Remembering Our Soldiers

I'm hijacking Kristi's Blog topic...somewhat. Check hers out. I checked out the CNN memorial she mentioned--it includes soldiers from all over the world.

I often wonder what happened to a student of mine, a marine, who was deployed to Iraq almost three years ago. I can see his face. I cannot remember his name. He was very excited about going and serving his country. He told me there is nothing like the rush that one gets when "dodging" gunfire. Kristi calls upon us to remember those who are still fighting, as well as those who fought. I call upon you to remember those who do it and did it with a willing heart and enthusiasm. I also call upon you to remember those who don't go to battle, but whose contribution to the safety of our country is critical, nontheless.

Yippee!

The Indianapolis 500 is today! I became more interested in Indy-style racing when Danica Patrick was all the buzz two years ago. I caught many of the races during the last two seasons, only to be disappointed that Danica didn't win. On 5/17, Danica was the fastest in practice. Today, she's starting in 8th position in row 3. She is no longer with Rahal Letterman, but is now part of Andretti Green Racing. Maybe this change will allow me to see her win this race today. The Andretti family is full of winners. I'm glad they've welcomed Danica into the fold.

My Goodness!

That's not really what I said when I saw this picture. I said something like "Holy $%&#! That's a big pig." Have you ever seen such a thing? The 11-year old boy pictured shot the pig with a pistol. Check out the story. I initially wondered what the circumstances were. Was the big pig going around terrorizing people? Did the 11-year old boy save the town by confronting the big with his firearm in a scary showdown? Thank goodness an update was posted on Foxnews. It sounds like it was quite a pursuit.

What is wrong with us?!

The headline Boy, 6, found walking on I-40 entrance ramp really says it all, but I have to ask, anyway: What on earth is wrong with us? The boy made it from his Cedar Bluff school all the way to the entrance ramp. It's quite possible that hundreds of people saw this tiny child walking along the extremely busy Cedar Bluff Road...crossing streets at giant intersections, even. Why would someone (and I'm not picky...just one someone) not stop and talk to this boy to find out why he was walking by himself and where he was going. Or are we so self-absorbed that we don't even notice when something like this is happening, anymore? Are we so afraid to get involved in somebody else's "business" that we don't even care about a tiny wandering child, anymore? Nevermind the neglect that happened at the school. Those problems are obvious and we can probably easily place blame, identify the problem, and suggest a solution. The greater problem seems to me that we just don't care about each other. I want to make a huge billboard (huger than normal) that says "Wake up, people! It's not okay for a tiny child to be walking along a busy road by himself, much less on an interstate entrance ramp. Stop and help him. Make him safe. Protect him."

That Ralph Lauren Polo embroidered pony

now comes in giant size. At first, I thought it was some sort of joke, but it's not. Apparently, Ralph and his designers saw the need for the Pony to evolve. Check it out. Look at all the other "new" ponies, too...there's even one that looks like a crowd of giant ponies. Isn't it just funny and funny-looking? It's a steal, too, at only $90 a shirt. Is this man totally out of touch with reality? What on earth makes a polo shirt worth $90?!?! Oh, right...Polo...by Ralph Lauren. I know how economics work, so spare me. Maybe a little of this is because of the FREAKING PRICE OF GAS? Oh, that's a different not-yet-published blog.

Birthday Evening Highlights

Eats
A delicious Italian dinner with some delicious Sonoma Valley Cabernet. I don't recall the winery...I didn't save the bottle this time. It might not have made it to the car in one piece. It was not wise for me to entertain driving to the theater afterwards. And, by the way...are you ready? Complimentary coffee! I have changed the world.

Birthday Wishes
Lots of lovely birthday cards. The funny one reads: I read somewhere the average woman has sex in the neighborhood of 132 times a year....Do you suppose we're living in the wrong neighborhood? Disclaimer: This is not an attempt to share or imply anything about my personal life. Seriously.

Entertainment
Knoxville Symphony Orchestra (KSO) with Classical Mystery Tour at The Tennessee Theatre. All the best Beatles music (like there are any that aren't good?). The male KSO members were in white tuxes instead of the usual black--except for the one guy in the middle of the last row...this guy belted out some of the trumpet licks for many of the songs. Fake (and inconsistent) Liverpool accents. Costume changes (complete with the correct hair) to reflect the point in time when the Beatles may have first performed each song. At times there seemed to be an underlying buzz in the sound system. Sometimes the vocals were drowned out by the instruments. Audience members waving lit cell phones--the new version of lighters. I don't remember during what song I first noticed this, but there was a small group of young'uns doing this...later, the KSO musicians were waving theirs in an effort to get lots of audience members to do the same. Lots of people jumped on board. Not us. It was funny, though, when I turned around and saw one guy was holding up his BlackBerry. It just looked really funny. Try and picture it. At times I felt a cool breeze rushing down over me. It didn't spoil my fun. There, of course, was a gratuitous premature standing ovation. Hint: When the orchestra doesn't make any effort to look like they're done, then there's at least one encore coming. There were 3 encores. After the third (Twist and Shout), the lights came up and we beat it.

The Tennessee Theatre is beautiful, of course. It has a whole different look in the dark with the lights changing from blue to red to green to purple behind and within some of the features for whose proper names I do not know. I wish there were a virtual tour online so you could see how beautiful it is inside.

Strike It Rich

That's the name of the rose I bought yesterday. Here it is! One of the buds bloomed in the morning sun. It's much more vibrant than the picture would have you believe. Curtis was amazed by the "orange" rose. As a UT student, he definitely knows orange!

I Was Never Promised a Rose Garden

So, I'm going to plant one myself. Last year, I planted a new rose bush. It's thriving and is probably 4 times the size it was when I bought it. This morning, I went to Lowe's to find another. I wanted yellow(my favorite), but the only yellow I could find was that "carpet rose" thing that's more like a ground cover. Instead, I got a Jackson & Perkins Grandiflora something that's kind of orangish-reddish-peachy. Close enough...the selection wasn't that great...maybe it's not that time of year, yet? Who knows?

The lack of luck isn't so tragic, however. A bouquet of a dozen yellow roses showed up at my back door first thing this morning...in the arms of my sister, Amy, who surprised me with them. I am quite touched. So, I have some yellow roses to enjoy for at least a little while. They are lovely and lovely-smelling. Why, you ask, would she just all of a sudden surprise me with a dozen roses? Well, it's my birthday today. I am 44.

Tom Cruise is Everywhere...sort of

Judging from the number of Tom Cruise flicks on cable tonight, I have to wonder if he's in promotion mode for a new movie coming out. There are a total of two (Thunder Road and The Last Samurai) on regular cable. I'm sure there are quite a lot more on other cable.

After posting this, I discovered yet another: Cocktail. Remember this 1988 jewel? I remember about it, but I was busy mothering two tiny ones and wasn't really concerned with Tom. Watching a snippet of this last night, however, I was amused by his somewhat "puffy" shirt. It reminded me a little of that Seinfeld episode. And of how ridiculous our clothes were in the 80's.

Zits

Watching the TV Guide channel to find out what's going on in the world of Friday night TV, I caught part of a Proactiv infomercial. A quote from a female reflecting on her acne issues:

"I would look in the mirror and say to myself, 'If I can't stand looking at myself, then who's to say that other people can stand to look at me?' "

Puhleeeeeeze!!! Are people really this shallow? I had severe acne when I was about 16 years old. Never once was I concerned about whether or not someone could stand to look at me. Was I embarrassed and self-conscience? Of course, but I wasn't really concerned about someone else's comfort. I was concerned about scarring more than anything. Sure, I have some scars and I still have occasional outbreaks, but I'm not really concerned with whether or not someone is comfortable looking at my skin.

Grammar Mistake

From the Lipitor website: If an artery that supplies blood to your heart or to your brain is completely blocked, the result can be a stroke or a heart attack. Methinks this should read "...the result can be a heart attack or stroke." Do you see what I mean? The current sentence construction implies that the stroke happens to your heart. I know...I know...our common sense and intelligence prevail, but the grammar oversight is troublesome. Again...another career opportunity has revealed itself to me: Proofreader for Lipitor Website.

You may be asking "What's so exciting about the Lipitor website?" I got sidetracked reading news online this morning. I started with an article about the stroke rate in southern states...there was a Lipitor advertisement right in the middle...it had the Lipitor guy's picture in it...I thought it was Dr. Jarvik...I was reminded of my Fact or Crap calendar page from a few days ago--it proposed that the name of the first satellite put in orbit was the Jarvik...I knew it was Crap, by the way...I clicked on his picture to confirm my suspicions...his very very very brief bio is at the Lipitor website where he is "talking" about how he has spent a lifetime studying the human heart...the page confirmed his identity and that he was the inventor of the first artificial heart (the Jarvik Artificial Heart)...I then wondered, "What exactly constitutes heart disease?"...it just goes on and on and on...somehow I ended up discovering the faultily constructed sentence above...and then registered for a rebate for my current Lipitor prescription.

A Few Pics From Abby's Wedding

Abby, Sabata, and MayaCayden and his mommy, Sara (my niece, Abby's sister)
Me and Amy Little Maya Toes in the cutest tiny heels ever.

My Two Favorite People

Apparently, it was a long boring drive to the wedding on Saturday. Hannah was again practicing her skill at taking pictures of herself with others. (The ball cap did come off for the wedding ceremony and reception.)

"Robert" actually responded

to the e-mail I sent to Carlton Cards (aka American Greetings). Wasn't that nice of him? I couldn't help myself...I just had to e-mail them and tell them about the grammatical error in the wedding card. The response I received:

Thank you for contacting American Greetings concerning our greeting card.

Our products are inspected for quality as extensively as possible. However, due to the large volume of products we produce, an occasional oversight in design can occur and not be caught by our frequent control checks. We sincerely appreciate your taking the time to bring this matter to our attention, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

Thank you again for emailing; we hope that your future American Greetings purchases will reflect the quality standard set by all of our associates.

Best regards,

Robert
Consumer Affairs
American Greetings Corporation

Happy Mother's Day

To all the women in my life who are mothers, I hope you've had a lovely day!

My weekend included spending time with both of my kiddos. This morning, Hannah and I chatted while enjoying a very sunny breezy few hours on the deck. We then went to see my mom (potted blooming flowers in hand) for a few hours.

Curtis, increasingly aware of the way to my heart, gave me a bouquet of mini-tulips (red with yellow edges). Hannah gave me the Willow Tree® Mother and Daughter figurine (seen above). (Meant to represent "Celebrating the bond of love between mothers and daughters.") I love this one! She said when she saw it, she at first wasn't sure. She wasn't sure, because the daughter is small. Then, she said, "I realized that in your mind, I am still small." She gets it.

You know that blue and brown

color scheme that has been so popular for what seems like a few years now? It's everywhere. Belk even uses the blue as their bag color. I hear tell that it is so last year. Are you completely sick of it? Yeah, me, too. So, I bought a skirt & jacket set today in those colors.

Abby is getting married today. Outside. In humid and potentially high 70s, maybe even 80-degree weather. All I have to wear are hot dark suits, hot dark pants, and lots of other things that I wear day in and day out. So, I ventured out first thing this morning with no expectations whatsoever of finding anything fresh and new. (For those of you who don't know: Abby is my 26-year old niece. She is my sister Amy's oldest daughter.)

100-year old Dillard's Sales Associate Ida struck up a conversation with me while I was looking for something to wear. She told me she's old about 6 times and that's how I know she's 100. She has to be.

I know all about Ida's children and great-grandchildren and how that one granddaughter who has two kids to raise just doesn't want to work so that she can take care of them. Well, Ida informed me, the gravy train that is grandmaw is stopping.

Everybody's taking her out on Mother's Day to lunch...even that lazy granddaughter. But poor Ida, she's just too tired to shop for herself (because she worked 6 hours yesterday and her legs hurt) for something new and pretty to wear on Mother's Day. She does, however, really enjoy working and helping people find something new and pretty to wear themselves. She wanted me to be sure and check out the clearance rack. She'd just marked down several items of clothing and even though the sign says they are 25% off, they're really 50% off and she wanted me to know so that I didn't spend any more money than I had to. It was on this rack that I found the blue and brown skirt and jacket bargain. I did not want a dress nor did I want a skirt. You see, I'm not too fond of my calves and ankles and so I don't routinely display them. In any event, I tried it on and, in my opinion, it is perfect. Very comfy, mostly brown (has some conservative blue embroidery with a bit of beading) fully lined linen skirt that doesn't show too much calf and is accompanied by an icey-bluish also fully lined matching short-sleeved mandarin collared jacket. Love it. And what a bargain! It used to be $100. You do the math. Props to Ida.

Stay tuned for pictures!

Seen on a wedding card

today, in the store:

Give yourselves to love.
Hold on through it's seasons and never doubt its will to always find a way.

A Carlton Cards product. Seen in Target, in fact. (Pronounced Tar-gé with a soft "g" in honor of my old pal Jennifer. To you it may not seem original, but she's been saying it that way since Targé came to town a million years ago. I'm pretty sure the rest of the world copied her.)

Back to the card. Are you gagging, yet? Yes, I'm a cynic when it comes to weddings. I am not yet a fully recovered divorcée, apparently. In any event, do you notice anything awry? I have not made a typo, but I have decided there must be a big need for professional greeting card editors. I'm always thrilled to learn of other career choices, especially when they are in line with things I like to do, anyway.

Have you ever noticed

that you can tell which drivers are dog-owners/lovers when you're walking the dogs around the neighborhood? Dog lovers have a full appreciation for exactly how long a leash is and what that means in terms of how far towards the middle of the street your dog can go. These folks go out of their way (literally) to drive clear on the other side of the road so there's no chance at all of hitting your dogs with their vehicle. Those who don't have leash length appreciation move over just enough to pass perilously by you and the dogs. I just think it's interesting. I have no problem whatsoever protecting my dogs by holding their leashes close to their harnesses so as to avoid dog-car collisions.

I don't like it when

people have their dogs outside without leashes. "Why?" you may ask. Because on my walk around the neighborhood with Allie and Champ, non-leashed dogs mean that I become the one being walked...really dragged...so that Allie and Champ can get a good look at or sniff of their fellow canine. I know I appear to be a stout girl, but I am not very strong and when Allie and Champ decide they are suddenly mush dogs that means I am whatever usually flies behind the mush dogs. There's a vision, huh? And now you understand why I don't like it when people have their dogs outside without leashes.

I Am Not Knowledged

I came across a statement using this phraseology on a discussion board. You complete the sentence. However, to my knowledge, this is not an acceptable use or variation of the word. Willing to give the benefit of the doubt, I have searched several online dictionaries. There is little doubt remaining that I am correct. Merriam-Webster online, though, says "knowledged can be found at Merriam-WebsterUnabridged.com." Yeah...well, I'm not going to provide credit card information just so I can get a free 2-week trial, see exactly what is said about knowledged, and then forget to cancel my trial and be charged money I have no intention of spending. I wish there were a free unabridged dictionary online. Even after googling knowledged and free unabridged dictionaries, I am not knowledged in the availability of a free definition for this term.

Being a Better Blogger

I have officially exceeded my monthly posting totals for the past three months! (Not the total of all three months, but the individual monthly totals.) Why would this be cause for excitement? Well, because it may mean that I'm being a better blogger. I enjoy blogging, but somehow it takes a little extra effort to come up with something that I think might be worthwhile for someone else to read. Of course, I can always post something and then when mom tells me it's dry, I can simply delete it. However, I like to know that my time has been well spent when composing something interesting, informative, entertaining, or even funny. Why do it at all if it's not going to be done right the first time? I used to tell my employees in a previous job life that there was no point in doing a task if it couldn't be done right the first time. I also spewed such things as Quality First and Excellence is Not Optional. How would you like to work for me? Oh, the pressure! The same pressure I put on myself to be a better blogger? I don't know that better blogger pressure can compete with real pressure.

Extra Cool

I guess if I were driving a multi-thousand dollar car (Did you know some of these cars are around a half-million dollaroos?) like a Mercedes turbo-power-sports-whatever, I would want to be sure I look and feel as cool as possible. A cigarette hanging out of my mouth probably wouldn't be the way to go, but I do wonder why one would actually smoke inside of a brand new all leather interior turbo-power-sports-whatever awesome Mercedes vehicle. This pondering of mine is purely rhetorical mind you (if pondering can be rhetorical...I suppose it can, since the "I wonder" part of it is sort of like a rhetorical question being posed.). I can philosophize about stupidity and ignorance and apathy all day long. Yet, I'm still astounded that someone would ruin the interior of such a fine vehicle by smoking in it. Except that it must be because she thinks it makes her look extra cool.

Addendum 10:05pm
The only possible reason that makes sense of the above scenario: revenge on an ex. Oh, yeah. Thanks, mom, for the reminder. It's all about perspective.

What do you know!?!

There's nothing like a little QVC to jog a girl's memory. Though the product currently being peddled (sp?) has nothing to do with what I wanted to remember, the soft gentle drone of QVC in the background of my half-assed chores triggered the recovery of the thing I wanted to remember to blog about. What do you know!?!

Okay, so I paused on QVC a few nights ago. (I know...some of you are thinking that I love QVC much more than just a half-hearted 'pause.' And you're right.) Anyway...back to my pausing on QVC a few nights ago...It was scrapbooking hour or something. The item being sold was some sort of double-sided tape dispenser. To demonstrate just how amazingly incredibly easy it is to use, an audience member got to try! She took her place behind the table and was immediately informed that she would be using a round circle (cut-out). Hmmm...Does anyone else see the problem here? For a moment, I was afraid that circles had changed their shape and that there were also square, oblong, and triangle circles. Why would it be necessary to describe the circle as round? Isn't a circle by its very nature....ROUND!?!?! Have we really succumbed to such idiocy that we think the viewing public needs to be told that a circle is, indeed........ROUND?

A circle is round...What do you know!?!?!

Nonsensational Entertainment

The entertainment for the evening was Nunsensations at the Oak Ridge Playhouse. It was cute and full of good Catholic humor...something I think all of us Catholics appreciate. I found myself looking forward to the end, though. I examined the costumes (habits) and found myself thinking that I am a much better seamstress than whomever made those. In the program, I counted the musical numbers in the second act and then kept track of them as they were performed so I would have some idea of how close to the end we were. It just wasn't a sensational performance. There was, however, some audience involvement and that was fun--sort of interactive to begin with and then off and on throughout. Some of the audience thought a standing ovation was in order. I think standing ovations are too generously given. This was not standing ovation worthy. Theater crowds are followers, I've noticed. A few people stand to applaud more noticeably and then everybody else does. For stuff like this, the only reason I follow is because then when everybody in front of me is standing, they're blocking my line of sight. This evening when the standing ovation began, we made a beeline for the car.

Again, I wish I'd had a little notebook with me. I have these brilliant ideas for blog blurbs and then they leave me just as quickly as the brilliance struck. As we were driving from our modest supper at Panera Bread to the playhouse, I was relating something to Shalane and stated that I was going to make a blog entry out of it. I have no idea what it was. Neither does she. Darn! Sigh.

I Admit It

I've been pretty good about cooking relatively healthy dishes for myself for some time now. I switched it up and ordered myself a little pizza last night. I admit that I have picked the "good" stuff off of a pizza a time or two in my life. I found myself doing it last night. Not only was I feeling a little not-so-great about deviating from my regular menu, but I was feeling a twinge of guilt about picking the good stuff off of the pizza when I realized, "Hey...I'm the only one here. Who cares!?!" Liberated, I continued...only this time I really enjoyed it.

Happy May Day

Long time no blog, huh? Does that make me a blogastinator or a procrastibloginator?

I have certainly had my share of topics for blogging: from cancer to theater to symphony to movies to good eats and good company and way more. The question then becomes, "Should I play catch up and try to post about everything I've done in the last while?" I dunno. Every time I'm out somewhere, though, I wish I had a little notebook with me. I often think I should be taking notes specifically about the humorous and ridiculous and curious I observe. For example: It was quite curious to see a member of the Knoxville Choral Society take the stage with his oxygen tank. It was annoying that the help-you-to-your-seat little old lady kept opening the door at the back of the theater during the performance for no good reason. I have a good report, however, about recent dining experiences: no wait person has uttered the word fantastic or fabulous recently. I am convinced that it's because my blogging about it has set off a reform in the restaurant industry. I am that powerful.