And the winner is...

Ding Ding Ding
We have a winner!

The good news:
Congrats BETG, you're the first to get the answer.

The bad news:
You're the only one playing the game.

Holiday Greeting

Ho Ho Homer...

Happy Holidays One & All!

********************

For those I saw today,
send me your photos,
& I'll share them on here
for all the family to see.

:)

Something Special

So, who has noticed what is special

about my holiday cards this year?

Anyone, anyone?

Season's Greetings

Wishing everyone out there a wonderful holiday & New Year!

Wizard in Winter

When I was cleaning out my e-mail inbox way back when, I came across an e-mail from Tom at the PPAC. My heart jumped with joy because I could remember the amazing light show it contained. Then when I tried to open it, my heart sank for the link no longer worked. I tried to find it on my own, but with no luck. Now that some time has passed & the holidays are quickly approaching I gave it one last attempt. That last attempt paid off! With that...

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present, the awe inspiring "Wizard in Winter:"



Thank you Carson Williams!
Since he's no longer able to do 'home' shows, he's moved on to bigger & better things...
Christmas in Lights!

Farscape

During the last week or so, I've been catching up on my 'Farscape' DVDs from season one... If anyone achieves the slightest enjoyment from sci-fi shows, you've got to see these. The series was & is fabulous! (Truly.) I can still recall the disappointment of finding out that the 4th season finale was actually to be the series finale. (I was in denial for a bit because I didn't want to believe it to be true...) Then the thrill that they were going to finish the story in a mini-series (since it wasn't the intentional ending). Even though there are no more new stories to be told, the old ones are still wonderful ones. In a bit I'll catch up on season two... Then after the holidays I can start season three (it was on my wishlist! And I know I'm getting it, because I ordered it!!!). So if anybody wants to watch with me... :)

"Hail Prince of the Obvious"

-- quote that stuck with me tonight --

said by Rygel, referring to Crichton

Our Trip

We had lovely weather for our travels!

With that, we were able to do a lot of outdoor activities.

Here's some gnarly roots at the metropark.

We spent a few hours at Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens.

There we took advantage of the nice weather & walked around...

admiring the fine details in the architecture & massive gardens

(even though it wasn't the right season,

you still were amazed by the sheer quantity of the gardens!),

took a tour of the manor, visited the conservatory...

There they displayed their holiday decorations & plants

& continued the Nutcracker theme, as the Manor House had.

Completing it with the indoor train exhibit!

But who can explain the 3 headed mouse?
(Really, who can explain it? Inquiring minds want to know.)

Home Again

We arrived home Sunday afternoon from our travels West...
Since then I've been out of routine & never even thought about posting.
But hey, it's my vacation time, I could be a bum if I wanted! :)

(Sometime this week I will post stuff for the weekend.
Just not now, I have to go to work today!)

Speaking of arrivals...
The Aussie Girls are settling in themselves.
Stay warm... feel better... hope to see you soon!

Heading West

Yesterday Keith managed to fix the tub...

the gushing pipes were conveniently located near the wall access

(no crawling under the house for Keith)!

The sink was another story...

the pipe broke-- if we ran water, it would go all over the floor!

Today he's running out to the hardware store to get a pipe...

then we're off...

we'll be traveling West (Northwest to be exact).

Be back in a few days!

Good luck to all those brave people attempting to shop today.

Please try to avoid stampedes.

(Either as a stamper or stampee.)

Thankful...

This morning, I am extremely grateful that my sister-in-law lives next door...

Keith discovered that our bathroom pipes were slowing down again.
As he did a few weeks ago, he started to flush them out.
However this time things didn't go so well;
looks like there is a broken pipe.
Of course all the panic and anxiety hits...
We're going to be traveling for the weekend.
He'll have to crawl under the house to take things apart.
Only then finding out what parts he'll need.
By then, places will be closed to purchase the parts.
Then on Monday he was hoping to do a job for work...
(AKA may not be around to fix the problem come next week.)
I know this is stressful for him, since he's the one who will do the labor.
(Which is a thing in itself to be thankful for --and I am.)
All I could do was stay out of the way...
Then remind him:
- if there's nothing that can be done now, save the worries for another day.
- at least we can go next door, whenever we need to, to shower.
That's the benefit of living beside a relative!

If nothing else, our bathroom remodeling may be done entirely ahead of schedule!
(We were talking a few years down the road.)

So what are you thankful for?
Hopefully you haven't had any household disasters to speak of...

Holidays can be stressful in itself, trying to cram so much stuff into a few hours.

To All Loved Ones This Holiday Season...

Be safe in your travels!

Thanksgiving

Less than a week to go... I can't believe it's already time for Thanksgiving.

This year it will be a particularly fitting day... KC & Mo return to the States!

I think she, her family & all her loved ones will be especially thankful.

Welcome home - I've missed you so much!

Verklempt

I'm so happy I could cry.

KC's coming home for good!

*cry*

In the words of Mike Myers as Linda Richman

"Talk amongst yourselves..." "I'm getting verklempt!"

My Trip

After my arrival Thursday afternoon, I took my Grandmother out to eat. We had a pit stop first though -- she wanted to go to 'a store' down the road. I had no idea what we were going to look at or where we were going, fortunately she gives good directions when in the car. Turns out she wanted to check out walkers -- just like the 'young man' at the nursing home had. The next morning she came home with her new 'Cadillac' -- what do you think? (I know you want one too!)

After lunch with both my Grandmother's Friday, I enjoyed running around town. My Grandmother & I went to AC Moore, Pier 1, Michaels, Best Buy and lastly VF. (AKA Vanity Fair Outlets) We only had time for two stores at VF -- a Bookstore Warehouse (which had a going out of business sale!) and China & Glass (all sorts of kitchen gadgets & gizmos -- I love that place!) I found random things at each place, either for myself or for gifts -- afterall, I had to take advantage of coupons & Veteran's Day specials!

The Pagoda

Friday night we briefly visited the Pagoda, just long enough for a few pictures (it got quite chilly compared to the delightful daytime temperatures).

Here's the reverse view looking up toward the Pagoda (there are a few lights out -- it doesn't normally look like a Superman 'S').

Some Furry Friends:

This is Tiger, my Grandmother's (left at top) cat. If you ever couldn't find him, just check the tub -- it seemed to be his favorite place.

Here are my aunt's dogs... I think Molly is doing her impression of hair care commercials. (But that's just my guess!)

Since the weather is warmer there, the plants are still looking lovely. Even the bees are still enjoying them. It was nice to get another taste of colorful fall folliage as well -- our's have peaked & have already faded.

Back Home

I started my way back home early -- to avoid driving in the dark, and hoping to miss as much rain as possible. Keith forwarned me that it was to rain mid-day, and I'd probably hit it for my last hour of the drive. He wasn't too far off... at 2:22pm it started to sprinkle, less than a minute later it was pouring. (The sudden downpour made me think of my first Thanksgiving with his family -- I drove in the pouring rain on the turnpike -- actually had to pull off to the side because there was no visibility for a bit. But this wasn't that bad, nor was I on the turnpike...) The rain lasted for 22 minutes. Then I was home 2 minutes later. (Strange with all the twos, but that's what I noticed. Rain started at 2:22, then stopped at 2:44, pulled into the garage at 2:46.)

Keith helped me unload the car when I arrived. He grabbed one of the goodies I brought home with me -- Reading Draft Soda. Only to have the box tear & crash to the ground. Glass shattered, soda spilling out... Keith saying "I think they all broke." My heart sank so I just walked away... When I came back we discovered that only one broke -- thank goodness. I was looking forward to all the flavors I grew up with -- Birch Beer (regular, white & red), Sarsaparilla, Root Beer -- as well as Orange Cream, Vanilla Cream & Black Cherry. Yum!

My other goodie to enjoy is Shoo Fly Pie... mmm... Wet bottom of course!

Heading East

Tomorrow I'll be heading East to visit some of my family for a few days.

I'm rather excited about the prospects of a road trip & having a mini-vacation.

That and the fact that my work week is over after only 3 days!

Whatever floats my boat though, huh? :)

See you in a few...

