There is so much to say about this I don't know where to begin...
There is so much to say about this I don't know where to begin...
Cake baked and decorated by D1
In front of the Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
Trevi fountain, Rome
"whatcha doin?"
Hats in London
Jump!
1st year of basketball
Beef eaters
Palace gardens, Copenhagen
Take a dive?
Field day
Chess with Grandpa
Picking up his first puppy
School fun (pre homeschool days)
with his "cousin" - haha
Blue eyed boy
Wet kisses
Pan flutes in Costa Rica
Coconuts in Thailand
Thai cooking lesson (red curry paste)
The last of my chicklets is now a teen.
We tend to make birthdays a drawn out affair. He has only had a couple actual birthday parties. Because his birthday falls in the summer his friends have always been scattered and difficult to find come birthday time. We are far more likely to choose an activity and a couple of his best friends to do it with - then add a special gift and a meal of his choice and a bit of catering to by his sisters et voila, Happy Birthday to you boy! For his sixth birthday we were in Ireland come his birthday so we celebrated by having dinner at Bunratty Castle where he was serenaded by the servers who were dressed in med-evil attire.
This year we began back before the Caribbean trip by giving him the DSixl he wanted so that he'd have it for the trip. Tuesday we picked up his two best friends (brothers, the oldest of which has been a steady part of the boy's life since he was two weeks old) and we began 2 days of fun and frolick. We started with a trip to a large field, two corgis, and a frisbee. All ran and played until the corgis collapsed. Then, after depositing the dogs at home, we proceeded to the local "Fun Depot" where the boys played laser tag, drove go carts, climbed a wall, and played video games. From there it was some much needed lunch and then a trip to the theater to watch Toy Story 3 (in 2D not 3). Dinner was picked up on the way home - pizza of course - and then the three of them settled in for hours of Wii fun in our basement wreck room. At nightfall the boys gathered in the drive for pyrotechnics. Nothing big, but none the less fun for them. Then the hub and I retired for the night and the boys watched a movie (Princess Bride- Hello, My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die) and played more Wii. Somewhere along the way they fell asleep and stayed that way until nearly noon. Finally they grabbed something to eat - not really breakfast, not really lunch, but enough to sustain for a trip to the pool. The sky was clear and the temp in the low 90s so the weather was perfect. They only lasted a couple hours though, I think they were finally truely tired. Just as well as mid-day the friends were picked up by their mother and they left for a trip straight from here.
Today is the boy's actual birthday. One sister is returning home today and this evening we'll go to the restaurant of his choice and he'll order whatever he wants. Tomorrow the second of his sisters will return and probably Saturday he and she will bake up some sort of cake together.
And there you have it - one long drawn-out birthday.
Happy birthday boy!
In front of the Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
Trevi fountain, Rome
"whatcha doin?"
Hats in London
Jump!
1st year of basketball
Beef eaters
Palace gardens, Copenhagen
Take a dive?
Field day
Chess with Grandpa
Picking up his first puppy
School fun (pre homeschool days)
with his "cousin" - haha
Blue eyed boy
Wet kisses
Pan flutes in Costa Rica
Coconuts in Thailand
Thai cooking lesson (red curry paste)
The last of my chicklets is now a teen.
We tend to make birthdays a drawn out affair. He has only had a couple actual birthday parties. Because his birthday falls in the summer his friends have always been scattered and difficult to find come birthday time. We are far more likely to choose an activity and a couple of his best friends to do it with - then add a special gift and a meal of his choice and a bit of catering to by his sisters et voila, Happy Birthday to you boy! For his sixth birthday we were in Ireland come his birthday so we celebrated by having dinner at Bunratty Castle where he was serenaded by the servers who were dressed in med-evil attire.
This year we began back before the Caribbean trip by giving him the DSixl he wanted so that he'd have it for the trip. Tuesday we picked up his two best friends (brothers, the oldest of which has been a steady part of the boy's life since he was two weeks old) and we began 2 days of fun and frolick. We started with a trip to a large field, two corgis, and a frisbee. All ran and played until the corgis collapsed. Then, after depositing the dogs at home, we proceeded to the local "Fun Depot" where the boys played laser tag, drove go carts, climbed a wall, and played video games. From there it was some much needed lunch and then a trip to the theater to watch Toy Story 3 (in 2D not 3). Dinner was picked up on the way home - pizza of course - and then the three of them settled in for hours of Wii fun in our basement wreck room. At nightfall the boys gathered in the drive for pyrotechnics. Nothing big, but none the less fun for them. Then the hub and I retired for the night and the boys watched a movie (Princess Bride- Hello, My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die) and played more Wii. Somewhere along the way they fell asleep and stayed that way until nearly noon. Finally they grabbed something to eat - not really breakfast, not really lunch, but enough to sustain for a trip to the pool. The sky was clear and the temp in the low 90s so the weather was perfect. They only lasted a couple hours though, I think they were finally truely tired. Just as well as mid-day the friends were picked up by their mother and they left for a trip straight from here.
Today is the boy's actual birthday. One sister is returning home today and this evening we'll go to the restaurant of his choice and he'll order whatever he wants. Tomorrow the second of his sisters will return and probably Saturday he and she will bake up some sort of cake together.
And there you have it - one long drawn-out birthday.
Happy birthday boy!
According to CNN and Paul Payack (supposed language guru), We, the target audience of The One, The Only, The Magnificent Barack - are too stupid and feeble minded to understand the president's speech Tuesday night.
"President Obama's speech on the gulf oil disaster may have gone over the heads of many in his audience, according to an analysis of the 18-minute talk released Wednesday.
Tuesday night's speech from the Oval Office of the White House was written to a 9.8 grade level, said Paul J.J. Payack, president of Global Language Monitor. The Austin, Texas-based company analyzes and catalogues trends in word usage and word choice and their impact on culture.
Though the president used slightly less than four sentences per paragraph, his 19.8 words per sentence "added some difficulty for his target audience," Payack said."
Well excuse the hell out of me but I understood it just fine. Now given, I read the transcript - didn't listen to His Dithering Droolyness, just can't stomach listening to him. Sorry but I got over his articulate self long long ago. (Oh, and Mr Payack - it is "fewer" sentences not "less" sentences - Mr Language Guru should have better grammar than that)
Apparently Mr Payack thinks we would have problems comprehending this sentence :
"That is why just after the rig sank, I assembled a team of our nation's best scientists and engineers to tackle this challenge -- a team led by Dr. Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and our nation's secretary of energy."
Now, I've read words and sentences written by pretty much any of you who may be reading this post, and I've got to say - you've all written more complex sentences with bigger words and I for one have understood you just fine. Which word here is supposed to go over our heads? I've got to admit, I'm pretty sick of the "Nobel Prize-winning" phrase as though it means something highfalutin' - I mean, since The O, Al freakin'Gore, and Jimmeh Carteh got one it hardly means anything at all - so big fat whoop.
Payak says the previous sentence made the O sound aloof and out of touch and that he (the O) should use more common language to speak to us poor ignorant buffoons in his audience. Is Payak actually saying that the O should speak more like W? Just sayin'
I'm thinking Mr Payak is as woefully out of touch as ol' Tin Ear Barack himself.
Don't know what grade level this post would be judged to be - probably not as high as it could have been had I taken time with my vocabulary - but just zipping this out I have an average word length of 5.8 letters here to Obama's professorial 4.5, a sentence average of 22 words to the O's 19.8 (when I drop out all the quotes), and I bet you understood every word.
Does this give me a graduate degree? Because that would be Sweet!
"President Obama's speech on the gulf oil disaster may have gone over the heads of many in his audience, according to an analysis of the 18-minute talk released Wednesday.
Tuesday night's speech from the Oval Office of the White House was written to a 9.8 grade level, said Paul J.J. Payack, president of Global Language Monitor. The Austin, Texas-based company analyzes and catalogues trends in word usage and word choice and their impact on culture.
Though the president used slightly less than four sentences per paragraph, his 19.8 words per sentence "added some difficulty for his target audience," Payack said."
Well excuse the hell out of me but I understood it just fine. Now given, I read the transcript - didn't listen to His Dithering Droolyness, just can't stomach listening to him. Sorry but I got over his articulate self long long ago. (Oh, and Mr Payack - it is "fewer" sentences not "less" sentences - Mr Language Guru should have better grammar than that)
Apparently Mr Payack thinks we would have problems comprehending this sentence :
"That is why just after the rig sank, I assembled a team of our nation's best scientists and engineers to tackle this challenge -- a team led by Dr. Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and our nation's secretary of energy."
Now, I've read words and sentences written by pretty much any of you who may be reading this post, and I've got to say - you've all written more complex sentences with bigger words and I for one have understood you just fine. Which word here is supposed to go over our heads? I've got to admit, I'm pretty sick of the "Nobel Prize-winning" phrase as though it means something highfalutin' - I mean, since The O, Al freakin'Gore, and Jimmeh Carteh got one it hardly means anything at all - so big fat whoop.
Payak says the previous sentence made the O sound aloof and out of touch and that he (the O) should use more common language to speak to us poor ignorant buffoons in his audience. Is Payak actually saying that the O should speak more like W? Just sayin'
I'm thinking Mr Payak is as woefully out of touch as ol' Tin Ear Barack himself.
Don't know what grade level this post would be judged to be - probably not as high as it could have been had I taken time with my vocabulary - but just zipping this out I have an average word length of 5.8 letters here to Obama's professorial 4.5, a sentence average of 22 words to the O's 19.8 (when I drop out all the quotes), and I bet you understood every word.
Does this give me a graduate degree? Because that would be Sweet!
Did I get your attention? Nothing like a little potty talk right?
This vid is done by some musician friends of mine - well, even more so friends of my D3 - but mine too. They (Mark - the singer songwriter guitar player in the vid and Julee the pregnant young woman seen dancing behind him in a light blue blouse) were married a couple years ago and in addition to the coming young prince have their first dog together. They have put together a CD of songs Mark has written after watching their dog (Jesse) for a while. The CD will be released in August but they sent me a link to the vid and I thought all you dog lover blog buddies might get a giggle out of it so have a listen and enjoy.
This vid is done by some musician friends of mine - well, even more so friends of my D3 - but mine too. They (Mark - the singer songwriter guitar player in the vid and Julee the pregnant young woman seen dancing behind him in a light blue blouse) were married a couple years ago and in addition to the coming young prince have their first dog together. They have put together a CD of songs Mark has written after watching their dog (Jesse) for a while. The CD will be released in August but they sent me a link to the vid and I thought all you dog lover blog buddies might get a giggle out of it so have a listen and enjoy.
CHINA?!
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
"The federal government would have “absolute power” to shut down the Internet under the terms of a new US Senate bill being pushed by Joe Lieberman, legislation which would hand President Obama a figurative “kill switch” to seize control of the world wide web in response to a Homeland Security directive."
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
"The federal government would have “absolute power” to shut down the Internet under the terms of a new US Senate bill being pushed by Joe Lieberman, legislation which would hand President Obama a figurative “kill switch” to seize control of the world wide web in response to a Homeland Security directive."
This is pretty much the extent of my gardening this year. I just don't have the desire to grub in the dirt to do much more than water a few pots.
Most of my plants don't bloom much anymore. They need food, and probably more light than they get - and many need dividing. But I'm lazy, so I only get a handful of blooms here and there. However if you take close up photos of a few here and there you can give the illusion of a yard full of blooms, right?
I don't know what these are, and frankly I don't even remember planting - as far as I know they just showed up three or four years ago. I like them though, they look like bell skirts - like they should have tiny fairy ladies swinging gaily at their tops...
These are a relative of lamb's ear- they have soft, fuzzy, gray green leaves like lamb's ear - but unlike lamb's ear the flowers are actually pretty. I've been told these are rose campion. Don't know if that is so, but I love their color. Another feature they share with lamb's ear is that they spread like no body's business...
These are balloon flowers - named for the obvious right before they burst open...
And a selection of my day lily varieties...
That is all, it is hot and this southern belle must retire under the ceiling fan with a glass of iced tea.
Most of my plants don't bloom much anymore. They need food, and probably more light than they get - and many need dividing. But I'm lazy, so I only get a handful of blooms here and there. However if you take close up photos of a few here and there you can give the illusion of a yard full of blooms, right?
I don't know what these are, and frankly I don't even remember planting - as far as I know they just showed up three or four years ago. I like them though, they look like bell skirts - like they should have tiny fairy ladies swinging gaily at their tops...
These are a relative of lamb's ear- they have soft, fuzzy, gray green leaves like lamb's ear - but unlike lamb's ear the flowers are actually pretty. I've been told these are rose campion. Don't know if that is so, but I love their color. Another feature they share with lamb's ear is that they spread like no body's business...
These are balloon flowers - named for the obvious right before they burst open...
And a selection of my day lily varieties...
That is all, it is hot and this southern belle must retire under the ceiling fan with a glass of iced tea.
The yard is way beyond over grown. We've had some amount of rain pretty much daily for the last 2-3 months so all the green stuffs are happy happy. I've been working in the house instead of in the yard - a woman can only do so much ya know - but today I just couldn't take it anymore. Had to get the machete out just to get to the front door and you could have hidden a horde of peeping Toms in the azaleas at the windows. The air conditioners were completely hidden and therefore insulated by the box woods - not good for compressors they tell me - and bushes touching siding is a good way to end up with termite damage too. So out came the clippers.
The job is by no means done, but it is better and by the time I stopped I looked like I'd jumped into a pool fully dressed.
Here is my general rule though - after the first bout with poison ivy for the year I don't pull weeds any more that year. Got poison ivy in my eyes the first time I pulled weeds this year. Second rule - after I see my first snake of the year, no more garden work, the snake gets to have all the room he wants. Today I saw a five foot long black snake. The garden is all his.
I know black snakes are harmless, and this guy was big enough to make a dent in the moles and voles. I just plan to let him hunt to his private content that's all.
Spiders have too many legs and snakes don't have enough.
Add to these two events (the poison ivy and the snake) the fact that the boy is now able to start the mower alone and is doing a respectable job mowing the lawn and I do believe it equals no yard work in the heat for me this summer! Hooray!
The job is by no means done, but it is better and by the time I stopped I looked like I'd jumped into a pool fully dressed.
Here is my general rule though - after the first bout with poison ivy for the year I don't pull weeds any more that year. Got poison ivy in my eyes the first time I pulled weeds this year. Second rule - after I see my first snake of the year, no more garden work, the snake gets to have all the room he wants. Today I saw a five foot long black snake. The garden is all his.
I know black snakes are harmless, and this guy was big enough to make a dent in the moles and voles. I just plan to let him hunt to his private content that's all.
Spiders have too many legs and snakes don't have enough.
Add to these two events (the poison ivy and the snake) the fact that the boy is now able to start the mower alone and is doing a respectable job mowing the lawn and I do believe it equals no yard work in the heat for me this summer! Hooray!
you re-paint white doors? The trim around them looks dingy. Project list just got longer...
How fun is this?
Making good progress on all my projects. Maybe I'll finish by the end of summer - oh wait, homeowner - the projects are never finished...
Making good progress on all my projects. Maybe I'll finish by the end of summer - oh wait, homeowner - the projects are never finished...
Without taking any cheap shots at Helen Thomas's age or haggishness - this woman disgusts me. Her ignorance is inexcusable.
I for one stand with the nation of Israel as well as the country of Israel now and always.
I for one stand with the nation of Israel as well as the country of Israel now and always.
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
