BIG B, little b, What Begins With B?

Good Morning.

Beverly YouWho ,(yes, I understand that her name is really Beverly Dru, but every time I start to write Beverly Dru, I think "You Who" and there you have it. Now I've gotten off track. Don't you all know me well enough by now to know that if I get interrupted (even if it is ME doing the interrupting) that it can take forever to get back on track!

OK, I'll try again.

Good Morning. Beverly YouWho, (yes, I understand that her name is........opps)

Monkey's Are Funny

GOOD MORNING (...almost afternoon at this point) Beverly YouWho is playing a fun game. I left her a comment, she assigned me a letter and then I write 10 things I love that begin with that letter.

AFTER (that would be after, not before) you finish reading my post...without skimming as you may miss something important.....leave me a comment and let me know if you would like for me to assign you a letter. What POWER I will have then! How will I ever decide what letter to assign? Should I put them in a hat and pick one? Should I pick a random one? Should I close my eyes and point to something and use the first letter of that object? Should I play this? Can I handle the stress? What if no one wants to play? What if everyone else has already been given a letter by someone else? What if I do decide what letter to give to someone and lets just say I chose R but then I got a cramp in my finger and accidentally pushed the letter T? Would I quickly send them an email and let them know of the error or should I just have them use T instead? PRESSURE!!

Deep Breath.

Okay....10 Things I Love That Begin With The Letter "B".

1. The Bible......I love the fact that if I have a problem, there is usually an answer in the Bible. Unfortunately, I usually don't know where to find the answer but if I do research, even if I don't find the verse I am looking for , I usually end up feeling better anyway. I'm not very consistent about reading it. I especially like reading verses people leave on their blogs. I copy, in my journal, some of the ones that seem to be speaking directly to me. (My journal is quickly filling up.). Sometimes I like to read the verses in different Bibles to get different perspectives. For instance, reading the King James version is beautiful..BUT I tend to get more out of my study Bible or The Bible for Today's Christian Woman. I love to read so you can add other Books to this answer too.

2. Blogging....gee, I bet that one surprised you!

3. Boys- Specifically my 2. (sons, that is..)

4. Black Clothes....My sis-in-law calls me Morticia ....in a loving way.... I think....

5. Box of Brown Hair Dye- Not that I use it, of course. Not that I have any gray hairs to cover up.....wait a minute...didn't I just do a post (or 2) on Lying this week? OK, Yes, I use it. THERE....Are you happy??? You know the truth!!!! Does that make you feel better?

6. Breathing Apparatus....As in SCBA.....As in Self Contained Breathing Apparatus....As OPPOSED to SCUBA...which is Self Contained UNDERWATER Breathing Apparatus. I don't need the underwater part.... but it would be fun..... hmmm, something to think about. Anyway, I like breathing apparatus. It makes breathing much easier inside a burning building. However, that is the only time I use it. No need to walk around carrying all that extra weight when it isn't necessary.

7. Bricks....as in brick Houses. No, silly. Not Brick House by the Commodores. but actual brick houses. My house isn't even brick but I LOVE dark red brick houses. I think they have a classy, neat, classic look..... hhmmmm ...a classic classy look. I also like to keep a supply of bricks around to repair that wall around me.... you know ...in case it starts to crumble.

8. Bush, as in George and George W.

9. Batteries.....Think Cars, Flashlights, Game-Boys, cameras, cell phones, MP3 or iPods etc. A lot of things we use every day wouldn't work very well without batteries.

10. Bubbles.....if you know me....nuff said.

So there you have it. 10 things that I love that start with the letter B. I'll probably think of something much better after this posts but these are the ones that first came to mind.

If you want to play and haven't already, just send me a comment and let me know you would like a letter. I'll assign you one and then ..... (Talk about POWER!!).....wait...we already went over that.

monkeys are funny........

Special Request for Greg

Today is Wednesday.
You know what that means...

Wait a minute, isn't that supposed to be a Tuesday blog?

I had a hard time deciding which School House Rock to play yesterday. This one was my second choice and since Greg requested it....Here is an encore of Special Guest Day.


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Today Is Tuesday. You Know What Thatt Means....1-27-09

Today is Tuesday.
You know what that means.
We're gonna have a special guest!

