Saturday

Funny Observation: This morning Tweat's friend the Wren stopped by and sat on the edge of the deck rail. Apparently looking for her, since he was sitting near where her cage normally hangs outside. It was so cute. She said "something" to him and then he few off. Dean commented that now we have an innie and an outtie bird. It is something else to see. I look forward to the winter months to see if he still comes around if so, I'll have to put seed on the deck for him. I've broken down and hung her cage outside for a while so that she can talk with her other friends. I know she has them since they tend to congregate in the trees closest to the house when she's outside.

Movies for the Weekend:

1. Hoot - an adventure to save endangered owls.
2. the lake house - a romance between two people that live two years apart.
3. Yours, Mine & Ours - 18 kids in one house!
4. Poseidon - a remake.

This afternoon Dean was so encouraged by the growth of new grass in the front yard, he plugged and sewed grass seed in the far back of the backyard. It is in the area where we've never had grass, so we are hopeful to see some there.

I spoke with Alice today she was out and about shopping late at night. Hope that she gets in before it's too late in the evening.

Friday

Off to the "grocery" store, this is one of the most hated jobs that I have. The cost of things have risen and then there is the trying to think about what everyone will eat without requiring me to throw half of it away later. I think I rank it right up there with shopping for clothing for myself. Both Very Frustrating.

I spoke to Dad last night and Mom made it safely to Mamaw Stapleton's. I sure hope that they have a good time together.

I got Sean to school early this morning in order for him to make up a test that he missed on the day he had a migraine. Since I was already out I hit Ukrops for their specials. I was able to get a number of items, but when I came out to leave the traffic on Hull Street was already backed up from 288 to beyond Clover Hill. I reverted to the back way, which also was backed up due to road construction. The problem on Hull Street was an accident. Who knows how long that mess is going to be in the clean up stages.

I did manage to finish the grocery shopping before eleven; and even got in an emergency visit to the dentist. One of my molars has been causing me to have a real headache. Turns out that the tooth was not cracked but I had been grinding my back molars together. Dr. Z smoothed out the area somewhat and hopes that that alone will relieve the pressure. If not, I'll probably end up with some sort of mouthguard to sleep with to keep from grinding my teeth.

Mom sent and posted a great photo of Mamaw Stapleton on her Relative & Friends site. It is a rare thing to get a good photo of her. She & Mamaw Stapleton are heading off to Hillsville tomorrow to visit with Wanda. I'm sure that we'll see some photos from that trip posted tomorrow. It is neat being able to see what they are up to. Have a safe trip and have fun visiting with Wanda.

Walter dropped by for a short visit before heading off to the evening's football game at James River. He had visited earlier this afternoon with Danielle & Faith, they were sitting on a blanket in the front yard playing when he arrived. It is nice to hear that they both were back outside playing in the yard. I know that Faith was having a great time. UPDATE: Walter just phoned to let me know that the James River v. Manchester game had been cancelled! The officials of the game did not show up. Walter says that he deja vu because, it has been two years since he injured his eye at this same game. The last thing that he did tonight and then was to watch the opposing teams band play and then leave. I have NEVER heard of referee's not showing up for a game. Can't wait to see how the paper writes this one up.

Sean has headed off this evening for a few hours of skating and socializing. He will be pooped when he gets home, always is. He'll also be as thirsty as a camel after a long dry spell without water. It is amazing how much energy that the can burn while he is there.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought for the Day: "You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love." -- Henry Drummond

Really sad...one of the most famous people in the world.....DECEASED!!
A victim of E.Coli Outbreak
Remember this?

Thought you might be interested in this forgotten bit of information..........

It was 1987! At a lecture the other day they were playing an old news video of Lt.Col. Oliver North testifying at the Iran-Contra hearings during the Reagan Administration.

There was Ollie in front of God and country getting the third degree, but what he said was stunning!

He was being drilled by a senator; "Did you not recently spend close to $60,000 for a home security system?"

Ollie replied, "Yes, I did, Sir."

The senator continued, trying to get a laugh out of the audience, "Isn't that just a little excessive?"

"No, sir," continued Ollie.

"No? And why not?" the senator asked.

"Because the lives of my family and I were threatened, sir."

"Threatened? By whom?" the senator questioned.

"By a terrorist, sir" Ollie answered.

"Terrorist? What terrorist could possibly scare you that much?"

"His name is Osama bin Laden, sir" Ollie replied.

At this point the senator tried to repeat the name, but couldn't pronounce it, which most people back then probably couldn't. A couple of people laughed at the attempt. Then the senator continued. Why are you so afraid of this man?" the senator asked.

"Because, sir, he is the most evil person alive that I know of", Ollie answered.

"And what do you recommend we do about him?" asked the senator.

"Well, sir, if it was up to me, I would recommend that an assassin team be formed to eliminate him and his men from the face of the earth."

The senator disagreed with this approach, and that was all that was shown of the clip.

By the way, that senator was Al Gore!

Also:

Terrorist pilot Mohammad Atta blew up a bus in Israel in 1986. The Israelis captured, tried and imprisoned him. As part of the Oslo agreement with the Palestinians in 1993, Israel had to agree to release so-called "political prisoners."

However, the Israelis would not release any with blood on their hands. The American President at the time, Bill Clinton, and his Secretary of State, Warren Christopher, "insisted" that all prisoners be released.

Thus Mohammad Atta was freed and eventually thanked the US by flying an airplane into Tower One of the World Trade Center. This was reported by many of the American TV networks at the time that the terrorists were first identified. It was censored in the US from all later reports.

Sam

Love, The Smith's

Thursday

Another crisp morning, no Indian Summer in sight, perhaps sometime in October. If we're lucky it will be during the Highland Games & Celtic Festival. Hmmmm. Special note: Walter said that gasoline at the local Wawa was down to $1.98/gallon. Yippee! Below $2.00, now let's see it back around $1.50 or less/gallon. Then we can do some real celebrating. Walter says he would like to see it around $0.20/gallon, yep that's right twenty-cents. That is truly a "BIG DREAM".

Another surprise event this morning. Sean decided that he wanted to ride into school on the bus! It has been years since I've not driven him in and this was truly and unexpectedly pleasant surprise. That will give me a bit more time at home this morning before heading off to visit with my favorite 8-month old. Lots of hugs and kisses for her. Thanks Sean!

I had a lovely visit with Faith, I took the Oggz Egg and she was facinated by the changing colors. She even tried to eat it, but it is much too large. We played inside for about 45-minutes with her toys. She had a bottle for a snack; then we went for a walk all the way down to the main cul-de-sac. She was talking and looking around the whole time.

Since we were back before her lunch time we got a blanket out of the car and played on the blanket on front yard grass. I had her laying on her back and she was just looking and watching all the things in the trees and the sky. It brought back memories of her mommy. I gave her a leaf from the yard and she studied it not even trying to eat it. We even played peek-a-boo with it, I loved the little giggle that she had.

She ate a big lunch: chicken, sweet pototatoes & green beans. Then we went back to the blanket in the yard to wait for her mom. This time she was sitting up the whole time, and we looked at additional leaves, an an acorn. She even found the grass, gently plucking one blade at a time...that was until her mommy came home. Then she was plucking large clumps out of the ground.

There are no pictures from my visit today, I have been ask to take no further pictures. So if anyone wants to keep up with her you'll have to check "The Magnin Life" blog. I will not have any here.

There was some excitement here in the neighborhood this evening: Apparently one of the neighbors was riding his motorcycle and decided to pop a wheelie on the "big hill" behind our house. At about the same time, he was doing the wheelie the wind whipped up and he crashed. Turns out that he shattered his shoulder in several places and may have even broken a couple of ribs. The rescue squad came and took him to the hospital.

Dean is off to his first class of the semester tonight. I hope that he going to have an easier class this session than last. We have some nasty weather here this evening - lots of rain, thunder, and lightining. There is even a tornado warning for a couple of counties across the river. So we're just in for a bunch of rain/thunderstorms.

Have Fun!

Wednesday

Welcome to the middle of the week. Temperatures here were still in the low 50's overnight, so jackets are the order of the day. Not too much special going on today, but tomorrow I'm scheduled to visit with Miss Faith.

Oh! Carla is doing much better today. No whinniness like yesterday. I think getting her nails done was the "trama" for the day.

My day has sort of just been one of those days, nothing special going on. I did run out for about 15 minutes to check on a steam cleaner (not for carpets), but didn't have any luck finding what I was looking for. Maybe another time. I did find a Fall purse. Lucky me, it was on clearance. Hard to believe Fall just arrived and the Fall clothes & accessories are on clearance.

I was looking through a magazine yesterday while Sean was in the orthodontist and found an article on heirloom tomatoes. I think that it would be neat to try planting a few of the varieties mentioned in the article: Brandywine Red; German Gold; Cherokee Purple; and a Green Zebra. The last one sounds like a prime candidate for making Fried Green Tomatoes. I'll need to check around the seed catalogs for these.

Sean went out this evening to the Youth Group at church. He says he had a real good time, and looked like it too. He even liked the new Youth Pastor candidate. On another note, Sean brought home a coupon for an extra five points on any test grade in math. He had had an excellent day in class.

Tomorrow I'm heading down to have a little visit with Miss Faith; and Mom is headed off to Pennington Gap to visit with Mammaw Stapleton. I hope that they both enjoy their time together. Safe Trip!

SURPRISE! Walt dropped by this evening about 9:30p., he had had one too many cups of expresso and need to work off his caffine. We played cards for about an hour before he was ready to head back home. We had a nice visit and Sean even played a few hands with us before he headed up to bed.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought of the Day: "You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Think about it!

(the last sentence is the best)

Your alarm goes off, you hit the snooze and sleep for another 10 minutes.
He stays up for days on end.

You take a warm shower to help you wake up.
He goes days or weeks without running water.

You complain of a "headache", and call in sick.
He gets shot at as others are hit, and keeps moving forward.

You put on your anti war/don't support the troops shirt, and go meet up with your friends.
He still fights for your right to wear that shirt.

You make sure your cell phone is in your pocket.
He clutches the cross hanging on his chain next to his dog tags.

You talk trash about your "buddies" that aren't with you.
He knows he may not see some of his buddies again.

You walk down the beach, staring at all the pretty girls.
He walks the streets, searching for insurgents and terrorists.

You complain about how hot it is.
He wears his heavy gear, not daring to take off his helmet to wipe his brow.

You go out to lunch, and complain because the restaurant got your order wrong.
He doesn't get to eat today.

Your maid makes your bed and washes your clothes.
He wears the same things for weeks, but makes sure his weapons are clean.

You go to the mall and get your hair redone.
He doesn't have time to brush his teeth today.

You're angry because your class ran 5 minutes over.
He's told he will be held over an extra 2 months.

You call your girlfriend and set a date for tonight.
He waits for the mail to see if there is a letter from home.

You hug and kiss your girlfriend, like you do everyday.
He holds his letter close and smells his love's perfume.

You roll your eyes as a baby cries.
He gets a letter with pictures of his new child, and wonders if they'll ever meet.

You criticize your government, and say that war never solves anything.
He sees the innocent tortured and killed by their own people and remembers why he is fighting.

You hear the jokes about the war, and make fun of men like him.
He hears the gunfire, bombs, and screams of the wounded.

You see only what the media wants you to see.
He sees the broken bodies lying around him.

You are asked to go to the store by your parents. You don't.
He does exactly what he is told.

You stay at home and watch TV.
He takes whatever time he is given to call, write home, sleep,and eat.

You crawl into your soft bed, with down pillows, and get comfortable.
He crawls under a tank for shade and a 5 minute nap, only to be woken by gunfire.

You sit there and judge him, saying the world is probably a worse place because of men like him.
If only there were more men like him!

Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you, Jesus Christ and the American G.I.
One died for your soul, the other for your freedom!!!

Cassie!

Love - Aunt Judy, Uncle Dean & Sean

Tuesday

The nip is getting a wee bit stronger in the air, the temperature this morning was 53-degrees. A nice drop from yesterday. Although it is suppose to warm to the high 70's today, Fall has truly taken hold. I've noticed that the dogwood is beginning to turn in preparation for losing it's foliage, as are several others. In no time at all we'll all be out raking leaves and having lots of hot chocolate.

I've gotten a few minor chores done this morning in the car. Just a few touches to make the drive a bit more comfortable. I was able to even get Carla's nails trimmed by myself this morning. Oh boy, did she complain, whine, and generally object to the whole thing. But I won! and they are much shorter now.

Alice has loaned me a few audio books to listen to at my leisure:

• Take Time for Your Life, Cheryl Richardson
• Stand Up for Your Life, Cheryl Richardson; and
• Finding Your Passion, Cheryl Richardson.

It will be a lot of listening - I think that there are about 10-11 hours of audio.

Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought of the Day: “Nothing is so insufferable to man as to be completely at rest, without passions, without business, without diversion, without study. He then feels his nothingness, his forlornness, his insufficiency, his dependence, his weakness, his emptiness. There will immediately rise from the depth of his heart weariness, gloom, sadness, fretfulness, vexation, despair.” — Blaise Pascal

Monday

Morning All. It is still dark here. The temperature is a crisp 63-degrees and without checking the weather, I do believe it is going to be a pleasant day.

I'm working on getting the day started, Sean is off to school; but my foot is really paining [yes, I've taken ibuprofen for it], so I'm trying to keep it elevated. I have managed to migrate all of the laundry to the laundry room, now to sort the mess and get a load started. At least I can sit on the floor to do that.

I talked with Danielle this afternoon it turns out that her father-in-law also broke his toe on Sunday [his right foot] by snagging it on the refrigerator. Ouch, but what makes it worse is that he was had broken the same toe a few weeks earlier and it was almost healed. So it really is a double Ouch situtation. I can feel his pain.

Walter stopped by this evening also to visit for a spell before heading off to class. He was telling me about his excelllent work review. Way to Go Walter!! I'm just so proud of the excellent job that he is doing. He is school studies are doing well also. So far, I believe that he has "B's" all around. Now all we need to do is help him find something that he really enjoys doing in the in-between times. Suggestions from the family are welcome. Remember we want him to have some fun!

We are off to the orthodontist this afternoon, for a check up on the progress of Sean's brace. Hopefully we will get some good news as to when they will be removed. Looks like that the braces will be coming off sometime before Christmas. He just needs to keep his rubberbands on.

Alice brought me a Oggz egg this afternoon, "late birthday present", it is really cool. It is a color morphing accent light. The colors slowly shift from red to purple, to blue to green, and variations of each in between. It is great way to take the focus of the busy of the day like a lava lamp. It is just going to be so cool to watch in the evenings.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Thought for the Week: Consciousness is observing your thoughts and actions so that you can live from true choice in the present moment rather than being run by programming from the past. - T Harv Eker

Thought for the Day: "Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye." H. Jackson Browne, Jr.

THE YEAR 1906

This will boggle your mind, I know it did mine! The year is 1906. One hundred years ago. What a difference a century makes! Here are some of the U.S. statistics for the Year ! 1906:

1. The average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47 years.
2. Only 14 percent of the homes in the U.S. had a bathtub
3. Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.
4. A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars.
5. There were only 8,000 cars in the U.S., and only 144 miles of paved roads.
6. The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
7. Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California. With a mere 1.4 million people, California was only the 21st most populous state in the Union.
8. The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!
9. The average wage in the U.S. was 22 cents per hour.
10. The average U.S. worker made between $200 and $400 per year . A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2,500 per year,? a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.?
11. More than 95 percent of all births in the US. took place at HOME.
12. Ninety percent of all U.S. doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION! Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press AND the government as "substandard."
13. Sugar cost four cents a pound.
14. Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.
15. Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.
16. Most women only washed their hair once a Month and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
17. Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason.
18. Five leading causes of death in the U.S. were:
    
    • Influenza
    • Tuberculosis
    • Diarrhea
    • Heart disease
    • Stroke
      
19. The American flag had 45 stars. Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska hadn't been admitted to the Union yet.
20. The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, was only 30!!!!
21. Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea hadn't been invented yet.
22. There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.
23. Two out of every 10 U.S. adults couldn't read or write.
24. Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.
25. Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists said, "Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind,regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health." ( Shocking? DUH!)
26. Eighteen percent of households in the U.S. had at least one full-time servant or domestic help.
27. There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE U.S.A. !
    

Try to imagine what it may be like in another 100 years. IT STAGGERS THE MIND, EH....!??

Stupid Move Sunday

I had a big surprise this morning - Walter arrived early to attend Sunday school & church with me. We had a great Sunday school lesson, and Dr. Fowler delivered an excellent sermon afterwards.

He had a couple of great quotes: Failure is not fatal; and Collapse is not relapse.

We missed seeing Danielle & family at church, I hope that everyone is well.

As for the "Stupid Move" of the day, I hopped out into Walter's car to move it so that Dean could get his car out. Here in lay the problem! I didn't swing my left foot far enough into the car before shutting the door and ended up closing my little toe in the door. The door totally shut! I am in a great bit of pain needless to say, but it looks like my little toe will survive to walk another day.

Dean pick up some great Chinese for lunch. Which of course, left us with some interesting fortunes:

• A golden egg of opportunity falls into your lap this month.
• Your ability to find the silly in the serious will take you far. (How appropriate for the day!)

The crypt myrtle final has blossomed. I didn't think it would this year since we transplanted in the late spring. It is a nice surprise, especially since we had no idea of what color I was getting. Alice has checked the trees along her back fence and found that every other tree is pink and white (so now we know where to look for a pink one).

Newslettering Gleanings:

Thought for the day: "You can't help someone get up a hill without getting closer to the top yourself." -H. Norman Schwarzkopf

Encouraging Others

When you know someone who needs a some encouraging support you can try giving them something as simple as:

• A hug
  
• A thank you
  
• A listening ear
  
• A good cup of tea
  
• An encouraging word
  
• A reminder that the stress will end
  
• An acknowledgement of their hard work

Elda

Saturday

I took a couple of shots of the table this morning. I wasn't able to get a whole over all view but here is what I did get. I'm really pleased with the outcome. It gives the kitchen area a whole new look, and still even coordinates with the everything else in the house. YEAH!

The border is based on some tile work that I saw when I was out with Mom & Barbara at the Olive Garden. I even pulled some of the colors from the decks table and a few other things that were handy. So it comes out as a beachy/Tuscan look.

I visited with Alice for a couple of hours around mid-day. We were discussing Photoshop projects and redesigning a few thngs. Cassie & Alice showed me a game that Cassie had "developed". It is based on a book that she read for a book report. It is an excellent game and they hare working on putting it all together. Mum's the word on the details until they have it finished. But the early review is FANTASTIC!

While I was there Terry got up into my lap and went to sleep. He is so sweet when he is sleeping. We had fun sampling the scones that Alice experimented in making. They were pretty good for a first try, especially since she was shooting for them to have the Panera's scone taste. Just a bit more work and they will be there.

I also saw several remarkable bird shots - I wish I had had my camera out and ready, but I didn't. There was a male Blue Jay that was sitting on the deck rail on the front porch right next to the red berries of a dogwood tree. Then there was a female Cardinal eating berries off the dogwood and a brilliantly red male Cardinal sitting in the same tree. Awesome!

Dean has done a fantastic job today of mowing and trimming the yard. It is excellent. He has put Sean to work the plugging done in the front yard. As Sean "finished" up the plugging, Dean was starting with the sowing of the grass seed. The yard has been watered, but we may be having some rain this afternoon and that would be excellent.

Sean he has also spent some time entertaining Alex, it was very nice of him to do so. I even think that they had a great time. Later on this evening he pulled out his pocket rocket and has taken it for a short spin. Time for him to get out and about.

Welcome

Fall has arrived quite pleasantly. The temperature has been fantastic today. Sean got off to an excellent start for the day. We even found a couple of items that he had lost - Yippee!

I have spent the day working on the inlay portion of the kitchen table. It is coming along nicely, I hope to get it finished before the weekend is over.

Tim called to let us know that his crew chief's house had burned down today. The creepy part of this terrible accident was that they both had been to the house about a half-hour prior to the fire. This was one of those drive-by situations, he was just getting his lunch out of the pantry. No cooking, no need for lights, etc... It turns out that the water heater exploded. They were truly being watched over - no one was home when the water heater went. We all need to keep this family in our prayers.

Sean attened the first school dance of the year - the Back-to-School Dance. He was able to meet up with several of his friends there. He came home extremely tired and happy. He had had a fantastic time.

I finished working on the kitchen table around 11:30 p.m. Photos of some of the detail work tomorrow.

Newsletter & Email Gleanings:

Thought for the Day: "Never believe that a few caring people cannot change the world. For, indeed, they are the only ones who ever have." - Margaret Mead

Punctuation is Everything
An English professor wrote the words: "A woman without her man is nothing" on the chalkboard and asked his students to punctuate it correctly.

All of the males in the class wrote: "A woman, without her man, is nothing."

All the females in the class wrote: A woman: "without her, man is nothing."

Punctuation is everything. - Anon.

Thursday

This morning Master Sean was up and at it by 6:00 a.m. AMAZING! He even had time this morning to get in a movie before school, The Addams Family.

I spent a the morning doing laundry and under a stroke of inspiration I started work on the kitchen table and have done a marjority of the design work. All is left is to complete the border, which is going to look great. The table looks great as it is, but it is going to be fantastic. All the colors are coordinating with everything else in the house. I'll share pictures of the table when it is completed.

Danielle dropped by for a quick visit this afternoon, after she got out of school. She was telling me of a friend of hers that had been given custody of a 2-month old little boy. It was a real surprise to her friend who is 17 (she'll be turning 18 shortly), she was given the little guy over the weekend. As Danielle says, she needs a lot of support and prayers.

Walter also did a drive-by visit this afternoon to pick up a package that had come for him. He was heading off to class right after he left.

Just found out a little while ago, that Tim had made the paper while he was working. He is the blue shirted guy behind the yellow tripod. The article was in the Richmond-Times Dispatch. The photo is from there, but the one in the paper is much larger. It does prove that he actually does some work sometimess.

Wednesday

I'm heading off to see Miss Faith after Sean gets off to school. I'm looking forward to an excellent visit with the little Princess. Sean and I got off to a late start this morning. I fell back asleep after Dean left for work and thank goodness that Alice called or we both would have slept the day away. Amazingly enough we were able to get Sean to school on time. Amen.

Miss Faith and I had a terrific time visiting with one another. She was in such a good humor the whole time that I was there.

We spent the first part of the morning playing in the den with her toys. She has her special toys that she particularly likes to play with. Her kitty in particular - she likes to bite its nose.

Then she was playing around with her little lion. I know that she will feel so much better when her teeth finally come in. Perhaps she'll be able to have some toy that is not designed to fit into her mouth to help cut teeth. She does have some Veggie Tale characters and the asparagus makes a particularly appropriate teething toy.

I caught her trying to pull her socks off. Just like her mommy, bare feet are best. But her socks were really sweet - they had the word dancer written on the bottom with little gripper type that will help her when she is trying to walk around.

After a quick change she was laying down on her blanket looking quite innocent and content. You can see her little Veggie Tale peas in the foreground.

The "toy" that she is playing with in the last two shots is the wrist strap from my camera. She was intrigued by the little ring, which slid up and down the strap. She was working so hard to try to take the ring off.

We watched Grammy Leslie making applesauce for a few minutes before making the round of mirrors. Faith likes to visit with the little girl in the mirror.


Once we found her swing I put her in for a short ride. She had a lot of fun playing with the toys that are afixed to the tray area that serves as a retaining arm. Getting her into the swing was easy, getting her out was another thing all together. There must be a real trick to unlocking the retaining arm. There was a moment there that I thought that she might be staying in there a bit longer than we had wanted. All I know is that thing was a doosie trying to get her out.

Our next stop was the walker. She busily showed me how that she was able to walk around in it. She was also, of course interested in the toys that are attached to tray. One hangs down and in order for her to play with it she has to pull it up - she smart and pulled that one up right away.

We spent some more time in the den playing around and I was able to get the photos of her raising her hand. It appears that she is asking if we can go outside.

She was getting tired so we took a walk around the neighborhood to wake her up somewhat, it had the opposite effect. We hurried home to feed her lunch before she slipped off to sleep.

I fed her lunch. She sure is an eater. Very neat though. She ate what seemed to be a jar and a half of food. She is very eager to eat, but when she is through she will just give the spoon an inquisitive look and won't open her mouth any more.

After lunch we walked around outside for a little bit longer, just to keep her awake her up until her Mommy got home from school. We walked out to my car to see what it looked like and watched one of the neighbors walking his dogs. The dogs seemed to fascinate her.

This photo of Faith with her nose all curled up, reminds me so much of the way that Danielle does it herself. It is a quirky little thing that they both share, and it is relly sweet.

Once Danielle arrived home from school. She showed me the burn on her thumb. Ouch! The blister on it gives her thumb the appearance of being twice its normal size. I didn't see her index finger but it looke the same way. After Danielle got settled in from coming home, I hugged them both and she & Faith slipped off for an afternoon nap.

Sean had a good day at school today. After dinner this evening all of us went over to Regency Square to do some clothes shopping for Sean. He was in need of a few items for school. We were able to find everything at J.C.Penney and on sale too. Not many times that you can do that.

I looked around the mall at at few things, but there weren't any clothes that were worth looking at. They were just plain ugly! I did have one moment at William Sonoma looking at new cookware and fun kitchen things, but those are real dreams. Shopping in there is just not in my budget - one copper pot I just think is a beautiful work of art was only "$320". So much for my shopping, I'm glad that Sean found a few outfits that will satisfy him and I both - they show a compromise on both of our parts.

Tuesday Clouds & Coffee

It appears that we are going to have an overcast day, and it feels like there may be some rain or a storm associated with it also. The weather report is indicating that we may have some thunderstorms on the way later today. That explains Sean's migraine yesterday - big weather changes.

Walter called me this morning with the joyous news that he was able to fill up his car for $19.00, gas was $2.08/gallon. He was quite pleased. He was also feeling great this morning after a good nights sleep, even though his class had run over by 30 minutes. That put him getting home until 11:00 p.m. I think that is a bit late, particularly when he gets up so early in the morning.

Mom sent me this cute number late last night. So everyone will knows where I'll be this morning. Mom is doing some creative things in Photoshop these days. We always knew that she had it in her, especially on the photography end. Alice & I had better watch out or she's going to pass us right on by. :)

On the trip out to Mom & Dad's house for coffee, I spotted this yellow mushroom as I began pulling down their driveway. It was such a vivid yellow, I wasn't able to pass it up. Carla went with me and I do believe that she enjoyed the trip. She particularly enjoyed having her doggie treats from Mom.

Tim just phoned - talk about life going around and around. His survey instructor is from the Norton area of Virginia, and is a descendant of the Harbers, as are we. So....it looks like Tim is taking his class from a cousin. It never fails we can't ever get too far before we bump into someone who is a cousin. It is just so humorous.

Tweat has been full of herself today - fussing with me everytime that I pay attention to Carla or when I'm typing and she thinks I'm not listening to her. Even though she has been outside to hang around a for awhile today.

Ahhh...the rain has finally arrived. It's not raining very hard, just a really nicely. Sean is outside, but hanging out on the porch with friends, so they are staying dry and still able to have a good time.

Walter has reported in this evening that he scored an 81 on his first pre-calculus test for the semester. So far it is a "B" for the semester. Way to go Walt - keep up the good work.

Email & Newsletter Gleanings:

Watch Your Diet

A poorly ventilated room and a diet of "cabbage and beans" are being blamed for the death of a man who died while inhaling his gas. Reportedly, he was asleep in his bedroom when he succumbed to the fumes. The police observed a "high concentration of methane" in the room, as well as a "noxious cloud" that lingered ominously by the bed. Had a window been left open, one man said, he'd still be alive. One rescuer was hospitalized and at least three others got sick. [From Exercise Plus]

Obituary

May we please have a moment of silence. ..............

This month we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, life isn't always fair, and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they themselves failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer Panadol, sun lotion or a sticky plaster to a student - but could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband, churches became businesses, and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar can sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason.

He is survived by three stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, Someone Else is to Blame, and I'm A Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

Monday

Today looks to me a regular Monday. I'm journeying across the river with Mom to pick up a mirror for Walter's apartment. It will add a lot to the room. I've heard from Ms. Marion, and I do believe that we are going to be having coffee this morning as our "birthday celebration" together. It never fails this is the annual ritual.

Marion and I did get together this morning and enjoyed the remaining pieces of my birthday cheesecake along with several cups of coffee. While she and I were visiting, we heard about a school closing at one of the local middle schools. According to reports the custodian found an unidentified parcel/package early this morning and phoned the police. It brought out the county and state police to the school. Which diverted the students to one of the other local high schools until the safety of the situation could be accessed. Turns out the bomb squad did explode something at the middle school - although reports said that it wasn't a loud enough explosion for it to have been a bomb.

On the ride over with Mom to Aunt Barbara's house, to pick up a mirror for Walter's apartment, we passed the middle school where the police were searching the grounds. There appeared to be around 100 or more officers there. We were able to see the bomb squad vehicle and robot. They were walking shoulder to shoulder - almost - across the grounds of the school apparently looking for something else. The local media is reporting that the device that was found was a hoax.

Once we arrived at Aunt Barbara's she had a surprise in mind. She took me out for lunch to Olive Garden to celebrate my birthday. The soup, salad & breadsticks are always delicious. Especially the Zuppa Tuscana. We were having an enjoyable visit and I was having fun checking out the tiling and fixtures.

I received a call from Danielle while we were eating. She was calling about the fun little note that Sean & I left on her car this morning. It was a bright pumpkin orange note, at first it scared her, thinking that she had somehow gotten a ticket or some such reprimand from the school for parking in the handicap lot. She's entitled. Once she got over the initial scare she thought that the note was really sweet and enjoyed getting it. But then she told me all about her injury over the weekend.

It seems that she was trying to make gravy, like my mom does, and she splashed oil onto her left hand [thumb & forefinger] and her stomach. She received 2nd degree burns. She tells me that she is doing fine now, but of course it had hurt like heck when it happened. She is even beginning to laugh a bit over how silly of an accident it was. UPDATE: Talking to Alice this evening she told me that she burned her stomach on the stove this week also. She leaned across to get something and the edge of the stove got her. She was left with about a 4-inch long blister on her tummy. So she and Danielle are in the same boat. OUCH!!

After lunch we went back by Barbara's to pick up the mirror and she also had some computer programming books that John had finished with for us. I thought that Dean would really enjoy having them as an addition to his library. There were even a couple of quirky books in the pile that seem right up my alley.

Mom & I stopped by Lowes to pick up the hardware needed to hang the mirror at Walt's house. The installation was really tricky as it was a very heavy mirror and required some very funny gyrations on our part. We moved the picture that had been over the sofa to another location which had a smaller painting hanging. I moved the smallest painting to a small wall in his dining room. With the mirror hung the securely above his sofa, which looks great, we headed back home.

Sean had a migraine at school today, but was able to handle it. Bravo! After he got home on the bus, we took Mom home. Where Sean was able to pick him up another watermelon to munch on. Dad still has about a dozen hanging around, so he is glad to get rid of them. Mom walked up the drive as I was leaving and spied the mushroom trio. Of course, I just had to hop out of the car and get photos of these different species.

Walter called this evening before going to class - he liked the way that the mirror looked in his apartment and the way the pictures were moved around.

Quotes of the Day:

• Botanists joke that even the greatest oak was once a little nut. - Anon
• "Loving people live in a loving world. Hostile people live in a hostile world. But it's the same world. How come?" Dr. Wayne Dyer
• I'm done, no further possiblity of conversation. - Anon
• The only way to permanently change the temperature in the room is to reset the thermostat. In the same way, the only way to change your level of financial success "permanently" is to reset your financial thermostat. - T Harv Eker

Newsletter & Email Gleanings:
One way to recognize messages of grace is to notice what keeps showing up in your life. For example, you might watch for . . .

1. Objects -- Are there certain objects that keep crossing your path? If so, go online and check out the symbolism of those objects.
2. Songs -- Do you keep hearing the same song while driving in the car, watching TV, or shopping in a store? Listen closely to the words or pay attention to the feeling the song inspires.
3. Messages -- Do you find that certain phrases, words, or slogans keep appearing while you're reading the newspaper, surfing the web, or having conversations with others? What might they be trying to tell you?

Brain Teaser!
There is a family gathering. In attendence are:

1 Grandfather 1 Grandmother 2 Fathers 2 Mothers 4 Children 3 Grandchildren 1 Brother

2 Sisters 2 Sons 2 Daughters 1 Father-in-Law 1 Mother-in-Law 1 Daughter-in-Law

What is the fewest number of people at the gathering? (Hint: Not 23) ANSWER

X and O

This is pretty unique.

Place your mouse on the X below and drag to the O.
XEven though you can't see Him, GOD is there!O

Truth in advertising - A new church sign. -->

Sunday

Sunday school was great this morning. We are off and going onto the next topic of Mormonism. The topic is going to be quite interesting. The choir did well this morning with our song, however, we are really going to have to learn to stand up together. It was funny that we couldn't get together, but it will get better.

Walt came by this afternoon and had lunch with us. Afterwards he and I drove around to a few car dealership so that he could "try on" some different kinds of vehicles. He's not in the market right now, but wanted an idea of what he should be looking for in the future. Turns out the best fitting vehicle is a GMS Silverado.

This evening at choir practice we got started on working on the music for the Christmas production - so our practices are beginning to run a bit longer than they usually have been. But then too, the choir is beginning to become an extended family of sorts. Everybody is working hard to be in prayer for one another there is so much going on with everyone. It is a great for the moral of the choir.

Quotes of the day:

• It doesn't take a lot of skill to tear people down, but it is a real skill to build people up.
• A girl is easy to get because the pattern is in front of you. - said by the father of lots of girls.

Marion!

For my close birthday buddy, Marion. I wish you a spectacular day with loads of fun and happiness. - Judy

Reply: Judy, Thank you very much...that was so cute! What are you doing tomorrow?? Can we do coffee to celebrate our birthdays?? - Marion

Celebrating My 43rd!

These are the e-cards that I received to help me celebrate my day!

Seems like it was only a short time ago that Dad slept in the waiting room while I was in delivery. Time has a way of slipping by so quick. Not only do you have grown children but are now a grandmother yourself. I love you very much. -- Mom

Love, Aunt Barbara

News & Such from the Day:

I received a lovely card from Dean with a promisory note for tickets to the Highland Games & Celtic Festival. Tickets aren't available until late September, early October so we'll get them at that time.

Louise sent a really humorous card with a sunflower and ladybug on the front. The sunflower on the front reminded her of the painting that I previously done for her and of course the ladybugs reminds her of her ladybug socks.

Alice, did my thing this morning, she caught me and sang Happy Birthday to me. It was quite different to be on the receiving end vs. the sending end.

I had Tweat out of her cage for a period of time around mid-day. She was perched on a branch that I had found out in the yard. In the top photo she looks like she is all stretched out and ready to take flight. Which I'm sure she would have done if her wings weren't clipped. In the other she is just looking pretty sitting there.

This afternoon while Dean was out mowing the yard, using the weed eater, and cleaning up the clippings. Dean even got up all the sticks that I had raked up into piles. {Thanks for taking care of those two little piles!}

I popped outside and transplanted a couple of purple flowers from beside the driveway to the back flower bed, and raked up some of the sticks that had fell over the past couple of storms. I discovered this new fungus hiding behind the birdfeeder area. It had a few friends, but this particular one was the most photogenic. It is really neat looking.

We had the guy that Debbie uses for miscellaneous yard work come over this afternoon and haul off all the wood from the destruction of the tree fort. It looks so much better in the back yard now that it is gone.

I'm spending the evening watching the "Fantastic Four" on television.

Sean just surprised me with a copy of Under the Tuscan Sun, by Frances Mayes for my birthday. It is going to be great reading in the evenings. I just love her books. It is a great surprise.

Yippee!!!

Another week is almost gone. Today is the dreaded grocery shopping day, although it isn't too horrible, I guess it is the idea of going in and figuring out what it is that everyone will eat other than the actual shopping. On the bright side I do believe that the weather report is for a clear day - so no lugging groceries through the rain. I was able to get all the groceries in and put away by 1:00 p.m. - Now to figure out what to have for dinner. Always the challenging task. There is plenty of food in the house, just a lack of ideas.

Talking to Danielle she tells me that Faith is running around the house in her walker. She tells me that she will run over to wherever her toys are to get them. She also will try chasing around Danielle when she wants to be picked-up. Danielle says she is also grabbing hold of her leg while in the walker. She also is putting her arms out to whomever that she wants to pick her up. Faith has grown up so much in the last several weeks. I do hope to get to see her either Sunday or one day next week. Danielle also tells me that school is going well and that Ben seems to be doing well also - although school is not his favorite topic of conversation.

Mom and Abby came over for a short visit this afternoon. Mom brought me a birthday present. The Italian Market sign and a beautifully framed photo of Faith & I together. I hung the sign above the three windows in the kitchen and tucked the photo on the end table in the family room.

Abby had a good time playing in the yard with her dinosaurs and occasionally bringing them up to the deck so they could jump down into the big valley, where they could eat tree stars. She & her brother have been watching way too much Land Before Time.

Walter came by on his way to the Manchester football game - he had been out at the gym working out. Hopefully that the game will be worthy of the effort to attend. Sean has been out this afternoon playing with friends.

Newsletter & Email Gleanings:

Thought for the Day: "Enjoy life. There's plenty of time to be dead." Anon.

See You at 9:00 PM Eastern Time

In W.W.II there was an advisor to Churchill who organized a group of people who dropped what they were doing every day at a prescribed hour for one minute to collectively pray for the safety of England, its people and peace.

There is now a group of people organizing the same thing here in America. If you would like to participate: Every evening at 9:00 PM Eastern Time (8:00 PM Central) (6:00 PM Pacific), stop whatever you are doing and spend one minute praying for the safety of the United States, our troops, our citizens, and for a return to a Godly nation.

The Fisherman and The Investment Banker

The American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna.

The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The fisherman replied, only a little while.

The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish?

The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs.

The American then asked, "but what do you do with the rest of your time?"

The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life."

The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?"

To which the American replied, "15-20 years." "But what then?"

The American laughed and said that's the best part. "When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions."

"Millions.. Then what?"

The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."

EFT Newsletter

Happy Anniversary

Thursday Doings

Well the day has been pretty uneventful. Sean got off to school just fine this morning and home on the bus this afternoon. I worked on my CS2 lesson today, and will need to put some more time in on this one. It covered a number of different tools. I want to go over them again before next week's class so that I have a good grasp of the concepts before moving on.

Walter came over to visit for a spell before heading off to class, to take a test. He only work a little over half a day due to the weather conditions. We had a nice visit. The weather has been rainy on and off all day, so it wasn't very condusive for doing anything outside or involving water.

While Tweat was hanging out, outside this afternoon, I noticed a new fungus in the yard. This one has the look of a tiny bird bath. While walking around the yard I found a large branch that will work for Tweat to hang out on inside of the house. She seemed to enjoy it, I've left her cage door open and am waiting to see if she ventures out onto the branch on her own.

I received a lovely watch from Dean for our anniversary, it has cut-out hearts on either side of the watch face studded with crystals all the way around the watch face and the hearts. It is very nice.

Wednesday

Another fabulous morning to awaken to with a slight chill in the air. Lovely, lovely weather. That was until I walked downstairs for the second time this morning, in between the lovely fresh air had been replaced with the wafting scent of skunk! Phew! A couple of sprits of air freshener did help at the windows to repell the invading scent. Someone nearby must have frightened one.

Dean got off very early this morning for his meetings. I just hope he doesn't end up staying as late as he had to last night. It will just end up making him grumpy in the long haul.

The guys from Slurry Paving came back today to clean up the mess - Ha ha ha - I believe that they almost made as big a mess as they did the first time. It took 12 men and 3 vehicles to make more of a mess than there was before. As they were "cleaning the slurry mix off the concrete", using a power washer no less, they were riddling the house and car with rocks. They were pinging off the front door and the whole yard is littered with the mess. There are even rocks on my car in the driveway. Another neighbor used a push broom to sweep his drive and had a large dustpan full of the pellet sized rocks.

Sean came home on the bus this afternoon. He and Jasmine, spent part of the afternoon working on a paper for their English class. It was good to see him putting forth the effort to write the paper.

We are getting some drizzly rain here this afternoon. Not hard enough to force us to close the windows - a nice light rain.

From the Email Bag:

A Final Diagnosis

Thought I'd let my doctor check me, 'Cause I didn't feel quite right. . .
All those aches and pains annoyed me and I couldn't sleep at night.

He could find no real disorder but he wouldn't let it rest.
What with Medicare and Blue Cross, we would do a couple tests.

To the hospital he sent me though I didn't feel that bad.
He arranged for them to give me every test that could be had.

I was fluoroscoped and cystoscoped, my aging frame displayed.
Stripped, on an ice cold table, while my gizzards were x-rayed.

I was checked for worms and parasites, for fungus and the crud,
While they pierced me with long needles taking samples of my blood.

Doctors came to check me over, probed and pushed and poked around,
And to make sure I was living they then wired me for sound.

They have finally concluded, their results have filled a page.
What I have will someday kill me; my affliction is old age.

From the Poetic Princess website

Tuesday

What a glorious morning! The temperature outside is almost perfect, you only get a little chill in the shade. Spectacular!

I had an IEP Meeting this morning with the school, normally this is a head banging issue (you feeling like the only thing that comes out of them is your headache from beating your head against the wall), but today!...we actually came out of the meeting on a positive note and all the teachers/administrators involved were positive. Crossing my fingers and praying really hard here that this will stick - it was almost like it was too much of a good thing. I really makes me look forward to the rest of the school year.

I talked with Danielle on her way home from school today. She and the family are doing just fine. Miss Faith is consistantly saying Dada, but it's Momma that she's wanting most of the time, although she does know who Dada is. She also tells me that Faith is starting to sit up more on her own, especially when she is just leaning back too far. She flexes those abs and sits right on up. She'll have nice toned abs before she's two.

While I was talking with Danielle I noticed this grasshopper just sunning himself on the deck. He let me take a number of close-ups before hopping off to another spot.

I've thrown open the windows this afternoon and have turned off the air conditioning. It is fabulous in the house. The slight breeze blowing the sheers at the window and all that fresh air.

I even cut a small bouquet of flowers from the flower bed next to the driveway. Some lovely purple filler flowers and big yellow daisy type flowers.

I'm taking a big departure from the norm on dinner this evening. I found this really interesting recipe in the Woman's Day for Grilled Veggie Pizzas Alfredo. It looks terrific. The only trouble is it turned out that we were out of propane. So I've been busy broiling batches of veggies under the oven broiler. Sean has been sneaking pieces, so I believe that it will be going over well with him. Since Dean's running extremely late this evening, Sean & I are going to go ahead and get supper over with it. I know Sean is going to be happy. Just in case anyone is interested here's the recipe, adjusted since I didn't use the grill:

Grilled Veggie Pizzas Alfredo

1 tube (10oz) refrigerated pizza crust
1 lb whole portobello mushrooms, stems removed, cut into thick slices
1 each red and yellow pepper, quartered and cored, cut into thick slices
1 each (about 6oz) medium zucchini and yellow summer squash, cut lengthwise in 1/2-in.-thick slices
Nonstick spray
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup reduced-fat mushroom Alfredo sauce
5 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded (1 1/4 cups)

1. Heat oven broiler.
   
2. Press dough into a 15 x 11-inch rectangle.
3. Lightly coat veggies with nonstick spray; sprinkle with salt.
4. Broil vegetables, turning once: mushrooms and peppers 10 to 12 minutes - mushrooms should be tender and peppers slightly charred), squashes 8-10 minutes until tender.
5. Broil dough until lightly browned, turn that browned side is face downin the pan.
6. Spread crust with Alfredo sauce. Top with vegetables and cheese.
7. Bake at 400 until cheese melts.
   

Walter stopped by after his class this evening and had a bite of pizza. He said that this is a real keeper of a receipe!! Don't loose it. Lock it away in a safe deposit box - good. It was so nice seeing him enjoy it as much as he did.

When Dean gets back in from work - he had a late afternoon meeting with an out-of-town vendor, I hope that when he comes in his slice of this veggie creation isn't all soggy and unedible. Poor thing didn't get back home until almost 7:30p.m., dinner did keep though. He enjoyed it just as much as Walter. I really liked the facial expressions of satisfaction.

Dean is going to be off early for the next couple of days dealing with the out-of-town guy and attending a seminar for two days also. Busy fellow. Good luck and sleep well when you get the chance.

From the email bag:

This cute but very, very true cartoon came my way today. Isn't this the truth. It we aren't able to always fix everything, but we sure try to keep everyone from landing on their backsides.

Oh boy, one of my favorites...a lawyer joke:

"Legalism"

Two lawyers walk into a restaurant. They, put their briefcases on the floor and order two coffees. They get their coffee and pull out lunches from their briefcases.

"Sorry," the waitress says, "You can`t eat your own food here."

The lawyers look at one another, shrug their shoulders and swap sandwiches.

Cute Pun:

Shopping Center: Once you've seen one shopping center, you've seen a mall.

Monday Outing

After getting Sean off to school this morning and things together, I took a ride over across the river with Mom to pick up Elda & the kids to come over for the day. It was a nice ride.

Once I got home I spent a short amount of time tooling around the yard to see if anything was interesting. Mrs. Chong found this critter and a few of his friends eatting away at her azealas. She let me snap a photo before happily committing "insecticide".

Walter came by to visit before his dentist visit. Afterwards he picked me up to take me out to lunch and the afternoon for my upcoming birthday. We had a nice time together.

It has been looking like rain all day and we could use some more, I just wish it would make up it's mind whether it is going to come down or not.

NEVER FORGET

Click on the image to the left to be directed to actual footage shot on 9/11 by a couple only 500 yards away from the twin towers. They have entitled the footage "September 11, 2001: What We Saw".

Newsletter Gleanings:

Quotes:

• The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts;
• You have power over your mind - not outside events; and
• Your life is what your thoughts make it. [all three from Marcus Aurelius, emperor of Rome]

Thought for the Day: "Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance." Confucius

Thought of the Week: If your motivation for acquiring money or success comes from a nonsupportive root such as fear, anger, or the need to prove yourself, your money will never bring you happiness. - T Harv Eker

An Insight from The PatriotPost: Rome fell September 4, 476AD. It was overrun with illegal immigrants: Visigoths, Franks, Anglos, Saxons, Ostrogoths, Burgundians, Lombards, Jutes and Vandals, who at first assimilated and worked as servants, but then came so fast they did not learn the Latin Language or the Roman form of government. Highly trained Roman Legions moving rapidly on their advanced road system, were strained fighting conflicts worldwide. Rome had a trade deficit, having outsourced most of its grain production to North Africa, and when Vandals captured that area, Rome did not have the resources to retaliate. Attila the Hun was committing terrorist attacks. The city of Rome was on welfare with citizens being given free bread. One Roman commented: Those who live at the expense of the public funds are more numerous than those who provide them. Tax collectors were more terrible than the enemy. Gladiators provided violent entertainment in the Coliseum. There was injustice in courts, exposure of unwanted infants, infidelity, immorality and perverted bathhouses. 5th-Century historian Salvian wrote: O Roman people be ashamed... Let nobody think otherwise, the vices of our bad lives have alone conquered us. William Federer

Sunday

Today was a pretty quite Sunday. While Dean took LG to Patient First to check her out - turns out it's just a virus to get over. At least it was able to put her at ease.

I headed off early to choir practice, Sunday school & church. During Sunday school today we cover the New Age Movement and how it is basically a believe anything that you want smogaborg of idealogy with no "leader". Dr. Fowler had a great sermon

This afternoon Walter dropped by for a visit, he had been out on a driving excursion and just wanted to come by and play on the computer for a while with a couple of the music programs. Not much else going on.

Saturday

Dean got an early jump on the day. He was up and out well before I even got out of bed this morning. He took his car out for a good vaccuming out and wash. He's even got the car wax to hand wax the cars. He finishing up the waxing job on his car in the driveway, although he's had to move the car, the sun caught up with him in the first shady spot he had staked out. His car looks terrific, it is so sparkling and shiny.

Dean has also put down some bug killer - away with the ants. Away!! They have been really building up some colonies out amongst the bushes, and near the edge of the lawn.

I've put in some time pulling weeds out of the flower bed next to the drive. I'll finish up later on in the day when the sun isn't beating straight down on that area. It's gotten to be around 7:15 p.m. and I'm going to head out and get up all the weeds that I pulled earlier. I was going to get to it much earlier, but got sucked into watching a couple of movies on HBO.

I've worked on updating the template for the blog - there are a number of changes, mostly minor, but I hope that they will make it easier for everyone to view. If see a little envelope at the bottom of the posts that is a link that will let you email that particular post to whoever you want to. I'm going to try it out for awhile to see if I like it, if not it may disappear.

Sean slept until almost 1:30 p.m. today. I could hardly believe it. He then has been out and about with the guys in the neighborhood. He's back now and playing on the playstation with Dillon.

Fungus Among Us Friday

Walter gave me a call this morning he was heading out to Ladysmith to work. His crew was heading out to do a topo (topographical mapping). I hope that they are able to get this done without getting their feet too wet. He then said that he is going to drop by this evening to visit for a short while before heading out to the first high school game of the season. He is such a supporter of his alma mater.


Alice sent me these two three-panel cartoon that she drew entitled The SMS Kid. It is a humorous look at what goes on with their youngest. It may become a regular fixture here.

I started off the morning by taking Sean and his friend Andy to school. When I arrived back home I noticed several types of fungus/mushrooms in the yard and that sort of set off a chain reaction of events. I went out and photographed 16 different mushrooms in our yard; and then just for good measure I went out to Mom & Dad's and photographed about 28 different mushrooms or types of fungus. Alice said that I was a "Friend of Fungus" today.

Here are the photos in single sheet formats. Click on them to enlarge. If you should want to see any particular one in its full-size glory, just let me know.

Sean had a big afternoon out on the deck with several of the guys from the neighborhood. They played Apples to Apples, you could tell by all the laughter coming from outside that they were having a great time.

Walter came by this afternoon on his way to the Manchester vs. Thomas Dale football game. We had a really nice visit. As he was leaving it has begun to sprinkle some, perhaps it will hold off on really raining until after the game.

Sean has skated off to Skate-Away for the evening, leaving Dean & I home to find something good here to watch on television. He'll have a long evening and be ready to fall into bed when he gets home later tonight.

Thoughts for the Day:

• Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
• Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.......

From the Email:

Attitude Is Everything

There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and noticed she had only three hairs on her head. "Well," she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today." So she did and had a wonderful day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on her head. "H-m-m," she said, "I think I'll part my hair down the middle today." So she did and she had a wonderful day.

The next day woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head. "Well," she said, "Today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail." So she did and she had a fun, fun day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head. "YEAH!" she exclaimed, "I don't have to fix my hair today!" Attitude is everything.

The "Forwarder's" 12-Step Program

Sometimes friends have to tell you things you might not like to hear, but need to. If you are one of those people who like to forward every e-mail you get, please repeat the following ...

1. I will NOT get bad luck, lose my friends, or lose my mailing lists if I DON'T forward an e-mail!
2. I will NOT hear any music or see a taco dog, if I do forward an e-mail.
3. Bill Gates is NOT going to send me money. Victoria Secret doesn't know anything about a gift certificate they're supposed to send me.
4. Ford will NOT give me a 50% discount even if I forward my e-mail to more than 50 people!
5. I will NEVER receive gift certificates, coupons, or freebies from Coca Cola, Cracker Barrel, Old Navy, or anyone else if I send an e-mail to 10 people.
6. I will NEVER see a pop-up window if I forward an e-mail! (If you do, you have a virus or Trojan.)
7. There is NO SUCH THING as an e-mail tracking program and I am not STUPID enough to think that someone will send me $100 for forwarding an e-mail to 10 or more people!
8. There is NO kid with cancer through the Make-a-Wish program in England collecting anything! He did when he was 7 years old. He is now cancer free and 35 years old and DOESN'T WANT ANY MORE POST CARDS, or GET-WELL CARDS!
9. The government does not have a bill in Congress called 901B (or whatever they named it this week) that, if passed, will enable them to charge us 5 cents for every e-mail we send.
10. There will be NO cool dancing, singing, waving, colorful flowers, characters, or program that I will receive immediately after I forward an e-mail. NONE, ZIP, ZERO, NADA!!
11. The American Red Cross will NOT donate 50 cents to certain individuals dying of some never-heard-of disease for every e-mail address I send this to. The American Red Cross RECEIVES donations.
12. And finally, I WILL NOT let others guilt me into forwarding at email by telling me if I don't I am not their friend or that I'm a bad person.

Now, repeat this to yourself until you have it memorized, and send it along to at least 5 of your friends before the next full moon or you will gain twenty pounds in the next three months! (No, not really! If you believe that last statement, go back and read this message again!)

Newsletter Gleanings:

Sad News About Beer

You have to hope that this study is flawed, but the evidence seems irrefutable. Yesterday scientists for Health Canada suggested that, considering the results of a recent analysis that revealed the presence of female hormones in beer, men should take a long hard look at their beer consumption. The theory is that drinking beer makes men turn into women.

To test the theory, 100 men were fed 6 pints of beer each within a one hour period. It was then observed that 100% of the men gained weight, talked excessively without making sense, became overly emotional, couldn't drive, failed to think rationally, argued over nothing, had to sit down while urinating, couldn't perform sexually, and refused to apologize when wrong.

No further testing is planned.