Tuesday

Morning All. Off again for another busy day.

Success! I finally got a couple of really troublesome videos up on YouTube for the office today. Yippee!!

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: Everybody comes from the same source. If you hate another human being, you're hating part of yourself. - Elvis Presley

Get a Perfect Smile in Minutes!

If you are like millions of women (or men I guess) who are self conscious about your smile, now you can have a perfect smile in only minutes, with the Beauty Smile Trainer. Just place the rubber trainer in your mouth for an instant forced smile.

I’m not sure if you need to keep it in place to maintain the smile or if the smile “sticks” after enough training. Ah, Japanese innovation at work.

Monday

The week is off to a very busy start. Loads to go over and through from meetings last week.

Walter came down for dinner this evening. Nothing special just one of those skillet dinner things. I played with some book cover designs for my unbound books - I'll probably get at least one copy printed and bound for myself before the end of the year.

Sunday

Off to church this morning, and of course choir practice this evening. Nothing extra special planned for the day.

I found out this afternoon after church that the cable was out at the apartment - I don't know how long. It could have been since Friday and I wouldn't have known it.

Sean gave me a call this afternoon. They had been out to visit a new church and they had a great visit. I'm glad that they are getting out and finding some place to go.

This afternoon after church I found out that I have no cable. So I'm in for DVD viewing for a while. They are going to work out a Saturday morning repair visit so I won't need to work around my work schedule.

I took a number of pictures of the moon last night and I sort of cheated here - I took the best image of the moon itself and put it over the best one of the clouds.

I ended up laying down on the couch this afternoon to watch DVD and ended up going to sleep. I didn't wake up until after 5 p.m., and I was headed off to choir practice this evening too!

Walter & I went out to Olive Garden for soup and salad for dinner this evening. The soup this evening was particularly good. One of the best batches that they've had in quite a while. While we were at dinner it began raining.

Just like the rest of the weekend. I've decided that between the water rides at Bush Gardens and actual rain there hasn't been one weekend all summer in which I haven't gotten wet. Well there are only five more Saturday's of summer - I don't have that many more.

Saturday

It has been a busy morning. I'll update everything later after I get back from Bush Gardens with Walter - we're seeing a concert this evening! The Oak Ridge Boys.

Now for the day's update.

I left to go into work this morning at 9:15 a.m. A surprise phone call at 9 got me moving in that direction. We had a planning meeting until 1:00 p.m. Lots more to do.

After I got home, Walter came on down and we gathered ourselves together and headed out for some lunch and on to Bush Gardens for the evening. We made it in to Bush Gardens around 4 p.m. So we were able to try out a new ride, the Cork Screw in plenty of time before the concert. I got some photos of the eagles and one of the wolves; and we were on the way to the aviary for more photos of the lorikeets when the weather turned ugly. A big thunderstorm swooped in and hit about 5:30 - 5:45, there for a while I thought that the concert was going to be cancelled, but blue skies prevailed.

Walter and I got into the concert venue about 45 minutes ahead of show time. We were able to get really good seats on the grass. One nice couple gave us a plastic trash bag to sit on. Next trip I'll take my neat sheet and be prepared.

The concert kicked off right at 7:00 p.m. - Great Show! I was able to get some descent photos.

We were going to leave and head for home after the 7 p.m. show until we found out that the 9 p.m. show would be completely different from the one we were at. A real experience to go to two completely different concerts in a three hour period.

The first concert was fantastic! Loads of old favorites and several new songs. Great showmanship.

The intermission between the two shows was about 45 minutes.

We had time to grab a drink and snack before they came back on stage for the second show.

I wasn't sure that the second show could be as terrific as the first but it surely was. FUN, FUN, FUN!

I got to thinking - this was the first concert that I've attended since Alabama came to Richmond in the 80's.

Friday

It has been a speedy week, once it actually got started.

Fun plans for this evening, I'm heading out with Roz & Heather for a while this evening. I anticipate it being great fun.