Feeling Better

Sunday morning I woke up refreshed -- I actually slept & my throat didn't hurt. I may have inadvertently jinxed myself though... I was feeling good, so I wasn't continuing with the warm salt water gargles or any of the other "remedies" from earlier. Well by evening it was a bit sore again. So I looked at it for the first time all day -- still swollen. Now that a few days have past, it's more irritating than painful. Still swollen, but not keeping me up at night. So that's a plus. (Nothing could be as bad as Friday night's restless night -- so it's all relative...) I'm trying to maintain a few warm gargles here & there -- couldn't hurt. We'll see how it goes from there.

Ouch

My throat hurts... Actually it's my tonsil. It's swollen, it hurts. :(
Things have been building up this past week.
Both for my throat & with trouble sleeping.
For the first half of the week the trouble sleeping was a problem of it's own.
Blame it on the time change. Who knows.
But now it's my throat messing with it.
It hurts to swallow. Try falling back to sleep with that!
------------
Last night seemed to be the spiral downward.
My throat was just more annoying than before.
Then when I tried to go to bed it really started hurting.
In the middle of the night, I gargled, I sprayed...
I even tried putting some moist heat around my neck.
I don't know if that made it worse, certainly not better.
------------
Today is no better. It hurts to swallow all the time, not just at night.
So I keep working on some home remedies.
Gargling with salt water. Drinking hot tea. Taking pain killers.
Taking Sucrets in attempt to numb it.
I even mixed some melted honey & lemon juice to coat it.
------------
There's no fever or spots on the swollen tonsil.
So I'm biding my time until my doctor's appointment next Thursday.
Any more suggestions to try in the mean time?

.

..

...

All this thinking about what I'm already trying made me think of one more thing...Warm jello. So will whip up some jello & have the first serving is in a mug while it's still warm. Even if it doesn't fix anything physically, mentally it always helps. ...Also will make some pudding. Something soft & squishy may hit the spot later.

-----
When I was doing some searching online... I came across something that I've had happen in the past (not current condition though). Never knew it had an offical name, so I thought I'd share -- tonsilloliths. (Who knows, maybe you've encountered it personally or witnessed it before.)

Sighs of Momentary Relief

Follow up for "Any Ideas?/Money Pit" post...
A post from the Spousal Unit:

The Plan
Howdy folks, Spousal Unit here again.My Mrs. is currently resting in the hospital after another spinal tap this afternoon. They hit a nerve (again), but she is handling it like the trooper she is.I must say that while there must be some sort of universal law against effeciency in hospitals, the folks in the trenches here in OZ seem to be more polite and considerate. With the singular exception of the gal at the private hospital who tried to guilt Morgan into paying a lot of money up front for a proceedure we got for free, (sort of, the PUBLIC hospital is progressive enough to bill our international insurance directly, while the private [read: for profit] hospital isn't) the folks here have been fairly helpful and understanding.What has been frustrating is that every Doc we talk to immediately (seriously, every time!) mentions that if we were to aport the pregnancy they could treat her, and potentially try a diferrent operation that could cure her. I understand their point medically, but what I don't understand is thier reluctance to discuss treatment options that allow us to keep the baby first and only then discuss the alternatives. That seems rather callous to me, especially after hearing it for the ninth time.We are sane enough to know that tomorrow may put us in a position to consider what we simply cannot consider today, but Morgan and I are in complete agreement that our goal is to keep both mama and baby around for as long as possible. The docs have all grudgingly agreed that we do have options (like our current regimine of regular LP's) to do just this.As for the travel plans, it is looking like Morgan and Rose will be headed for Pittsburgh on Thanksgiving, and I will follow after my semester wraps in mid December. I have to return around the second week of '07, and the girls return will likely be toward the end of January, assuming that we have no medical complications.So at the moment, we are rolling according to plan. Insurance is doing what it is supposed to, baby is kicking, Rose is getting better, Morgan is coping as best she can, and I am the anchor.Let's hope there no new storms on the horizon.In a fit of hopefullness this afternoon while Morgan was in the O.R., I bought a lottery ticket for her.Perhaps our prayers have already been answered...S.U.

I'm glad to see a step was able to be taking forward for her health. I still worry, so if anybody out there has good information for me to pass on... please do so.

Any Ideas?

Does anybody out there have any ideas that would be of assistance for my friend?

(Her latest post follows.) She is in desperate need for medical attention, but there are a lack of funds. So read what she has to say, if you have any ideas, big or small, PLEASE comment on them... then I will pass them on to her.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006
The Money Pit
I am the money pitt. I just spoke to the hospital where I was suppose to have my LP done and they said I need to pay 1,440 dollars up front on Friday. I then nicely explained "we don't have that kind of money floating around and to cancel the appointment". She then told me to contact family in the states to borrow money. I said "that ridiculous nobody has that money and I am not calling family for it.". She said this is too important to give up like this somebody must have the money. "No we don't" I stated in the calmest voice I had. Then proceeded to cry. "Just cancel the appointment we don't have the money." She retorted with "You'll go blind if you don't have this". No shit Sherlock. So tomorrow I will be back in the emergency room of Royal Adelaide Hospital where they will take my insurance and my will to live (this hospital has been described to me as the place healthy people go to die). I must have been one hell of a person in a past life to be dealt these cards. I don't know what to do anymore. I can't get the medical help I need and when they do speak to us its never anything good. I am at wits end. My body and brain can't handle much more of this. They have me terrified that they will sacrifice the baby at 20 some weeks just to cut into me. They have me fearing we will be living in a hole soon all because my brain wont absorb fluid like its suppose to. I don't know how much more this little family can take.

Pilfering Parents

On the radio they were reading about a study on

'Parents Who Pilfer Their Child's Halloween Candy.'

Too funny! Really, why wouldn't they -- you're teaching valuable lessons.

Such as sharing, not eating in excess, and most importantly, finders keepers losers weepers (*neener neener neener*)!

The top 4 candies to swipe:

Peanut Butter Cups

Kit Kat

Butterfingers

Snickers

(The fifth was something with almond -- be it Almond Joy or Hershey's with Almonds, I don't know which -- I don't like almonds, so I'm sure my subconscious tuned it out. But that's why I said "Top 4" not "5!")

Thank Goodness for Daylight Savings!

Last night was a dark, and bitterly cold night. (While we managed to leave the snow at home, it still only felt like 29 degrees!) In the spirit of all Hallows Eve (& Zach's birthday), we decided to go to Kennywood for Phantom Fright Nights...

It turned out to be a very cool experience. (No pun intended.) For a first impression, it was a very good one! Getting a little scare, riding some wild rides... My absoulute favorite was the Aero 360. As the name implies, you get flung in a pendulum motion, for a full 360 degrees! It was fabulous. I have a feeling there were some equally as thrilling rides that we missed, but alas, they will have to be experienced at at future date. The coasters were also pretty impressive - Jack Rabbit, Racer, Thunderbolt. However one event did put some distaste in my mouth -- Mr. Mutilation. I can handle the fake "put this nail through my tongue," even look, I'm pretending to put this hat pin through my arm. When he starts wiggling it & fake blood spurts, that's all I needed. My head knows it's fake, my stomach however doesn't get that. So in turn I sat with an upset stomach & froze as the others watched &/or avoided the "show." Which lead to the end of my good times at Kennywood. Some of those "thrilling" rides I missed, were passed up intentionally... between the cold & my stomach, they just didn't seem too appealing. I did get onto Phantom's Revenge as my last ride, but I didn't get to fully enjoy it. Usually I will be shouting out in joy or laughing, but not then. I just sat holding onto my hat in the bitterly cold wind. Sadness, I know. But hey, at least my stomach didn't take over!

By the end of the evening, I was extrememly tired and cold. I dozed a bit in the car... came home & went straight to bed. But of course I still wake up at a normal time, unable to sleep in & make up for the long evening. So here is where I give thanks to Daylight Savings -- giving me a day to hopefully gain that hour of sleep tonight. And if that doesn't work, at least I got an extra hour to putz around the house without being required to do much of anything!

And Kennywood, if I don't see you beforehand, I'll see you next October. But lets make that earlier in the month -- no snow in the forcast please!

Happy HalloBoo to all of YOU!

Happy Halloween!

Get Well Soon!

My dear friend is stuck in the hospital...
It looks like her Pseudotumor Cerebri is back in full swing. :(
So after some hospital time, she received a lumbar puncture to relieve the pressure.
Apparently the original shunt she was given, is no longer functioning propery.
Due to her pregnancy, she won't be able to receive the usual treatments.
Keep her in your thoughts...

