Friday, December 31, 2010

Happy New Year!!!!



Wishing everyone a safe, healthy and Happy New Year!

Books I Read in 2010

Here are the books I read in 2010. Altogether I read 79 books, 41 of which were audio books. These aren't in the order I read them but rather they were originally grouped by the challenges I read them for. I decided I didn't like how it looked so I got rid of the titles. I do like to keep the audio books separate, though, just to compare.


Kilmeny in the Orchard by L.M. Montgomery
Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery
Emily Climbs by L.M. Montgomery

The Pirate Queen by Susan Ronald
The White Queen
by Philippa Gregory
Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory
Right From Wrong by Cindy Bonner
The White Queen by Philippa Gregory
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Johnny Tremaine by Esther Forbes
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelley
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
New Moon by Stephanie Meyer
Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer
Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer
Standing Tall by C. Vivian Stringer
Big Cherry Holler by Adriana Trigiani
The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff
Back Home to Stone Gap by Adriana
Trigiani
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
The Hotel on the corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
Shoot the Moon by Billie Letts
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
House Rules by Jodi Picoult
the Hour I First Believed by wally Lamb
Nantucket Nights by Elin Hilderbrand
This much I know is True by Wally Lamb
She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb
Summer People by Elin Hilderbrand
The Castaways by Elin Hilderbarnd
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
The Short Second Life of Bree Turner by Stephanie Meyer
The Christmas Box Collection by Richard Paul Evans


Audio Books
Queen of the Underworld by Gail Godwin
The Pirate Queen by Susan Arnold
Three Junes by Julia Glass
Son of A Witch by Gregory Maguire
A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
An Inconvenient Wife by Megan Chance

Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani
The Shack
by William P. Young
The City of Ember by Jeanne DePrau
The Last Time I Saw You by Elizabeth Berg
Where the River Ends by Charles Martin
The People of Sparks by Jeanne DePrau
Prophet of Yonwood by Jeanne dePrau
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Stout
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
The Royal Diaries: Elizabeth I by Kathryn Lasky
I See You Everywhere by Julia Glass
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
The Tudors by G.J. Meyer
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Bridsall
The Penderwicks of Gardam Street
by Jeanne Birdsall
Gap Creek by Robert Morgan
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
The Search by Nora Roberts
The Widower's Tale by Julia Glass
My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares
Imperfect Endings by Zoe Fitzgerald Carter
The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Safe Haven by Nicholas sparks
The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Sister by Poppy Adams
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Daybook

For today, Tuesday, December 28, 2010

On My Mind...actually quite a lot...I go back to my PCP tomorrow to follow-up on my blood pressure which has been running kind of high. He switched the medication and wants to see my blood pressure back in the normal range or he may not approve my upcoming hysterectomy which is scheduled for January 17th (or for that matter, my endoscopy/colonoscopy scheduled for this Monday!) I need to have both done so I'm trying not to worry about it but that probably just makes my blood pressure worse!..I have finally found some Wii games I enjoy- Lego Rock Band and Just Dance! In fact I may ask for Just Dance 2 for my birthday!....I am really behind as far as posting pictures! It has taken me awhile to figure out how the new camera works and I think I finally have figured out where the pictures were being saved to on the computer so I will be trying to catch up!!!...also please keep our niece in your thoughts and prayers as she continues to deal with some personal issues.

Outside my window...our so-called "blizzard" turned into a bust at least in our part of the state where we got maybe 5 inches depending (literally) on how the wind was blowing...today was actually a nice day and the wind has finally died down; it is still very cold!

What We're Reading...Last week, I finished A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and The Christmas Box Collection by Richard Paul Evans. I'm now reading The Girl Who Played With Fire by Steig Larsson. I had bought it when I bought the first one and am now "in-between" books, so to speak, as I wait for the reading challenges to start on Saturday. I've decided to focus more of my reading next year on the classics...with Tucker, we read A Ghost of a Christmas Tale by Mary Pope Osborne which was fun for me to read along with A Christmas Carol because in it Jack and Annie convince Charles Dickens to not give up writing and inspire him to write A Christmas Carol. Tucker also enjoyed it because they watched the movie at school and he really liked it...we are now reading Space (The Research guide for Midnight on the Moon).

