasant. We parked about 1.5 - 2 mi from the stadium, and walked much of the way. By the way, I did get blisters on my tootsies - not fun!

Here are some pics from the day:

DG, this one is for you -- Not sure what building this is, but I loved the shape of it - the open middle and the arch.

I think this one is from after the game, but along the river boats were lined up, some 3 or 4 deep, to "tailgate." Can you call it tailgating if you are on a boat? I'm not familiar with nautical terms, but if you know what it's called - let me know!

More tailgating....

Skyline -

This is a fountain in the city -- I think right were the 3 rivers meet. We could see part of it from our seats. Personally, I think it's a bit phallic (and pink) but who am I to judge city art.

Chad and the stadium

We got there a *bit* early. It was very very hot in the sun, so we walked around the stadium for a while. I took this picture before our section was full -- loved the pattern.

Right after one of the touchdowns - the fans are wild! Off in the distance (to the right of the scoreboard) you can see the fountain. And about the scoreboard -- there are 2 bottles of ketchup on either side. After a touchdown, they tilt, the lids come off and Ketchup "pours" out of the bottles. I didn't get to see them close though. I wonder if that was Teresa's idea?

And finally, this is the condition that our neighboring fans left their seat. I think they went through about 7 bags of peanuts and several drinks. Before you can say it, no, it's not the trash from the people behind us - we were in the last row of the section with a wall behind us.

I ending up with probably a mix of sun poisoning (if that's possible while wearing 50 SPF) and food poisoning... ugh... so I was out of commission on the way home. Thanks Chad for driving.

Steelers won - Seahaws lost.

Interesting fact: did you know that during WWII, when most of the eligible men were enlisted, the Steelers and the Eagles combined to form the Steagles?

Don't forget to scroll down to get more updates - if you are curious!