Knoxville, TN...

We're in Knoxville visiting some friends for the weekend. We're having a great time! It's always nice to see old friends. Below are some pictures that have been taken over the last 21 hours.

Assumptions...

This has been bugging me a bit, so I thought I'd blog about it. A week or two ago I was stopped by a well meaning PTA mom who wanted to know if I'd be interested in being the 'exceptional children advocate' for my son's school. Exceptional children advocate. Ok, wait...what? From what I've been able to find out, in order to be the exceptional children advocate, you have to have a child who is what they call an 'exceptional child'. A child with some sort of a disability who has an IEP (Individualized Education Plan). For those of you who don't know, in the United States, public schools are required to develop an IEP for every student with a disability who is found to meet the federal and state requirements for special education.

Ok. You know, that's all well and good, BUT...my child does not have an IEP. My child is not in any type of special education. My child IS deaf, but you can't tell. He does not have a disability. He has a cochlear implant which allows him the hear just fine. He's in a regular class at school, he receives no special help of any type...he doesn't even take speech. I've been told by many people that they never would have even known that he's deaf. Really, he's not deaf. He doesn't know sign language because he had such great success with him implant there was never a reason for him to learn it. He is just like any hearing child.

It's not that I wouldn't be agreeable to being the exceptional children advocate - I would if my child qualified for that type of program. But he doesn't. The thing that bothered me was the assumption. This person assumed that because he's technically deaf...because he has a cochlear implant, that he must qualify for services. I don't get it. Why would that be assumed? I think I'm going to start carrying around his report card. He's about to finish up Kindergarten and on his last report card, he got all s's and o's (s = satisfactory and 0 = outstanding). He had more o's than anything else, and his reading, writing and math levels are all at or above grade level. All without any type of services.

I know some kids, who are very smart, have IEP's because of things like minor learning disabilities, etc, which is fine. Just because you have an IEP, doesn't mean you're not smart, it just means you learn differently. Not a big deal. I've heard of some kids who have IEP's because they are dyslexic, yet they are also in the gifted program. That's cool! It was just the assumption that bothered me. The assumption that because he wears a little processor on his ear that allows him to hear, that he must have some sort of special services.

I wish people wouldn't assume things so often. I don't want anyone ever treating him differently because of his implant.

Cannonball Run...

A friend of mine is running the Cannonball Run Half Marathon in October. You know what? I think I will, too! :-)

This Is Amazing....

Val Thomas is alive and I'm not sure why. This is a pretty amazing story!

How To Install A Security System On A Budget...

My cousin Lynda sent me this. I hadn't seen it before and found it rather amusing.

HOW TO INSTALL A HOME SECURITY SYSTEM WHEN ON A BUDGET:

1. Go to a second-hand store and buy a pair of men's used size 14-16
work boots

2. Place them on your front porch, along with several empty beer cans,
a copy of Guns & Ammo magazine and several NRA magazines.

3. Put a few giant dog dishes next to the boots and magazine.

4. Leave a note on your door that reads:

"Hey Bubba, Big Jim, Duke and Slim, I went to the gun shop for more
ammunition. Back in an hour. Don't mess with the pit bulls -- they
attacked the mailman this morning and messed him up real bad I don't
think Killer took part in it but it was hard to tell from all the blood.
PS - I locked all four of 'em in the house. Better wait outside."

INSTALLATION COMPLETE!!!!

The Rumors Are Flying...

I cannot link to this rumor because I cannot find it online anywhere, but apparently, it was in the print version of the Clinton Courier. The rumor is the New York State DOT wants to take 30 feet of the village park in Clinton in an effort to improve safety and traffic flow on 12B at the intersection of Kellogg and Fountain Street.

Ok, here is what I think about this. NO NO NO NO NO!! Granted, it is a bad intersection. If you're traveling on East Park Row and want to continue onto Fountain Street, it's a pain in the ass. In addition, if you don't know the area, you're going to mess up. I'm not kidding. I don't know anyone who hasn't gotten confused there on the first attempt at going that direction. On the other hand, Clinton is a small village. If you stop and ask anyone you see on the street, they'll tell you how to fix your mistake and get where you're going. You don't even have to tell them the address, just tell them the name of the person you're going to see and chances are good that they'll not only know the person, but they'll tell you everything about the person and invite you to a cookout! The immediate village of Clinton, New York is very much like Mayberry.

I don't want anything to happen to the park. I hope this rumor is just that...rumor. 30 feet off of the park would destroy it. That is my park! I, of course, don't own the park, but I can see it from my parents driveway. I grew up in that park. It's mine. Don't touch my park! If you must improve safety and traffic flow (and yeah, although I've never had a problem with it because I grew up there, it might be a good idea), find a way to do it without hurting the park. Put up a traffic light or something...there has to be another way around the problem.

Homeless Outreach...

Interesting article here about being homeless in Santa Barbara, and how there are certain parking lots set up so people who live in their cars can safely sleep in them.

I'm wondering, though, about the first woman in the article. It said she is 67 years old and has 3 grown children. She was forced into homelessness earlier this year after being laid off from her job as a loan processor. I feel for her, I really do. But...she has 3 grown children. She was quoted as saying "My daughter especially is very unhappy. Sometimes she'll cry and she'll call and say, 'Mom, I just can't stand it that you are living in a car'.

My question is, why doesn't she stay with one of her grown children? If something happened to my parents and they lost their home, there is no way in hell I'd let them live in their car! They'd live with me! Why is she not living with her kids until she can get back on her feet?

Top 1,300 US Public Schools....

The list of the top 1,300 public schools in the country is here. Either I'm missing it, or my old school did NOT make the list. Odd. That school always prided itself on being 'the best'. I wonder what happened in the just about 20 years I've been gone.

Or maybe I just didn't see it. Please correct me if it did, in fact, make the list.

Quiz Time!

Alright, at the moment I have nothing to write about and I just got sidetracked on blogthings, sooooo I thought I'd share. Below please find two quizzes and my results. Feel free to take the quizzes yourself.

You Are a Salty Person

When it comes to snacks, you're more likely to grab a bag of chips over a bag of cookies. There's a good chance you're male (men prefer salty snacks)... Or at least, you feel very comfortable in male dominated environments. Your taste tends to be complex, sophisticated, and adult. You tend to crave your favorite restaurant meal... or mom's cooking.

Are You Sweet or Salty?

Your Independence Level: Very High

You do things your own way. Even if everyone else thinks you're wrong. You cherish your freedom, and you resent rules. No one knows what's right for you as much as you do. You can take care of yourself... and you do a mighty fine job of it.

How Independent Are You?

Another Meme....

Greeneyezz tagged me for a meme about true love. This isn't the type of thing I usually do, but for her, I'll do it. But she'd better buy me a beer this summer! ;-) Anyway, if you look at her answers to this meme, you'll find that she wrote a dissertation about it. I won't be doing that. My answers are fairly short and sweet. Kinda like me! Hehe. Well, ok....I'm short, anyway. :-)

A comment before I start: These questions are about true love and I want to make sure everyone is aware that I'm assuming it's true love in a romantic way, not a family way, like how one might love parents, grandparents, kids, etc. This is about romantic love.

Alright...here it is:


*******Copy the questions and answer them honestly*********


~What does true love mean to you?

True love is your best friend. My true love is my husband, who is my best friend. We not only love each other but we like each other and love doing everything together. We accept each other for who we are and don't try to change each other.



~How do you know if you're really in love?

For me it was just a no-brainer. When my husband and I met we found we loved spending time together, be it at a cookout, amusement park or out to eat. The more time we spent together, the less time we wanted to spend apart.


~How many times in your life have you fallen in love?

Once.


~Have you ever fell out of true love because you were mad in the moment?

Ummm...shouldn't that be fallen out of true love? I don't think fell out of true love is gramatically correct. Eh, oh well. ;-) Anyway...no, I have not. True love is true love...during good times and during bad times.


~Do you feel love and physical attraction are the same thing?

No. There are some people who are very physically attractive but who are total assholes. Why would I love a person like that?


~If your true love became ill or disfigured would you continue to love them the same way?

Of course. He'd still be the same person.

~Should anyone else be able to tell you who to love or not love?

No way. It's your life, you can love whomever you want. Assuming that the person is of age, that is. If a 40 year old man thinks he's 'in love' with a 3 year old girl, or something like that, that's a whole different story.