What We're Listening to...I finished Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson and it was really good! I'm now listening to I'd Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman.

What We're Watching...looking forward to Live to Dance (Paula Abdul's new dance show)...we've been watching Christmas movies, UConn women games.

I am hoping...my blood pressure comes down so I can get my surgery done next month!

In the Kitchen...we made cookies and brownies for Santa... finished up the leftovers from Christmas, spaghetti and meatballs, and not sure what else.

Around the house...Christmas gifts are everywhere!...slowly completing the Lego kits and adding them to the collection...overall it definitely needs some attention...laundry to be folded and of course, more to be washed.

Coming Up This Week...soccer game on New Year's Eve...relaxing this weekend...Tucker's friend Freddie has his birthday party on Sunday (rescheduled from this past Sunday due to snow)...maybe getting together with Michael's family on Sunday afternoon.

No Picture Thought as I will be posting pictures soon!

Sunday, December 26, 2010

The Best of 2010 in books

Jamie at Perpetual Page Turner came up with this great survey of all the books we've read in 2010. And since I can never resist a good survey...

1. Best Books Read : I would have to say Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, The Giver by Lois Lowry, and Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks.

2. Worst Books Read : I don't like to call anything the "worst" and I can only apply this to books I actually made it through (I've blocked the others out! lol) I would have to say The Sweetness at the Bottom of The Pie by Alan Bradley because I just didn't really get it, I guess. It just seemed to ramble on and on.

3. Most Disappointing Books : I had heard so much about both of these books and was just not very happy with either, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake Aimee Bender and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson.

4. Most Surprising Book (in a Good way) : The ending of Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks definitely threw me a little
!

5. Book you Recommend the Most: The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb, The Help by Kathryb Stockett and My Name is Memory by Anna Brashares.

6. Best Series you discovered in 2010: I was a little late to the game but I was mesmerized by the Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer and also The City of Ember series by Jeanne Duprae.

7. Favorite New-to-you Author you Discovered in 2010: Adriana Triginai (Stone Gap books) and Stephanie Meyer.

8. Most Hilarious Book : Definitely Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman.

9. Most Thrilling, Unputdownable Books : Hands down, the Twilight Series.

10. Book you Most Anticipated: The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephanie Meyer.

11. Favorite cover of 2010

12. Most Memorable character: Calpurnia Tate from The Evolution of clapurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly, Olive Kitteridge from the book of the same name by Elizabeth Strout and CeeCee Honeycutt from Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman.

13. Most Beautifully Written: The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

14. Books that had the Greatest Impact: The Help by Kathryn Stockett and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.

15. Books that you can't Believe you Waited until 2010 to read: The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum and The Color Purple by Alice Walker.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Friday, December 24, 2010

Merry Christmas Eve!

Twas the Night before Christmas


Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tinny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Straight No Chaser - The Christmas Can-Can



Another good one!

Straight No Chaser - 12 Days



We were talking at work about a capella groups (while discussing the show Sing off) and someone mentioned Straight No chaser. I remember seeing them on our local PBS station. This is one of my favorite songs of theirs! (Don't forget to pause the music playlist!!)

Sunday, December 12, 2010

A Little of This, A Little of That...



Tucker and I went to a UConn game on Thursday. we went with my mom's friend Theresa and her grandson Gregory (who is 2 years older than Tucker and a friend of his). We had a good time watching the Huskies win and eating more goodlies than we should have!






Here are some new pictures of the kittens....
Fiona has really come around and as you can see, enjoys playing!




Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Daybook



For today.... Tuesday, December 7, 2010 (Pearl Harbor Day)

On My Mind...just trying to get through the holidays! Trying to get in the Christmas spirit!

Outside My Window...the sun is out but it is cold outside!!! Brrrrr!

