... wouldn'tcha like to be a sheeple too?...
According to Wikipedia:
"The implication of the word "sheeple" is that as a collective, people believe whatever they are told, especially if told so by authority figures, without processing it to be sure that it is an accurate representation of the real world around them."
my next vocabulary phrase is:
Impotent Rage: (in my words) the all consuming, seething, red-eyed, vein popping anger towards something that one is completely unable to change or affect in any way.
... so in the spirit of national panic, and corporate greed, and in a high state of impotent rage, I stopped to fill up my gas tank this morning just like all the other hard working, financially strapped people out there who have heard on the news, (therefore it WILL happen, whether or not it's actually justifyable), that due to IKE, our refineries in TX will be shut down for a couple of days. Which WILL result in immediate gas shortages, (translate into PRICE HIKES) that will affect us for probably MONTHS AND MONTHS, (a temporary shortage I would understand. Price hikes, I DON'T) in spite of the fact that those refineries will probably be up and running agian by the first of the week. After all, they were intentionally built ON THE COAST so they HAD to know that there would be at least a SLIGHT chance of maybe a little hurricane or so affecting their operations, so my simple minded guess would be that they were BUILT to withstand such things to a point. (evacuating employees to save human lives, is another thing entirely, and completely understandable. again, a temporary shortage due to plant shut down is understandable) I just hope the million, billion, Katrillion dollars PROFIT that these companies have made in the last few years will pull them through.
Don't exactly know how I'm going to pull through, I don't even know for sure that this particular storm will even actually affect gas prices, but I can't take the chance because .20, .50 or even 1.00 a gallon increase will HURT ME HORRIBLY!! I'm seriously considering quitting my job until oil prices come down, because I can't freaking afford to drive to work anymore. WAIT, oil prices HAVE COME DOWN!!! WAAAYYYY down, and yet, the prices at the pump haven't seemed to reflect that fact NEARLY as quickly as they do the ANTICIPATED storms, and stock market changes, and who might have sneezed sideways in the middle east. (funny how when it's reported, in the morning, that there might be a price increase on gas for whatever stupid reason, WE see it at the pumps by the afternoon in 10 cent increments, but we've been hearing about the price per barrel going down to the lowest it's been in over a year and we've seen maybe a 2 cent decrease over a 3 week stretch. yeah, real funny, sniff sniff)
I'm just hoping that McCain will become president, not because he's my favorite, but right now, he's the best of the worst, and at least he'll have SARAH PALIN behind him to hopefully whisper some common sense stuff in his ear that at least LEANS towards helping the common man out.
Now I guess I'll just plan my weekend and the next few weeks or months around giving up a few MORE of the things that I like to do and keeping my ASS AT HOME so that I can afford to actually drive to work next week so that I can afford to buy some more gas.
(yep, this one's going to get me in trouble)
Friday, September 12, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Thursday, September 04, 2008
oh Yeah...
... Sarah Palin reminds me of my friend Lara.
Graceful, poised, great sense of humor, well spoken, ethical, tough, beautiful, an amazing mom, and boy can she wear lipstick!!!
SPARKY FOR PRESIDENT!!!!
Graceful, poised, great sense of humor, well spoken, ethical, tough, beautiful, an amazing mom, and boy can she wear lipstick!!!
SPARKY FOR PRESIDENT!!!!
Think about it...
I figured out why so many "artists", (painters, writers, musicians, etc) become famous after they're dead.
Posthumous is MUCH easier.
Here's why...
Most "artists" that I know, or know of, seem to walk a fine line between absolute genius and complete lunacy. Sometimes that line is crossed and one never knows whether they'll make it back.
Soooo...
If you wait 'til they're dead, you can:
* lavishly praise, and sell for disgusting amounts of money, the stuff they did well,
*chalk the "not so good" attempts up to their "discovery period" (which also sells) and the
*BAAD stuff up to angst... (which may sell the best of all)
And best of all, you don't have to worry about...
what the heck...
they might do next!!
Posthumous is MUCH easier.
Here's why...