~Do you believe people that ended up divorced were ever truly in love?

I suppose so. Maybe. You know, I have nothing to base an answer to this question on. I honestly don't know very many people who have been divorced. I think I know maybe 5 or 6 people who have been divorced and none of those people have ever said much to me about their ex's, AND, with one exception, I didn't know their ex's. Weird, huh?


~Would you give up something you want for someone you love?

Something I want? Well...I guess so. I mean, I want my kidney, but if my husband ever needed a kidney at any point, then OF COURSE he could have one of mine!

~If you truly love someone do you feel it should be unconditional?

Mostly. Although that guy in Austria who hid his daughter and grandkids in the basement for all those years while assaulting them....ummmm....no. If he were my husband there is no way I could deal with that.

And now, who to tag? Oh eh. Ok, how about Rhea and California Girl because I think they might be interested in doing it. It's ok if you don't want to do it, though! I won't mind! :-)

Now, Z...about that book meme....

;-)

Hmmmm...

Spotted this at The Village at North Elm this morning. Wasn't really expecting to see something like that there.

Summer Is Here!

The pool opened this weekend! It's summer! :-) Below are some pictures.

Gyms...

The first gym I was ever a member of was The Fitness Mill in New York Mills, New York. I loved that gym! I really did...there was just something about it that very much appealed to me. Not to mentioned the fact that in order to get there you had to climb a fairly steep staircase. You got a great workout before you even got to the front door! It was a gym that was not...what's the word I'm looking for....froufrou. It was good. I was happy.

Then we moved to Asheville, NC. I joined the weirdest 'gym', if you can call it that, that I've ever seen. It wasn't really a gym, it was a 'private club'. I don't even remember the name of it. Anyway, it had weights, it had treadmills, it had racquetball. The weird thing, though, was it also had a bar! There was a bar set up right next to the treadmills, and it wasn't a health bar! Drunk old men would sit at the bar and watch all the women on the treadmills. While that was going on, the balls from the racquetball court would fly up and come close to hitting the people at the bar and on the treadmills because the courts were not completely closed in. Very, very strange.

We only lived in Asheville for 9 months before moving to our current residence of Greensboro, NC. In the 10 years we've lived here, I've belonged to 3 gyms. One has shut down, and I didn't like it anyway...it was, well...froufrou! The other was ok, but had too many people in it who were there for the sole reason of socializing. They'd sit on the weight machines and talk. And talk. And talk some more. They wouldn't move and it pissed me off. I wasn't there to socialize, I was there to sweat. If you wanted to socialize, you could go to the lobby, or at least get your ass off the machines and socialize next to the machines, letting those of us who were there to work out actually use the machines. Grrrrr. After that gym, I joined the Y. The Y was nice, but I did feel a bit out of place when I'd listen to other people talk about their bible studies. As it was the Y, I knew to expect that kind of thing, but I just didn't feel overly comfortable. Besides, it was a fairly long drive from my house.

Currently, I have a treadmill in my bedroom that I use pretty often. I also have a BowFlex that is collecting dust in my shed. I'd use it, but it's really kind of a pain to use and I don't feel like I'm getting that good of a workout from it. Recently we've been getting ads stuck to our front door with a coupon for a free 30 day membership to The Rush. The Rush is new, and it's only a 10 minute drive from my house. I'm really thinking about giving them a shot for 30 days. The problem is, I've been all over their website and cannot find what it would cost beyond the 30 days, if I decided to become a member. I guess that's how they get ya! Get you in with free trial, and then spring the real cost on you! I'm good at saying 'no' to things that are too expensive, though.

If I do try The Rush I'll still have my treadmill to use at home, plus all the stuff there...it might just be worth it if it's inexpensive enough. I know the free 30 day trial would be worth it. Can't beat free!

Baseball...

Below are a few pictures from our son's baseball game this morning!

The Neighbors Yard...

I think my next door neighbor needs to mow her lawn. You could lose a small child in it! Honestly, I wouldn't care what her yard looks like - if she wants it to look like hell, then fine. However, I am a bit concerned about snakes and evil spiders like black widows coming over to our house if she doesn't take care of her lawn. We live in the type of neighborhood where the houses are really close to each other, so if she has snakes and bugs, they will come over to our house. It's one thing is someone is trying to get grass to grow, but she is not. She just lets it go, every single year. Below is a picture of her yard.

Shades Of Gray....

You know, I watch the news and listen to the pundits and I get annoyed. Everyone is so.....sure of themselves. They are right, dammit! Everyone who doesn't agree is wrong. There is no arguing! It's so black and white for so many people. But it's not black and white. It'd be easier if it were, but it's not. People, though, seem so unwilling to look at things from another persons perspective.

Do you feel a song coming on? I do. Here ya go.

6 Weeks...

In just 6 weeks and 1 day we'll be heading up to New York for a 2 week vacation. I'm looking forward to some homemade Italian food and catching up with old friends who we don't see nearly enough. We haven't been up there since last July. That's too long!

Embryonic Twin...

Look at this...a 9 year old Greek girl has just had her embryonic twin removed.

Should I tell everyone this? Yeah, why not? I'm a freak, too. I have my twin's rib. Really. Never caused me any problems, but I have it. An extra rib. Belonging to my twin who never formed. Weird, huh?

Transformers....

Check out these pants. They unzip above the knees so if it gets to warm for long pants you just unzip them and presto changeo, you have shorts! I thought they might be neat to have, BUT, I don't want to pay $55.00 (or $50.00 at the actual store) for them, AND...this is the really important part...I could just imagine that I'd unzip them and turn them into shorts and then lose part of them causing me to ONLY have them as shorts! I'd never be able to turn them into pants again! EEEK!

Still, though...pretty cool.

Boilermaker...

Boilermaker registrations are down so far this year. You know what? In my opinion, that's a good thing! I've run that race 8 times, and the last 2 times were just way too crowded! That's one of the reasons I stopped running it....too many people. I know they utilize the champion chip to give you an accurate time, but even that's not accurate if you're walking the first half mile to mile because you can't get around people who are going slower than you want to go. It was very frustrating the last time I ran it. I really am not kidding when I say I walked the first half mile because I had no other choice due to the people around me.

Despite that, the Boilermaker is still the best race I've ever participated in, and I do look forward to running it again. I won't be running it this year because we'll be leaving Utica the day before the race. We set our vacation up so we'd be up during the 4th of July, which, since it falls on a Friday this year, gave us extra vacation days which we don't have to use as vacation days, so we ended up with 2 full weeks of vacation. If we had set it up so we'd be up for the Boilermaker, we wouldn't have gotten 2 full weeks. And in 2009, I don't know if I'll be running it or not because my husband's nephew will be getting married sometime that summer. If he gets married in the beginning of July, then I can run it, but if it's in August, I'll probably have to miss it in order to have a later vacation so we can attend the wedding. HOWEVER, I'm planning on running it again no later than 2010 - only 2 years away. I just hope registrations are still down that year. I've said it before, as have other people...it doesn't have to be the biggest 15K, just the best. And it is the best.

Beer....

Cost of beer is going UP! Looks like I'll be sticking with the Bud Light.

CNY Cookbook...

From Joe:

Now on Sale - 100% of profit goes to The Compassion Coalition.....


**NEWS RELEASE**

CNYEats.com announces its release of its first-in-a-series of cookbooks featuring homegrown recipes posted on its web site. "A Taste of Utica: Recipes & Memories" is filled with 300 recipes that were originated in the kitchen of Central New Yorkers.

Web site creator Joseph Mezzanini of Utica, says that even though the book was assembled by himself and CNYEats.com Editor Jeanann Murphy, the real credit goes out to all the members who shared their family secrets.

The spiral-bound book contains 300 recipes as well as personal memories inspired by some of the recipes and the mothers that created them.

Mezzanini created the CNYEats.com web site in 2000 to offer a forum where Central New York residents could post their own restaurant reviews and share recipes.

"It was a slow start in the beginning, but then after being featured in the Syracuse Post Standard, BOOM!" Mezzanini said. "It was unbelievable."

Besides reviews and recipes, the forum also fosters other discussions such as who created Chicken Riggies, the Hemstroughts vs. Holland Farms half moon debate and how do you get the "Utica" in "Utica Greens."

All profits from the book will be donated to the Compassion Coalition, an organization that distributes food directly to food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, halfway houses, community associations, and inner city churches that are located primarily throughout the Mohawk Valley.

To purchase "A Taste of Utica: Recipes & Memories" visit http://CNYEats.com for ordering information. Volume II of CNY Eats is already in the works. If you have a recipe that you would like to donate to the book you can post as many as you would like on the web site.

Parental Responsibitly...

I'm all for parental responsibility, but this is insane. Unless there is more to this story, and I've checked a few places and couldn't find anything, this judge just went waaaaaay overboard.

Ut Oh...

This story came from Ralph....blame him, not me!

I went grocery shopping recently while not being altogether sure that course of action was a wise one. You see, the previous evening I had prepared and consumed a massive quantity of my patented "You're definitely going to $h!t yourself" chili. Tasty stuff, albeit hot to the point of being painful, which comes with a written guarantee from me that if you eat it the next day both of your a$$ cheeks WILL fall off.

Here's the thing. I had awakened that morning, and even after two cups of coffee (and all of you know what I mean) nothing happened. No "Watson's Movement 2". Despite habanero peppers swimming their way through my intestinal tract, I appeared to be unable to create the usual morning symphony referred to by my next door neighbors as thunder and lightning.

Knowing that a time of reckoning had to come, yet not sure of just when, I bravely set off for the market; a local Wal-Mart grocery store that I often haunt in search of tasty tidbits.

Upon entering the store at first all seemed normal.
I selected a cart and began pushing it about dropping items in for purchase. It wasn't until I was at the opposite end of the store from the restrooms that the pain hit me. Oh, don't look at me like you don't know what I'm talking about. I'm referring to that "Uh oh, gotta go" pain that always seems to hit us at the wrong time. The thing is, this pain was different.

The habaneros in the chili from the night before were staging a revolt. In a mad rush for freedom they bullied their way through the small intestines, forcing their way into the large intestines, and before I could take one step in the direction of the restrooms which would bring sweet relief, it happened.
The peppers fired a warning shot.
There I stood, alone in the spice and baking aisle, suddenly enveloped in a noxious cloud the likes of which has never before been recorded. I was afraid to move for fear that more of this vile odor might escape me.
Slowly, oh so slowly, the pressure seemed to leave the lower part of my body, and I began to move up the aisle and out of it, just as an elderly woman turned into it.

I don't know what made me do it, but I stopped to see what her reaction would be to the malodorous effluvium that refused to dissipate, as she walked into it unsuspecting. Have you ever been torn in two different directions emotionally? Here's what I mean, and I'm sure some of you at least will be able to relate.

I could've warned that poor woman but didn't. I simply watched as she walked into an invisible, and apparently indestructible, wall of odor so terrible that all she could do before gathering her senses and running, was to stand there blinking and waving her arms about her head as though trying to ward off angry bees. This, of course, made me feel terrible, but then made me laugh. Mistake.

Here's the thing. When you laugh, it's hard to keep things "clamped
down", if you know what I mean. With each new guffaw an explosive issue burst forth from my nether region. Some were so loud and echoing that I was later told a few folks in other aisles had ducked, fearing that someone was robbing the store and firing off a shotgun.

Suddenly things were no longer funny. IT was coming, and I raced off through the store towards the restrooms, laying down a cloud the whole way, praying that I'd make it before the grand mal assplosion took place.

Luck was on my side. Just in the nick of time I got to the john, began the inevitable "Oh my God", floating above the toilet seat because my ass is burning SO BAD, purging. One poor fellow walked in while I was in the middle of what is the true meaning of "Shock and Awe". He made a gagging sound, and disgustedly said, "Sonofabitch!", then quickly left.

Once finished I left the restroom, reacquired my partially filled cart intending to carry on with my shopping when a store employee approached me and said, "Sir, you might want to step outside for a few minutes. It appears some prankster set off a stink bomb in the store. The manager is going to run the vent fans on high for a minute or two which ought to take care of the problem."

That of course set me off again, causing residual gases to escape me. The employee took one sniff, jumped back pulling his shirt up to cover his nose and, pointing at me in an accusing manner shouted, "IT'S YOU!", then ran off returning moments later with the manager. I was unceremoniously escorted from the premises and asked none too kindly not to return.

Home again without having shopped, I realized that there was nothing to eat but leftover chili, so I consumed two more bowls. The next day I went to shop at Albertson's. I can't say anymore about that because we are in court over the whole matter. Bastards claim they're going to have to repaint the store.

Recall...

Price Chopper is recalling pre-packed hamburgers. This includes the four-pack and eight-pack of 80% lean ground chuck, 85% lean ground round patties, and 4-packs of 90% lean ground sirloin patties with a sell by date of May 13. The hamburgers might contain small pieces of hard plastic. Customers may return the product to the store full a full refund.

That wold be appetizing, wouldn't it? Bite into a nice hamburger and break your tooth!

I used to shop at the Price Chopper in North Utica when I lived in North Utica. I could walk there from my apartment and I thought it was a nice store. I never liked any of the other Price Choppers, though. They all seemed small and dirty. Is the Grand Union (or Grand Onion, as I always called it) in South Utica on Genesse Street a Price Chopper now? I seem to have a small memory of it becoming a Price Chopper, but I'm not sure. If so, that might be a nice one.

Your Government At Work...

We all know about the Economic Stimulus Package. Ours was deposited into our account on May 5th. Today, (May 12th), we got a letter from the IRS. This letter was dated today (how could we have received it today if it's dated today? The mail isn't that fast!) and it said: You are entitled to an economic stimulus payment of $1,500.00 as provided by the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. You can expect your payment by 5/9/08.

WAIT A MINUTE!! We got the money on MAY 5TH! Today is MAY 12TH! The letter we received was dated MAY 12TH! They said we could expect our payment by MAY 9TH! Whaaaa?

Why on earth did they send us that? No matter how you slice it, that letter was LATE!

I Hate People...

I have been meeting and dealing with more and more annoying people lately. Because of that, the following lyrics keep going through my head and won't leave!

Scavengers and sycophants and flatterers
and fools
Pharisees and parasites and hypocrites
and ghouls
Calculating swindlers, prevaricating frauds
Perpetrating evil as they roam the earth
in hordes
Feeding on their fellow men
Reaping rich rewards
Contaminating everything they see
Corrupting honest men like me
Humbug! Poppycock! Balderdash! Bah!
I hate people! I hate people!
People are despicable creatures
Loathsome inexplicable creatures
Good-for-nothing kickable creatures
I hate people! I abhor them!
When I see the indolent classes
Sitting on their indolent asses
Gulping ale from indolent glasses
I hate people! I detest them! I deplore them!
Fools who have no money spend it
Get in debt then try to end it
Beg me on their knees befriend them
Knowing I have cash to lend them
Soft-hearted me! Hard-working me!
Clean-living, thrifty and kind as can be!
Situations like this are of interest to me
I hate people! I loathe people! I despise and abominate people!
Life is full of cretinous wretches
Earning what their sweatiness fetches
Empty minds whose pettiness stretches
Further than I can see
Little wonder I hate people
And I don't care if they hate me!

CitiBank...

So, Citibank sends me an offer with a great rate to transfer my balances to their card. My husband and I decide it's a great idea, and we transfer our American Express balance to Citibank. Today I get a letter from Citibank saying that they didn't pay it because the amount I requested to transfer was greater than my available balance. BULLSHIT! We keep a very close eye on ALL of our accounts...we know exactly what we have. So I called Citibank and asked what was up and the guy I talked to didn't have a clue. He said 'oh yeah, you have plenty to do that.'. Yeah, no kidding Sherlock. I asked him to do the transfer and he did, but it might take up to 7 days. Why it would take that long, since it's electronic, I don't know. I think they're just trying to cover their asses. Anyway, I asked him again, 'what could have caused that mistake?'. He replied that maybe when they received the check my account didn't have as much available credit. Nope, wrong again! As I said, we know what we have and we had the money. Citibank made a mistake. Again. I hate credit card companies.

Remember not long ago people kept making errors with my son's ice cream account at school? They kept charging him for lunches that he never bought because he doesn't buy lunches at school, just ice cream on Friday. Actually he doesn't even do that anymore, because I got sick of them messing up, so now, since I eat lunch in the cafeteria on Fridays, I buy his ice cream for him. It's the same thing, though...someone messed up. You know, if we didn't keep as close an eye on our accounts as we do, we could be screwed. I don't think all that many people are as anal and vigilant about their accounts as we are....people could easily lose money by not noticing mistakes like that that are made by other people. It's crazy. Keep track of all your records, people....if you don't, you'll probably get screwed somewhere along the line!

It's Spring...

I can tell it's spring because I read the obituaries from my hometown newspaper every day (morbid, yeah, but sometimes I know the people!), and recently I've noticed that they're running the names of people who died during the winter. Why, the native southerners may ask? Well, because it's spring. The ground is finally thawed enough so that these people who died during the winter can be buried!

Stuff people in the south don't think about!

Happy Mother's Day...

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there! :-)

My son bounced into our room around 6:30 this morning. He was dressed and had his backpack on. His backpack is filled with trucks to play with and, apparently, something special he made for me. He won't let me see it, though! He announced that we're going to IHOP for Mother's Day! I wonder if he's paying. ;-) Anyway, he's so sweet! Off to IHOP! I'll let you all know what he made for me later. :-)

UPDATE:

Ok, it's later! IHOP was very tasty, and my son made me a very cute little card that looks like a flower and another card with his hand print and a sweet poem. Awwwww. :-)

Most Popular Baby Names Of 2007...

Drum roll please...in case anyone was wondering...


Girl names
1. Emily
2. Emma
3. Madison
4. Isabella
5. Ava
6. Abigail
7. Olivia
8. Hannah
9. Sophia
10. Samantha

Boy Names
1. Jacob
2. Michael
3. Joshua
4. Ethan
5. Matthew
6. Daniel
7. Christopher
8. Andrew
9. Anthony
10. William

I just googled the popularity of my son's name. It's ranked as the 146th most popular name for baby boys in 2006. The year he was born, 2001, it was ranked 103rd. It was most popular during the 1950's with a rank of 20.

My name was ranked 58th in popularity for baby girls in 2006 and was most popular from 1960 - 1979 with a 5th place rank.

My husband's name was ranked 128th in popularity for baby boys in 2006, and was most popular from 1930 - 1939 with a 15th place rank.

And there ya have it. ;-)

Huh...

I happened across a blog yesterday that was fairly interesting and had a post about and a few comments on the Duggars (see below). I went back and found she had deleted most of the comments and her reasoning was she didn't know the people who commented.

Huh. I read her comments yesterday and they were all perfectly legit, no spam or anything. One person didn't agree with her, but everyone else did. One person told her how he found her blog and told her how good it was. She, however, doesn't want people she doesn't know making comments. That's totally up to her (although she needs to change some settings and make her blog private if she doesn't want people she doesn't know reading it), but I wouldn't have done that. I like having people find me and make comments....that's how you get to know and meet people! But then, maybe she's more of a private person. Which really makes me wonder why she has the blog visible to everyone. Why doesn't she make it private?

Oh well. I really don't care. I just found it odd.

Corpse On The Toilet...

Oh. My. God.

I once saw a bumper sticker that read: God Wants Spiritual Fruits, Not Religious Nuts. I believe it applies.

Damage Video...

Check this out.

The Duggar's Are Having Another One...

Holy crap. Michelle Duggar is pregnant again. In my opinion, these people are NUTS! Can you imagine being 41 years old and pregnant with your 18th child? No adoptions, and only 2 sets of twins. Can you imagine being a child in that family? I swear it sounds more like a boarding school than a family. And the mother...geeez, how can her body take that? But hey, if they're happy....

You can read the article here.

But I Wanted To Watch Survivor...

One of the only network shows I watch is Survivor. I'm not really sure why I watch it as everyone on that show annoys me and I wouldn't do it even if I were guaranteed to win the million, but still...I watch it. Yesterday was the second to last show for this season, the finale is Sunday. Did I get to watch it? NO! Why? Because the weatherman wouldn't shut up! Now, I realize we had a a tornado, severe thunderstorms, etc, BUT...really, a scroll along the bottom of the screen would have sufficed. We didn't need the weatherman repeating the same thing over and over and over and over again. A scroll, then they could have cut in if necessary.

Hmmmm. Perhaps I can watch Survivor online.