What We're Reading...I finished Wuthering Heights (and with it, the Take the Chance Challenge)...I'm now halfway through The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly... Tucker and I finished Fudge-A-Mania and will start another Magic Treehouse Research Guide.

What We're Listening to... I finished Safe Haven and also listened to (and absolutely LOVED) The Giver by Lois Lowry... I'm now listening to The Sister by Poppy Adams.

What We're Watching...Amazing Race and Survivor are wrapping up...still watching CSI, Undercover Boss, and Nick shows... We've also been watching some of the Christmas DVDs.

I Am Hoping...to feel better soon!

In The Kitchen...chicken parmesan, grilled cheese/soup, not sure what else.

Around the House...we put up the Christmas decorations this past weekend...it's still pretty clean...laundry waiting to be folded.

Coming Up This Week...busy, busy, busy...Tucker and I are going to a UConn game on Thurs night....going to dinner and Christmas shopping with friends Fri night...Tucker will be at my mom's Fri through Sun...Christmas party at my friend Tracy's Sat night...Tucker and Michael are going shopping with Eileen Sun...Light Parade in Niantic on Sun night.

A Picture Thought....
We went to Lego Fest on Saturday and had an awesome time!!!! More pictures to come!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Picture update!

So here are the pictures from this past weekend. I apologize for them being so big but I forgot to change the size...

Here are the kittens!

Tucker's holding Shrek and I'm holding Fiona.





Shrek playing and Michael playing with Shrek


Tagging the Christmas Tree...Tucker always poses in this sleigh...


Below Michael and Tucker look for the perfect tree and Michael tagging the tree


We met my friend Dawn at a local Children's' museum...



We knew this would be the best picture we would get of them! Caleb will be 4 in May and is getting so big!!!! He loved this cow costume and we were afraid he would go home in it!!

Below, Tucker took a picture of me and Dawn!

Small Update

Just so every one's not wondering what's happening...I found out today that I would need to pay a $1200 deductible up front for my endoscopy/colonoscopy so after talking with my insurance company, I rescheduled it to January 3rd because with Obama's new health care plan, I won't need to pay the deductible at all! so while it's frustrating that I still will be putting up with not feeling well, it's better than worrying about the $1200 I don't have!

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

I survived!!!

...the NaBloPoMo!

I actually posted everyday in November and while some of the posts weren't exactly the most inspirational, I can say that I did it. I did actually learn something too...that it's okay not to have something "important" to say everyday and that I should and could make more of an effort to post more often. I did like doing the random thought entries.

And with that as a lead-in, here are some random thoughts on a Tuesday evening...
-Fiona seems to be adjusting more to us and I can even reach in and take her out from under the book shelf now, though she does still hiss. We've been letting the kitten out of the room for a few hours when we're home at night and he seems to be having a good time. Of course I don;t think I've ever known a kitten who didn't seem to be having a good time!!
-I finished Safe Haven today and was really surprised by the end. I still think it's my favorite of his books! I started listening to The Giver by Lois Lowry on the way home and I like it so far. It reminds me of The City of Ember (or should I say that City of Ember reminds me of The Giver since The Giver was written first? Sort of like when people tell my mom she looks like me when I really look like her. (you know, because she's my mom?!) But I digress.....)
-I'm not sure if you're supposed to put parentheses inside of other parentheses like I just did but oh well, I did it!
-I'm trying to get into the Christmas spirit but I'm just not quite there yet. I think this weekend I'll at least take down the Thanksgiving decorations and put up some decorations outside. I think Michael might put up the lights over the weekend.
-I still haven't quite mastered the new camera and putting pictures on the computer thing and I am too tired to wrestle with it tonight. I have been taking my daily picture for Monkeyboy311 and will post them all when I feel like I have the energy to deal with it!
-Work has been really busy and crazy lately and for a Tuesday it feels like it should be Friday, or maybe that's wishful thinking? Is it bad that I'm looking forward to my colonoscopy on Thursday so I'll have a day off? Though I may end up going in Sunday for a few hours.
-I think that's about it for me before I fall asleep sitting here at the computer!

