Happy 24th Birthday Whitney!

Whit ~ You were born a whole 24 years ago today. How can that be? And how is it that time flies so fast?

We must be having fun!...

Sorry for all the bruising... but I can't apologize. It was a joint effort. And as it would seem, one of the two most successful joint efforts of my life, in fact.

And, anyway, you ended up being no worse for the wear...

Mind if I share just a couple more?

I just really love those pictures...

But anyway, I was thinking long and hard about what to give you for your birthday this year... because what could you possibly need after already having probably the most wonderful husband in the whole world?... but then it occurred to me, something else that might matter.

I think it's possible to do much better towards the $100 goal you set for your MS Walk on May 19th. In fact that goal was so sweet and humble of you that it almost made me cry. I think we need to see what else we can do about this...

I won't be able to be there of course, being that it's in Idaho and all, but I DO hope to be able to imagine you walking... knowing that you are making a difference... and that your efforts will allow you, and so many others, to be able to participate in events like these for years and years to come.

I am so very proud of you!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And as of today... April 18th, you've raised $870!!!

I think this is SO exciting!

There must really be a whole lot of people who love you!...whoever they are...

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

It's Just Not Easter Without A Sticky Kitchen Floor...

And it's funny, because when I think about it, it hasn't seemed quite like Easter for about 40 years now. And it probably HAS been that long since the last time I remember enjoying this tradition.

But it WAS a tradition of the best kind. Every year, sort of like the flu... And right now as I'm remembering it, it's almost as if I'm back THERE... sitting around that kitchen table once again... in that vinyl upholstered "booth" with the boomerang patterned formica... just waiting to get started. Now that I think about it, it was probably one of the sweetest memories of my childhood.

Looking at this somehow brings back a lot of other memories like fish sticks, spinach, artichokes, liver, homework... and oh yes, I almost forgot the chicken pot pies.

But it also makes me want to revert to things such as sucking on a bottle and picking fuzz off a blankie...

Anyway... making the sugar eggs involved mixing sugar and egg whites(?) together and then packing the mixture into one of those plastic easter egg molds. Then it would get thumped out onto a baking pan where it would bake for... a while. While that was going on the frosting, consisting of powdered sugar, water, corn starch and food coloring (I think) would be mixed and then wrapped into several different cake decorating packets with different colors of frosting and tool tips on each... probably about 12 to 14 of them.

There were always alot of packets full of white frosting with a regular little single holed tool which is what was used to make all the bunnies and swans... which then had to sit on the cookie sheet for quite a while in order to harden. I'm still not sure how mom made them. But probably with the same artistic flair and swing of the wrist that created all those bunny, swan and kitty pancakes all those years as well.

But anyway... after the sugar molds were cooled... the process of carving them out began. And I think that was probably about the time when all of that sugar would get all over the floor... which is probably why I have always related Easter to having sticky feet.

The rest of the process is fairly easy to figure out, because it basically just consists of decorating them... and my kids would have probably had the opportunity to enjoy this tradition many more times than the once or twice that Grandma was able to come out for an Easter visit... if only I could have figured out the first part... or had not had such a major phobia about having sugar all over my floor...

I think these are a couple of the ones my kids made.

And I try every year to put them out for Easter decorations and then, I just can't!... and they just end up going right back into their well protected wrapping until the next year. Because they are really as tacky as can be!

But as I was writing this I think I may have just had an epiphany. And that is... that even though they really ARE extremely tacky, and the process of making them can create a sticky mess on your kitchen floor to the extent that you don't even want to think about ... A finely crafted piece of artwork that to be displayed in a future curio cabinet... was probably never the point.

Sad Lobster... or Be Very, Very Careful What You Wish For...

Yes, it's all true... this very, very sad tail.



In the throws of the Beanie Baby craze back in 1997 I made the irretractable error of asking the following of my mother-in-law in the midst of putting her on a plane back to Dallas.

"If you see any of these Beanie Babies during your connection in Chicago could you please pick them up for me?" Then gave her the list of the "few" I was looking for.

Because, you see, I had two little girls at the time and I was just trying to be a good mama Jones...

The following week several little critters arrived on my doorstep. None of them being the one's I had asked for but they were very cute nonetheless.



In the next few weeks boxes started coming in droves. And at first I think I went "Wow... Hee... Cool!" As the weeks progressed though... not so much. Because there were just SO many of them and my house was beginning to feel like a zoo! Because I'm talking BOXES!!! And THEN she began to include the receipts with instuctions to save them for insurance purposes (no doubt). But NO WAY did she pay $299 for a Beanie Baby! Yep, she did.

And then THE TRUNKS arrived on my porch...to keep them in of course. And within those trunks they still safely lie... and have for a decade now. Completely free of dust.

I think a couple of years ago I finally sorted them all out, making sure that both of my children had a complete set... and labeled their trunks accordingly. The rest and the extras... I tossed into the "various and sundry Beanie Baby basket."

Brought a "few" of them out just recently for a breath of fresh air...

Squeeze IN guys!

At any rate... Gramma passed on a couple of years ago. No inheritance was left to her grandchildren. Everything she owned had to be sold to offset her debt.

I don't let myself nag on it very often because I know how very much she loved them. Her grandaughters that is. And I have about 948 ways to remind me.

This handbook says that by the year 2007, most of the Beanies sold 10 years ago will be worth approximately $40 each... with a couple soaring to $300. I've also found that the handbook serves as a lovely coffee table display and also as a great ice-breaker.



So... any takers? Because seriously... a buck a piece... plus shipping of course.

Are We Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? **Updated...again**

In some ways, I think this question deserves a big resounding YES! I mean, for example, none of us would probably have EVER known where Chautauqua was in the Fifth grade... unless we lived there or something. Because otherwise, why would we have even NEEDED to know that?.. So I think that should be a question on that show, don't you? Just to show them that some things that Fifth graders don't know.. are STILL important.

But yes, I for one am WAY smarter in the ways of Geography than I ever was back then. And smart enough, for sure, to know that "Frisco's" not in Texas... *g*



Notice that there are still SO many places to stick those little thingies across this vast America and even into Canada, Hawaii and even Alaska too. Do you think he'd ever go to Alaska? I think that'd be very cool because I'd really like to learn more about Alaska, ya know? Particularly in August.

Anyway... this blog is dedicated to my good friend Sally Rand McNally who actually lived in Alaska once. Oh heck... she's pretty much lived everywhere once!

Map will be updated in a timely manner in conjunction with any and all knowledge acquired...

**updated as promised : )** 3/9, 3/13, 3/17, 3/24, 3/30, 4/2, 4/7, 4/13, 4/24 and 4/28.

**Note: It appears that this may be the final one. And look at all those vast and wide open spaces still unthingied...


Technorati tags:
Clay Aiken, Summer Tour

In Like A Lion...

Luckily I did my grocery shopping on Thursday, when all we were having to deal with were intermittent torrential downpours, flashflood warnings and icestorm residuals...

Compared to that, today seems like a piece of cake.

I'm glad that, at least for today, I am completely unrequired in the world. And I'm extremely relieved that I'm not in my ninth month of pregnancy or anything. As if.




But inside, my cockles are all warm...



A Tour! And a summer one at that! Seriously folks, there is nothing like one! And the memory of them is all it takes to wear away these winter blues. But I guess you'd have had to have "been there" at least once to completely understand.

And since I am snowed in today and have nothing else to do but reflect...

Disclaimer: Over the years fallen away Clay Fans have removed their videos from the internet so I've just done my best to replace them when possible.

Trifecta: LovesClaysVoice

Back For More: SLC

Tears Run Dry: 4192spooky via moi

Ya know how sometimes the senses can trigger major memories of the past? Kind of like how the smell of bacon can immediately transport you back to a time from many years ago when you awoke on a Saturday morning feeling safe and secure and knowing that all was well with the world?

Well, that's kind of what those videos do for me. Cause even on this very cold and blustery winter day I can still almost feel those beads of sweat trickling down my spine.

Happy Birthday LaLa!

... or that would be... Carol Ann to the rest of you...

She's my sister and I just wanted to wish her the most happiest of days. Though I know birthdays usually tend to suck. They just do somehow! And why is that? Expectations possibly? Or maybe just the fact that here we are... yet another year older and STILL driving the same ole beater! Ok, I know, I know... so what in the name of sam does THAT have to do with anything anyway???...

But yes, I just wanted to offer up here a couple of memories to remind my sis of how much I love her.

And guess what else? I've just learned how to make "lists" here lately. And you know what they say about lists... if you don't use 'em you lose 'em. So here goes...

To Carol Ann:

• Well, first of all... you didn't do anything like try to suffocate me after mom brought me home from the hospital.
  
  
• After that... one of my favorite childhood rememberances was of our times at night in our little twin beds... creating those yarns with a twist. The twist being that the stories always had to end with the phrase "...and the jennifer cleaned it up." Omg...wouldn't this just be TOO entirely too complicated to try to explain the premise of to anyone else ???!!!... or to explain the reason why we were able to laugh about the irony of it so many years later?
  
  Anyway...
  
  
• So you remember when you and "Biggie" (bwah) had me going on thinking that you guys went to some place in your dreams every night where you got to ride horses and stuff? And do you know how many mornings I woke up sobbing because I somehow hadn't figured out the magic password that I was suppose to somehow come up with in my sleep?
  
  
• And then there were all those slimy pollywogs.
  
  
• After that you left me alone and ignored me for like 10 years except for those times when you and Regina would make fun of me for some reason. Was I really that weird back then too???
  
  
• But haha... then you went off to college and yet actually wrote to me like almost every day, and I can prove it because I still have all your letters! Guess you must have been homesick or something. Anyway... through your stationary you even subliminally tried to encourage me to incorporate your hot pink and orange dormroom scheme into my/our very own bedroom... which, btw, was by now all mine! (neenerneenerneener) Unfortunately I succumbed...
  
  
• And THEN you went and got married. And I wanted to BE you! Ha! I bet you never even knew that that did you? That whole summer while I was behaving like an absolute brat as I was being forced to help address wedding invitations and glue all those hot pink and orange flowers into those bridesmaids baskets? Yes, big sister LaLa... it's all true.
  
  
• But then kids and husbands... etc... etc... etc... began to fill up our days.
  
  
• And before we knew it some 30 odd years had past!...
  
  
• But ya know it's funny, because as it turns out...some of the very best times I've ever had in my life have STILL ended up being the times I've shared with you! And so how did that happen?
  

Perhaps it's because we're the only one's on this planet who completely "get" each other!...

Anyway...

Happy Birthday Carol Ann!

Hope you had a good one!


And it's not THAT bad getting older... is it?


...is it?



Technorati tags:
Family, Sisters, Birthday

Happy Day After Valentine's Day... ugh

Just shoot me NOW Cupid!... for I am a FOOL! I tossed and turned all night debating whether or not to share this sappy and OT story with you... but unfortunately it looks like the whether has won.

Cause see, I met this really awesome and funny guy (on the internet of all places)... though it would be rather complicated to explain how it all transpired. But I think I can probably blame it all on a simple little bout of insomnia sometime back in 2004...

And then last night I think I completely messed the whole thing up!

Anyway... here's how my Valentine's Day 2007 went down...

And then later last night (or should I say early this morning)...

THIS...

**Disclaimer: I have never, EVER laid a hand on Photoshop! (of which, I am confident, must be obvious...)

Let's Partay Like it's ..um...2003!

On the night of January 28th 2003 I was sitting in Algebra class... No, seriously, I was! And though not your "typical" college student, I was still savvy enough to know that 24 x 2 equalled... well, MY AGE.

So I wasn't too heart broken when, the next day at work, everyone was talking about this young geeky kid who had auditioned on American Idol the night before.



So no, unlike most of you, I was not one of those who was immediately and unconditionally "taken" at "Take." In fact for the first 2 months I was only able to watch "Elimination Night" and remembering back would really have been OK with any number of them winning. Except that the "Elimination Night" also beheld some of the finest video footage of that 24 year old "Cutie Patootie" that I have still ever seen to date.
**Such memories of seeing him mouth the words "Thank you very much!" time after time... sideways glances towards the judges... forehead hitting thighs... sparking eyes... dazzling smile. Stuff like that.



I think the first actual competition song I watched him sing was "Grease" which I have to admit took me back a bit since I wasn't completely hooked at that point. But then a co-worker brought in a video tape from the night he sang "Solitaire" and even though she was a "Ruben" and hadn't made it back to her VCR in time to record the first few seconds of the "Cutie Patootie's" song... it was still enough to push me over the edge. So I guess in remembering back I'd have to say "Clay... You had me at 'Man'..." And never let there be any doubt about it... you still have me there.

Here are a couple of great blogs celebrating the anniversary of most "everyone elses" new existence...

Carolina On My Mind
ClaySpots
The ConCLAYve
There Was A Man
FOUR YEARS???...

Ya know I REALLY should have had my degree by now... and I WOULD have too... if it hadn't been for... well, nevermind.

And you know what? It's OK! Because I have been educated in so many other ways since then that I never would have believed I was capable of being educated about. (And NO, not in just those ways!) And you'll be glad to know that I am now continuing my education, and in a field much closer to my heart than the one I started out with 4 years ago. So not only did I find HIM... but I think, in a way, I found myself in the process.

Clack Party Celebrating This Momentous Occassion on the Timeline...

OK... so I have to admit that last Friday night I don't think we all realized that we were celebrating a momentous occassion, but we celebrated it 'cluelessly' nontheless. And it was SO MUCH FUN irregardless...

I, for one, celebrate the fact that I have been driving the Thornapple River Drive for four years now... alone... with my CD blasting... never realizing that providance would one day place me RIGHT THERE on a Friday night amongst such great friends. I swear, I have met some of the sweetest and dearest people in my life because of him.

We had Pizza and Pineapple Salad... watched 5 hours of Clack which didn't even skim the surface of our agenda... and then took a quiz coordinated by our hostess, which I thought I'd include it here, just because it was so much fun!... So in case anyone wants to test their knowledge...

Clay Aiken Trivia Quiz

Oh, and BTW... I won this beauoooootiful prize bag! Even DESPITE the fact that he didn't have me on "Take"...



Isn't it purty?


Technorati tags:
Clay Aiken,
American Idol, Anniversary, Always and Forever