A Forced Fall

Instead of forcing bulbs indoors for an early spring bloom...I end up forcing an early fall for my hybiscus.

Granted it really is fall outside, I created a very quick season change for it.

***

Looks like this is the year to trim it too.

(I tried putting it where it was last year, and it was too large to walk by!)
So if anyone has suggestions...

A Different Perspective

If my fingers had eyes...

Sami

... and she's BUSTED!


Part 1



Part 2

HeHeHe

Keith thought he took spooky Friday the 13th style pictures...











(The camera was still on 'nightshot' from when I used it last.)

Dylan

My cat is having a fight.
She's battling with her tail.
She's staring it down,
it begins to twitch as she breaths in & out...
Then in slow motion, her front paw reaches up,
getting ever closer to her back.
Slowly, slowly... then BAM!
She tries to attack it.
But ends up running in circles as it keeps eluding her.
This goes on for up to 10 minutes.
By then I think she's too dizzy to remember what she's fighting for.

A change of pace

Yesterday I finally went to the doctor's. I got myself some antibiotics & Rx decongestant to get over this infection. Once it was in my system, I made my way to the great outdoors & cleaned up a section of the flower beds.

Looks like I'm not the only one who made it out...

All weekend this spider was found smack in the middle of it's web... but not yesterday... Yesterday it ventured from the center of it's web to my pepper plant. As long as it doesn't eat my peppers, I'm okay with that. :)

Cleaning...

Bet you thought I was talking about the house -- wrong! I've been cleaning out my e-mail inbox this morning... came across a few things that I forgot all about. They're just too good to simply delete & forget it again, so I'm sharing with one & all.




Bumperstickers:

Constipated People Don't Give A Crap.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If You Can Read This, I've Lost My Trailer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Horn Broken... Watch For Finger.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Earth Is Full - Go Home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I Have The Body Of A God - Buddha.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cleverly Disguised As A Responsible Adult.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If We Quit Voting, Will They All Go Away?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eat Right, Exercise, Die Anyway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Illiterate? Write For Help.
~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Honk If Anything Falls Off.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cover Me, I'm Changing Lanes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He Who Hesitates Not Only Is Lost,
But is Miles From The Next Exit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I Refuse To Have A Battle Of Wits With An
Unarmed Person.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You! Out Of The Gene Pool - Now!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I Do Whatever My Rice Krispies Tell Me To.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fight Crime: Shoot Back!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Seen Upside Down On A Jeep)
If You Can Read This,
Please Flip Me Back Over...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stop Lights Timed For 35 mph
Also Are Timed For 70 mph
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Guys: No Shirt, No Service
Gals: No Shirt, No Charge
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If Walking Is So Good For You, Then Why Does
My Mailman Look Like Jabba The Hut?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ax Me About Ebonics.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Body By Nautilus; Brain By Mattel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Boldly Going Nowhere.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Caution - Driver Legally Blonde.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Honk If You've Never Seen
An Uzi Fired From A Car Window.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How Many Roads Must A Man Travel Down Before
He Admits He is Lost?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All Men Are Animals;
Some Just Make Better Pets.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And Lastly:

"POLITICIANS & DIAPERS BOTH NEED TO BE CHANGED, AND FOR THE SAME REASON"

LIPSTICK IN SCHOOL

According to a news report, a certain private school in Washington recently was faced with a unique problem. A number of 12-year-old girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom. That was fine, but after they put on their lipstick they would press their lips to the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints. Every night the maintenance man would remove them and the next day the girls would put them back.

Finally the principal decided that something had to be done. She called all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the maintenance man. She explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every night. To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, she asked the maintenance man to show the girls how much effort was required.

He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned the mirror with it. Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirror.

There are teachers, and then, there are educators.


POTATO PROSTITUTES

Two little potatoes are standing on the street corner. One is a prostitute.

How can you tell which one is the prostitute?

Hold on......


You're gonna love it...


It's the one with the little sticker that says...

I - DA - HO

...AND A FINAL JOKE FOR YOU:

How Do Crazy People Go Through The Forest?

.

.

.
They Take The Psycho Path

Random Photos: