Wednesday, September 28, 2005

It figures!

Your Career Type: Conventional
You are orderly and good at following a set plan.
Your talents lie in working with written records and numbers in a systematic, orderly way.
You would make an excellent:
Bank Teller - Bookkeeper - Court Clerk Mail Carrier - Post Office Clerk - Secretary Timekeeper - Title Examiner - Typist I've done everything in this color, at least sort of.

The worst career options for your are artistic careers, like comedian or dancer.

7 Answers to 7 Questions

I've got a few minutes and I noticed Jen tagged me so I thought I'd give it a go. I don't know how to do the ... thingy so you get the see the whole thing here...

7 things I plan to do before I die:
1. update my will.
2. try really hard to be happily married.
3. Go back to Hawaii.
4. Get my log cabin.
5. Admit my past to my DD, so hopefully she won't make the same mistakes.
6. Have a grandkid, at least.
7. Give my DD the best education so she can be whatever she wants to be when she grows up.

7 things I can do:
1. I can sew pretty good halloween costumes.
2. I can cross stitch just about anything, although I haven't touched one since 1996.
3. I can do a pretty darn good job of singing along with almost any song that I like.
4. I can help women breastfeed their babies.
5. Help my kid learn anything she wants to know, and learn a lot myself in the meantime.
6. Remember a lot of useless trivia.
7. I can quote classical literature as an analogy.

7 things I cannot do:
1. Shut up while I'm ahead. <-sorry to borrow that one from Jen, but I suffer from foot in mouth too.
2. Get my stupid shower clean!
3. Have everything that I want.
4. Get the whole house clean at the same time. <-share that with Jen too
5. Talk Darly into trying new foods.
6. Burn candals in my house when DH is at home.
7. Keep very organized.

7 things that attract me to another person:
1. Right
2. Now
3. Isn't a
4. Good Time
5. For Me
6. To Answer
7. This Question.

7 celebrity crushes:
I don't really do crushes... much. ;o) But Pierce Brosnan is a hottie! (note: my DH doesn't look ANYTHING like that...oh well!)

7 Things I say the most:
1. I love you.
2. Is this where this belongs?
3. Lilly! Get In HERE!
4. I can't see the coffee table!
5. Lord Help Me!
6. This can't live here.
7. Thank You, Jesus.

7 bloggers I am tagging:
If your name isn't listed below and you are reading my blog, then YOU'VE BEEN TAGGED!
HA HA HA! Actually I don't know of anyone else who is reading this blog, so if you are SAY SOMETHING, PLEASE! :D
Julie
Renee
Lady
Sheri
Dawn
Scott
Aimee

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Moochas Smoochas!

Moochas Smoochas to whomever it was that fixed the code on my blog so that my profile is up near the top instead of hiding way down at the bottom below my last post. Yay!

now I can click on my friend's blog links to go & visit them. Yippie!

Friday, September 23, 2005

Still more craziness!

I think that things will slow down next week, at least I hope so.

I heard from DH on Monday night. He is doing fine, but very busy. They had them out on Saturday handing out supplies of Ice, Water & MREs (that's Meals Ready to Eat or military food) to people. He said it was really hot that day so the guys were "fighting" to be in the truck to move the ice. There were a lot of people. He also said that he got interviewed for a Alaskan News program...LOL, I don't think I'll catch that one. :D

Here's what we did on Monday... I started off the day with a La Leche League meeting. I had 3 people that I wasn't expecting show up and one of their kids caused all kinds of chaios. Let's just say there was stripping, lots of trips to the bathroom & a vacuume cleaner involved. This person says that she'll try to get a sitter next time. I sure hope so!

Mid day I had an appointment to go to. So Darly stayed with a friend. She had a good time, they played Monopoly, a version different than hers (the Monopoly Jr Princess edd) so now she wants that version too. *insert rolling eyes smiliey here*

Then Darly had her gymnastics class. Our gymnastics gym has a very small parking lot with very lousy access. Last winter I found out the HARD way that the 4x4 on my car had gone out trying to get into this parking lot. So I tried to park in the lot of the building next door. It was after 5pm and all the businesses are closed. I was also parking behind the building. I came back to a note on my car that it was PRIVATE PARKING. I guess they're pretty ticked that 3 businesses are trying to share the building with the Gymnastics and there isn't enough parking... someone has installed No Parking signs along the road, but they've all been covered with plastic...probably at the pleading of the gym owner. Oye! It's a good thing that I like this gym. Oh shoot I just remembered that I forgot to pay her tuition. shoot! Maybe if I run it over tomorrow?

So then Tuesday we had a field trip to Anderson's Farm. The kids had a blast. We had the whole place to ourselves because they aren't really open for the season yet (they do a HUGE Pumpkin Festival each year) so the kids had the run of the place. This year they planted at least 10 different kinds of pumpkin & goard seeds in the same field. Some of the plants cross pollenated so there were some wierd looking pumpkins out there. The kids got to see all the baby animals and feed the goats. And they got to run on top of the haybale maze. We have sugar pumpkins in our garden, so Darly picked a "white" pumpkin. I'm glad we went.

And for the past 3 days we have been camping with Darly's Girl Scout troop. Our troop is very different than your typical troop. Families are all invited to be a part of everything that we do. So Moms/Dads & siblings were along for the campout. I'm glad that we had a dad with us too because in the campsite near us was this man who gave us a wierd feeling. I also had our dog with us because there was no one to watch her at home. The dog was great at learning who was okay and who she needed to growl at and she was also great at cleaning up the ground after meals. :D The first night was very cold and raining. Darly slept right threw it, but the dog was nervous. The second night was still very cold but no rain. I think that I slept better. I'll probably do much better tonight... Darly is already sacked out on the couch.

While we were gone, MIL called from the airport to see if we had heard from her son. I'm pretty sure that he's calling her just as much as he does us. He's a really good son.

The weekend looks like it will still be busy, but Monday should calm down. Maybe I can get some more painting done next week. I would really like to get all the painting done before DH gets back on the 5th... but he could be extended (which would be bad) I would rather not be finished and have him back.

TTFN!

Monday, September 19, 2005

Still wayyyy too busy...

Well we last left off on Thursday...

Friday afternoon we went to Girl Scouts. That was fun. The girls exchanged their Secret Sister notes, presented their Water Conservation "projects" and we planned for the camp out. Darly didn't have a water conservation project as her mom has been too busy to think straight lately and didn't even tell her that she had to do one. So at the meeting Darly took a sheet of paper and drew pictures of one way that we conserve water around here. Then she presented it to the group. She did so well, I'm so proud of her. She doesn't seem at all nervous about public speaking. Yay! 'cuz her mommy is a great big old public speaking turkey!

Saturday was crazy. Darly has gymnastics class on Mondays and of course there was no class for Labor Day...so they re-scheduled for Saturday. We were already scheduled to go to Kidz Kulture (a program put on by the local Art Guild & Library...using our tax dollars.) Kidz runs from 10 to 11:30...Gymnastics was scheduled from 11 to 12. Darly wanted to ditch Gymnastics...but at over $14 per class and we've already missed one this month, there was no way.
So the compromise was that we would go to Kidz and just do the art project. So we missed out on what looked like a really cool presentation on the solar system by the local Science & Nature museum...bummer! Then we went to Gymnastics class. Which turned out really good as Darly got one of the better coaches this time (lately she's been stuck with the same beginner coach for almost a month.)

Sunday was our first Sunday School class of the "new year". I'm teaching the Drama class. So they were acting out the story of Abram/Abraham & Sari/Sarah. The kids were awesome, even the 1st graders did really well. I really loved how well the 3rd graders were helping the 1st graders with their lines. :D And then after acting out the "play" twice, I asked the kids if they knew what the point to the story was. I gave them the hint that it was one of the points from Vacation Bible School and "A" got it right away. And the class got it! Yay! Then because we had more time, We sang "Father Abraham" and did most of the actions. The crew leader was thrilled because that was one of her favorite songs...so I didn't have to be a dork and sing all by myself. Then Darly says, "that's a lot like the Hokie Pokie." and the kids wanted to do that song. blech!

Last night was our homeschooling Not Back To School Party. It was great picnicing with a bunch of homeschooling families. And of course anytime to visit with adults is fun for me :D. But soon after eating, Darly wasn't feeling well and we went home. She conked out on the sofa for a few hours and was then feeling great...go figure! ;o)

Friday, September 16, 2005

Wow! How time flies!

first: Yes, Julie that was a DSN call.

Okay the zoo was totally great. It was fun hanging out with my bro, SIL & god child. Boy he is growing up so fast! He's walking now and that's about all he wants to do.

We took our waggon with us in case anyone (kid sized) got tired of walking. I warned Darly that DN might want to pull the waggon himself and she said that was okay with her as long as he didn't get hurt. But wouldn't you know it, Bro asks if he can have a ride in the waggon too. I told him that we had already informed SIL that he could not. DN spent a lot of time in the waggon and Darly rode some too, sometimes with DN. They were very cute together. DN hates to have his hand held, so we don't have any "buddy-buddy" shots of the cousins. But we do have them both riding in the waggon.

DN was about ready for his nap so they took off at about 12:30. Darly & I stayed for a little bit after that. We decided to see the animal show and they asked Darly if she wanted to be in the show. She was so excited. We've seen the show before and wanted to help with the trained dog, but instead they had her try to break open a Brazil Nut with her bare hands in a contest versus a Macaw. Well you know who won that! Poor Darly was pretty dissapointed. But I got her picture on stage and they gave her a button.

Sunday was Ralley Day at Church. It was actually pretty boring. They really need to do something better for it next year. All we were supposed to do was register (which most of us have already done), see our class rooms and meet our teachers (most of them were not there!) I scoped out the costume closet for my Drama class that I'll be teaching... not sure what kind of costume to put on God. Hummm. DH called again that night (totally unexpected as once a week is usually too often for him. He said that he still doesn't have email...bummer!) Oh and I signed up for our Coop classes at midnight...I guess that would technically be Monday morning. huh? ;o)

Monday I had to get up early to help out at Church answering phones. (a group of us take turns to do this) When we got there we noticed a burning smell. Pastor D explained that the kids had burnt popcorn the day before downstairs and the smell was just still lingering. But as the day went on the smell got worse...then Pastor D realized that he had put an egg on the stove to boil for his lunch and forgotten it. The pot had run dry and the egg was making all the smell...blech! He opened up the back door to get the smell out. I worked on creating a spreadsheet for all of the folks who signed up for the Music ministry. But it was a pain because whomever designed the sign up sheet didn't put in enough room for the addresses so lots of folks just skipped filling it out and I had to look them up in the directories.

Tuesday I had to clean the house because my friends were coming over for a meeting. It was totally worth cleaning the house and fun to have them over. It's too bad that I live way out in the boonies from them. I would like to have people over more often.
Wednesday was Park Day and Darly had fun playing with a new friend. I had to keep reminding her to stay in my sightline. At one point she really freaked me out by "hiding"/playing under a bush on the other side of the park from us. It made a cool fort for them, but it's proxmity to the street just made me too nervous. Later that day we began painting my bedroom. It was looking totally cool.

Thursday we worked more on my bedroom and didn't go anywhere. Believe it or not I still didn't get it finished. I was so bummed.
I finally finished my bedroom this morning and moved all the furniture back into place. It looks so cool. Now I can dig out my pictures and hang them up on the walls. They've been in boxes since we moved in here because I refused to hang them until the walls were painted.
Where's my hammer? ;o)

I wanted to paint my master bathroom too, but I was checking out all the stuff that I have to tape around and am seriously wondering if it's even worth it. But the walls need a paint job, so I guess I should do it. We're scheduled to be very busy until the 26th and I want to get the family room painted too...so we'll see. If DH's away job gets extended I'll probably get the bathroom done too.

Friday, September 09, 2005

Meanwhile, back at the ranch....

We've been too busy.

Yesterday, after spending all day helping with the bake sale, we ran home to shower, eat & get ready for TNO. Oh I also found out that UPS had brought me 7, 45lb boxes of books for LLL and left them on my front porch! I drug them all inside my foyer. lovely bruises

TNO is the monthly Teacher's Night Out that my homeschooling support group does. I asked a friend's teenager to watch Darly so that I could go and she agreed. I took Darly to her house because it was right near TNO and it didn't make any sense to get K bring her here, go to TNO, drive back here and then drive K all the way back home right next to TNO. It was probably the easiest money she's ever made as Darly played with her younger sister the whole time. But soooo worth it! I really needed a time out.

TNO was great, a little chilly but fun. I drank a medium sized coffee...bad idea, but it tasted good. We all were tired (from the bake sale) and left right at 10pm. I went to pick up Darly, she had a great time.
Since I was so buzzed from the coffee, I was up pretty late.

Then this morning we had to get up early to go to our field trip. I called the guy this morning to confirm, it took a while before it clicked who I was. But we were all set.

Then I tried yet again to get my paperwork straight with Paypal. I tried to fax the documents to them, but their line was busy. Then I tried again and again. I left the documents open on my computer and left for my field trip.

The field trip was nice and it was fun to ride on the Trolley. But I think the best part for everyone was that the seats flip over so you sit forward even when the Trolley goes the other direction. Darly sat near the engine, so she didn't hear much...but she didn't miss much as the guy wasn't all that informative... "over to your left is Invesco Field... and on the right is the Denver Skyline......but over there you can see it better." he says the last part after I had already snapped my picture! Oh well, the kids had fun.

So on our way home I stopped by my Church to see if I could borrow their dolley to move those boxes mentioned before. Almost everyone had gone to a meeting, so all I could do was ask the Music Director. I told her that she was in charge of everything and what I wanted and I could have it back in an hour. She laughed and said that she really didn't care if I used. So I said that I would even put more air in the tires as someone mentioned that they were low. She laughed even more and said that I could use it for two hours. Got home, moved boxes with ease and returned the dolley.

Before I returned the dolley, I tried yet again to fax my paperwork to Paypal. It went through...but then I noticed that it had also gone through 3 times while we were gone! Oops! I forgot that it tries 3 times to send a fax and I had tried myself 3 times so it kept on trying for 9 times. I bet they're happy with me!

We stayed at Church and helped get ready for Rally Sunday & a fundraiser for a family who's father is now in hospice...3 kids around Darly's age.

We then got ice cream! And then went to the grocery store.

After all of that Darly & I both conked out on the couch! Dinner was noodle soup for me & yogurt for her...too tired to eat.

Tomorrow is the zoo with my brother's family. Wish me luck! :D

DH finally called...

We finally heard from DH this evening. He called us using a Morale call so the caller ID showed his work number...kinda weird, but I was pretty sure it was him.

He is doing fine, working very hard. It's very hot and humid down there...I'm sure he's loosing weight (something he doesn't really need to do!)
He just moved into a dorm on the base. It has power, a microwave & a TV but there aren't any working TV stations nearby so it's worthless right now. They just got power back on today (guess that news should have come before the TV part?) Oh, his room doesn't have any carpet because they had to remove that for water damage. But he does have AC, he also had that in the tent. The major improvement is he doesn't have to sleep on a cot anymore...he's got a mattress. (totally forgot to see if he got his supplies...oops!)

His job there has been to build Tent Cities to house all the military personelle staying at the base. They are currently housed in the hangars, and starting tomorrow 550 will get to move into 20 man tents. They will also have latrines, showers, laundry facilities & mess tents.

Some of his guys have been out in the community handing out supplies. I forgot to ask, but I'm guessing that the personelle that are about to get the tents are out in the community helping. Some have been at the docks clearing out debris so that the ports can be re-opened.

They have water service, but none of it is potable.

And that was about it for my update. If you knew my DH that was a ton of info, but for me it all fit onto a 2.5 x 3.5 inch peice of paper. And knowing him, I probably won't hear from him again for at least a week. If it's all the same he doesn't bother updating. Just the way he is.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Still no word from DH yet...

We haven't heard from DH since Sunday morning. I'm guessing that he still hasn't been able to charge his cell phone.

Darly & I have been pretty busy since Tuesday. Monday we did mostly stuff around the house.

Tuesday we went to Church to put together the newsletters. I got to talk to our Pastor and let him know. The Pastor also asked that I contact the new Sunday School Superintendent and help her take over the job. I sent her a long email and told her I would be happy to show her around. Afterward we went shopping for paint, a new plug for Darly's tub and a tent.
I changed out the plug in her tub. It was actually very easy. The guy at the hardware store said that it would be. "I'm a plumber and didn't know it!" ;o)

Wednesday (today) was Park Day. I got caught up on my email and then woke Darly up. I sent a fax and then we went to my garden to pick what we could to share with my friends. At the park I got to visit with my friends and Darly played with her friends. My friends enjoyed the cherry tomatoes that I brought...next time I'll just put out a box for them to have for a snack! I can't eat them like candy like that...gotta have a fork to poke the juice out first.
After the park we went to the mall for lunch and I bought two sweaters. Then we came home to bake for our bake sale tomorrow. We're going to have a bake sale/lemonade stand to raise money for the hurricane vicitims. The kids are excited. The stuff we baked looks great and peliminary testing concludes that it's yummy!

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

A happy ending that choked me up...

A child in charge of `6 babies'
By Ellen Barry Tribune Newspapers: Los Angeles TimesTue Sep 6, 9:40 AM ET
In the chaos that was Causeway Boulevard, this group of refugees stood out: a 6-year-old boy walking down the road, holding a 5-month-old, surrounded by five toddlers who followed him around as if he were their leader.

They were holding hands. Three of the children were about 2, and one was wearing only diapers. A 3-year-old girl, who wore colorful barrettes on the ends of her braids, had her 14-month-old brother in tow. The 6-year-old spoke for all of them, and he told rescuers his name was Deamonte Love.

Thousands of human stories have flown past relief workers in the last week, but few have touched them as much as the seven children who were found wandering together Thursday at an evacuation point in downtown New Orleans.

In the Baton Rouge headquarters of the rescue operation, paramedics tried to coax their names out of them; nurses who examined them stayed up that night, brooding.

Transporting the children alone was "the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, knowing that their parents are either dead" or that they had been abandoned, said Pat Coveney, a Houston emergency medical technician who put them into the back of his ambulance and drove them out of New Orleans.

"It goes back to the same thing," he said. "How did a 6-year-old end up being in charge of six babies?"

Children reported missing
So far, parents displaced by flooding have reported 220 children missing, but that number is expected to rise, said Mike Kenner of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, which will help reunite families.
"When my kids were little I used to lose them in Target, so it's not hard for me to believe," said Nanette White, press secretary for the Louisiana Department of Social Services. "Sometimes little kids just wander off. They're there one second and you blink and they're gone."

At the rescue headquarters, Deamonte volunteered his vital statistics. He said his father was tall and his mother was short. He gave his address, his phone number and the name of his elementary school.

He said the 5-month-old was his brother, Darynael, and that two others were his cousins, Tyreek and Zoria. The other three lived in his apartment building.

The children were clean and healthy--downright plump in the case of the infant, said Joyce Miller, a nurse who examined them. It was clear, she said, that "time had been taken with those kids."

All evening Thursday, volunteer Ron Haynes carried one of the 2-year-old girls back and forth, playing with her until she was calm enough to eat dinner.

"This baby child was terrified," he said. "After she relaxed, it was gobble, gobble, gobble."

Late the same night, they got an encouraging report: A woman in a shelter in Thibodaux, about 45 miles west of New Orleans, was searching for seven children. People in the building started clapping at the news. But when they got the mother on the phone, it became clear that she was looking for a different group, said Sharon Howard, assistant secretary of the office of public health.

"What that made me understand was that this was happening across the state," she said. "That kind of frightened me."

The children were transferred to a shelter operated by the Department of Social Services, with rooms full of toys and cribs where mentors from the Big Buddy Program were on hand day and night. For the next two days, the staff did detective work.

One of the 2-year-olds steadfastly refused to say her name until a worker took her picture with a digital camera and showed it to her. The little girl pointed at it and cried out, "Gabby!" One of the boys had a G printed on his T-shirt when he arrived; when volunteers started calling him G, they noticed that he responded.

Deamonte began to give more details to Derrick Robertson, a 27-year-old Big Buddy mentor: How he saw his mother cry when he was loaded onto the helicopter. How he promised her he would take care of his little brother.

Late Saturday, they found Deamonte's mother, who was in a shelter in San Antonio along with the four mothers of the other five children. Catrina Williams, 26, saw her children's pictures on a Web site set up over the weekend by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. By Sunday, a private plane from Angel Flight waited to take the children to Texas.

In a phone interview, Williams said she is the kind of mother who doesn't let her children out of her sight. What happened, she said, was that her family, trapped in a New Orleans apartment building, began to feel desperate.

Wrenching moment
The water wasn't going down, and they had been living without light, food or air conditioning for four days. The baby needed milk and the milk was gone. So she decided they would evacuate by helicopter. When a helicopter arrived, they were told to send the children first and that the helicopter would be back in 25 minutes.

It was a wrenching moment. Williams' father, Adrian Love, told her to send the children ahead.

"I told them to go ahead and give them up, because me, I would give my life for my kids. They should feel the same way," said Love, 48.
The helicopter didn't come back.

While the children were transported to Baton Rouge, their parents wound up in Texas. Days passed without contact. On Sunday, Williams was elated.

"All I know is I just want to see my kids," she said. "Everything else will just fall into place."

At 3 p.m. Sunday, social workers said goodbye to the children who now had names: Deamonte Love; Darynael Love; Zoria Love and her brother Tyreek. The girl who cried "Gabby!" was Gabrielle Janae Alexander. The girl they called Peanut was Degahney Carter. And the boy whom they called G was actually Lee--Leewood Moore Jr.

The children were strapped into car seats and driven to an airport for the flight to San Antonio to rejoin their parents. Deamonte was hanging on to Robertson's neck so desperately that Robertson decided, at the last minute, to ride with him as far as Lafayette.

Robertson said he doubted the children would remember much of the evacuation, or the smell of the flooded city.

"I think what's going to stick with them is that they survived Hurricane Katrina," he said. "And that they were loved."

Saturday, September 03, 2005

top 100 songs from the year I graduated High School

Top 100 from My final highschool year!
Got this idea from Scott at Carpe Diem, Tomorrow

The top 100 songs from the year I left High School Highlighted
in Red are my favorite songs. edited to add: the ones I don't like are in italics.

1. Careless Whisper, Wham!
2. Like A Virgin, Madonna
3. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, Wham!
4. I Want To Know What Love Is, Foreigner
5. I Feel For You, Chaka Khan
6. Out Of Touch, Daryl Hall and John Oates
7. Everybody Wants To Rule The World, Tears For Fears
8. Money For Nothing, Dire Straits
9. Crazy For You, Madonna
10. Take On Me, A-Ha
11. Everytime You Go Away, Paul Young
12. Easy Lover, Phil Collins and Philip Bailey
13. Can't Fight This Feeling, REO Speedwagon
14. We Built This City, Starship
15. The Power Of Love, Huey Lewis and The News
16. Don't You (Forget About Me), Simple Minds
17. Cherish, Kool and The Gang
18. St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion), John Parr
19. The Heat Is On, Glenn Frey
20. We Are The World, U.S.A. For Africa
21. Shout, Tears For Fears
22. Part-Time Lover, Stevie Wonder
23. Saving All My Love For You, Whitney Houston
24. Heaven, Bryan Adams
25. Everything She Wants, Wham!
26. Cool It Now, New Edition
27. Miami Vice Theme, Jan Hammer
28. Lover Boy, Billy Ocean
29. Lover Girl, Teena Marie
30. You Belong To The City, Glenn Frey
31. Oh Sheila, Ready For The World
32. Rhythm Of The Night, Debarge
33. One More Night, Phil Collins
34. Sea Of Love, Honeydrippers
35. A View To A Kill, Duran Duran
36. The Wild Boys, Duran Duran
37. You're The Inspiration, Chicago
38. Neutron Dance, Pointer Sisters
39. We Belong, Pat Benatar
40. Nightshift, Commodores
41. Things Can Only Get Better, Howard Jones
42. All I Need, Jack Wagner
43. Freeway Of Love, Aretha Franklin
44. Never Surrender, Corey Hart
45. Sussudio, Phil Collins
46. Strut, Sheena Easton
47. You Give Good Love, Whitney Houston
48. The Search Is Over, Survivor
49. Missing You, Diana Ross
50. Separate Lives, Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin
51. Raspberry Beret, Prince and The Revolution
52. Suddenly, Billy Ocean
53. The Boys Of Summer, Don Henley
54. One Night In Bangkok, Murray Head
55. If You Love Somebody Set Them Free, Sting
56. Obsession, Animotion
57. We Don't Need Another Hero, Tina Turner
58. Material Girl, Madonna
59. Better Be Good To Me, Tina Turner
60. Head Over Heels, Tears For Fears
61. Axel F, Harold Faltermeyer
62. Smooth Operator, Sade
63. In My House, Mary Jane Girls
64. Don't Lose My Number, Phil Collins
65. All Through The Night, Cyndi Lauper
66. Run To You, Bryan Adams
67. Glory Days, Bruce Springsteen
68. Voices Carry, 'Til Tuesday
69. Misled, Kool and The Gang
70. Would I Lie To You?, Eurythmics
71. Be Near Me, ABC
72. No More Lonely Nights, Paul McCartney
73. I Can't Hold Back, Survivor
74. Summer Of '69, Bryan Adams
75. Walking On Sunshine, Katrina and The Waves
76. Freedom, Wham!
77. Too Late For Goodbyes, Julian Lennon
78. Valotte, Julian Lennon
79. Some Like It Hot, Power Station
80. Solid, Ashford and Simpson
81. Angel, Madonna
82. I'm On Fire, Bruce Springsteen
83. Method Of Modern Love, Daryl Hall and John Oates
84. Lay Your Hands On Me, Thompson Twins
85. Who's Holding Donna Now, Debarge
86. Lonely Ol' Night, John Cougar Mellencamp
87. What About Love, Heart
88. California Girls, David Lee Roth
89. Fresh, Kool and The Gang
90. Do What You Do, Jermaine Jackson
91. Jungle Of Love, The Time
92. Born In The USA, Bruce Springsteen
93. Private Dancer, Tina Turner
94. Who's Zoomin' Who, Aretha Franklin
95. Fortress Around Your Heart, Sting
96. Penny Lover, Lionel Richie
97. All She Wants To Do Is Dance, Don Henley
98. Dress You Up, Madonna
99. Sentimental Street, Night Ranger
100. Sugar Walls, Sheena Easton

To join in go to Music Outfitters Type in the year you graduated school under "Search" and then just cut and paste, not forgetting to highlight your favorites

the last two days...

Sep. 3, 2005 - Fly on the wall...
I got tagged today for the Fly on the Wall tag...so here it is...

My last post should give you a hint as to what went on today...

Dh got up "early" and went to our Church to clean up. It has been bugging him that the rain water has been pushing the mulch out of the beds and into the parking lot.

I got up a while later and was brewing my coffee and reading some papers...the phone rings. It's DH's boss. Dh needs to call him back ASAP and I'm looking at DH's cell phone.

So I take down the number, grab the cell, wake up DD and we drive over to Church. Let DH know and wait for "further instructions." DH gets off the cell phone and says that he has to go to help with the hurricane relief effort. He says that they can be ready to go today, but he doesn't think it will happen until Monday or Tuesday (since Monday is a holiday). The last time DH didn't think that he would leave until a few days later they sent him that night.

DH goes into work and we begin our day. About an hour and a half later DH calls...he is leaving today and he gives me a list of things to do while he is driving back to our house to get his bags packed.

When DH gets home, I've got out his bag and a bunch of things that I think he should take with him. DH takes some but others doesn't have room for or doesn't think he'll need...which reminds me of some putting things back that I've still got to do. He packs, gets a shower and wolfs down his lunch. Then we drive him back to the base.

While going threw the checkpoint they ask if he has a radar device in the car...nope just cell phones. Okay and we're off.

We arrive at the hangar and a News Truck is outside. DH didn't want any news of this. Inside no sign of the news...yay. DH gets a brief, I get a family support brief and some General tries to make small talk with Darly who isn't having any of that!

DH is about to get another brief and I suggest that we leave. He agrees, we say good-bye and leave.

Darly suggests that we head to Big Lots & the Dollar Store on our way home...so we do and we picked up a bunch of stuff including some nice fleece blankets that I'm going to use for fabric since you can't buy fleece for that price.

We get home and I tell my neighbors about DH. They of course are wonderful but talk my ears off for about an hour.

Darly & I have just been "chillin" ever since. We should start thinking of dinner soon.

Sep. 2, 2005 - I probably shouldn't post this...but...
I'm going to anyway...

After telling someone today that it wasn't very likely that my DH would go down to the gulf coast to help out...he comes home and tells me that it is very likely that he will go. LOL

I think that I have mixed feelings about him going. I mean part of me wants to be selfish and have him here with us...but a bigger part wants for us to do more than to just donate money or supplies...donate my DH for a while. I suppose there couldn't be much more of a sacrifice, huh?

Considering some of the places that his job has wanted to send him, this sure seems much better and it's temporary. I hope we find out soon for sure...I think the waiting to find out is the worst...but that comes with the job...hurry up and wait. blech!

Thursday, September 01, 2005

Sounds like a great idea to me!

Anti-rape condom aims to stop attacks
Thu Sep 1,12:02 PM ET
A South African inventor unveiled a new anti-rape female condom on Wednesday that hooks onto an attacker's penis and aims to cut one of the highest rates of sexual assault in the world.

"Nothing has ever been done to help a woman so that she does not get raped and I thought it was high time," Sonette Ehlers, 57, said of the "rapex," a device worn like a tampon that has sparked controversy in a country used to daily reports of violent crime.

Police statistics show more than 50,000 rapes are reported every year, while experts say the real figure could be four times that as they say most rapes of acquaintances or children are never reported.

Ehlers said the "rapex" hooks onto the rapist's skin, allowing the victim time to escape and helping to identify perpetrators.

"He will obviously be too pre-occupied at this stage," she told reporters in Kleinmond, a small holiday village about 100km (60 miles) east of Cape Town. "I promise you he is going to be too sore. He will go straight to hospital."

The device, made of latex and held firm by shafts of sharp barbs, can only be removed from the man through surgery which will alert hospital staff, and ultimately, the police, she said.

It also reduces the chances of a woman falling pregnant or contracting AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases from the attacker by acting in the same way as a female condom.

South Africa has more people with HIV/AIDS than any other country, with one in nine of its 45 million population infected.

Ehlers, who showed off a prototype on Wednesday, said women had tried it for comfort and it had been tested on a plastic male model but not yet on a live man. Production was planned to start next year.

But the "rapex" has raised fears amongst anti-rape activists that it could escalate violence against women.

"If a victim is wearing such a device it may enrage the attacker further and possibly result in more harm being caused," said Sam Waterhouse, advocacy coordinator for Rape Crisis.

Other critics say the condom is medieval and barbaric -- an accusation Ehlers says should be directed rather at the act of rape. SO WHAT??? I agree with Ehlers!

"This is not about vengeance ... but the deed, that is what I hate," she said.

The downside that I see to this device is that the attacker has to actually penetrate the victim for it to work...which to me doesn't prevent a rape, but just prevents the attacker from continuing the rape. But if they come out with it and then sold t-shirts that said "I'm wearing a rapex" that might prevent the attack.

sick of being on hold...

I wanna whine about being stuck on hold and voice mail systems too. I have been trying to get a name change on an account for the past couple of days. And trying to call and get a real person is a royal pain. Everytime you go through a voice mail menu that takes forever (and some are picky...they get mad if you enter your exenstion before they're done talking!) And then I'm waiting and waiting for a service rep.

Today I gave up figuring the reason that no one was answering was that they were all at lunch. I once tried to call the bank before banking hours and found out that the person I wanted to talk to was in the break room from another person who was kind enough to answer the phone!

OH! And what really ticks me off while waiting on hold is being told over and over that I can get my questions answered by going to their website...especially when the website said "if you don't find your answer here, please call our customer service."

At any rate, back to the trying to get the name changed. The last time I got a person they gave me a list of instructions to follow for faxing them all the doccuments that they need for the name change. I have faxed the doccuments twice, but they have not acknowledged receipt...so I was calling to verify that... terminal hold.

Of course, I'm a pain too. When I get a chance to leave a message, I leave all the details with my phone number and then I go online to blog so they can't get threw to me because I have dial up. hee hee hee