We were busy as March hares this morning at work. Heather gave me a new project to work on. I needed to design a cover with the title "The Da Vinci Group". I started work on it and then found out about an hour into it that it was due at noon! I'm glad I started on it when I did. I've put a thumbnail of the cover here to share. I am really tickled about how well it turned out. And to think that I started with a blank screen.

I have been sort of working on another piece for someone at work and this evening I finally finished it up. I put together this Key Largo composite photo this evening. It was a really 'bland' skyline, now it pops. Pictures like these are really giving me some practice at doing a variety of techniques.

I'm just about ready to head out for the evening. Out for fun with the girls. Night all.

We had a great time out. We had Mexican for a late dinner followed by a few games of pool. I got to meet some of Roz's family and volleyball team mates. They are almost if not as over the top as she is. It surely made for an interesting evening.

This is Roz with her team mate, Brian. There was another couple as well, who had left just before we took this picture.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day:

I received this link from Christie - great Video! It is really worth the time to watch.

Thursday

The boss got back in from Italy early this morning and was at work at the usual time. It was a productive day.

I headed out for lunch and came home to let Carla out. I've had her shut up in the bedroom for the past couple of days - waiting on maintenance to change the air filter in the air conditioning unit. The filter is still hanging around, so she'll end up in there again today for a while.

While I was out at lunch our computer guy, came by to see me. But since I wasn't in he left a little surprise on my personal computer. A brand new file folder full of pictures of sunsets in the Florida Keys. It was a really nice surprise. I can see possible paintings.

I took a couple of the pictures and transformed them. My before images:


And the completed composite image, unless I find something in it that still needs to be 'tweaked':

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: Opportunity may knock once, but temptation bangs on your front door forever.

Wednesday

Howdy, All! I feel so much better today, even though the day has started off rainy.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: Don't let your worries get the best of you; remember, Moses started out as a basket case.

Lovers of the English language might enjoy this!

How do non-natives ever learn all the nuances of English???

No one said English was easy.

There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that word is "UP."

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP?

At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report?

We call UP our friends and we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car.

At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses.

To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special.

And this UP is confusing:

A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP.

We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP !

To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions

If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it wets UP the earth.

When it doesn't! rain for awhile, things dry UP.

One could go on & on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP, so

Time to shut UP.....!

Oh...one more thing:

What is the first thing you do in the morning & the last thing you do at night?

U P

Tuesday

I woke up this morning with a splitting headache! I've been parked on the sofa with the Rosemary aromatherapy jar open. It has been a great help along with the Advil.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: Some people are kind, polite, and sweet-spirited until you try to sit in their pews.

How to weigh yourself
I can't believe I was doing it wrong all these years.

We must get the word out.

Happy Second Anniversary

Monday

Off for another work week. The weather is lovely to begin this new week out.

I've been busy doing downloads almost all day. Fun, fun - waiting on things to download.

I've had a good evening. I got my laundry completed and began working on my Italian lessons online through Rosetta Stone. It is pretty neat that I can do them online. So far so good the only part in lesson one that I haven't completed yet is the speech portion (I need to hook up a mic to the laptop before I can do it.)

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: If you don't know how to do something, you don't know how to do it with a computer.

Lost Phone

My girlfriend called me as she was driving to an appointment. She arrived, and I could tell from her voice that she was getting frustrated. Finally she said, "I know I had my cell phone with me. And now I can't find it!"

I replied, "Aren't you talking on it!?"

There was a solid period of stunned silence as the reality of the situation sank in - followed by, "You are NOT going to tell anybody about this!"

Sunday

Finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows early this morning. J.K. Rowlings did it again, another spectacular book. I enjoyed all the way to the end of the Epilogue. I'll keep the plot a secret until everyone here has had opportunity to read it, but needless to say there are enough twists and turns to befuddle a room full of people.

Walter got the book this afternoon and this evening just after 11 p.m. he brought it back to me. We had a lovely discussion about the ending chapters and all the information in the Epilogue. What a great way to end the series! There are a number of other "side books" that can be written about various characters, other than Harry. It will be interesting to watch how theses last several books are translated into movie form.

We both said that we will need to read it again to pick up what we may have missed on the first race through. But even if neither ever picked it up again it was a very good read!

Saturday Excursion

Last night the power was on when I got in from work. I tried to get Sean to go ahead and come on over since there wasn't an issue with the power, but he choose to stay at home. In fact, we're picking him up this morning for out trip and returning him home afterwards. Such is life.

I'm looking forward to a pleasant day. It is only about 70-degrees out right now and feels wonderful, and checking the forecast it appears that the high is going to be somewhere around 85. Not a bad day at all.

Our plan is to be out at Bush Gardens when they open and spend a good portion of the day there, but not stay until closing. That will make the drive home much more pleasant.

Our trip started out wonderfully, with a quick stop at WalMart for some sandals and sunglasses.
We sprung for some preferred parking, but it really made the walk into the park quick. No lines, or trams.

We rode the Escape from Pompeii and Walter ended totally soaked. While I managed to make it out with just a sprinkling. We rode the Big Bad Wolf, followed by the Dark Castle and then were heading over to Ireland. The Dark Castle, a 4-D ride, was very interesting a roller coaster with a 3-D movie. Pretty neat.

As we were heading over to Ireland to eat and see a show, we walked through the Jack Hanna's Wild Reserve, which had some interesting occupants. We spotted an iguana and an American alligator, which Sean petted. Then there was an aviary of Lories and Lorikeets.

This was really interesting experience. We purchased some nectar and once inside the Lories and Lorikeets were upon us. As you can see, Sean had several friends all at once. While I was trying to take pictures of him I had one on my shoulder attempting to take my earring out and then climbing down to investigate the "shiny" phone.



These fellows were really busy chasing down nectar and shiny objects. We made the break after one attempted to eat Sean's ear, it nipped him and brought a small amount of blood - which stopped quite quickly. No permanent damage thankfully.







Easing past the Lories and Lorikeets we came across the wolves, nothing super special here (seen one, petted one). But what was next was...Bald Eagles. They were spectacular!

I know mom would have gone crazy with the camera. I tried getting some shots with the cell phone, but they aren't wonderful, but at least you can sort of "see" them. This one actually turned out looking like a painting. Next trip the camera goes with me.

We left the park after seeing the eagles and headed home. Stopping at McDonald's for some food for master Sean. We got in a little after 4:30 p.m. and dropped Sean off at their house. Afterwards, Walter and I had dinner at MiHicenda before heading back to the apartments.

I received a pleasant surprise when I arrived home - the book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows had been delivered by UPS. Needless to say that I'm going to spend the evening reading.

Friday

I got off this morning to a late start. No power and I mis-set my alarm. I wasn't but a few minutes later than normal getting to work, but....

I checked in with Dominion Power this morning and they are telling me that the power will be off at the house until 11:45 tonight! I guess I should have expected it with the high tension line down right there at the apartments. But it is really strange with the power being restored at most of the buildings around the complex. Timmons even had power this morning and they are only a 1/2 mile away (as the crow flies).

Sean was coming to spend the night with me this evening, but since there is no power, I'm going to pick him up on the way to Bush Gardens in the morning. He'll sleep much better with air conditioning and lights available.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: “In selecting men for office, let principle be your guide. Regard not the particular sect or denomination of the candidate - look to his character.” — Noah Webster

Thursday

Alice and I had a great time at dinner last night. We headed off to Olive Garden right after work and had the opportunity to sit around and talk for about two hours. Great time.

I got back in and just basically goofed off for the rest of the evening. I didn't even turn the computer on last night at all. I did get to talk with Danielle though. She says everyone is doing fine. Faith was asleep, which is absolutely great for them that they have her going down at such a great hour. Ben is apparently also doing great with his summer job. I'm really happy for them. Glad that things are working out so well. They've even got their 2nd anniversary coming up next week.

This evening is going to be dedicated to doing laundry, oh so fun. But since I'm heading out this weekend with the boys to Bush Gardens I've got to do it tonight or it won't get done. Then I would really be in trouble.

We lost power here and at home at 3:30 p.m. Oops! I was in the middle of downloading a program for the office, doing some online work and pop, there went the power. After getting the server turned off and phones transfered to the night service. The power came back on at 4:45 p.m. I did manage to get off to Panera's to send a couple of emails that needed to go out before the end of day.

Walter and I cooked out on his gas cooking eye in his apartment for dinner. The rest of the evening was spent, well pretty much doing nothing much. I even went to bed early.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: BUG, n:br An aspect of a computer program which exists because the programmer was thinking about Jumbo Jacks or stock options when s/he wrote the program. - Not Your Average Dictionary

Wednesday

Midweek once again. I've been checking in on Mom who is doing well, but tired and hurting. That's to be expected with the surgery, therapy and healing.

This evening after work Alice and I are going to go out for dinner together. A girls night for should I say girls early evening. I think that we are heading over to Olive Garden.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. - Albert Einstein

Debt

The phone rang. It was a salesman from a mortgage refinance company. "Do you have a second mortgage on your home?"

"No," I replied.

"Would you like to consolidate all your debts?"

"I really don't have any," I said.

"How about freeing up cash for home improvements?" he tried.

"I don't need any. I just recently had some done and paid cash," I parried.

There was a brief silence, and then he asked, "Are you looking for a husband?"

Tuesday

Sorry I did post anything yesterday. Life was busy and by the time I got home last night I was ready for some R&R.

A good majority of the day yesterday was spent dealing with computers, backing up files, restoring files, and generally just waiting on computers to do what they do. I did manage to get some audio work done that I've been trying to do. Great to work on while waiting on other computers to do their thing.

Walt came down after dinner and we ran out to the Ukrops to pick up cookie dough, of all things. He was in need of a cookie fix. In fact, he told me to tell Connie at work that he needed cookies. Silly thing.

But I did get this great sunset from the Ukrop's parking lot. It was just so red-orange, I couldn't resist. Of course, Walter thinks I'm a nut when it comes to taking some photos. Oh well. I was having fun.

Today was another busy one. Getting everything accomplished has been a real workout.

I had a surprise in my mailbox this evening, a brochure from Perillo Tours for their tours of Italy. They had tour dates available for September of 2008 and I jumped at the chance to go ahead and book my tour for September 10, 2008.

So I am now committed for my trip next year. I will be in Italy for my birthday. I did get trip cancellation insurance, just in case something drastic happens between now and then. But that is not the intention at all. The next step is to get my passport - I've already got the application filled out. The only thing left to do with it is have my picture taken and turn the application in.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: “The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next. Continue therefore to read it and to regulate your life by its precepts.” — John Jay

Sunday

We had a bit of bad news after we got home last night...It seems that while we were at Bush Gardens Walter's boys decided to escape from their cage and go wild. He had them out on the deck to enjoy the fresh air while we were gone, but they somehow managed to get out. They've not shown back up at their cage yet, and may not return, but we've got Tweat hanging out on the patio in her cage as bait to lure them back home. Meanwhile, Walter is going to be leaving the cage out with the top off, loaded with food and water in hopes that they will get hungry and return to what they know. Here's hoping that Butch and Sundance get back home safely.

Carla was having a small fit this morning. When I let her off the patio, this is what she had found. A small box turtle about the size of a half dollar. She really did throw a fit about trying to sniff of it.

Saturday

Omelets for breakfast courtesy of Chef Walter.

Well we had a late start, but Walter, Sean & I all headed off to Bush Gardens this afternoon. The traffic was atrocious but we finally made it around 3:30-4:00.

After parking in 'Bavaria' the furthest parking lot from the park. It is actually beyond the brewery, but the tram runs so it really doesn't make much difference. We had this picture taken as we arrived. The girl taking photos was having a terrible time getting Walter to smile. In retrospect - they it could have been better later in the day after riding a couple of coasters. He was more relaxed then.

Once inside we headed over to Italy where it was Walt's turn to play the, "I haven't ridden a roller coaster in years" game. We started out with Apollos' Chariot - which was fine. On to the Roman Rapids to be totally drenched.

To dry off from the mini drowning we rode the Big Bad Wolf followed by the Gryffon and he had a great time. By the time we were ready to leave at 10 p.m. Walter was riding the rides with out a lick of trouble. The look of fear had disappeared and turned to fun!!

We were lucky to have been parked in the Bavaria parking lot. It made exiting the park so much easier - no long lines to get out.

We got in about 12:30 a.m. and Sean had a bit of a problem and Dean came and picked him up. I'm sorry that he left early. I hope that he is feeling better this morning.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: American is a very difficult language mixed with English.

Friday

What a day!

BUSY! Figuring out the final items needed for book publishing, beyond the take it to the binders and have them bind the stuff together.

I received a surprise phone message this evening, Sean decided to come over and visit for the weekend at 5:15 this evening.

While Dean was in transit to bring Sean over, Walter & I prepared dinner. Grilled corn, peppers, onions and new potatoes. We gave the boys a call to get them to drop by Food Lion to bring us some Italian sausage to go with our veggies.

Dean dropped him off this evening around 7 p.m. and Sean joined in the grilling fun. He and Walter and he played pyro with the grill. They did a great job of cooking together. Everything turned out great! Yum. Delicious fresh veggies.

Thanks Dad - you can really grow some great corn.

We decided during dinner that we all were going to head out to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. We ordered tickets for the 10 p.m. show and sat back until it's time to go. But....we ended up having a great comedy show from Sean. He was doing this thing where he whining and saying

Dahdday...Walter did (whatever); then would pretend he was Walter getting his assignment paper to write, "I must touch Sean."; then give it back to Dad. Once the punishment cycle was complete he started hollering Daddy all over again.

It was a absolute hoot which went on for over 45 minutes - with each punishment escalating in absurdity with the minuteness of the alleged infraction.

We hit the theater and had to wait in a huge line. The real surprise here was that they came down the line telling us that we needed to have id out... Now Harry Potter isn't an R rated movies so this didn't make much sense to me. Turns out that there was a curfew change as of July 1 which makes it illegal for minor 15 and under to be out without a parent or guardian after 10 p.m. Good movie. It wasn't as nearly as dark as the others, but really played well.

We dropped by the WalMart at 12:30 a.m. on the way in and there was strangeness afoot there. There is some weird stuff that goes on there early in the morning. Strange people in the parking lot.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: When angry, count ten before you speak; if very angry, one hundred. -
Thomas Jefferson

Thursday

I got by to visit Mom at the hospital last night. I totally misunderstood brother's statements about Mom being too tired. I was giving her time to be ready for company and boy, was that at boo-boo! Dad called looking for me. Always follow the gut instinct and things will go just fine.

I worked until 6:15 last night, which in turn put me into the house later than normal. I didn't even plug up my computer until this morning. Not much to cover, except that thing have been busy in preparation for getting the boss out for his vacation with as many loose ends tied up as possible before he leaves.

I've got a two page list that I'll be working on over the next two weeks. Lots of training material and audio/video practicing. It will help having the time to "practice" without the finished product running up against a deadline. But before I can do any of the audio/video work I have to catch up with a couple of other people to get the computer up to snuff.

Well the list of stuff grew dramatically this morning as we reviewed all that needed to be done over the next couple of weeks. Heather & I'll will be hopping.

This evening I popped out and visited with Mom & Dad for a short while. Mom was up and about for a little while. She even had a brief visit from Nancy.

Walter didn't take Alice's kids out this evening to work out - he's been too bushed from traveling to Albemarle County early in the morning and working late. He is in need of his sleep. 4:00 a.m. comes along early.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought For the Day: People who soar are those who refuse to sit back and wish things would change. - Charles R. Swindoll, Author and Pastor