Thursday, December 30, 2004

Where Are You?

Find out the exact latitude and longitude by entering an address.

Sunday, December 26, 2004

Some Movies We've Watched Lately

I Robot
One of those "the book was better" kind of films, but Will Smith is always great. An entertaining film with all its special effects.
The Clearing
Robert Redford, Helen Merrin, Willem Defoe. Was okay so far. We started watching it late and I fell asleep and haven't finished watching it.
Hope Springs
Another one of those, "was okay so far, but I fell asleep and haven't finished watching it" movies.
Jawbreaker
Tssk. Tssk. Those mean girls!
Malibu’s Most Wanted
Had it's funny parts.
Collateral
Mostly, I just had a hard time getting past Tom Cruise with the salt-n-peppah hair.
It’s a Wonderful Life
Just saw the last half. Not too bad seeing it that way. I always thought the first half is such a snooze and had trouble getting past it. But tuning in at the middle is the way to go!

Saturday, December 25, 2004

Christmas Day

We had a nice visit with everyone at my sister’s house and a GREAT meal. Joe made GUMBO! yum! Of course there were all the traditional dishes, too. But he makes THE best gumbo!

Friday, December 24, 2004

Day Four

Kim was passing through the same time I was in town, so we got together for a cup of coffee. Six months and her residency will be complete! We are really proud of her. What an accomplishment.

Thursday, December 23, 2004

Day Three

Had a nice visit with Dad and got back in time to go to Star’s. Got to see the nieces and nephews and their kids. Kim and Mary, too. Although Mary is in bad shape with her cooking injury. Second degree burns on both legs. So much for making gravy with THAT chicken broth.

I told Gene that I wanted us to drive around a look at Christmas lights this year. Had no idea at the time we would be going to Star’s. Geeze! The folks in that neighborhood really go all out! Some GREAT yards/houses. That's the big city for you.

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

Vacation: Day Two

Found out last night that there will be a family get together at Star’s house on Thursday. They had a get together last Saturday, too, but they weren’t able to get in touch with us. We’ll be missing a few folks that have already traveled back home but most of the other usual in-laws will be there I suppose.

Sounds like the storm is coming. I hear thunder rumbling. Not looking forward to the freezing cold. Wish there were more days like yesterday predicted for my vacation.

Drove over to visit dad and spend the night. He was feeling better but still sounded congested. We got out and went to Brookshires for some lunch at their deli. Then I baked brownies from a recipe that I’d gotten in a recipe exchange to take to Star's. They'll have to do without their Neiman Marcus cookies this year.

The recipe is actually pretty simple. Mix up a box of brownies and put it in a 9" X 13" pan, unwrap three Symphony bars and place on top (I've had it with the big dark chocolate bars and think I like it better), then mix up another box of brownies and spread that on top. Bake. You really have to wait until it cools to appreciate it. Yum!

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

Vacation: Day One

Watched Bourne Supremacy this morning, Or at least, finished watching it. If you enjoyed Bourne Identity, you’ll like this one. Kind of short on plot, but long on action.

The evening movie was Ghostwatcher. I probably wouldn’t recommend it unless you are one of those folks that gets a kick out of B Horror movies. In that case, it’s probably worth a look.

The rest of my first day of vacation was primarily a long afternoon nap. Nice to nap, but there’s much to do! May have to skip the nap tomorrow.

Monday, December 20, 2004

Christmas Cheer

Today was the Holiday Party for our building at work. Oh my! I'm stuffed! Such good food. Not just treats, but real food ... turkey, ham, jambalaya, red beans and rice, tons of casseroles. Then there were all the pies, candies, cookies ... even chocolate covered chocolate chip cookie dough! All three floors of our building participated. Apparantly we still have our rep of the best one on campus. The open house was from 10:00 until noon, but there were empty dishes by 11:00.

I brought fruit salad. Here's the easy recipe: one can of Comstock Peach Pie Filling, one drained can of pineapple chunks, 2 drained cans of mandarin oranges, 1 container of frozen sliced strawberries with their juice. Add sliced bananas just before you serve it. Yum!

Today is my Friday! Woo-hoo! Will be on vacation until Jan. 3, 2005. Nothing exceptional planned but excited to have days off from work!

VICKI'S GOT HER SIGN

Vicki goes to New York City one week from today! And boy is she excited! She let me help with her sign; I printed out the text so she can glue it all onto her posterboard. I'll be watching the Today Show on my days off to see if Katy comes and talks to her! I hope Vicki has a chance to share her PASSION (LINK) with the whole nation! That would be exciting in itself besides just being in NYC during the holidays!


Friday, December 17, 2004

Coyote

Saw a coyote on the way to work today. It was contemplating crossing the highway. It was very much like that Saturday Night Live skit where the deer are trying to cross the highway if you remember that one. Kind of prancing in place right at the edge of the highway, eyes darting back and forth, waiting for that chance to dash!


Oh, and last weekend, I heard a strange squawk outside. Went and peeked outside and there were about 30 guinea hens within 6 to 8 feet of our backdoor. Have no idea where they came from, but they pecked around for a while and then wandered on through the woods. You just never know what will show up at your door!

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

Daily Candy

LINK
DailyCandy, a free daily e-mail newsletter. It claims to be the ultimate insider's guide to what's hot, new, and undiscovered -- from fashion and style to gadgets and travel. Useful. Entertaining. Like getting an e-mail from your clever, unpredictable, and totally in-the-know best friend ... and always giving you the scoop.

You can choose from five daily editions: Everywhere is national (style knows no boundaries); New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, and Boston are devoted to those cities. Kids (for busy and hip parents) is published every Thursday.

I love the illustrations. Fresh. Fun.

Sunday, December 12, 2004

For Hours of Intelligent Humor

Thursday, December 09, 2004

This is a Test

This is an emergency post of the National Blog System. If it were a true emergency, you probably wouldn't have time to log on and look at a blog even if the power was on.

This is before we watched the movie. It was a successful party!

Goonies

Tonight is our work Christmas Party. It's always interesting to see what they come up with each year. One year it was a Talent Show, another ... Game Night. Whatever it is, it is of course combined with good food. This year, they chose to watch Goonies. Not sure how that came about, but I'm for it! I rented the video last night and brought my contribution of pudding cups to work the other day. I'm set. Could this fun work activity possibly eclipse Halloween's Spycology Day? We'll see.


Here is an image that I made for Caroline who dearly loves Gene Kelly. I wanted to experiment making Digital Stamps, a project found in art-e-zine. It's a goldmine for those with an interest in paper arts. Thanks, Linda.

If you're feeling a little bit technical, here is the LINK for making your own Digital Stamps and it links to other PhotoShop/PaintShop Pro tutorials.

Tuesday, December 07, 2004

Sorry. Couldn't Help Myself.


A cute, cuddly uterus doll.
Pattern here, if you must.
THIS IS SOME GOOD GUITAR NOW

In the summer of 2004, a spectacular gathering of musicians from across the guitar world performed together at Eric Clapton's three-day Crossroads Guitar Festival in Dallas. You can see it as one of the PBS Great Performances. Joining Clapton are fellow axe legends Carlos Santana, Joe Walsh, and J.J. Cale; bluesmen Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Hubert Sumlin, and Jimmie Vaughan; as well as James Taylor, country superstar Vince Gill, bluegrass player Dan Tyminski from Alison Krauss' band Union Station, and young star John Mayer. Go to the songlist and watch some video from it. Were you there? Lucky you!
Tonight's Christmas viewing was A Charlie Brown Christmas. Still funny after all these years.

Monday, December 06, 2004

Another Christmas Movie


Just happened to catch a Christmas movie tonight that I haven't seen before. Probably wouldn't see it again, but it was worth seeing once. Keep an eye on the Martian children to see Pia Zadora starring as Girmar. There is an entertaining review of

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians HERE.

Got called in for jury duty today. Voir Dire ended with juror #47. I was juror #48 so it ended up being a long day but am always ready to do my part for a justice system that I'm proud of and I think works well.

And by the way, our schedules overlapped and got to glimpse Gene at the courthouse doing his lawyering thing. Made me smile really big when I saw him all dressed up in the coat and tie, hobbing and nobbing with all the courthouse people.

Thursday, December 02, 2004

Managing Holiday Stress

AAAAAIIIIHHHHH!!!! And it begins ...
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