Sunday

We've been spending the day recovering from our trip to Charlotte. It was a quick down and back with the only time out of the was during the game. I slept in and the finished up reading, "People of the Mist." Walter really slept in...he didn't get up until after 3 p.m. I checked in with Mom and she said Dad was taking a nap this afternoon as well.

Well, what can we expect it was a long trip, in the 90's, sunburn was involved, and a long drive back. Thank goodness for the three day weekend.

Virginia Tech vs. East Carolina

Dad, Walter, Patrick & I all headed out super early this morning to attend the Virginia Tech vs East Carolina. We had a grand time, even though Tech lost the game 22 to 27.

Friday Is Here

Here it is 12 days to departure, and I really don't think that I've gotten everything together yet. But again, I do have another full week to get things squared away.

As a surprise for the weekend, I was given tickets to the Virginia Tech vs. ECU game in Charlotte, NC on Saturday. As an imprompto trip Dad, Walter & I are heading down first thing in the morning. It's giving Walter a bit of a headache, he is such the planner, but I'm sure that he'll be all prepared first thing in the morning. We're planning on heading out around 5 a.m. to pick up Dad around 5:30. Then we're off.

Now Walter had a weird event today. I was trying to reach him this afternoon and kept getting a different phone number when I placed the call. Everyone was thinking that there was a problem with the equipment. Turned out to be user error. He had been messing around with his phone about a week ago and managed to get put into call forward mode. Now, it was not consistent, but still...the poor guy whose number all his calls were being forwarded. He was very patient. A quick fix to the Verizon store and a quick punch in of three numbers and he was all back to normal.

More furniture arrives

It has finally happened. Walter's gun cabinet has arrived. He's a busy putting it together this evening. It took him forever to find a wooden gun case. It seems that they are nearly as rare as hen's teeth, as is his actually reading the instructions on how to put something together.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

This is a really cool way to Clean your computer..... Simply click on the blue link and watch as your monitor is transformed.

The countdown continues

Only 16 days till the big trip.

Work was productive but busy today. While doing a 'product' photo shoot this morning, I caught the new doctor & Roz while they were hard at work with a patient.

I had a little fun this evening. I completed a business card for a local company that does wedding cakes and a little web graphic for another. It was nice to have something small scale to do. Completion is a very nice thing.

There was a surprise at the apartment this evening. Maintenance had been in to replace the door frame in the bathroom. I'm waiting to see if they fix the other door frames as well. Walt tells me that they are coming back tomorrow to do the painting. I guess, we'll leave Carla in Walter's room when we leave in the morning.

Sunday

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: "Success is not counted by how high you have climbed, but by how many you have brought with you." - Wil Rose

Fly Your Flag
Please join us in this FLY THE FLAG campaign and PLEASE forward this Email immediately to everyone in your address book asking them to also forward it. We have 18 days from today (8.24.08) to get the word out all across this great land and into every community in the United States of America .

If you forward this email to least 11 people and each of those people do the same ... you get the idea. (I don't do a lot of forwarding, but I thought that this was a good idea to pass along via the blog - js)

THE PROGRAM:

On Thursday, September 11th, 2008, an American flag should be displayed outside every home, apartment, office, and store in the United States . Every individual should make it their duty to display an American flag on this seventh anniversary of one our country's worst tragedies. We do this honor of those who lost their lives on 9/11, their families, friends and loved ones who continue to endure the pain, and those who today are fighting at home and abroad to preserve our cherished freedoms.

In the days, weeks and months following 9/11, our country was bathed in American flags as citizens mourned the incredible losses and stood shoulder-to-shoulder against terrorism. Sadly, those flags have all but disappeared. Our patriotism pulled us through some tough times and it shouldn't take another attack to galvanize us in solidarity. Our American flag is the fabric of our country and together we can prevail over terrorism of all kinds

Action Plan:

So, here's what we need you to do ..

(1) Forward this email to everyone you know (at least 11 people). Please don't be the one to break this chain. Take a moment to think back to how you felt on 9/11 and let those sentiments guide you.

(2) Fly an American flag of any size on 9/11. Honestly, Americans should fly the flag year-round, but if you don't, then at least make it a priority on this day.

Thank you for your participation. God Bless You and God Bless America!

Eagle Christian Radio launched in Midlothian

New Internet Ministry brings Southern Gospel Music back to Richmond area radio

Midlothian, VA, August 18, 2008 – Eagle Christian Radio has been launched as an Internet radio ministry by Rick and Rachael Brady. Eagle Christian Radio blends Southern Gospel, Country Gospel and Bluegrass Gospel Music with daily Bible programs and weekend specials.