Monday, November 29, 2010

Daybook

For today...Monday, November 29, 2010

On My Mind...our niece who has been struggling with some personal issues lately. (Cassandra, know that we love you very much and are here for you if you need anything.)

Outside My window...dark and cold...although today was really nice, you didn't really even need a coat! But we're expecting rain and maybe snow by the middle of the week.

What we're Reading...I'm still making my way through Wuthering Heights and have started A Christmas Carol for a read-along. Tucker's still reading Fudge-A-Mania and we also read some Thanksgiving books.

What We're Listening to...I am loving Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks. I was really intrigued by the Sleeping with the Enemy aspect but it's on such a different level than I ever expected! with Tucker we listened to a Nate the Great collection and an Encyclopedia Brown collection. He told he "really liked Encyclopedia" so I want to get more of them! I loved Encyclopedia Brown when I was his age so I was hoping he would like him!

What We're Watching...I'm so glad Jennifer Grey won DWTS and also that Lacey came in second because I have always liked her! (I just don't know what to watch on Mondays now! lol)...still enjoying Undercover Boss, Survivor, Amazing Race, and CSI. And as always, iCarly, Victorious, and Big Time Rush are on a lot.

I am Hoping...that our new kitten Fiona adjusts to us. She was taken from a home where there were a lot of animals so she's really timid and has been hiding in the corner under a bookcase. She's slowly letting me pet her and talk to her. The social worker in me wants to make it all better for her. She's really very sweet.

In the Kitchen...spaghetti, pork chops, chicken pot pie.

Around the House...dishwasher and dryer are running...clothes waiting to be folded, more to be washed...straightened out the spare room enough so the kittens can go in there. we're keeping Fiona in there all the time and Shrek in there during the day and at night (so they get used to each other)...in general the house is actually pretty neat!!...Michael finished raking all the leaves today ( I think it's the first time he's been done before December!)

Coming Up this Week...my endoscopy/colonoscopy is finally on Thurs...soccer game on Fri night...Lego Kid's Fest with Andrew and his family on Sat...Michael and Tucker are going Xmas shopping with Michael's mother on Sun.

No picture thought this week...I brought my camera to work to show off the kittens and left it in my desk!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

A busy weekend...

Okay so for some reason, Blogger is not letting me add pictures! So I guess I'll settle for telling you about our weekend and then post the pictures another time! which is really annoying because I think I finally figured out how to transfer and load the pictures to the blog with the new camera!

On Saturday Tucker and I met my friend Dawn and her son Caleb at a children's museum for some fun for the boys and a brief opportunity to catch up on what's been happening with each other! the boys had a good time and enjoyed the new exhibits. From there we went to Shady Glen for cheeseburgers and milkshakes ( a must if your in the area, as every local can attest to!)

Today we were busy---we started out by heading to the tree farm to tag our tree. Next we headed to the local Humane Society to check out kittens. They've had some 8 week old ones on their website for awhile but they weren't on there this morning and come to find out, they had been given to a local pet store and we could adopt them from there. We did look around at the cats they had and I wanted to take them all home!!! We got to the pet store just as some guy was signing the paperwork for 2 out of 3 of the kittens so we checked out the last one and their next youngest, who is 5 mos old. We played with them for awhile and decided to take them. The 8 week old is a boy, all black, and we have named him Shrek. The 5 mo old is a female, black with a white nose, chest, and feet, and we have named her Fiona. She's pretty nervous and scared but I think she'll be a great cat once she gets used to us. Shrek is hilarious and makes us laugh with all his kitten antics!! Tucker is completely and totally beyond excited!!!!

I will try to get the pictures up soon!

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Celebrating Thanksgiving





We celebrated Thanksgiving at my mom's this year! My Uncle John joined us for the festivities and my mom put him right to work with the turkey!

Here he helps take the turkey out of the pan...

It was decided that my uncle and Michael would be in charge of carving the turkey (with my mother supervising", of course!)





Quite the spread of food!
Filling up our plates
Sitting down to the great food!
Sharing their usual holiday bottle of wine...
We played Uno after dinner and before dessert...always fun!

My uncle didn't play but that doesn't mean he gets left out of the pictures!
Eileen slices up her yummy homemade apple and pumpkin pies!
It was a great day overall and it was good to spend time with family, reflecting on how blessed we all are.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Black Friday



I thought this video was pretty crazy!!! Thankfully it didn't look like this at 6:30 when I got to Target!!!)

I'm pretty tired and don't feel up to posting too much...

I ended up at the Black Friday sales this morning (though not at 4 am). My mom dropped my camera yesterday and broke it. Target had a nice one at a great price (and she said she would reimburse me for it! even more of an incentive to get up!! lol)

Now I'm just trying to figure out how to work with getting the pictures on the computer-every camera's different so I hopefully will have the Thanksgiving pictures up this weekend!

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Thanksgiving Thoughts on Thanksgiving Eve

-How is it even possible that tomorrow is Thanksgiving? My mom is cooking and we'll be heading there after we watch the Macy's parade.
-I'm thinking we may go see the parade is person one of these years. I know it's really crazy and usually cold there but it's one of those things we want to try.
-One of my friends volunteers at the Soup Kitchen with her four kids every Thanksgiving and I think that's something else we'd like to do. She started doing it 2 years ago to show the kids that all is not rosy with the world and it turns out they really enjoy it. Her kids are now 11, 9,9, and 8 and they look forward to it now (the 11 yo and 1 of the 9 yo are "hers" and the other two are adopted)
Apparently the 11 yo is quite a flute player and plays his flute there.
-I changed the title of the post from 'random' to 'thanksgiving' because I seem to have a theme going here.
-I think that should cover me for my daily post.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Daybook



For Today...Tuesday, November 23, 2010 (yes a day late but we had computer issues last night and then by the time it got straightened out, I was too tired to do it!)

On My Mind...still not feeling great and have been feeling horrible again with heartburn and nausea. My blood pressure's also running high and I'm feeling like I felt when I was in Disney. I'm getting an endoscopy/colonoscopy next week so I just need to make it through til then. I called my GI today and he called me in a prescription for something to stop the nausea because nothing OTC is helping. I just want to actually enjoy Thanksgiving!

Outside My Window...dark and actually nice temp-wise. We've been having a little bit of a "Warm" spell this week (for this time of year anyway!)

What We're Reading...I'm still working on Wuthering Heights. Just haven't had a good block of time to do any reading. Tucker finished SuperFudge and we're now reading Fudge-A- Mania together. We also read The Littles (loved these books when I was his age) and one of The Magic Treehouse Research Guides (Just can't think of which one right now). I'm hoping to read a couple of Thanksgiving books with him.

What We're Listening to...I finished The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake and honestly I had a hard time with it. It's about a girl who can taste what people are feeling in the food she eats. I just didn't get it, I guess. But I did enjoy the relationship part of it. I'm now listening to Safe Haven and LOVING it! Nicholas Sparks is one of those authors that I have to read when there's a new book because otherwise I can't remember if I read it. Does that even make sense? I think this is probably my favorite of his books!

What We're Watching...literally, I am watching DWTS as I write this and am so rooting for Jennifer Grey! I loved her carrying the watermelon last night at the beginning of the Free Dance...still watching Survivor and Amazing Race, liked Mallory and Gary on AR and they got eliminated so I'm not sure who I'm rooting for now...other favorites, CSI, Big Bang Theory, and Glee.

I am Hoping...to sleep well tonightt and to feel better.

In the Kitchen...lemon chicken pasta, pork chops, ham steaks.

Around the house...dishwasher and dryer are running... looking pretty good in general.

Coming Up This Week...Thanksgiving at my mom's...seeing Megamind on Friday...getting together with my friend Dawn and her son Caleb (who will be here from VA) on Saturday...tagging the Christmas tree and getting KITTENS on Sunday!!!

