PMS Day (Pizza, Music, Scrapbooking)

Today we held the first official PMS day for experienced scrapbookers. This is a day when us experienced folk gather to work on our own projects. We do this because we often spend time at crops and classes teaching others, and don't get much done ourselves. So this was a nice nice day. I scrapped from 1pm-10pm and I got ten pages done, plus some touch ups on some pages that I hadn't fully embellished jet. I was working on my wedding album. I did the page for the restraunt that we got engaged at, and added it to the engagement story in the album. I also did the entire 5 page layout for the Bachelorette Spa day, and the title pages with invitations for both bridal showers and the spa day. All I have left before I start the wedding/honeymoon/ reception pictures is the shower in Buda. Closer! I have one shower already finished. Some of these are blurry, and there may be some glare. But I didn't have time to scan them all tonight. SO. Without further adeiu.... click on the pictures to make them larger and see more detail.

Git R Jumped!

I love this game. My first try I jumped 1147.4 and I haven't beat it yet.

Play Larry the Cable Guy's ATV Jumpin' Game.

Plus, I ran across a few new redneck words of my own today.

ECLIPSE; "I hate it when Eclipse his toenails and leaves them all
over the floor"

COUNTERFEITER; "I hope we get them there cabinets installed today,
because tomorrow the Counterfeiter is comin' with the new countertops."

PARADOX; "the Mole on Larry's sister's face was so big it took a paradox to
remove it."

RUBBERNECK; "my wife gets stressed out so i try to rubberneck to calm er down."

SELFISH; "all three gas stations in town selfish bait."

Are you Homophobic?

Click the Graphic on the left to take the quiz. Firstly, let me say that this is for sure going to differ by age. But the majority of people my age and younger are not homophobic. I am probably the least homophobic that a person can be. So I happened to take this quiz to verify that I wasn't just kidding myself, and turns out I am not homophobic, as I had thought. I scored a:

12 - Your score rates you as "high-grade non-homophobic."

Avoiding the Superbowl

Well, it's about that time of year again. The time when I reveal to everyone how much I hate the superbowl and try to find an anti-superbowl activity to participate in.

I never used to really hate the superbowl. Growing up, we were tomboys. My sister Liz wanted to grow up to be a professional football player and her team was the Dallas Cowboys. Having a February birthday assisted her in having a football themed birthday/superbowl party. I remember the chex mix in a giant football shaped bowl, and the plastic tablecloth with the green grass and white yardage lines across it, like a giant football field. I remember the plastic Dallas Cowboys helmets and my sister sitting with all the boys in the living room watching the Superbowl. She would watch the games in the chair with her football in her lap. It was signed with black sharpie marker by her Manlius/Tampico "heroes" that year, Spencer Davis and Bill Phillips, back when Bill worked for Keith Bolin with the hog farm, and he signed it for Liz one day in the driveway at Barb and Keith's. Oh Nostalgia.

I was okay with football then. When I knew the people who played at the high school level and enjoyed going to see the games. When I could see a game in person. But I have never really been a huge fan of sports on TV. The only sports I can watch on TV are usually of the olympic sort, or volleyball, because I have always loved volleyball, and I loved playingin Junior high and high school, and I LOVE HOCKEY! Love love love it.

But ever since graduating high school, and then college, and giving up on the HS Sports scene... I have pretty much lost any interest in sports on TV. I can get more excited in person or on the radio. If there is a big game in the area I might catch a bit of it on the Radio, and it always helps that I know the announcers, like Dave Bickett and Jason Smith. I enjoy hearing their commentating.

But now, I am getting to the point of kids that I know playing again. This past year, with Bureau Valley winning state in football, I watched the final game on cable. It was worth it, because Reid Nodine and Garrett Barnas played, and Dave Moore Coached. Mr. Moore was my junior high science teacher and my high school biology teacher, plus he was our PE teacher and the guy who scraped cinders out of my leg when I wiped out on the track. He's just the guy that we all knew, and he was so fun. He made biology such a fun class to take. And Garrett and Reid were just little guys, like first, second, and third grade when I was in high school. I taught them bicycle safety and fire safety, and was the 2nd grade teachers aide at Manlius when I was in high school, and I went into the classroom and cut out things for bulleting boards, graded papers, etc. I can't believe those kids are going to be graduating high school soon! Getting Old eh?

And of course Mr. Moore married Garrett's mom, Judy, who is the daughter of my friends Jeanna and Kenny, and I love to go visit their house and see what Mr. Bourquin has going on in the fish pond, or the garden... or what vegetables he has canned from his garden this year. And Jeanna is a member of my computer user group, and a friend of my mom's.

So I am much more interested in sports when I know the players. Otherwise I really have better things to do with my time. Like clean. Scrapbook. Shop. Read. Take a Nap. Plus there is other better stuff to watch on TV.

SO it's time for me to find something I can do that gets me as far away from the superbowl as possible. Unless... MAYBE the bears play. That's the only thing that could get me in front of the TV on superbowl Sunday. Anything to see those cheeseheads cry.

The cool thing is, that I can watch all the funny commercials on the internet, so that I don't have to worry about watching or missing them on TV. The internet is awesome. How did we ever ever ever live without it?!

Any Ideas of non-superbowl activities are embraced. Please comment!

Moondog was right

Well, it appears that the moondog was right. Pete thought he saw 1 star in the center of the ring, and I saw none, so that means 0-1 days until bad weather sets in. The temp has dropped 15-20 degrees today and it just keeps dropping. It was spitting rain this morning and Pete said he heard now it is supposed to rain and turn to snow, at least to flurries. Go Moondog go!

Moon Dog

Tonight we went outside to look at the moon ring or moon dog. It is a GIANT Halo of light around the moon. And it was GIANT! Too big to even get a quarter of it into a camera lens from the ground. It was SOOOO Cool! I called Mom and my sister Liz, Anya, Lisa, and Carrie. Evan called John. Pete called his sister in Atlanta. My mom called my grandparents and left a message for my dad. It was awesome.

We found the following information on the internet:

The moon can produce interesting optical effects when conditions are right. The most common of which are moon rings, moon bows, which are similar to rainbows, moon dogs and moon pillars. A rainbow is produced when sunlight is refracted through water droplets - A similar effect is produced when moon light refracts through ice crystals. Below are a few photographs and examples about this interesting phenomena. Thanks to everyone that helped me put together this simple explanation of moon light effects.

A Ring Around The Moon
The ring around the Moon is caused by the refraction of Moonlight (which of course is reflected sunlight) from ice crystals in the upper atmosphere. The shape of the ice crystals results in a focusing of the light into a ring. Since the ice crystals typically have the same shape, namely a hexagonal shape, the Moon ring is almost always the same size.
Less typical are the halos that may be produced by different angles in the crystals. They can create halos with an angle of 46 degrees.

Moon Ring Weather Folklore Folklore has it that a ring around the moon signifies bad weather is coming, and in many cases this may be true. So how can rings around the moon be a predictor of weather to come? The ice crystals that cover the halo signify high altitude, thin cirrus clouds that normally precede a warm front by one or two days. Typically, a warm front will be associated with a low pressure system which is commonly referred to as a storm.
It is believed that the number of stars within a moon halo indicate the number days before bad weather will arrive. Give it a try the next time you observe a moon halo.

Mildly Quirky

Okay, I am quirky. Maybe that Is why I am a good blog candidate. Because I notice things. Lots of things. I of course have gotten less quirky with time. And with a boyfriend followed by husband in my house for 5 years.

Let me give you a couple of examples of how I am quirky.

1. I can not open my spice cupboard (or plant, cultivate, water, snip, or cook with herbs) without singing my own rousing rendition of "Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme" (Scarborough Fair/Canticle) by Simon and Garfunkel. I also must have all spice containers arranged and plants planted left to right in that order. Or Else. The World will end.

2. When I was in High School, after a fire safety seminar I attended, I used red and black markers and made signs for my mom's flour container and the Baking Soda Box. They said "Do Not Use Flour on a Grease Fire!" and "Use Baking Soda on a Grease Fire!" I think they were taped to the containers until I moved out and my mother thought it was safe to remove them without my hed exploding. I miss those signs. Please read this page of tips on putting out fires, especially in the kitchen. It will make me feel better.

3. Everything...Must...Be...Labeled. End of discussion.

4. I alphabetize my Disney VHS Collection and organize DVD's by categories, like comedy, horror, anime, action, etc.

5. boxed and canned foods. Organized. Categorized. Stacked only on top of identical canned goods. Shelves labeled (yes, shelves labeled. See Number 4.)

6. Markers, Crayons, Colored Pencils, and Papers arranged in a rainbow pattern... yellow, orange, red, purple, blue, and green. In that order or the exact reverse. Mess them up and I will spend hours reorganizing them.

7. Magazines sorted. Home Magazines in one basket or magazine holder, computer and electronics in another basket. Catalogs in another basket.

8. Towels Must all be folded identically. Folds facing out when on the shelves. We have three colors of bath towels. No same two colors can touch. When I look at the shelf I like to see lavendar, aqua, and sage green (repeat). Same thing with washclothes and hand towels.... although I am more able to deal with them being out of order.

That's all the quirks I can think of right now. But that's plenty. You get the picture.

HNT

Thanks to Wizzy, I have decided to participate in HNT, or to bloggers everywhere, known as Half-Nekkid Thursday. Click on the Button below to read guidelines of participation. Notice they are GUIDELINES and not rules. So here's a nekkid sexy ear for you.

Taiwan Breeds Flourescent Green Pig

Does anyone else have a tiny teeny voice in the back of their head, or maybe a SCREAMING one in the front of their head that says "THIS is WRONG!" I mean, I am all for Animal Science, but is it really necessary to turn them colors and inject colored things into their bodies? (don't get me wrong, I dislike PETA and their "ethics" but this is just a little nutty.) Seems to be a bit more than just some harmless cloning.

By injecting fluorescent green protein into embryonic pigs, a research team at the island’s leading National Taiwan University managed to breed three male transgenic pigs, said professor Wu Shinn-Chih of the university’s Institute and Department of Animal Science and Technology.

“There are partially fluorescent green pigs elsewhere, but ours are the only ones in the world that are green from inside out. Even their hearts and internal organs are green,” Wu said on Thursday.

Female or Shemale?

Oh goody! Thanks to my sister for sending me this fun quiz.
Female or Shemale. A photo quiz from B3ta.

I only missed two, and they were ugly ladies.... so it's understandable that I thought they were possibly men. Otherwise I got 14/16 right. Try your hand. I am curious to see how Jackson does, especially with his claims of knowing fake ones from real ones.

Foreigner- Agent Provocateur

So at lunch today at Subway, Urgent by Foreigner came on the radio, and I was like "I love this song, they don't ever play it unless you know what stations to listen to" (95.5 GLO out of Peoria, or Q106.5 in the Quad Cities) and then I started to think about WHY it is that I liked this song so much, and I remembered my foreigner tape.

The Summer of 1985, When I was in t-ball, I was 6, and I was a cool kid because I got to go to T-ball Practice on the back of my Dad's motorcycle. One day when we were going to practice, when dad pulled into the school parking lot, I saw a tape on the asphalt, and tapped him on the shoulder, and he turned the bike around and leaned over to pick it up for me, and it was Foreigner, probably fallen out of some high school student's car. The case was cracked but the tape looked okay, and I remember asking Dad if I could have it. It was Foreigner. Agent Provocateur. And although I didn't know what I was getting into, at 6, I totally listened the hell out of that tape. If I really looked, I probably still have it today, in the attic with the old stash of tapes.

So I was totally cool. Rode to T-Ball on the back of my Dad's Motorcycle, Mom would put my long blonde hair in a ponytail and then through the hole in the back of the baseball cap, and I would tuck my glove between my and my dad on the motorcycle, or he would hook it with tie downs or through the brake cables on the handlebars.

And that's the reason I like Foreigner. And the reason I knew every word. To Every song. On that tape. And my favorites were Tooth and Nail and I Wanna Know What Love Is. And the thing that cracks me up is that I STUDIED that tape cover. STUDIED it. But at age 5, I never know that it was like a sideways F. Never got that. Just saw the colored boxes on the edges of the cube.

And here's the track listing if you want to verify just how cool I was at 5.
I guess I that could be why I love Jukebox Hero so much.
---------
Released Dec. 7, 1984 / ATLANTIC Multi-Platinum certified at 3 Million
1. Tooth And Nail
2. That Was Yesterday
3. I Want To Know What Love Is
4. Growing Up The Hard Way
5. Reaction To Action
6. Stranger In My Own House
7. A Love In Vain
8. Down On Love
9. Two Different Worlds
10. She's Too Tough

AmerenIP can KISS MY ASS

So yeah, I am pretty postal over AmerenIP.

Once upon a time there was Illinois Power. And when it was good, it was very good, and when it was bad, it was VERY VERY VERY Bad.

Then Ameren came along and purchased Illinois Power, and together they made a demon child hell spawn known to the peasants as AmerenIP.

Illinois Power had this wonderful thing called a Levelized Payment Plan in which they spread your high high gas bills out over several months, allowing you to pay a fixed payment amount each month, which was higher than usual in the summer to make up for the lower than usual payment they allowed you to make thru-out (new spelling) the winter.

When AmerenIP was born, it was an evil evil little thing, with horns and hooves. It decided that the Illinois Power Levelized plan was too consumer friendly. It MUST be destroyed! So AmerenIP started their own little plan, called the Budget Payment Plan. And It was crap. They decided that you would get a budget payment amount, every month, but they would have 1 evil month where they would bring all the charges that you hadn't yet covered on your budget plan, and make them all due in one month.

Then when they sat down and thought, "hmm, which month would be the bestest month to make people pay this extra amount?" they decided that it would be DECEMBER! Happy Holidays and Happy High Heat Bills! Yeah for December! The perfect choice.

Then they determined that for that month when they brought the balance forward, they would ALSO take you OFF the levelized payment plan, making you pay your ACTUAL bill that month, PLUS the added remains of the budget/levelized plan. What better month than December!?

Let's review.

1. New company
2. New Bills that are harder than hell to read and understand.
3. New Terminology. New names. More confusion.
4. Make you pay budget plan remnants in one lump sum.
5. Make that Lump Sum due in DECEMBER!
6. Make you also PAY YOUR ENTIRE bill that month, without a levelized amount.

So that gets me a $339.00 bill
WHOO-HOO!

Problem is that I schedule all my bills. SO I scheduled my regular December levelized payment amount and never even NOTICED that the bill they were sending me was for MORE MONEY otherwise I probably would have blown a gasket in December and right around the Christmas Cash Crunch.

But this month, when my bill comes and it is WAYY WAYYY too much money, I start to worry, and I look back and see the evil that they have created!

Why not choose to do this in JULY when my regular bill would be just $88 and I could easily afford to tack on an extra $32 in levelized $$ that I hadn't paid yet through the plan? Oh no. DECEMBER sounds much better (#*!*&#%^#), because my unlevelized bill would be close to $300, plus the $32, plus on top of that I would want to celebrate a Godly Holiday like CHRISTMAS and therefore the devil hooved and horned AmerenIP could wave their forked tongues and tails in my direction and say WE ARE THE ALL POWERFUL AMERENIP, thereby ruining the Christmahannakwanzaa in the eyes of children and parents everywhere.

Isn't there a place on the internet where we the people can rise up against our utility companies? I need to write a letter.

This Post (and others like it) Tagged Under:

• Utilities
• ConspiracyTheories

Am I annoying you?

Too bad.

GW Signed a law that makes it illegal to "annoy" someone online.

The text is as follows:

"Whoever...utilizes any device or software that can be used to originate
telecommunications or other types of communications that are transmitted, in
whole or in part, by the Internet... without disclosing his identity and with
intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass any person...who receives the
communications...shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than two
years, or both."

Basically that translates to posting a message online (as in blogging) or sending someone an email without revealing your identity, with your intent being to annoy that person. Now GW, please please please define "annoy" for us. Is this annoy as in "what you are saying is annoying to me because I don't believe what you believe" or are we taking this to the Cindy Sheehan level of annoy? Good bye Freedom of Speech!

View the full c-net article HERE.

Meagan's New Heartthrob...

Chrysler Debuts a New Challenger.... ohhh baby!

http://autoshow.msn.com/as/article.aspx?xml=DCX1&shw=autoshow2006















I must have this! I love the Orange with the Black Racing Stripes, but even better would be black with white racing stripes.

They used a Chrysler 300m frame and shrunk it 4 inches for the Challenger

They also have a design for the Chrysler "imperial" that has suicide doors and is considered a luxury car, with the frame of a Chrystler 300 but stretched 17 inches.

People "confirms" Brangelina is pregnant.

Angelina Jolie is expecting a baby this summer with Brad Pitt, PEOPLE has confirmed. "Yes, I'm pregnant," Jolie told a charity aid worker in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Monday. The pregnancy has since been confirmed by representatives of both stars. -People Magazine

Maybe she needs one of my shirts?