Meow

.

Wordless Wednesdays

...

Staring at the red dot

Laser fun on the living room floor.

Mmmmm

Fat Cat

Lazy Saturday

I know a girl who's like the sea...

In light of my sore disappointment today, I'm throwing this up as my sacrificial album of the week.

     

       No Line on the Horizon

                    U2

1. No Line on the Horizon
2. Magnificent
3. Moment of Surrender
4. Unknown Caller
5. I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
6. Get on Your Boots
7. Stand Up Comedy
8. Fez - Being Born
9. White as Snow
10. Breathe
11. Cedars of Lebanon

This album was released March 3, 2009 as the first new U2 album since "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" was released back in 2004. When I first got this album, I was excited for new U2, but the first time I put it in I was disappointed. I'm not sure what I was more disappointed in, the sound, the shortness of the songs, the not too catchy tunes... but then, after having the CD in the car for a few days, it grew on me. I don't think this will ever be in my list of best U2 albums, but I don't hate it so much anymore.I have a few songs on this album that I love, a few that I like, and still some that I could leave or take.

 

I have been more impressed by the remixes of some songs that have been released. There is an entire album of I'll Go Crazy If I Don't go Crazy Tonight, that I prefer over the album version, and even more then the remix album of just this song, I prefer the live techno/dance version that they perform at their U2360° Tour. This version was released on their "Artificial Horizon" CD that was release to U2.com members. "Artificial Horizon" also has a remix of Get On Your Boots, that I prefer over the album version.

 

My favorite song on this Album is Moment of Surrender. True, the song is about "a drug addict having a crisis of faith." according to Bono, but when the song really hit home to me, I was having my own crisis of faith. I think everyone has those from time to time, and the song just resonated with me. I remember sitting at my desk one day with my ear-buds in listening to my iPod when this song cycled through, and I cried. Who hasn't felt like this?

"At the moment of surrender,

I folded to my knees,

 I did not notice the passers-by,

And they did not notice me"

 

I do enjoy Breathe. I have to laugh though, because when I do a song search in iTunes for "breathe", I get at least 10 results, apparently it's a popular name for a song, or maybe we all just need to breathe instead of rushing through life.

"We are people born of sound.
The songs are in our eyes.
Gonna wear them like a crown. Oh-oooh.
Walk out into a sunburst street.
Sing your heart out. Sing my heart out.
I found grace inside a sound.
I found grace; it's all that I found.
And I can breathe.
Breathe, now."

I am SO sad!

U2360° Salt Lake City Postponement

21 May 2010

 

Following Bono's unexpected back surgery earlier today, Live Nation confirmed that the U2 U2360° tour launch previously scheduled for June 3rd in Salt Lake City has been postponed.

U2 fans with tickets to the June 3rd event are encouraged to retain tickets until updated show information can be provided.

Additional tour information will be forthcoming.

Wordless Wednesdays

...

A Very Interesting Read:

Jamie Hyneman

Villanova University Commencement Speech,

May 16, 2010

 

I understand there were bets as to whether they would allow me to keep my beret on ...

I'm probably better known for my destructive tendencies on the Discovery Channel's MythBusters than anything else. You've seen us blow up cement trucks, create an earthquake machine and even seen us try to get old Chevys to fly, but behind all of that havoc is a lot of discipline and drive — brainstorming, creativity, research, planning, budgeting, project management, design, construction, testing, and, throughout the show — analyzing what we are doing and trying to explain it clearly to the viewers.

While all the explosions, destruction and dangerous experiments seem to be my signature, what I really take joy and pride in — what means the most to me about my career — is not the wanton destruction and television fame, it's the passion for exploration, the curiosity, the hunger for knowledge that we demonstrate on the show. Our aim is to encourage new scientists, new engineers, and the new problem solvers in every discipline.

When I was a child I lived on an apple orchard right near here in King of Prussia. It's nice to be back.

Later my family moved to Indiana, and we lived on an apple orchard there as well. So, I come from farm stock. My relatives have names like Uncle Ezrah and Aunt Murdy. I often get asked if I blew up a lot of things when I was a child, but I acquired that "talent" later in life. I did manage to destroy a fair amount of farm equipment as I discovered it got me out of a lot of chores.

Now here we are today. A few miles from my own beginnings. And you, the class of 2010, are ready to take on the challenges of the world.

You are graduates in business, in arts and sciences, in engineering, in nursing, and law. You are Wildcats.

I have collaborated for some years now with the Villanova engineering staff on numerous projects, from designing and building the Wavecam system that covers your sporting events, to working with your professors on the "disasters at sea" project for the Office of Naval Research. We've designed a flying car. We even have a robot design that may get sent to Mars. Right now we are in the middle of developing new types of armor to protect our soldiers from roadside bombs.

And so the Villanova engineering staff has embraced me as one of their own.I am both honored and humbled to accept my Doctorate of Engineering from this university. I sincerely thank Father President, the board of trustees and the faculty for granting me this honor. I too, am now a proud Wildcat.

As your finals are over, and you look toward the future, you should reflect and ask yourselves: How am I different today? How am I different from when I first walked on campus?

That is, after all, an underlying point of getting an education: to change yourselves for the better. I am sure you've all improved in many ways. And yet, no matter how great the books, how clever the professors, and how hard you studied, you can't possibly have learned everything you'll ever need to know, so where exactly does that leave you?

While I wouldn't encourage people to be exactly like me — there's a scary thought — I am nothing if not adventurous, and I have observed some things that I think may be helpful to you, things that have come from my own peculiar path. The first is something that seems to escape a lot of people.

People are often so goal oriented, so focused on the finish line, that it's all too easy to lose track of how we are getting there, and what we are actually doing at any given point.

I'm not just talking about just stopping now and then to smell the roses.

My thought is that the best way to move ahead is to focus on asking the right questions along the way. It sometimes amounts to placing more importance on the question than the answer. Something as simple as asking yourself what you are really looking for is often missed, but it becomes evident how important it is when you realize that once you have a very clear idea about what question is, the answer is often just sitting there waiting for you.

This is where I really get excited; this is where the curiosity, the joy of exploration comes in. This IS the big adventure! Regardless of your academic discipline, you should ask yourselves: What's over there, around that corner? What will happen if I do this? What do I really want? Why did that happen?

Just because you are an adult does not mean you should stop playing with things like a child or even like a puppy does. Poke something with a stick, TRY things, experiment. Run around and wave your arms. (Just not right now.)

A lot of people just aren't so persistent about asking such questions — and find themselves someplace they never wanted to be. Others can't wait to see what is around the next corner, on the top of the next hill. Those are the people that are curious, people who are asking questions and who are actually GOING someplace.

And of course there is the word — should — as in should I be doing this? Ethical behavior, taking self responsibility — admirable traits that you can only maintain by constantly questioning yourself and your world.

On the other end of the spectrum, you can't just go around asking unanswerable questions and waving your arms — you have to go after those answers, make decisions, roll up those sleeves and DO something. Realize you may be making the wrong decision, but take your best shot and go full speed ahead.

At this point things change. Now you need to focus. Your odds of success in things you attempt go up radically if you are methodical and diligent. If you want to have a say in how your lives turn out, you need to be practical about it.

Your classes here at Villanova have all pointed this out, at least indirectly, in that they all had a beginning, middle, and end, and your professors went about delivering their material to you in an orderly way that would make sense to you. Your life should be no different.

I want to emphasize this because I've tried all sorts of things, and I've learned that I can pretty much do anything I've wanted to as long as I was methodical and diligent about it. It may not sound very exciting really, but it works! I've hired scores of people over the years for various businesses, and I can tell you that just being methodical and diligent will get you any job you want and keep you in it if you want it to.

I would not let it stop there either; apply it to your personal lives as well. Most of your lives will be spent outside of work and careers, and so the quality of your lives will be the better for the same reasons. After all, all the greatness you may achieve in your careers doesn't amount to a whole lot if your personal life is a mess.

Lastly, an important point. Since I hopefully have convinced all you graduates to run around playfully asking questions, while being diligent and methodical, there still is more to leading a successful life and more to being a worthy graduate of Villanova.

Of all the things you do in life or all the questions you ponder, I would like you to keep kindness at the top of the list. Are you being kind in all you do? In your professional life? In your family life? In your dealings with others? Are you kind? Shouldn't you be? We owe it to our children, to our children's children, and to all the other things in our world to be kind to them and each other.

There is no question you can ask that will show that this isn't so. So ask those questions, be diligent and be methodical — these traits will all help you progress in the grand adventures you will all face. But to make the adventures all worthwhile, to make your successes truly rewarding ... I ask you to be kind in everything you do, without fail and above all.

Thank you.

 

****

Glad I had a chance to read this. You can find this speech on Discovery.Com

One Word: Amazing.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

I just finished listening to this book today. It was amazing. Sure, that's probably just my lame girly side talking, but I really did love it.
It's the story about two people who fall in love under impossible circumstances and what they do to keep it together. I got the audio version of this book because I have such a huge stack of unread paper books. I figured I could just listen to it at work and mark it off my list. Well, I listened to it at work for the last two days, and now that it is finished I miss it. I miss Grace and Sam already.
The next book, Linger, doesn't come out until July 20 so I have a little while to wait. What I hate more than waiting the 3 months for the next book is that it's only the second in a trilogy and book number three, Forever, wont come out until 2011.
Why do get so wrapped up in books that take forever to complete the series?! It's because they are good. That's why.
I guess until I have my hands on the next one I will just have to keep up to date on what's going on with Maggie on her blog: The World According to Maggie
Or her website: http://www.maggiestiefvater.com/

Goodbye Orange Couch

The years have been better to me than they were to you. Perhaps we shall meet again in another life. Goodbye my $10 love.

This belongs to her now.

Noranti is no help when it comes to moving furniture.

do you believe in life after love?

I didn't think I was a Cher fan until we sat and watched the Farewell Concert on TV one night back in 2003. Then I NEEDED to purchase this album. (it was a must, must!)

 

1. Believe
2. If I Could Turn Back Time
3. Heart Of Stone
4. Just Like Jesse James
5. Save Up All Your Tears
   
6. After All (Love Theme From Chances Are - Duet With Peter Cetera
7. I Found Someone
8. One By One (Junior Vasquez Vocal Edit)
9. Strong Enough
10. All Or Nothing
11. Song For The Lonely
12. Take Me Home
13. The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)
14. All I Really Want To Do
15. Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)
16. Half Breed
17. Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves
18. Dark Lady
19. The Beat Goes On - Sonny & Cher
20. I Got You Babe - Sonny & Cher
21. A Different Kind Of Love Song (Rodney Jerkins main mix (faster)) 

It was amazing to me that so many song that I had loved but never really cared to know the artist all belonged to Cher. I was looking at the track listings to see what a few of my favorite songs were to highlight here, but I realize, that I have listened to this album so much that they are all my favorite songs. But if I had to choose... I'll make a Top 5 list.

 

5. After All

4. If I could Turn Back Time

3. Believe

2. Strong Enough

1. Song for the Lonely

 

wow, that list was hard to choose, I was almost going to add some honorable mentions, but I thought that would just be absurd since I just said that they are all my favorites. I will say, that the song on this album that gets stuck in my head the most is "Gypsies, Tramps, & Thieves" which is rather annoying at times (I have also discovered that I love the Lisa Loeb version of Gypsies Tramps & Thieves, but Lisa is just so cute how can you not like her music.) I absolutely recommend this album to those looking for some good music. Cher really is pretty awesome.

 

It's done!

My mother's day gift to Andrea. Love You!

Wordless Wednesdays

...

Movies and Memories

The Movies:

 

Tales of Symphonia: The Animation - If anyone appreciates the Tales of Symphonia game that was on GameCube, they would love this. Basically it's all of the animations from the game with some additional content to make it a complete story. It is entirely in Japanese so you have to use the subtitles, but that didn't distract at all. I love the animation, and the story of Lloyd and Colette and can't wait to get my hands on the second set of anime from this game. but it's only being release in Japan currently so it may be a while until I can get it for myself. I recommend both the video game, and the DVD.

 

Iron Man 2 - As I stated on facebook the other night "Iron Man 2 = AWESOME!! I <3 Tony Stark" The movie really was awesome. We saw this in IMAX, because, face it, IMAX is just the way to go for a movie like this. The action was spectacular. Tony Stark was the self absorbed rich boy that he's supposed to be, and Robert Downy, Jr was a good looking as ever. He is starting to look a little old though. (Maybe it was because I was staring at his big beautiful face in IMAX, but his got some crows feet. I'm not complaining, because age is good for a person instead of botox, it was just something I noticed, just like the little gray hairs upon his head.) There were little things about it that drove me crazy like Tony's shirt changing color in his opening scene, how ugly and horrible of an actor Mickey Rourke is, and the orange palms of Mr. Hammer (dude, wash your hands after applying self tanner.) But as a whole, the movie was fantastic. It's one I would absolutely see in the theater again.

 

 

The Memories:

 

It was Friday night, May 8, one year ago that John and I saw Star Trek in the same IMAX theater, the night before Lariann died. It was surreal sitting in the lobby waiting for the movie to start, like we had done this all before and the outcome was bad. As I sat through the movie my phone vibrated in my pocket and my heart skipped a beat, it was only my mother, but the memories it brought back really choked me up. But it all felt like a replay of last year, even though it wasn't. After the movie we got home around 9 pm and I stayed up until midnight fidgeting around the house because I couldn't sleep and every time I had a moment I thought of Lari and cried. I did get my night stand cleaned off though. all the books have been moved from my night stand to the living room floor. Sure, it's not really putting them away, but it got them out of my way. It helps a little.

This last weekend all went pretty much like that. We were both pretty blue. After all of the yard work in the morning, we went to dinner with the Bredthauer's on Saturday night to Javier's in Layton. It was one of Lari's favorites. Dinner was nice, and we spent some time remembering Lari. It was harder than we thought it would be. Sunday was mother's day and the official one year anniversary. The day sucked. We did get up and go to breakfast with John's sister Rachel and Devin and Kira and John's mom and dad at Rachel's house. Devin made pancakes, bacon, and eggs. John brought the orange juice. We skipped church, again. We stayed home most of Sunday to wallow. When Monday came along, we didn't feel like going to work so the two of us called in and stayed home. We got a few errands run, but for the most part, it was a very quiet day as we lived in our own thoughts and memories.

We're still just trying to get used to the new "normal" and one day maybe it will be better.

What did I really get for mother's day?

Pearls. Aren't they pretty?

One Year Today

I miss her every day.

And now I ache all over ...

Part Three of Flower Bed fun.

Step 1: Kill Husband with bad back

Step 2: Complete!

Well, this morning was fun. We got up to do some yard work. Or at least I got up to do some yard work, and after an argument about who was mowing the lawn it turned out that the lawn mower didn't work anyway. It needs a new fuel line. So now it is buy a new fuel line and the tools to fix it, or go back to our usual argument about just buying a new one. We don't really want to buy a new one, so we'll just go on arguing until the lawn is another 6 inches long and we cave in and hire someone to come do it for us. But since we had all that spare time I wrangled John into helping with the flowerbed.... Doesn't it look nice. We got rid of a tone of grass clumps, and the giganto root that was running across the front of the house. But it looks pretty good now. I got the stones seated into the ground and the earth turned. The next step come with adding an additional layer of new top soil and some mulch. Once that is done I can add the Creeping Myrtle that has been sitting on my porch for the last three weeks while we waited for the rain to stop. I have always loved the flower beds that grow in front of my mom's house. It was an excellent ground cover, and needed very little work. I have been meaning to plant some over the last 6 years we have been in this house, but I just hadn't found any at the garden shop, or I've been too poor or lazy. So I decided that this year is the year.

The front of the house is so shady that it is nearly impossible to get anything but grass and weeds to grow there. On the side of the lawn where I have put the flower bed there used to be Daffodils, but in the last few years they have stopped blooming. I usually get the leaves to sprout, but never any blooms. The front of the house is in pretty much full shade until June and the soil is so sandy... I'm not sure which was worse for the flowers. Probably a combination of both. I have decided that I need to find shade friendly flowers and plants. but the MUST be perennials. I don't want to replant anything year after year. I just want them to bloom without much help from me. Creeping Myrtle is just that plant. Shade friendly, grow anywhere, hard to kill type of plant. Mom had to argue with me about what the plant was called, according to her it is not creeping myrtle, but I have learned that it is called many things, i.e. creeping myrtle, periwinkle, and vinca as just a few examples. Needless to say, I picked up the right plant, because even if I didn't know it by name, I knew it by sight. Well, now we are both tired and sore, showing our battle wounds from fighting with mother nature this morning, but I've gotten one more step along in my quest to have an actual flower bed. Yay!!

Next ... Step Four:

Top Soil

And some Mulch

Iron Man 2

Iron Man 2 was great. It was lots of fun. I really enjoyed it. Remember to always hit through the credits.

You are such a fool to worry like you do

Today's album, though not the best, is one of my favorites and I'll tell you why...


All That You Can't Leave Behind
U2

Beautiful Day

Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of

Elevation

Walk On

Kite

In a Little While

Wild Honey

Peace on Earth

When I look at the World

New York

Grace

Bonus Disk:

Summer Rain

This album was released October 30, 2000. I was living in a ground floor apartment in Annandale Virginia with two of my best friends, and the Hermanas.
One of the things I missed the most on my mission was good music. Not that I'm saying that listening to hymns, classical, and christian rock didn't classify as good music, but I wanted REAL music. Music that makes your heart pump and the decibel level that makes your chest rattle and your ears buzz. The real music that resonates with the anger, fear, love and exhilaration that a person feels in their lives. My mission musical selections just didn't do it for me.
I'm pretty sure Holly and Suzy were in the same boat, so once in a while we would make a trip to Tower Records in Alexandria (which closed in Dec. 2006) for mental health breaks. More often than not we would find ourselves riding up the long escalator to the second floor of The Landmark Plaza, to walk the isles of Tower, and listen to the beats and melodies that would stream through the over head sound system. I'd look through the racks of CD's and think about owning this or that, but I'd usually walk away with a Classical CD or Renaissance Madrigals CD that was "mission appropriate." But I missed the music.
One October evening as we wandered the isles, this CD jumped out at me. I wanted it. I Needed it. I bought it. After the fact I felt silly and wondered why I had done that. I thought of mailing it home a million times. But I never did.
Four months later I found myself living in an apartment in Alexandria, with a companion whom I hated with the burning passion. We didn't get along. I hated her, I'm pretty sure she hated me. There was a day when I couldn't stand her any more and for some reason I closed the door to the bedroom and popped this CD into the player and hit play. I listened to the bonus disk first with Sumer Rain. I don't know what I was really expecting, maybe something loud to drown out the anger, (something more like the POP album had been able to do) but it was more acoustic then rock and roll, it was quiet, and it calmed me and reminded me to take a deep breath.
At the time I didn't love the new sound. I put in the first disk and listened to the other 11 songs on the album I wasn't impressed at first, but each song, like most U2 songs, spoke to my soul. the songs spoke of hanging on to things, and letting go. Of learning tour lessons and becoming better. I have listened to this album a million times now, and I love it more each time I hear it. Strange how this rock star named Bono can have such an effect on people. Once in a while I'll hear people joke (or not so jokingly) talk about the Church of Bono, or the U2 Sermons, but I do agree with them. I have learned from his words. I have listened to U2 in my dark moments, in my high moments, and every emotion in between.
Who know that a U2 album, I wasn't even supposed to have, could give a random missionary girl such comfort on a day when the world seemed so bleak.

What are some of my favorite songs from this album:

Beautiful Day - What a fantastic song to open the album with. It makes me feel happier every time I hear it.
Elevation - I didn't truly appreciate this song until I had seen Tomb Rader. Now it's one of my favorites. This is just a fun song to listen to. I own a ton of Elevation remixes that make me smile each time I hear them.
In a Little While - I love this song. This is the one I loved the most from the very beginning. "In a little while, this hurt will hurt no more, I'll be home, Love."
Summer Rain - The first song I heard from this album. although I didn't like it at the time, it's become one of my favorites.
Grace - I'd almost name my child Grace after hearing this song, but I'd probably just name her Grace because I like the name. "It's the name of a girl, It's also a thought that changed the world."

The back of my iPod is engraved with this quote from Bono:

"Music can change the world, because it can change people"

I believe it. I have felt it. I have shared it.

Why I don't do Yard Work

Movies to see in 2010

Summer Movies:

Iron Man 2 - 5/7

Robin Hood - 5/13

Prince of Persia - 5/28

A-Team - 6/11

Toy Story 3 - 6/18

Jonah Hex - 6/18

Last Airbender - 7/2

 

Other Movies:

Resident Evil: Afterlife - 9/10

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 - 11/19

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - 12/10

TRON Legacy - 12/17

Gulliver's Travels - 12/24

 

To Rent:

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Date Night

Kick-Ass

Letters to Juliet

Just Wright

Eclipse

Despicable Me

MacGruber (?)

Splice (?)

Ondine

The Karate Kid

Salt

The Joneses

Remember Me

The Bounty Hunter

Repo Men

Dear John

Last Song

The Wolfman

Valentine's Day

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightening Thief

The Ghost Writer

Leap Year

The Lovely Bones

Extraordinary Measures

When in Rome

 

To Buy:

The Losers

Clash of the Titans

How to Train Your Dragon

Alice In Wonderland

 

Hi

I am not Crazy!!!

Lets talk story...

You know how you lay in bed at night and compose novels and blogs and letters and they are so in depth and full of useful information, but then you fall asleep and in the morning you remember that you thought about it all before sleeping, but now that you're awake you can't remember a single thing.... That's how I am today. I laid in bed last night wide awake for quite a while and I thought about what I could blog about today and all the interesting information and events that I have had lately, but now that the morning has come I don't remember much of it. Funny, how I keep a note pad next to my bed for just this stuff, but I never use it. I guess I'll just look back on the past few weeks and see what I can come up with.

Yesterday was the One Year mark of John's Dinosaur Flu, and I'm happy to say that he hasn't had any real problems since last July. He had an appointment with his Neurologist last month and the doctor lowered his dosage of Varapamil from 180mg to 120mg and if he stays crazy free until his next appointment in June then the doctor will take him off the medication. We are both excited by this. John is looking forward to not being tired all the time, which is a side effect of the medication. I'll be happy to leave this chapter of our lives behind and there won't be an ounce of regret to have it gone. But again, the Neurologist changed his mind and reversed most of what he told john the last time he went in.

SIDE NOTE: I have decided that Specialists aren't very special at all and this particular provider doesn't check his patient records before appointments. I understand that doctors can't fix everything, and that most of what they do is just educated guessing, all I ask is that a provider remember his patients - if not by sight, than by at least reviewing their charts before an appointment.

At least on this topic life is looking up. However, thinking he'd be funny yesterday he sent me the following email "Hey I have headache, and they are taking me to the emergency room……. Just kidding. Ha Ha. I love you." I didn't think it was funny in the least bit. I really did start to panic a little before I reached the end of the message.
I wonder, sometimes, how long it will take for the panic to go away so that every time he has a headache or if he gets too tired or if he's silent for too long or if he stumbles over a word I don't feel like I'm on the verge of having to take him to the ER, or if maybe this time he snaps and doesn't quite come back. Some times I think that maybe the worry wouldn't be so bad if his Dino Flu hadn't been compounded in the same week as Lariann's death. I guess I'll never know. I find that every time we broach the topic I have to reach out and touch him, his hand, his arm, his hair, to reassure myself that he is still here, and that we are both okay. I remember the blank look in his eyes and inability to speak. It's frightening. I'm hoping that we are past that now, but you never know what the future brings.
Weird thing though, is that I think the Varapamil has been keeping John from having his night-terrors. Ever since he's gone to the lower dose he talks more in his sleep then I can ever remember. That would be an interesting thing to research. I wonder if it's true, or if maybe he has just been over stressing in the last month or so. I guess we'll never know.

Speaking of One Year anniversaries.... John, Rachel, and myself took flowers to Lariann the other night.

Aaaaand... time for a new topic. I had the weirdest dream last night about roller derby, high school and mice. I don't remember much of it at all, but lets just say it was strange. I do recall that the mouse that was chasing me was missing half it's face, and I was trying to protect a purple egg to deliver it some where, but I ended up on a giant's stove and I worried that we were both going to be eaten. Then I was in school, but I never went to my classes and I couldn't remember where the seminary building was and some how that tied in to roller derby. I really do love roller derby though I'd join a league if I wasn't such an inactive wuss. Weird. I know.

We had planned on taking a mini vacation in May, but in the end it has been decided that we are not going to Illinois for Bryce's graduation. This was a trip that we really had been looking forward to and I sat down so many times to book our flights but something always came up and I'd walk away from the tickets. A few weeks ago it finally came down to - Are we going, or not? - and then the lawn mower died and life got expensive and in the end it was determined that it's just not the right time for us to go. We are really sad that we are missing out on this, but it just didn't work out for us. If you don't know, or haven't heard, Bryce, john's best friend, is graduating from Southern Illinois University with a Masters in Arts. He has been working on his degrees in theater since we all got home from our missions nearly 9 years ago. So...

Way to go Bryce! We are so proud of you, and your accomplishment!!

He has also landed himself a job at the University of St. Louis as the assistant professor (I think) in their theater department. It looks like they'll be setting up house there for a while. We have decided that once the Allen's are settled in their new home in Missouri we'll make our trip to visit them.


Mother's day is on Sunday May 9th.
Did you get your mother a gift?
What are your plans?
I plan on staying in bed with a blanket over my head.


As for the rest of our lives, we're pretty much the same. Nothing really new or exciting is going on. Norm & Becca are still having a baby girl. Z & Not-Your-Sister are also having a baby that we may or may not know the gender of as of yesterday. No names for either of them yet. So they are currently referred to as little Sue and Rotten.
We visited with the Awesome family a little on Tuesday night since Not-Your-Sister wanted to get her Will signed and notarized before someone could murder her. So John and I were witnesses and John's sister, Rachel, came along as our notary. So now it's all official so Not-Your-Sister can rest easy ... at least on that issue, apparently she worries about being murdered. I'm impressed. I think Z's family has more of their affairs together then most people I know. I guess it's good to have a plan.
I suppose that if I were to write a Will currently it would just cover my cats, my bed and my TV since those are the only things I really own. We have no money and no belongings that are worth anything... I know that if John and I were to die someone would probably just come and let my cats out to get run over by cars. Poor Kitties.
Okay, if John and I die unexpectedly before a real will is created; Andrea, Jessica, and Erin can fight over my jewelry except my pearls, they will go specifically to Erin. Jessica also regains possession of all the barbies. Scott can have my TV's and gaming systems. Logan, Bryce and Jacob can split up John's comic book collection and action figures. The oldest Awesome child and Andrew can have my books, they can decide who gets what. Nicole can have my music boxes, I love each of them and hope she likes them as well. Erin gets my cedar chest and all items inside of it. Rachel and Kenji can have my music collection/CD's, even though I've been told my music is "lame". My mother gets the laptop for her genealogy. My dad regains possession of my big box o'love as well as all of his sweaters. Lucy gets the treasure chest and all the jewels and treasures therein. Andrea get my photo albums and my glass cake stand. Mikayla can have my bed, the broyhill head and footboards were something I always wanted and they're special to me. Devin gets the DVD's. Kira can have the basket of key chains, they belong to John, her mom can tell her how special they are. Norm can have the star wars toys, most are still in their boxes so they may or may not be worth anything. Natalie can have all my stuffed animals. Loran gets custody of the cats. All other items that are left can be divided up between the unnamed members of my family I'm sure everyone can find something they like. Tools, lawnmowers, weed whackers and fire pit become property of the estate and may be disposed of as the landlord sees fit. Any money or insurance polices we have will go to our parents for funeral expenses and reimbursement for the years of trouble that we caused... and our car should be driven off a cliff or donated to the Mythbusters. John is to be cremated and turned into diamonds, and I just want a burlap sack. There you go.

Other than that, we haven't had any car accidents, no one has gone to the ER and we don't have any special announcements. As my uncle Blaine put it last week: "That's pretty much it, get up, go to work, come home and go out to watch a movie once in a while."

New topic: The Dark Ages, they were neither dark nor an age. discuss.

Wordless Wednesdays

...

Turn off the idiot box

Looks like we spent a lot of time watching TV last week:

 

Hamlet: As preformed by the Royal Shakespearian Company - 3 1/2 hours later everyone except Horatio dies. If that was a surprise to you then I'm sorry for ruining the ending. We watched this on PBS Great Performances and we're mostly not disappointed. This version of Hamlet is set in modern day-ish style which in this case I wasn't too fond of. I did love the cast though. David Tennant was Hamlet (he was Dr. Who #10 and also in that other series of movies as Barty Crouch Jr. if you were wondering.) And Patrick Stewart who played as both Claudius and the ghost of King Hamlet. Both played their roles excellently. I didn't like the lady who played Ophelia she was dumb. but for the most part we did enjoy it. I do prefer a more classic version of Hamlet with period clothing and acting, it just doesn't seem right to me that hamlet is running around in jeans and a t-shirt.

 

Fruits Basket - Anime cartoon dealing with the Animal of the Zodiac. I love the cat. I can't say to much about this one because it would ruin the surprise of the whole show, but I will say that I am sad that there aren't more episodes then what there are. Very cute.

 

Transformers: Seasons 3 & 4 - I did not sit down and watch these seasons with John like I had planned to, but I just wasn't into this last part of the series. These episodes were released after the original transformer movie in 1986. It was set in the future 2005 ("ooooohh... the future" said in a voice of sarcastic awe from the year 2010) I wasn't a fan of these as Optimus Prime had been killed in the Movie. (If you didn't know that I'm sorry to break it to you.) Most of the episodes were on Cybertron with all new Transformers, though once in a while Bumble Bee would show up or the ghost of Starscream. Megatron was cloned and named Galvatron who was the leader of the Decepticons, and that was lame. Rodimus Prime was the leader of the Autobots. And for being Dead, Optimus Prime sure made a lot of attempts to come back. (Oh, and by the way, when saving the Galaxy, it is always better to have an 80's Monster Ballad playing. It makes the moment so much ... muchier.)

 

 

Coming in next Monday's installment ...

 

Iron Man 2 !!

 

I can't wait to see it!