“Right now we are an internet only station, but we may have opportunities to go on the air in the future.” according to Rick Brady, Eagle Christian Radio’s General Manager. “When you listen to the station on the internet it will sound just like a regular terrestrial station.” Listeners wanting to connect to Eagle Christian Radio need to go to www.eaglechristianradio.org and download the free player from the link on the homepage. Once the player is downloaded, listeners can connect to the station without having to go to the website. Eagle Christian Radio broadcasts through ubroadcast.com.

Eagle Christian Radio is a non-profit Christian ministry that depends on listener support. “We have a few commercial availabilities and we are hoping that local churches will want to get involved by broadcasting their services,” said Brady. “But the majority of our support will come from listener pledges, donations, and purchases from our on-line store. Our first fundraising goal is $4000.”

Additional information on Eagle Christian Radio’s programming, fund raising activities, etc. is on the station’s website, by calling 804-370-7584, or by sending an e-mail to eaglechristianradio@yahoo.com.

Spectaular Saturday

It has been a spectaular Saturday. I was up and out early this morning to King Louie's for my periodic visit with Stuart for a haircut and color. She did a spectaular job as usual.

On to a visit wth Mom. She is looking quite well and appears to be recovering quite nicely from her surgery. It was good visiting. We hung out on the back deck and just enjoyed being outside. It was nice to watch the birds, and hear them. I even broke out the camera to shoot a few fairly good pictures of a couple of birds that bravely visited the birdfeeder hanging off the edge of the deck railing.

Now, Mom can just rattle off the types of birds that come to visit, and if I have remembered correctly. The first photo is of a Tufted Titmouse and the others are of a Carolina Chickadee. I was amazed to see the last photo - at the time that I took the shot I didn't know that the seed was in his beak. Cool!







The apartment is not nearly as 'private', sitting out to just enjoy the day on the patio isn't the same. The neighbors are walking right in your face and the kids will mess around with you while you're outside. They like to find out why you're sitting outside. The patio also does have it's hazards as well - particularly stuff falling through the decking from the second floor apartment.

I did a bit of shopping on the way home to find replacement chair cushion for one of my patio chairs that had been ruined by dripping wax from the upstairs apartment. I was lucky enough to find two for the price that one would have cost a couple of weeks ago. They were even cheaper than attempting to have the one cleaned. Oily wax just isn't coming out. The oily wax had gone into the stuffing of the cushion. The chairs do look brighter now. It won't be long before it's time to pack them up and put them away for the winter. Maybe I can get the maintenance department to get the way out of the deck boards from the upstairs apartment, since the neighbors haven't attempted to clean it up.

The afternoon has been relaxing, I read The Last Lecture. Very good book, the actual lecture is online as well and it is equally good and makes you think about what your childhood dreams are and working to accomplish them. Walter game me a call this evening. He has spent just about the whole day out shooting with some of the guys from work. Poor thing they shot so much that the trigger on one of his guns wore out from use. He's getting it checked out before he gets home this evening to see if it is easily repairable. - Terrific news. No need to do any repairs to the gun, it was only a loose screw. He's going to out this evening to run around with Patrick. They usually have a really good time when they get together.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: “’Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.” — Thomas Paine

Finally Friday -- The Weekend is Here Once Again

The sky looked a bit like rain was on the way this morning. I was amazed that rain didn't materialize, at least early this morning.

I made my early morning phone call to Dad - It's his birthday so I couldn't let it go un-noticed, especially since it IS his 65th!!! Of course, I couldn't let the day go past without the annual birthday song. Happy Birthday again, Dad.

The day has taken a number of unexpected turns. Who knew that the day would bring when I went out this morning. Brian & I have been working on a magazine layout and assorted other marketing pieces. There's a whole lot to do before I'm ready to leave for Italy. Only 19 days left till departure.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

* Warning ---if you are drinking coffee, swallow it now*
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CLASS PROJECT GONE WRONG
An elementary school class started a class project to make planters to take home to their parents.

They wanted to have a plant in it that was easy to take care of, so they decided to use cactus plants.

The students were given green-ware pottery planters in the shape of clowns which they painted with glaze.

The clown planters were professionally fired at a class outing so they could see the process.

It was great fun! They planted cactus seeds in the finished planters and they grew nicely, but unfortunately, the children were not allowed to take them home.

The cactus plants were removed and small ivy replaced them and the children were then allowed to take them home instead.

The teacher said cactus seemed like a good idea at the time!

May the rest of your day be the best of your day!

Thursday strikes again

Here it is another Thursday just about wrapped up. The day was full of surprises. Projects that had been on the front burner were put on the back burner and set to simmer. Lots to do, but there are only so many hours in a day.

I took lunch today to come back to the apartment to go over needed repairs with the apartment manager. Here's to hoping that the meeting will actually get them moving in the right direction. I'm not really counting on it though.

Brian & I worked on shipping books out today. It was a mini-marathon, but we got out 42 packages in less than 2 hours. That included delivering them to the post office.

As you can tell by the photos there were a lot of boxes. We were able to get them all in the trunk of the Camry, amazingly. The stack looks so much larger in the bin at the post office.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: You're only young once, but you can be immature forever!!

Learning to Listen
Little Johnny watched his daddy's car pass by the school playground and go into the woods. Curious, he followed the car and saw Daddy and Aunt Jane in a passionate embrace.

Little Johnny found this so exciting that he could hardly contain himself as he ran home and started to tell his mother. 'Mommy, I was at the playground and I saw Daddy's car go into the woods with Aunt Jane. I went back to look and he was giving Aunt Jane a big kiss, and then he helped her take off her shirt. Then Aunt Jane helped Daddy take his pants off, then Aunt Jane...'

At this point Mommy cut him off and said, 'Johnny, this is such an interesting story, suppose you save the rest of it for supper time. I want to see the look on Daddy's face when you tell it tonight.'

At the dinner table that evening, Mommy asked little Johnny to tell his story. Johnny started his story, 'I was at the playground and I saw Daddy's car go into the woods with Aunt Jane. I went back to look and he was giving Aunt Jane a big kiss, then he helped her take off her shirt. Then Aunt Jane helped Daddy take his pants off, then Aunt Jane and Daddy started doing the same thing that Mommy and Uncle Bill used to do when Daddy was in the Army.'

Mommy fainted!

Moral: Sometimes you need to listen to the whole story before you interrupt!

Peter Frampton Concert

Walter & I attended the Peter Frampton concert at Bush Gardens this evening. I was able to get some good photos even though we were in the back of the concert venue.

Summer Sunday

It has been a much more enjoyable day today. The neighbor isn't cleaning his car just outside the patio door and the scenery is much improved over seeing his backside out the window. Carla has enjoyed most of the day outside. Sleeping on the patio or laying out in the grass, while I've taken the opportunity to read.

Walter & I are headed off to Bush Garden's this evening for the last of the summer concerts. We'll be seeing Peter Frampton. (photos and video tomorrow). The show doesn't start till 8 p.m. so it will be a late night. Walt's going to do the driving so I don't have to worry about drowsy driving on the way back. Not that he'll let me sleep much anyway.

Saturday morning - and the day continues

Well, it was a late night at work. I was at the office till around 10 p.m., long meeting, but lots and lots of information to process. On the way home, I picked up Taco Bell for Walter - poor thing had been waiting for me to come home to have dinner.

This morning I've thrown open a couple of windows to enjoy the morning. Carla is outside laying in the sunshine.

Walter has gone off to Patrick's house this morning, after watching a few westerns with me. He was even packing his pistol - you'd think he belongs in a western himself. They must be planning some shooting a bit later on this morning.

I spent a large part of the day working on organizing my computer files, while watching a few movies on Encore. There were a bunch of duplicate files. I also was able to back up the laptop, scan for spyware, as well do a major virus scan.

This evening I headed out to have my nails done and pick up a few things. Wally World was a busy place. I really wasn't into doing any shopping there. I went to Barnes & Noble to get something new to read and came across a CD by Sean's old principal, Jeff Beatman. Way Cool. I had to run out to Alice's to share it with them (her kids had all had him as a principal as well). I'm shipping it off Monday to the granddaughter. I hope that she enjoys it.

After dark this evening, I popped out and snapped a few photos of the moon. I'm not even sure of the settings that I used but WOW! They really came out well.

Early Morning Visitor

This little fellow showed up early this morning as I was heading into the office. He made a good subject walking along the handrailing behind the office.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

OFFICE DARES
ONE POINT DARE
1) Run one lap around the office at top speed.
2) Ignore the first five people who say 'good morning' to you.
3) Phone someone in the office you barely know, leave your name and say, "Just called to say I can't talk right now. Bye."
4) To signal the end of a conversation, clamp your hands over your ears and grimace.
5) Leave your zipper open for one hour. If anyone points it out, say, "Sorry, I really prefer it this way."
6) Walk sideways to the photocopier.
7) While riding in an elevator, gasp dramatically every time the doors open.

THREE-POINT DARES
1) Say to your boss, "I like your style" and shoot him with double-barreled fingers.
2) Babble incoherently at a fellow employee then ask, "Did you get all that, I don't want to have to repeat it"
3) Page yourself over the intercom (do not disguise your voice).
4) Kneel in front of the water cooler and drink directly from the nozzle there must be a 'non-player' within sight).
5) Shout random numbers while someone is counting.

FIVE POINT DARES
1) At the end of a meeting, suggest that, for once, it would be nice to conclude with the singing of the national anthem (5 extra points if you actually launch into it yourself).
2) Walk into a very busy person's office and while they watch you with growing irritation, turn the light switch on/off 10 times.
3) For an hour, refer to everyone you speak to as "Bob."
4) Announce to everyone in a meeting that you "really have to go do a number two."
5) After every sentence, say 'Mon' in a really bad Jamaican accent. As in "The report's on your desk, Mon." Keep this up for 1 hour.
6) While an office mate is out, move their chair into the elevator.
7) In a meeting or crowded situation, slap your forehead repeatedly and mutter, "Shut up, all of you just shut up!"
8) At lunchtime, get down on your knees and announce, "As God as my witness, I'll never go hungry again."
9) In a colleague's DAY PLANNER, write in the 10am slot: "See how I look in tights."(5 Extra points if it is a male, 5 more if he is your boss)
10) Carry your keyboard over to your colleague and ask, "You wanna trade?"
11) Repeat the following conversation 10 times to the same person: "Do you hear that?" "What?" "Never mind, it's gone now."
12) Come to work in army fatigues and when asked why, say, "I can't talk about it."
13) Posing as a maitre d', call a colleague and tell him he's won a lunch for four at a local restaurant. Let him go.
14) Speak with an accent (French, German, Porky Pig, etc) during a very important conference call.
15) Find the vacuum and start vacuuming around your desk.
16) Hang a 2' long piece of toilet roll from the back of your pants and act genuinely surprised when someone points it out.
17) Present meeting attendees with a cup of coffee and biscuits, smashing each biscuit with your fist.
18) During the course of a meeting, slowly edge your chair towards the door.
19) Arrange toy figures on the table to represent each meeting attendee, move them according to the movements of their real-life counterparts.

How to keep a healthy level of insanity:
1) At lunchtime, sit in your parked car with sunglasses on and point a hair dryer at passing cars. See if they slow down. (This would be a hoot!! - I know people who would do this.)
2) Tell your children over dinner. "Due to the economy, we are going to have to let one of you go."
3) Every time someone asks you to do something, ask if they want fries with that.
4) Put your waste basket on your desk and label it "IN".
5) Put decaf in the coffee maker for 3 weeks. Once everyone has gotten over his or her caffeine addictions, switch to espresso.
6) Finish all your sentences with "In accordance with the prophecy."
7) Don't use any punctuation
8) Use, too...much; punctuation!
9) As often as possible, skip rather than walk.
10) Ask people what sex they are. Laugh hysterically after they answer.
11) Specify that your drive-through order is "to go."
12) Sing along at the opera
13) Go to a poetry recital and ask why the poems don't rhyme.
14) Put mosquito netting around your work area. Play a tape of jungle sounds all day.
15) Five days in advance, tell your friends you can't attend their party because you're not in the mood.
16) Have your co-workers address you by your wrestling name, "Rock Hard."
17) When the money comes out of the ATM, scream "I Won! I Won! 3rd time this week!!!"
18) When leaving the zoo, start running towards the parking lot yelling, "Run for your lives, they're loose!"

Thursday

Mom's surgery went off without a hitch. Reports say that she is looks great and is doing wonderfully. If all goes super well she maybe home as early as Saturday or at least by Monday.

I got in clothes that I ordered for my trip to Italy today. I'm going to try it all on this evening to make sure that it fits. If it doesn't at least I've got time to place another order or find something else. Well, I've done the fashion show here at the house - Walt says it all looks good, so no returns. Now just to get a little more organized on exactly what I'm going to take and to find out if I'm missing anything.

Email and Newsletter Gleanings: