Thanks to Bandi

for helping me figure out how to do links! So, check out her soap - I have some and YUMMMMM!

Patti Flynn Soapmaker

Sad News...

my SIL had a brain aneurysm this week and wasn't found until ~24-36 hours after it occurred. She had surgery Thursday evening and is breathing on her own, but the doctors don't think that she will ever be able to speak or walk again. She is an artist and the aneurysm affected her dominant side and that is sad because she is very gifted. Only time will tell, so please say a prayer or send a good vibration or something for Jean.

The Amazing Race

...started tonight! I can already tell you who I want GONE - actually its quite a few of the teams - where'd they get these people? I'd be much more awesome - anyone want to go with me?!!!

Edited to add: early favorites for me are TK and Rachel. I already hate Nathan and Jennifer.

Young Frankenstein

We pulled this out before Halloween and it's on TVLand tonight - so very funny! I'd have to rate it up there as one of my all time favorites!

That Is So Awesome!

That's what the trick-or-treaters are saying when they leave our house cuz they got little cans of Jones Soda in Candy Corn, Lemon Drop Dead, Gruesome Grape or Strawberry Screamer, plus the usual chocolate, etc. I love it!

New Favorite

I'm in love! I found Alicia's photos on Etsy awhile ago, forgot about them (oops), then found them again and all I can say is WOW! I am in awe and can't wait to get some - I'm still deciding - there are so many I love.

Anyway, here's the link to her website:

Alicia Bock

to her Etsy shop:

Alicia Bock Etsy

and blog:

Alica Bock Blog

Etsy

If you've never been, go NOW!

http://www.etsy.com/index.php

What an awesome way to support artists and the handcrafted arts. I have so may favorites right now. I bought some soap today and I think I will be purchasing this:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=7481892

Probably one for me and one for A. for Christmas.

And I think I'll be getting this for A. for Christmas as well, without the pearls though:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=7663006

Some of my favorite 'stores':

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5317715

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5259281

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5085436

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=13988

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5027177

I am going to try to do a fair amount of my Christmas shopping from here - unique gifts and so easy!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

It's my favorite holiday! I love Halloween!


Here's some cute trick-or-treaters - they went to thenursing homes today dressed up like this:

The Tin Man

Dorothy

My iPod is Seriously Lacking

... in songs by Genesis. That is all.

New Favorite Songs

James Blunt 1973

Daughtry Over You

Maroon 5 Wake Up Call

Santana Into the Night

Sara Bareilles Love Song

Vanessa Carlton Nolita Fairytale

Timbaland The Way I Are

Here's the Plan

Sticking with the color in the kitchen

Painting the back entryway with brick red floors, a yellow that is 1-2 shades lighter than the kitchen and white trim and then I think I'll do wood Roman shades

Bathroom - originally I was thinking white and that's probably what I'll wind up doing, but I am thinking of olive green - since the BR is right off the kitchen, I think the olive green would complement the yellow

BTW, the look I am going for is 'Italian Villa' and the reason that I am going for that look is that the people who lived here before us put in new countertops in a terra cotta color - it wouldn't have been my first choice for color, but I think that the Italian Villa look will be nice

I found some dishes at WalMart that match the look I'm going for and I think that I may just get a whole set

hmmmm...I think that's it!

What I'm Loving Now

1. The look of a cleaned up yard - not that it's done, but it's getting there
2. Hiring someone to finish my painting jobs - I'm not sure I like the color I painted the kitchen, so I'm going into town tomorrow to find something else, then Monday the painter arrives and he will do the kitchen, the bathroom AND the back entryway - YAY!
3. GORGEOUS fall weather - bright blue skies (finally!) and gold leaves - it doesn't get any better!
4. The weekend
5. Sleeping in
6. The World Web Cam I have on my google - I've spent way too much time watching it tonight!
7. James Blunt's 1973
8. Dreaming of next year's vacation - notice the word dreaming, cuz with all these home improvements, I don't think I'm going anywhere!
9. HALLOWEEN!

I Hurt Everywhere...and other stuff

...cuz we spent the day outside cutting down a huge row of extremly overgrown evergreens. We've been crazy this past week - cutting down many of our overgrown trees and shrubs. I hate to kill living things and I especially hated to kill these shrubs, because despite being horendously overgrown without any way to fix them, they do provide a great place for the birds to live. So, we won't see any cardinals in there this winter. We do plan to re-plant in the spring. We chose to cut them this fall so that the birds would have time to find new places to live before it gets too cold and so that no nests get destroyed in the spring. I already have ideas for spring!

In addition, we have had several people come give us estimates on work we want done outside - ripping out the horrible railroad tie flower beds (why, oh why would someone use these???), building a deck, pouring concrete for a BBQ area, new landscaping, puting up faux stone on the house once the flower beds are out (cuz the lovely people who sided the house only sided it down to the level of the flower beds and as the soil has eroded, there is beautiful pink and yellow foam insulation showing - why not just do things the right way the first time? I don't understand...) - and all of this to be done before the end of May next year for A.'s graduation! I always thought people were CRAZY for completely re-doing their homes just for a high school graduation, but I UNDERSTAND now! It's the way a woman can get get her husband to DO SOMETHING around the house - use the children as an excuse to get it done! A bit shady? You betcha! But if that's what it takes to get it done, then that's what I'm gonna do!

It's October

...and here I sit on another cloudy Sunday afternoon! The kitchen still isn't done, but it's got some decorations up and the knick knacks from up above the cabinets have been packed. I plan on finishing the painting on Friday - I am taking next Friday off cuz I. will be here, I believe, for the MEA break, and that's a good excuse for a day off. I really only have some trim work to do and approximately 20 square feet to do - really not much at all - and I'll feel so much better once it's done. I don't know why I've been procrastinating so much (well, yah, I do - I'm lazy!) Then I think we'll get a flat screen TV and hang that and we need to get the island made - I may hire someone to do it so it gets done. The island shouldn't be too bad - we are buying some unfinished oak cabinets and will make a base to attach casters to, add some trim, stain and poly it, then add the countertop I special ordered. Really, it shouldn't be too bad to do, but laziness and procrastination reign in this household. Oh well.

Speaking of days off, my plan for work has been to take one day off per week because I work so many hours each day running to 2 buildings. It hasn't really worked that way - each day I 'take off' I wind up going in to do an eval or something. I'm kinda tired of it. I love having a job and am so grateful to have a job, but I get tired of always having to be there. Oh well, again!

What I'm Loving Now

1. FALL
2. Getting our kitchen closer and closer to being done, albeit very slowly!
3. Rainy Sundays
4. Starting Christmas project plans
5. My puppies!
6. Cheap tickets to Europe - ok, I don't have anything booked, but I could!
7. Dogs in socks - I'm trying to keep Kami from overly licking her back paws and it's VERY cute!

Update on the YouTube Videos

I updated the chipmunk video link to the real one that is funny!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1Y73sPHKxw&mode=related&search=

The next one in the list can no longer be played - search YouTube for 'more cowbell - SNL'- the original hilarious one was set to BlueOyster Cult's Don't Fear the Reaper. The new one is not quite as funny.

In Best Homer Drooling Voice...

Mmmmm.....Top Gun......mmmmmm

It was on today - love the opening sequence, love the music, LOVE the beach volleyball scene, mmmmmmmmmmmm

Despite my current feelings toward Tom Cruise (what an arrogant ass), I love this movie. Never did see it in the theater, however.

13 July, 2007

Friday the 13th! Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was released yesterday, but being in a new city and very tired, we didn't make it. In fact, I didn't make it until we got home - oh well - I got to see the real thing! We decided to do a bus tour today to see part of the Georgian New Town and the Royal ship Britanica.

Amy and a bagpiper near Princes Street Gardens

After the tour, we walked through parts of Princes Street Gardens back towards the Old Town, up more steps to the Royal Mile and over to the Candlemaker Row area. The Elephant House Cafe is where JK Rowling wrote parts of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

Greyfriar's Bobby was a little dog that belonged to a bobby. After the bobby died, the dog would spend each day sitting on his master's grave until he died and was buried with his master.

Some shops in the Candlemaker Row area

Is it a real statue?

This sure spooked A.! She thought it was real until she saw it move, so we had to do the whole thing - first he kissed your hand, then he 'knighted' you with his sword, then he put his hand on your head, then he gave the thumbs up.

We walked back to the Royal Mile and back to the hostel for a short rest before dinner and our evening activity - a Haunted Walk!

Here is one of many closes along the Royal Mile - small alleys off of the main road and really pretty and mysterious

A. remembered a sweatshirt she had seen the first day we got here - it said Live for Rugby on it and we'd been looking for it all day. (With A., there is always lots of shopping while traveling to find the perfect stuff - nevermind that we can't see any of the things we buy souveniers of because we're shopping!) Anyway, we looked and looked. We walked down the Royal Mile and decided to eat real food - not just sandwiches. We chose Italian - Bella Italiano. I had a grilled chicken ceasar sald and A. had pasta. After eating and before our haunted walk, we continued our search. A. was sure that we hadn't gone this far down the Royal Mile, but I kept pusing forward and sure enough, we found the shop jsut before they were closing and got her sweatshirt and her dad a rugby shirt that "he has to wear to every one of my rugby games". Whew! Meltdown averted!

We made it the Mercat, which is olde English for market, where we met our tour.

We left from the above monument with our guide and unfortunately a group of smart-ass, unruly kids. The tour itself was fun, not scary, and we got to see some parts of the Old Town we wouldn't have seen on our own, including some underground caverns. Unfortunately, the rotten pre-teens ruined it and the tourguide, along with many of the rest of us, were quite upset at all the interuptions and disruptions.

So, after the tour, we headed back home to this lovely view of the Castle. The bleachers were set up because that night Blondie was performing at the Castle. Pink was performing on Saturday night! We got a free concert that thankfully didn't keep us up too late cuz we were tired after a restless night with a coughing roomate and all that walking! We wrote in our travel journals and did a few scrapbook pages, but called it an early-ish night again.

A Poor Gimpy Collie Girl

...has a strained left shoulder after falling off the bridge at agility a few weeks ago. It hasn't got any better, so I took her to the vet. She was prescribed NSAID's and I'm going to start her on a glucosamine and chindroitin supplement that has been tested and proven effective in dogs in maintaining joint health. NO MORE CHASING SQUIRRELS - which is what continues to aggravate it!

I'm Done

... feeling sorry for myself. I was feeling bad cuz I have to diet and need to work hard to be 'where I want to be', but for now, I'm done. I'm thankful that I have the physical ability to move, the mental capacity to understand how to do this and the means to carry my plan out. And I'm super-excited to get back on track and lose that fat and build lots of muscle! (and fit into those cute pants that I bought for fall - I'm nearly there!)

Tired

I have been so-very-tired the last few weeks. Is it the crappy eating? Or the stress at work? Or the wierd weather changes - hot and humid one day and just right the next? Not enough exercise? Whatever it is, I must do something on the weekends besides watch tv and fall asleep on the couch. Ugghhh - I'm sooooooooo tired.....I'm off to lay on the couch, watch You've Got Mail (AGAIN!) and catch a few winks.

Doggone Lazy Sunday

12 July, 2007

Our first day as total tourists! We didn't really have a plan - I knew the things that we HAD to see and it was really up in the air. We ate breakfast at the hostel (of course, A. won't eat cereal, so she'll be awfully hungry later on), then walked up the million steps to the top of the Royal Mile (can I just say that I was SO happy I'd been working on squats with heavy weights - I could fel my legs, but they weren't sore. A.'s were very sore and tired). I had decided to do a bus tour first, but as we got to the top of the steps, there were so many people going towards the castle that I changed my mind and we went to the castle instead!

The weather was nice - on the cool side and cloudy, but at least it wasn't raining!

On the bridge to the castle

We met up with a tour that was just getting started. Our guide, Nigel, brought us to all the main sites in the castle grounds and delved into the history of the castle.

It is built on a huge chunck of volcanic rock and has never been penetrated during a battle.

There are currently troops that still live and work there. They discovered the timbered ceiling of the Great Hall I believe during the Victorian Era - it looks the the hull of a ship turned upside down. (Ona asidenote - Meredith Viera interview JK Rowling in the Great Hall of the Castle ~10 days after we were there!).

Inside the Great Hall

We were just in time to see a performance in the Great Hall of two Jacobite soldiers - they did a reenactment of what the soldiers would have worn, their weapons and how they fought, plus described the battles they fought in.

After the re-enactment, we toured some more buildings and saw the Crown Jewels of Scotland (no pictures allowed!). The following pictures are the view of Edinburgh from the Castle.

The water is the Firth of Forth and land beyond the water is the kingdom of Fife

Arthur's Seat as seen from the Castle

The wonderful Scots love their dogs as much as I love mine and they have graveyard for the dogs of the soldiers at the Castle.

We ate lunch at the Castle, wrote some postcards and were just in time to see the One o'clock gun fire - they fire it daily at 1:00 p.m. as a time signal to the boats on the Firth of Forth. The name of the gun is the Mons Meg.

Me without a hairdryer - our roomates with the adaptor that worked had already left that morning!

A. outside the Castle!

After the castle, we wandered down the Royal Mile, stopping in shops, buying souveniers and postcards.

We made it to the bottom of the Royal Mile and the Palace of Holyroodhouse, which is the Queen's official residence when in Scotland. We opted to not do the tour (OK - I was being cheap, but there are only so many tours one can do in a day!) and just took pictures through thte fence with the Japanese tourists!

A rock at the palce of Holyroodhouse that looks like Pumba!

After walking around a bit at the Palce, we were getting tired and hungry and headed back up the Royal Mile (did I mention it was all downhill on the way there? That means it was all uphill on the way home!) We walked and walked and walked. We decided to find a grocery store and after more walking, we finally located it. We got some groceries that we could take with us and would be ok wothout a refrigerator and some frozen pizzas for dinner. We made it back to the Royal Mile, but by this time we were really tired and had bags of groceries and souveniers so we found a cab to take us back to the hostel. We made pizza, had lemonade (it's fizzy!) and basically chilled out til time for bed. I gave A. her travel journal and while reading it, she found out we were going to Paris. Boy was she surprised! We had some new roomates that night - 2 nice Australian girls - one was a runner who was doing races throught the UK, the other was living in London and was just travelling with for fun. They invited us out to the pub crawl, but we were tired (not to mention that A. is only 16), so it was early to bed!

A Saturday Night Party

Sadie - asleep on the couch

Kami - asleep in the front hall

We lead very exciting lives in these parts!

Eclectic Ramblings On A Saturday Night

if i didn't know me and was somebody else, i'd totally read my blog cuz it's cool


check out this blog - http://london-underground.blogspot.com/ - a fun reminder of London


and how cool is this? http://www.jigzone.com/puzzles/F1055D4C8EEB?z=34


some really cool photography - http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=13988 - i think i may become to ADDICTED to Etsy in the near future (just stay away, far, far away!)

and this is the purse that i bought in edinburgh - when in scotland, ya gotta buy a tartan and this was oh-so-cute, i couldn't pass it up - http://www.nessbypost.com/

"a hazy shade of winter" - remember that song? i haven't heard it for ages - it's on tv right now - less than zero is playing on encore

i really want to rent one of these cottages - http://www.crystalcovebeachcottages.org/html/index.html

and wow! i wanna be as eloquent and thoughtful as this blogger, know as hottt cheryl on pottercast - she was the continuity editor on the last 3 or 4 harry potter books - http://chavelaque.blogspot.com/

i have no idea how to make the links be just an underlined word or a phrase and not all that "http:// stuff" - how can i do that so i don't look like an idiot???

why does font size and type and spacing just automatically change on me? i hit "publish", then go read what i wrote and it's different than what i just did - i don't get it!

I Can't Believe

...YIKES! I've been home from Europe for over a month - all that time I spent planning, the time I was there, and now it's so very back to the same old, same old. Wierd...

Songs From The Europe Trip

As is very usual for me, I make all major associations with music - I truly have a soudtrack to my life. All major and lots of minor life events have songs that are attached to them - the songs that I loved at a certain time in my life or that occurred during a certain event or I associate with ceratin people in my life. So, of course, I have a soundtrack to my trip this summer! Some of the songs I remember include:

Plain White T's "Hey There Deliliah"
Rhianna "Shut Up And Drive"
Fergie "Big Girls Don't Cry"
Avril Levine "When You're Gone"
Gwen Stefani "4 In the Morning"
Rhianna "Umbrella"
Avril Lavine "Girlfriend"
Maroon 5 "Makes Me Wonder"
Kelly Clarkson "Never Again"
Paul McCartney "Dance Tonight"
Lifehouse "First Time"
Timbaland "The Way I Are"
Linkin Park "What I've Done"


I'm sure there are more and I'll add to this list, but these are the one's that stick out for now.

11 July, 2007

We arrived at London Gatwick a little bit early, around 8:30. I changed some money and we got our railpasses validated. We hopped aboard the Gatwick Express to London's Victoria Station. It was SO busy and so crazy and we were so tired. I'm surprised we made it! I bought Oyster cards and we made our way to the Underground with all of our luggage. I don't really remember that first Undergorund trip, but using the map, we obviously got from Victoria to King's Cross. We both had to use the bathroom upon arriving at King's Cross and found you had to pay for it! I went first becasue A. was tired and crabby and didn't know where to go or how to use it! After waiting around the train station for nearly an hour, our train to Edinburgh came up on the sign and we made our way to the platform. It had been so long since I'd been on a train, I kind of forgot how it all worked - where to sit, reservations, correct car, etc. But we got settled and seemed to be headed in the right direction. A very nice gentleman sat next to me until York and I tried hard to be polite and carry on a converation, but eventually fell asleep and slept most of the way to Edinburgh. We had planned on CouchSurfing in Edinburgh, but for whatever reason, the emails never made it to me prior to the trip (I found them after the trip) and we stayed in a hostel instead. We arrived in Edinburgh ~4:30 and were oh-so-tired. I tried following the directions they gave us and got us started in the right direction (all uphill, I might add), but we had to ask directions several times. We eventually made it up to the top of the hill and lo and behold, we were at the Edinburgh Castle. But who cares when you are exhausted, your lungs and legs are burning from carrying luggage and climbing hills, you're hungry and REALLY need a shower?? We asked one of the guards at the Castle for directions, he turned and pointed and there was our hostel - truly at the bottom of a set of stairs at the base of the castle!

Our Hostel - our room is at top center

Our Hostel

View from our hostel

We checked in, carried our luggage up to the top floor (oh my aching legs!) and showered. Well, the showers on the top floor had very little water pressure and I couldn't get any hot water. I gave up after A. finished her shower and went to the BR on the floor below, which worked well. I think we both felt better after that! I tried out my new adaptors for my hairdryer - mine didn't work - what was up with that?? None of mine worked! Luckily, someone had left their batteries charging on an adaptor that did work and I could dry my hair that way (OK- I'm spoiled - I gotta have my hairdryer - it's my one little luxury when travelling!) We left our stuff in our room (it was a big one with 6 sets of bunk beds and a window that looked out to the castle) and climbed ALL THOSE STAIRS back UP to the castle and walked partway down the Royal Mile, looking for food. We cut through a square with lots of pre-teen and teen goths - really, not just a few, but a lot! We ate at Subway cuz I knew what we'd be eating and it was easy - I tols A. that we wouldn't be eating American the whole time, but for tonight, this would do! After a little food, we wandered part way down the Royal Mile and windowshopped. The weather was nice - sunny and cool and windy. We made our way back to the hostel, back up the hill and then down the steps. We we returned, we met some of our roomates - to A.'s surprise, some of them were male! There was a woman from NJ who was travelling with her son and nephew in our room - they had driven up from England via Wales that day - what a great trip! We were tired and went to bed fairly early. The bad things about dorm rooms in hostels is the noise, but we slept pretty good that night!

our hostel room - view from our bunks

our bunks are the 2 on the left