I remember these used to play on Saturday mornings. Now schools all over America use them as wonderful learning tools. It's pretty cool hearing Alberquando (er...I mean EMT) walking around humming or singing these songs....just like I used to. ("used to" meaning back in the 70's AND all day today ).
I had a hard time choosing just one. you'll probably be subjected (no pun intended...ok, a little pun) to another one in one of the weeks to come.

So without further ado. School House Rock presents INTERJECTIONS!!
(Sometimes called Grammar Rock)

And AWAY we go.........

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The Answering Machine

Telephone answering machines are wonderful inventions. They do, however, have one VERY large flaw. You need to LISTEN to your messages!

Listening to the messages that are left when you aren't available to answer the phone aren't too too bad, but those messages that are left while you're on the other line are the ones that kill the joy for me.

I tend to get behind on corresponding...(ok, I just heard a great big DUH out there from everyone that knows me). When a message is left on my machine I may put off listening to it for "just a few minutes" and the next thing you know, there are 8, 9, 10, or 11 messages. Then it seems overwhelming and I end up putting it off longer. BUT at least the number is flashing there to remind me.

The messages that are left when you are on the other line is a whole different story. Other than a strange clicking noise when you go to make a call, there is no reminder.

My last phone was a lemon. It would cut you off in the middle of a conversation, make buzzing noises, go straight to answering machine etc. I didn't even know it had the devise that took messages while I was on the other line.

Well, I finally broke down and bought a new phone. I was setting up the voice mail, etc and the recording said...YOU HAVE FIFTY FIVE NEW MESSAGES. (in the lovely monotone computer voice). BTW, 55 is the limit on my phone so who knows how many others there were.

I figured I'd do a quick partial listen to each and delete and start new. Well, first of all, on this phone, you have to listen to the entire message before deleting it. HHmmmm, this could take a while.

1st call-It's from Chatty Kelly-"Hi. I just heard you got a new dog! I was SO surprised since I know you aren't an animal person. I'm glad you did. Call me and tell me about it". Well, this phone doesn't leave the date but we got our dog, Sydney on June 18, 2008.

Numerous other calls go by that I have to listen to. Many, MANY of them are someone saying YOU NEVER RETURN YOUR CALLS!

I'm thinking it has to be getting close to the end. Then I hear calls from people at auto dealers about parts for the car that we got to replace the first one JM totaled. I think he got the 2nd car in October.

More calls.

Then there were those LONG winded ones that are pre-recorded before the election about who to vote for...along with all the particular candidates qualities....still had to wait for the entire thing to end before deleting.

OK, it HAS to be getting close to present time now.

Then my Mom-In-Law "Just calling to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!"

More calls. More calls. More Calls.

"Hi", from Chatty Kelly, "Want to go look at Christmas lights with Dad this Monday?"
Well, we ended up seeing the lights so she MUST have called back.

Various...."Why don't you call me back?", "You NEVER call back", "I'm leaving a message but I know you won't call back".

"Hi. This is the dentist office calling to remind you about your dental appointment." (good thing that was already on the calendar)

*** This is taking FOREVER. I took a quick break. Just for a few minutes.***

^^^ Three Days Later I remember and listen to the rest. ^^^

My good friend calls and says. "Hey, where are you. Weren't we going to lunch today?". OK, I KNOW I called and left her a message that I had to work. Geez, all she had to do was to check her messages........

"Hi, this is the doctors office calling to remind you about your appointment"
(again, good thing I keep my calendar up to date.)

Various hangups.

Various sighs.

FINALLY! The monotone voice returns. "You Have No More New Messages."

WHEW!!!!!!

OK, that does it! I AM going to remember to check my phone messages. One day I'm even going to tackle my email.....ONE DAY......Don't rush me.

In the mean time, when you hear "Hi. We're not available to answer your call right now. Just leave a message and we'll call you back"........... I Will Call Back!....HEY! I just looked at my phone. The message light it flashing....geez.....here we go again!

The Lie - Conclusion

Getting right back where I was.

No one was hurt. It wasn't a "bad" lie.
I thought that was the end of it.
If that HAD been the end of it, I would probably be lying to you right now.
That was definitely NOT the end of it.

You see, Chatty Kelly, being the person that she is, was worried about me. When she later called my house to check on me and didn't get an answer (I don't remember but I was probably home and just didn't answer the phone), well, she called my dentist to make sure I was ok. She wasn't checking-up on me to see if I was telling the truth. She was genuinely concerned. The dentist told her there must be a mistake because I had been in earlier that week but not that day, (this must have been before HIPPA laws).

So she called me again. I don't know if I answered that time but eventually I did. If I remember correctly, she didn't say anything like "How was the dentist?" or anything like that to trick me into lying further. She just said something like, "You lied to me." BUSTED!! Yeah, I was busted. It's a good thing it wasn't a "bad" lie. Oh well. I guess I said something like, "Opps, sorry. I just didn't feel up to Bible study so I just told you that. Sorry". I then probably went on and said something like, "So what's new?". Again, it wasn't a "bad" lie. I was busted. it was over....right?

SILENCE

"Are you there?"

"You lied to me?"

"Yeah, sorry."

SILENCE

"Kelly? What's wrong?"

"You lied to me?"

"YES. I'm SORRY"

Why was she making such a big deal? IT WAS JUST A SMALL LIE! Then she was CRYING!! Can you believe it??? I couldn't!! This was getting ridiculous! She was blowing this WAY out of proportion! She was taking this personally....as if I had betrayed her trust! (hhmmmm....trust....lying.....)

"Kelly don't cry. it wasn't a big deal." I really really REALLY thought she was over-reacting.

"Then she had the audacity to say, "I knew you lied alot of the time but I never thought you would lie to me." I was SHOCKED that she would think I lied all the time. A LIAR is someone who says bad things that aren't true or someone that tries to hurt someone. I was quite sure I wasn't a liar! (she's was crying pretty hard by now). And to be honest (which I have to do now), I really didn't see what the big deal was. After all, I HAD said I was sorry. Well, she pulled it together and we said good-bye and that was it.

She was so upset that she called ET and told her what had happened. And do you know what ET had the nerve to say?!? "Of course she lied. I thought you knew. She lies to everyone". HOW DARE THEY!!

Well, either that day or the next we had a serious talk. She told me that even though she knew I often lied, it never ever occurred to her that I would lie to her. hhmmmm....Could I have been wrong all this time? I said, "You will believe me in the future won't you?". Oh No...more tears. She said she didn't know.

WAIT A MINUTE! I didn't like that. I wanted her to trust me. All of the sudden I realized that I NEEDED her to trust me. I PROMISED I wouldn't lie again and pleaded with her to believe me. She said she would try.

For about a year or so, every time I would tell her something, I would be like...."You DO believe me don't you?" I think she probably did most of the time but there was doubt for a long time.

That experience changed a HUGE part of my life. I couldn't stand the thought of her or ET not trusting me. I had thought I was SUCH a nice person...and I guess I was....except for that lying thing)! (a nice liar, hhmmm). So I made a vow to Kelly and to myself that I would never lie to her again. And you know what? I'm quite positive that I haven't since that day. At first it was harder than I expected. I would catch myself fabricating a story on more than one occassion but I always caught myself in time to stop it before it came out of my mouth.

I'm still late sometimes...ok a lot of the time.
I still sometimes don't want to do something.
I still get migraines and have to back out of things sometimes.

But I Tell the truth.

I am almost 100% sure she believes everything I say now. AND, I think she is almost 100% sure that she CAN believe me without worrying whether what I'm saying is true or not.. but it took a while. Oh, and I still have a guilt complex and feel like people think I'm lying when I'm not.......but she does have that germ phobia....and insanity DOES run in the family..... (but, sshhhh, don't tell anyone).

All in all. I think we'll be ok.
And now I can truly say....That is That!

The Lie

It was just a small lie!
It's ridiculous to make such a big deal about it.
What's the big deal?
Why are you crying????

OK, I'll back up. I grew up with lies. We were taught to lie at an early age. The biggest one was "Mom is on a vacation or out of town helping a family member". Translation, "Mom in in the psychiatric ward of the local mental hospital.....again". That was probably about once a year. Of course everyone knew..so why did we have to lie? We went to a very small Lutheran school and the church that was affiliated with it. The people that went there had known us since we were born and many knew our parents when they were young. They knew. Still....Don't tell anyone....sshhhhh.

I wish I could remember all the lies we were told or instructed to tell (or do I?). Maybe not. Actually I have close no no recollection of any of my youth or teenage years. That's probably a good thing. But lying was definitely a way of life.

Anyway, I could lie. MAN, could I lie. I was probably one of the best liars you would ever know. There wasn't anything wrong with it.....right? They weren't malicious lies. They never hurt anyone...right? Usually they were just lies of convenience. Something like, "Gee, I wish I could keep our lunch date but I need to go and do s0-and-so". or "Sorry I'm late but (insert lie) happened" or "I would LOVE to do (insert anything) but I can't because (insert lie)."

Lying isn't a big deal...right? When my youngest sister, ET got married, she lived in Florida. It was a small wedding. Just her, her husband and a few friends. Not even any family. I saw the pictures a friend of hers took. She looked beautiful. They got married at a friends house. My mom called our local church, in Virginia, and wanted to put it in the church bulletin. I don't remember exactly how it was worded but it said something like, "Mr and Mrs (blah blah blah), (etc etc etc )...at a beautiful moonlight wedding on the beach". ON THE BEACH???? MOONLIGHT???? Er, mom? Why does it say that? Her response, "Oh don't you think that sounds better?". Oh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . okay? Lies.

ANYWAY. I really really never felt bad about lying. After all, what was the big deal?

About, hhmm, I'm not sure but I'll guess it was 7 or 8 years ago, Chatty Kelly and I were in a Bible Study class together. One morning I just didn't feel like going so I called her and told her that I had to go to the dentist. I had had a lot of work done by the dentist earlier in the week. So it wouldn't sound odd that I had to go back. That way I could stay home and I wouldn't feel bad about not going. (funny thing is, I was worried about feeling bad or embarrassed in front of Kelly, when we all know who I SHOULD have been thinking about (I mean it WAS Bible study).....and of course HE knew the truth).

SO, I called her, told her I had to go back to the dentist, and as they say...That was That.
No one was hurt.
No one was disappointed.
No one was let down.
I didn't feel bad about not going.
And I really didn't feel bad about lying. After all, it was just a small lie. There's nothing wrong with a small lie....is there?

(the conclusion to this will be posted tomorrow)

Today Is Tuesday. You Know What That Means....1-20-09

Today Is Tuesday.
You Know What That means.
We're Gonna Have A Special Guest....

There are 2 reasons that I dress in black the majority of the time.
One of those reasons is because of this song.

The other is...well, it's a long story.

ANYWAY, Please listen to this song. It's one of my favorites.

monday

it's monday.......no school............national holiday..............sigh.............no school................

Picture Tag!

I've been tagged by Mrs P at the Patterson 5. I can't argue about whether or not she got me, (as opposed to last time I played tag). She got me fair and square. As a matter of fact I think I may have a bruise.

ANYWAY, the rules are to go to your picture file, go to the 4th file and pick the 4th picture and show what it is and then explain it.

SO.....hold on while I go to the picture file. I'm a little slow on these things so if you go get a soda or a cup of coffee while you wait, I'll completely understand.

--------------

OK, I'm back.

This picture is at our fire dept. It was taken last year at our open house. We have goody bags, food, games, exhibitions, and other things for the kids to do. One of the things we do is have a steel bin. In the bin we start a small fire, with the help of a propane tank. Then we let the kids put out the fire with a small hose. Directly to the right of the picture is one of our members sitting next to the propane tank. Many of the kids can't get the fire out. After about 20-30 seconds, that individual turns off the gas, the fire goes out and the child feels like a fire fighter.

So there you have it. My 4th picture from my 4th file. Now I need to tag 4 more people. I'm tagging God's Girl, Beverly LouWho, Lea at the Potting Shed, and Alert & Oriented X 4.

Have Fun!!

Insanity and Burritos

Insanity runs in my family.

Insanity:
A condition of being insane. A derangement of the mind.
Extreme Folly. Senselessness.


I was going though some pictures from 2008 and came across these.

JM's favorite restaurant is a place called Chapoltle (specialty Burritos) . He would go there every day if I took him. Even so, he probably manages to get there 3-4 times a week via friends and myself. (Remember he still isn't driving again due to his Minor Mishaps (note that is PLURAL!). They were Step Away From the Car, ... Step Away From The Car AGAIN... And
PLEASE, PLEASE Step Away From The Car!! ..(btw, if you have teenagers who are driving or will be soon, you may want to take a few moments and read these 3 posts--in order....you might just never let them drive again!!) That reminds me to let you know how THAT turned out...another time...HEY! Check me Out!! Staying on track....well ... sort of.

ANYWAY, back in October, Chapoltle had a special. On October 31, if you came in the restaurant dressed as a burrito wrapped in foil, you got a free one! Well, JM and his friends just HAD to get in on this. SO, the 5 of us, (JM, 2 friends, Alberquando*, and myself) piled into the car.

First stop, The Dollar Store for 5 rolls of Aluminum foil.
Then, off to the Chapoltle parking lot where one could almost have been blinded had the sun been shining in that direction. There was aluminum foil everywhere!

So, here are a few pictures of JM and his other burrito buddies. (JM is the one on the right in 2 pics and the one in the black shirt in the other.) Alberquando* wouldn't do it and I knew he would have crawled under the car and hid if I did, so we were going to opt out until we discovered (after the boys were in costume) that all you had to do was wrap a piece of foil around your finger like a ring and that counted.

5 Burritos that Normally Cost $6.75 each = $oo.oo
5 Rolls of Foil at The Dollar Tree = $5.00 + tax.
Watching these boys, among others, walk across the parking lot, into the restaurant, order and sit down and eat (as aluminum foil slowly came loose, ripped and unraveled) = PRICELESS!!

P.S. Good thing there wasn't a thunder storm with lightning!
P.S.S. * Alberquando is, from this day forward, going to go by EMT. (He can't go as ET as that is our sister).
P.S.S.S. To any newbies...Alberquando isn't really my 12 year old son's name. You can go to the link on his name to find out why the name Alberquando ended up being his blog name.

I Almost Forgot to Tell You!!...Christmas with Chatty kelly and MyADHDMe

Every year Kelly and I exchange Christmas gifts. Even though we have both cut out exchanging with many other people, we always enjoy buying something fun, quirky or special for each other.

She gave me a really cool book. It is called "Imagine God's blog". by Lanny Donoho. It is written in blog form as the author would imagine God would write it. There was even a page or 2 about bubbles...you all know me and bubbles. I finished it pretty quick. It was an interesting and enjoyable read. There was something he wrote about Free Time that I want to share with you.


" There is no such thing as free time because time is a gift from God. It isn't free because every second, minute, and hour that you use, you have to give up something else. you must trade one thing for another. All transactions are final.
Make sure you fill up your time with things you can really use. After all, you could be out of time....really soon."

I'm quite sure he isn't saying not to take advantage of any "free" time...just that we need to PRIORITIZE our time".

Anyway, I liked that.

NOW, as for what I gave her. I used to be into gimmicks ands gadgets but over the years have gotten away from that. HOWEVER, this year I just couldn't resist. As you may know, Kelly has a MAJOR germ Phobia. I was thumbing thru a magazine called Things You Never Knew Existed and THERE IT WAS!! A UV Scanner, that was pocket sized. You just open it up. Hold it over just about any surface and PRESTO!, germs are sanitised. Works on sinks, toilet seats, handle bars, table tops, even fruit and just about anything. Also comes with a nice carrying case.

I was pretty syked about giving it to her. (psyched?)

So, Christmas Eve comes and we exchange gifts. I LOVE the book. As for the UV scanner, well, we take it out of the box and install the batteries. It won't close all the way when the batteries are in it. Also the batteries didn't work : ( . New batteries made it function but it still wouldn't stay closed.

SO, this awesome, unique and REALLY COOL gift needs to be exchanged. Sigh* . I was going to mail it back lst week. oppps. It's going tomorrow for sure,

Hopefully the new one will work.

Christmas is coming, (in just a tad over 300 days)
The goose is getting fat.
please put a penny in the old mans hat!!!

Today Is Tuesday...You Know What That Means...We're Gonna Have A Special Guest!! 1-13-09

Today is Tuesday
You Know what that means.
We're Gonna have a special guest......

This gentleman was VERY well loved by many. Honestly, I never really was a huge fan but I've had quite a few requests....Soooo........
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Monday

Monday Monday Monday Monday Monday
Monday Monday Monday Monday
Monday Monday Monday
Monday Monday
Monday

Mondays Are Cool!!

Censor****Ship

You remember the Censor Ship, don't you? It was the one between the Nina and the Santa Maria. It didn't get the attention that those 2 (not to mention the Pinta) received. As a matter of fact, those 3 didn't even want to be seen with the Censor Ship......They were traveling as fast as they could to a land without a Censor Ship. However, the Censor Ship came in with a couple of other guys who were up to no good. They started making trouble in the neighborhood. I got in one little fight and my mom got scared, and said "You're moving with your Auntie and Uncle in Bel-Air....opps....sorry.....Monkeys Are Funny...

What was I talking about?....oh yeah, Bugs Bunny.

This past Tuesday's Special Guest was Bugs Bunny's Rabbit of Seville.
That is my #1 favorite cartoon of all time...what? Doesn't everyone have a Number 1 favorite cartoon of all time? The only other cartoon that runs a close 2nd (in my humble opinion) in the frog one. You know! Remember One Froggy Night? This homeless guy finds a box, and when he opens it a frog jumps out and starts singing "Hello my Honey, Hello my Baby, Hello my Ragtime Gal...." The homeless guy thinks he's going to get rich off of the frog but every time he tries to show anyone else, the frog just sits there......You KNOW you remember it. Were we talking about Censorship?

I did a little bit of checking on the Rabbit of Seville and found out that ABC censored some of the cartoon before airing it. The clip I showed yesterday is the uncensored copy. Before airing it, ABC cut out some of the sounds of gunfire at the beginning, the part of Bugs slashing Elmer's face with the razor while shaving him, and the part where Bugs Bunny ties Elmer Fudd's gun into a bow.

I could probably ask 100 people what they think and get 101 different opinions. (I tend to see both sides of many situations,,, hence 101). And I DON'T WANT TO GET INTO ISSUES WITH ANYONE!!! This post is not about gun control (pro or con). This is not about violence and some of the old cartoons are DEFINITELY a lot more extreme than today's Dora The Explorer and Blue's Clues (is that still on????It was for my boys). BUT, there is another part they cut out that I think was a bit over-the-top / unnecessary. They cut out the part of Bugs Bunny dancing as a senorita because he "thrusts" his cottontail at Elmer Fudd...THUS...suggesting "continuity" between the two. ?????? PUHLEEZE!!! Am I the only one that finds that just a wee bit excessive?

ANYWAY, to wrap this up, I was just wondering what other people felt about it. If you want to, go back to the previous post and check out the scene and/or scenes I am talking about. I just feel pretty strongly that Bugs Bunny was not making any kind of "advances" on Elmer.

So, I'm about finished for now. This wasn't a rant or a soap box, it was more like, well, just an observation. Oh, and again, this isn't about gun control or violence on tv. I was just wondering if I'm the only one that doesn't think Bugs Bunny was coming onto Elmer Fudd. AND, if he WAS, wouldn't it be politically incorrect to say anything negative about it....ALSO, they were both pretty busy film stars. When would they have time to get together? They would be lucky if they made it home at night around seven or eight. They would yell to the cabbie, "Yo, home, Smell ya later". Bugs would look at his kingdom, he'd be finally there. To sit on his throne as The Prince of Bel-Air.

Today Is Tuesday. You Know What That Means ... 1-6-09

Today is Tuesday.
You know what that means.
We're gonna have a special guest!

So, get out the broom and sweep the place clean.
Dust off the mat so the WELCOME can be seen.

Roll out the carpet.
Strike up the band.
And give out with a Hip Hooray (HIP HOORAY!)

Wiggle you ears like good Mouseketeers.
We're gonna present a guest today.
Cause Tuesday Is Guest Star DAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!

(it was this character that introduced me to most of the classical music I know!)
This is a bit long. Fast Forward to about 1 min & 30 seconds to get right to the song!)

By the way..This was voted as number 12 on the greatest cartoons of all time. It was directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese.
The music arrangements are by Carl Stalling but are completely based on Rossini's Overture to The Barber of Seville. I cannot listen to this piece ever again without picturing this cartoon in my head.
Written in 1949 and released in 1950, this shows incredible talent. Oh, and Mel Blanc (Bugs Bunny) , he was incredible. ENJOY!!

Vanity ** Vane or Vain

I am not a vane person. If I were, I would be a flat piece of metal, strip of cloth, etc, set up high to swing with the wind, to show which way the wind is blowing OR I would be in the water showing how the water is flowing.

Also, I am surely not Sir Henry Vane, a Puritan statesman and colonial governor of Mass. in 1636 and 1637. and please, don't call me Shirley...

I AM definitely not a vane.

I'm not a vain person either. I thought maybe I was a little because I am concerned about these odd little crevices that are showing up around my eyes.
Also, when picking out an outfit the first priority is always, "Does this make me look fat?".
Yes, I wear make-up---even before I go to the firehouse and I know it will sweat off after about 5 minutes of training or firefighting.
When I'm not peeling off my fingernails I like to have them painted.
And my hair...well...my hair...we've discussed that before. it is going to do what it wants to and I've learned to accept that and sometimes even love it.

I am also NOT photogenic. NOT ONE BIT. I'm the person with her eyes closed, is chewing, has her head turned at an angle that makes it look like she has 37 chins etc etc etc.

I have one picture of myself that I like. It is the one on this blog and I am wearing my firefighting gear. Even though I am hot and sweaty, make up is LONG gone, It was the middle of the night, it was really hot, and I had major helmet head, I LOVE this picture. It was taken after a huge 2 story house fire in one of our nicer subdivisions. When we got there flames were already coming out of the windows. All of the occupants were outside so we didn't have to worry about that, It was expected that the house would be a total loss but we saved half of it including some very old and beautiful antiques and family pictures. So, even though it was a horrible day for the owners....it was a lot better than it could have been.....no one was hurt...."stuff" can be replaced......and we were able to save a lot more than was expected. Oh yeah...it was my first house fire too.

OK, I just got SO far off track. Anyway, the other evening I asked JM (17 year old) to take my picture. That's something I NEVER do. I was getting ready to go to Alberquando's* Christmas concert and was feeling relatively pleased with how I looked. (oh come on, you know, good days and bad days). So he took my picture. UGH. I had him take another....UGH.....I changed the lighting and moved him back....Ugh......he took another...hhhmmm...not bad but my hair was sticking up (more than usual). SO, I had him take another. (of course by now, he has informed me of how insane I am. I just smiled and told him that we were going to do this until I got it right. He took another one and EUREKA!! ok, maybe not EUREKA but Hurray!

For a completely non-photogenic person, this one isn't half bad. And just think, it's only been 6 years since I had one I like.

So, maybe a little bit of vanity is ok. Well, actually it isn't. At least not according to Webster:

VANITY:

1. A thing or act that is vain, futile, idle, or worthless.
2. Being excessively proud of one's self or one's possessions.
3, Self-Conceit.
4. Conceited.

Wait here's another one
5. A small table or ledge with a mirror for use while putting on cosmetics, combing one's hair etc.
6. It can also be a bathroom counter top with a sink in it.

So it looks like it isn't good to be even a little bit vain according to the definitions. Well, I actually never even considered being a bathroom sink but it is something I may ponder on another day.

Bottom Line--Hip Hip Hurray!! We made it to the bottom line. I AM going to wrap this up. The bottom line is that I am going to share the best of the pictures JM took, I'm going to post it and then I'm going to spray some lock-tight on the delete button. It's not vanity. It's pleasantly pleased!

P.S. As I was just re-reading this, I was thinking how hard it would be to leave a comment. After all, if you are polite, just about the only thing you could say is something like "Nice picture", "Yes, you are the most beautiful woman in the world", or the ever-loving, always works to fall back on "Nice Post". Just letting you know, I'm not looking for compliments. SO...A great comment would be something like "Wow! Good Job on the house fire!" or "Nice typing...very few typos!", oh yeah, and there's always...."Nice Post!!"!

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Actually, a good title for this post would be What's RIGHT With This Picture?

My friend and I prefer the summer MUCH more than the winter (Remember January or June??). So, we came up with a list of things that were good about the winter months to make the cold weather more bearable.

1. You can leave your drink in the car while you go in the store and it stays cold.(great for diet coke drinkers...not so great for coffee drinkers).

2. Kids go to school!!

3. Fireplaces.

4. Candles, especially scented ones always seem nicer in the winter......well, they do to me.....cranberry, spices, pumpkin pie, cedar, apple pie.....all great winter scents. yes, I know there are nice summer scents too....Honeysuckle, Gardenia, Chlorinated Pool Water...but now I've gotten off track......see what you did?......Please, No More Interruptions.....(thank you).

5. Kids are at SCHOOL!!

6. Snow.....Beautiful while it's coming down and it snows seldom enough in Virginia to make it exciting.....until they close the schools!!

7. Bundling up in blankets while having popcorn and watching movies on tv.

8. Winter clothes are normally more flattering.

9. The children go to school.

10. You can turn your porch light on and hundreds of bugs don't come in the house every time you open the door. That brings me back to my original question. What's wrong with this picture? This picture was taken last week, December 28th. I opened the door to go outside and there were bugs flying around the light. I believe the high temperature that day was somewhere around 78 degrees. That's unbelievable....well, actually it is believable because it's true and I wouldn't be telling you about it if it weren't true....plus I have pictures to back up the story.

ANYWAY, amazing. 2 nights ago, which was about a week later it is FREEZING outside. The low is supposed to be around 19 degrees.

Today when I woke up it was snowing (just a few flakes...but snowing never-the-less). Then it sleeted for a while. then the temp rose, the sun came out and it probably was 55-60 degrees.

Welcome To Virginia!!

One Less Neurotic Tendancy

OK. If you are finished laughing at my attempt to post these pictures, we can get on with this.

You may all find this hard to believe...but I may have a few "issues". OK, I know, I know.....we all have issues. Perhaps even "neurotic issues". But as of today, I have ONE LESS NEUROTIC ISSUE!

Before I go any farther, I wanted to make sure I was using the word NEUROTIC correctly. I went to dictionary.com and this is what I found out:
Neurotic
1. of, related to or affected with a neurosis.
2. a person suffering with neurosis.
3. a neurotic person.

Why do they do that? If I hadn't already known the definition, do they really think that definition would have helped. OK, in all fairness, they did get a little clearer as I read on....
4. obsessive thoughts.
5. compulsive acts.
6. worries alot.
7. Also called Psychoneurosis.

AND, I suppose it is also a "politically incorrect" term now as it is no longer in scientific or technical use. SO, I went to Psychoneurosis and THAT word is also no longer in scientific or technical use. HHHmmmm.... I think I'll go check out another word....

PSYCHOTIC

Nothing about that one no longer being used. I suppose it is still ok to be:
1. Affected by psychosis
2. suffer from psychosis
3. have hallucinations and or delusions
4. unable to think rationally
5. at a loss of contact with reality.

wow....where was all this going....

OH YEAH.......As of today I have ONE LESS NEUROTIC TENDENCY!

Every year it takes hours and hours to take down my Christmas tree. It also takes way too long to put it up, but no where near as long as the taking down. You see, I have an individual box for every single ornament. No, not just the Hallmark or special edition whatever ornaments but EVERY SINGLE ONE. I did a quick count and there are 197 ornaments! If it didn't come in a box, I found one. Then I would write the date, where or who it came from, and a description of the ornament (so I would know which box held which ornament) on each box. (I also date the ornament itself). Can you imagine how long it took to match up the ornament with the correct box at the end of every Christmas season!

Why did I do that?.......How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsie pop? The world may never know.

I was talking to Chatty kelly a few weeks ago and she asked me why I put myself through that. I DON'T KNOW!! Very few of the ornaments are worth any thing more than sentimental value and even if they were, I don't plan on selling them. The cotton and tissue paper keeps them from breaking.

So....This year I DID IT! I broke free from one more neurotic issue!! I threw away the boxes (except for the few that had styrofoam to protect the most delicate.

I took all the ornaments off of the tree today, boxed them up for the attic, and the whole process took less than 1 hour!! I used to spend an hour or more a night for about 3 nights!! FREE!!!! YEA!!!

(I told my other sister, ET what I did and she couldn't believe it. WHY WOULD YOU THROW AWAY YOUR BOXES!!!!......I only had a moment of panic....)

P.S. The writer of the above post takes no responsibility for those of you who throw away your boxes and then regrets it. Also, the writer is not saying you are neurotic if you keep your ornaments in boxes.......after all, you may be neurotic whether you throw them away OR keep them.......that's off the record though....After all, I would hate to be politically incorrect!

Happy New Year!!!