A Picture Thought... from Tucker's last game; it's hard to take good pictures through the Plexiglass and someone was standing in front of the open area and wouldn't move! I have a few more games to keep trying though!!!

Monday, November 22, 2010

A cute commercial....

http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/hp-happy-baby-commercial

I'm completely exhausted and don't have the energy to come up with a creative post tonight and I don;t want to ruin the daily post-thing!!! Click on the link above for a commercial Tucker and I LOVE!!!!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

My Sick Sense of Humor...

Hopefully I don't offend anyone but I got this as an email and it made me laugh out loud!!!

Airport Security Solution

Here's the solution to all the controversy over full-body scanners at the
airports:

Have a booth that you can step into that will not x-ray you, but will
Detonate any explosive device you may have on your body. It would be a
Win-win for everyone, and there would be none of this crap about racial
Profiling and this method would eliminate a long and expensive trial.

Justice would
Be quick and swift.

This is so simple that it's brilliant. I can see it now. You're in the
Airport terminal and you hear a muffled explosion.

Shortly thereafter an announcement comes over the PA system, "Attention
Standby passengers. We now have a seat available on flight number 4665 ....
Paging maintenance. Shop Vac needed in booth number 4."

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Assorted Thanksgiving Facts....

Not feeling up to much tonight so here's some facts about Thanksgiving from theholidayspot.com:
  1. Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States.

  2. By the fall of 1621 only half of the pilgrims, who had sailed on the Mayflower, survived. The survivors, thankful to be alive, decided to give a thanksgiving feast.

  3. Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the second Monday in October in Canada.

  4. The Plymouth Pilgrims were the first to celebrate the Thanksgiving.Thanksgiving

  5. The pilgrims arrived in North America in December 1620.

  6. The Pilgrims sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to reach North America.

  7. The pilgrims sailed on the ship, which was known by the name of 'Mayflower'.

  8. They celebrated the first Thanksgiving Day in the fall of 1621.

  9. They celebrated the first Thanksgiving Day at Plymouth, Massachusetts.

  10. The drink that the Puritans brought with them in the Mayflower was the beer.

  11. The Wampanoag Indians were the people who taught the Pilgrims how to cultivate the land.

  12. The Pilgrim leader, Governor William Bradford, had organized the first Thanksgiving feast in the year 1621 and invited the neighboring Wampanoag Indians also to the feast.

  13. The first Thanksgiving feast was held in the presence of around ninety Wampanoag Indians and the Wampanoag chief, Massasoit, was also invited there.

  14. The first Thanksgiving celebration lasted three days.

  15. President George Washington issued the first national Thanksgiving Day Proclamation in the year 1789 and again in 1795.

  16. The state of New York officially made Thanksgiving Day an annual custom in 1817.

  17. Sarah Josepha Hale, an editor with a magazine, started a Thanksgiving campaign in 1827 and it was result of her efforts that in 1863 Thanksgiving was observed as a day for national thanksgiving and prayer.

  18. Abraham Lincoln issued a 'Thanksgiving Proclamation' on third October 1863 and officially set aside the last Thursday of November as the national day for Thanksgiving. Whereas earlier the presidents used to make an annual proclamation to specify the day when Thanksgiving was to be held.

  19. President Franklin D. Roosevelt restored Thursday before last of November as Thanksgiving Day in the year 1939. He did so to make the Christmas shopping season longer and hus stimulate the economy of the state.

  20. Congress passed an official proclamation in 1941 and declared that now onwards Thanksgiving will be observed as a legal holiday on the fourth Thursday of November every year.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Great American Smokeout



The Great American Smokeout is an annual event held on the third Thursday of November[1] in the United States encouraging Americans (of whom 45.8 million smoke) to stop tobacco smoking. The American Cancer Society held its first Smokeout in 1977. The event challenges people to stop smoking cigarettes for 24 hours, hoping their decision to not smoke will last forever.

I am posting this in memory of my dad who died of lung cancer on October 26, 2004. We miss you, Bubba!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

On this day....

Given my fascination with the Tudors, I thought this appropriate to take notice of:

On this day in 1558, Queen Mary I, the monarch of England and Ireland since 1553, dies and is succeeded by her 25-year-old half-sister, Elizabeth.

The two half-sisters, both daughters of King Henry VIII, had a stormy relationship during Mary's five-year reign. Mary, who was brought up as a Catholic, enacted pro-Catholic legislation and made efforts to restore the pope to supremacy in England. A Protestant rebellion ensued, and Queen Mary imprisoned Elizabeth, a Protestant, in the Tower of London on suspicion of complicity. After Mary's death, Elizabeth survived several Catholic plots against her; though her ascension was greeted with approval by most of England's lords, who were largely Protestant and hoped for greater religious tolerance under a Protestant queen. Under the early guidance of Secretary of State Sir William Cecil, Elizabeth repealed Mary's pro-Catholic legislation, established a permanent Protestant Church of England, and encouraged the Calvinist reformers in Scotland.

In foreign affairs, Elizabeth practiced a policy of strengthening England's Protestant allies and dividing her foes. Elizabeth was opposed by the pope, who refused to recognize her legitimacy, and by Spain, a Catholic nation that was at the height of its power. In 1588, English-Spanish rivalry led to an abortive Spanish invasion of England in which the Spanish Armada, the greatest naval force in the world at the time, was destroyed by storms and a determined English navy.

With increasing English domination at sea, Elizabeth encouraged voyages of discovery, such as Sir Francis Drake's circumnavigation of the world and Sir Walter Raleigh's expeditions to the North American coast.

The long reign of Elizabeth, who became known as the "Virgin Queen" for her reluctance to endanger her authority through marriage, coincided with the flowering of the English Renaissance, associated with such renowned authors as William Shakespeare. By her death in 1603, England had become a major world power in every respect, and Queen Elizabeth I passed into history as one of England's greatest monarchs.


from: history.com

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Christmas Giveaway

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5 Minutes for Mom is sponsoring their annual Christmas Giveaway! Click on the picture to learn about all the great prizes and how you could win 'em!

Monday, November 15, 2010

Daybook

For today...Monday, November 15, 2010

On My Mind...I am so tired...maybe if I actually went to bed instead of playing on Facebook...lol

Outside my Window
...it's typical fall temps and we're expecting a lot of rain over the next few days.

What We're Reading...I finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and ended up enjoying it a lot. I do plan on reading the second one but it's not something I feel I need to do right away. I'm reading Wuthering Heights now; it's my last book for the Take Another Chance Challenge. Tucker has been reading Superfudge by Judy Blume and we read Tsunamis and Other National Disasters (A Magic Treehouse Research guide) together. Tonight we started Ancient Greece and the Olympics, another Research guide.

What We're Listening to
...I finished Water for Elephants and if you haven't read this book, you need to. I'm now listening to The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender.

What We're Watching...very much involved with DWTS and cannot believe Bristol made it to the semifinals!!! Loving Jennifer Grey still and would be happy if she or Brandy won...Tucker is extremely addicted to Cake Boss and wants to know why it isn't on all the time.

I am Hoping...to get to bed and sleep tonight.

In the kitchen...pork chops, chicken, chicken brushetta, pizza.

Around the house...cleaned up a lot because Andrew came over...laundry waiting to be folded (even after folding three loads yesterday!!)

Coming Up This Week...not too busy...soccer game Fri night and I think that might be it...can't think if anything's happening this weekend or not.

A Picture Thought...I took this last week and still love it!

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Team Ra-Ras Kicks Breast Cancer

I received this as an email from my friend Joan who happens to a breast cancer survivor....
(I keep forgetting to add with these videos, to hear the music, click "pause" on my playlist)

A few weeks ago, 135 Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleaders representing five decades got together for a weekend to do a dance routine to benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure. We practiced for a month to do this and the video is finally ready. We had such a wonderful time getting together and working at this. I haven't seen some of these women in 26 years! A few women from my squad and our choreographer all are breast cancer survivors.

We need to reach a goal of 1 million views of this video and United Healthcare will donate $100,000 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, so please click often and spread the link.

Random Thoughts on a Sunday Evening

-I've really been trying to stick with this NaBloPoMo thing and post everyday but honestly some days I just haven't had the energy to come up with something so I've copped out and used YouTube. I wonder if that counts as a post though since I think the point is to get us all writing on our blogs daily.
-I definitely need to stop worrying about doing things the right way and just do them, already.
-I definitely need to stop worrying.
-I was in Big Y today and laughed out loud when I heard the song "Muskrat Love".
-A cute story but a little lead-in to set the mood: Tucker's friend Andrew came over for a few hours yesterday to play so Tracy and I sat down with Emily (who's 2) to chat and kept her busy with crayons and markers. Tracy and Emily left to do some errands while the boys played some more so I feed them lunch and while they were eating, Andrew asked Tucker "Do you like crayons" "yes" do you like markers" "yes" Andrew thought for a minute and said "so does Emily" then he asked "do you like to draw" to which Tucker responded "yes" Andrew thought a few minutes more and then said "well you and Emily should get married then since you both like crayons, markers, and drawing!" If only finding someone was that easy!!!
-I was recently removed from some one's friend list on facebook. She's on the PTO board and Tucker's friends with her son. There has been some tension (for lack of a better word) among the board between one of the new co-presidents and current treasurer (who is one of my good friends). We were all on Facebook and had communicated through there over the summer but I noticed this week that she no longer comes up on one of the games I play. Heather told me she noticed that she was missing from her friend list also. Trying not get all highschooly over it but it feels like I'm back in high school. I kept one of the moms from PTO on my friend list for two years, couldn't stand the woman, and removed her as soon as both of her kids moved to middle school last year. It does seem rather petty to me and I can't stand the drama over everything. (I'm waaaaaaay oversimplifying the issues here; don't really want to go into it here.)
-I'm probably one of the few people who is actually looking forward to getting a hysterectomy. I see my doctor tomorrow and after having tried Lupron for three months I've not really seen any difference (my back pain was determined to be sciatica from 2 uterine fibroids pressing on the sciatica). Combined with all the other issues I've had since Tucker was born, I am so ready to get this over with. Hopefully tomorrow I can get him to schedule the surgery for the beginning on January. I'll be out of work for six weeks.
-My uncle is still not doing any better. He is getting the chemo treatments but it may be too late to make any real difference.
-Tucker has started indoor soccer and thankfully this year we don't have any practices, just Friday night games which will lighten up our week considerably. They won their first game the other night 4-2 and Tucker did great! He started the game on the front line and came thisclose to scoring a goal. He is such a different player in indoor; he's much more aggressive and really goes after the ball.
-We are getting kittens this month! Felix has been gone since July and Tucker has been asking to get kittens ever since. We've been putting it off because financially it couldn't happen but we've budgeted to get kittens Thanksgiving weekend from the Humane Society. It's a little pricey but when you figure that they will already be neutered and had their first shots and compare that to what it would cost to take them to the vet, it's actually pretty good. we are very excited!!!! :)
-It doesn't sound like anyone's going to bed upstairs and it's 8:45 so I guess I'll go up and be the bad guy! Night!

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Momma



This was one of my favorite comic strips!!

Friday, November 12, 2010

A Trip through the 80s

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I'm not feeling very creative tonight---this is the best I could come up with for my daily post!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

You Capture - Serene


Beth from I Should Be Folding Laundry sponsors this weekly meme to challenge us all to take pictures with a theme in mind. This week's theme was Serene.


As soon as I saw the challenge for this week, I thought of the beach near our house (which incidentally is the Atlantic Ocean). So on Sunday, I drove down took these pictures. It was a beautiful crisp Fall Day; perfect for a walk on the beach.
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