Most "artists" that I know, or know of, seem to walk a fine line between absolute genius and complete lunacy. Sometimes that line is crossed and one never knows whether they'll make it back.
Soooo...
If you wait 'til they're dead, you can:
* lavishly praise, and sell for disgusting amounts of money, the stuff they did well,
*chalk the "not so good" attempts up to their "discovery period" (which also sells) and the
*BAAD stuff up to angst... (which may sell the best of all)
And best of all, you don't have to worry about...
what the heck...
they might do next!!
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
a riddle...
If I came up with the idea, wrote the script, provided the information, scheduled the shoots, coordinated the people and places, and did the driving to the shoots, and paid to have the project overnighted to the contest…
He filmed the stuff and did the editing (with my help) on his computer. He burned the DVD’s.
What would my title in the credits be? What about his?
Don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely NO WAY the project could have been done without what he did. I don’t have the equipment, nor the technical knowledge. I AM NOT TRYING TO BE-LITTLE HIS PART IN THIS!! No way, no how!! I just wanted to know how it should be listed on the project!
He filmed the stuff and did the editing (with my help) on his computer. He burned the DVD’s.
What would my title in the credits be? What about his?
Don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely NO WAY the project could have been done without what he did. I don’t have the equipment, nor the technical knowledge. I AM NOT TRYING TO BE-LITTLE HIS PART IN THIS!! No way, no how!! I just wanted to know how it should be listed on the project!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
with love...
Just the other evening, as I watched the clouds above me clear, and the stars began punching their way through the inky black of an endless Alabama sky, I realized that a year has passed since I sat on the front lawn with a dear young friend, watching with amazment as the heavens opened up and graced us with a breathtaking meteor shower. As wonderous as that sight was, I think I enjoyed even more the closeness and love shared with the young woman in the lawn chair next to mine. With her whole life stretched out before as bright and clear as the sky above us, she spoke of past disapointments and heartaches, and hopes and dreams of the future. With all my heart I prayed that she would be blessed with the good things in life. Love, Truth, Hope and Laughter in abundance. Just like the night sky, with each star being a bright spot in her life, and especially, THAT night sky, with not only the stars, but with grand streaks of beautiful lights and shooting stars. It was a beautiful night, and has become a cherished memory. I miss her & hope she finds her way back someday.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Bumble Bee Buffet
WELCOME TO THE FRONT PORCH!!
This is an APPLE
Those are BUMBLE BEES
There are at least 30 of them on that one APPLE
There are about 20 more APPLES lying about in the general vicinity
This is NOT the only APPLE being consumed by BUMBLE BEES
BEAT THAT ALFRED HITCHCOCK!!!
WAAAAHAAAAHAAAA HA !!!
Welcome to McDonalds... May I take your order?
... and then they said "SUPER SIZE IT"...
Seriously, this is a real live call box at the McDonald's in Arab, Al. As seen on Sunday, August the 3rd, 2008. When you pull up to it to give your order, it's the box you speak into, therefore it's right by your head when you roll the car window down. I'd say that it's about 18" X 18" in size, and if you figure in the fear factor, that means that...
this Praying Mantis is about 9 feet long and weighs 236lbs.
Friday, July 25, 2008
the name's LENKA,... Lenka C
It might have looked like an innocent walk through the neighborhood on a sunny 96 degree day. But in reality it was a crucial covert reconnaissance mission to uncover the underground movements of the "lawn boys" at the corner of Louisianna Ave. & Demorie Dr...
...Being a highly trained professional, I have devoloped a very believable "street" persona. I am usually seen as a mild mannered, almost 40yr old, plain looking, woman who likes to train and work with dogs. For this particular mission, I have set my character up properly by obtaining a real customer who has hired me to work with her dog, Banjo the Wiemeraner. I have established a pattern of walking Banjo in the neighborhood on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So it didn't seem at all suspicious to anyone in the neighborhood that Banjo and I were out walking yesterday afternoon.
Here's how the mission went down:
Dressed in my shorts and tank top with a cute flippy pony tail, I walked down "Louisiana with Banjo @ my knee" (Hey, just because I'm a highly trained tactician doesn't mean I don't have a sense of humor!!) Anyway,...
... to all who saw us, it looked as if I didn't have a care in the world, boppin' along walkin' the dog. In reality however, I was carefully assessing the situation, recalling to mind every detail that I had catalouged on my previous forays into the neighborhood. And I noticed the things that didn't seem quite right on this particular evening. Odd things such as the dead chipmunk that was squashed flat on the road right next the the UN-squashed coke can, hmmm, something's fishy... and the leaves that were piled in the gutter in front of the yard that to all outward appearances looked carefully manicured, but whose owner had failed to weed eat around the AC unit, nobody misses the AC unit. Yes, my greatly enhanced 6th sense was telling my gut that this was the evening when something would happen.
As I approached the corner of Louisianna & Demorie, memory brought to focus the fact that I needed to remember the vicious fat yellow labrador that always rushes to the street in an attempt to rattle Banjo's cage, and I started to prepare myself for the massive HILL that we have to climb. As these thoughts were running through my mind, suddenly, the hair on the back of my neck stood up. THERE THEY WERE. THE LAWN BOYS OF DEMORIE DR. I had heard of these guys. They had the appearance of harmless southern boys, but the agency is certain that they have "other" things going on. And they played their parts well. There were two of them on riding lawn mowers, and one of had a weed eater. Neither of the Mowers had on shirts, and Mr. weed-eater had on a wife beater and sunglasses. I put on my best "chick with a dog and no worries in the world" look and turned the corner. I was still far enough away that all they could make out was "here comes a person with a dog", but being men, they focused on SHORTS, TANK TOP, and PONY TAIL. (they couldn't see the almost 40 yrs old and plain looking). There was much stretching of "muscles" and sucking in of guts, and Mr. weed eater adjusted his Dale Earnhardt JR. sunglasses about 50 times. The played their parts well, but Innocent Rednecks?, I THINK NOT. I realized that I was getting too close and that they would be able to recognize my face before too much longer and then my cover could be blown. So, keeping in mind the Fat LAB down the street, I averted my face to walk past without acknowledging the stretching, gut sucking and glass adjusting.
At that very moment, weed-eater guy revved up his machine, and Fat Lab jumped to the curb. Banjo lost his cool and dodged into my feet and I began to fall. Realizing that I was going down, and knowing that Southern Boys are Brainwashed to help any damsel in distress, so would be obliged to rush to my aid, my first thought was to SAVE THE MISSION!! In one swift motion I grabbed hold of Banjo's leash with my left hand, pulled a smoke bomb out of my pocket with my right hand, grasped the pin with my teeth and fell into the smoke. After quickly convincing Banjo that I really DIDN'T want to play, I checked myself for wounds and found only a nice case of road rash on my shin, two skinned palms, a broken watch crystal, and a pretty impressive cut on my left forarm. Nothing life threatening unless an infection was to set in, but I had been trained to fight through the pain, so I used the cover of wafting smoke to get away from the Lawn Boys before they could "make" me.
Obviously it worked, Banjo and I reappeared a little further down the road walking side by side as if nothing happened and the Lawn Boys didn't even appear to have seen a thing. Although when I looked back I noticed that they were planning their next mission which must involved something humourous because they were laughing their butts off.
CRISIS AVERTED!! THANK GOD FOR GOOD TRAINING.
My next mission is to find Jacque's friend Grace and kick her ass!!
...Being a highly trained professional, I have devoloped a very believable "street" persona. I am usually seen as a mild mannered, almost 40yr old, plain looking, woman who likes to train and work with dogs. For this particular mission, I have set my character up properly by obtaining a real customer who has hired me to work with her dog, Banjo the Wiemeraner. I have established a pattern of walking Banjo in the neighborhood on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So it didn't seem at all suspicious to anyone in the neighborhood that Banjo and I were out walking yesterday afternoon.
Here's how the mission went down:
Dressed in my shorts and tank top with a cute flippy pony tail, I walked down "Louisiana with Banjo @ my knee" (Hey, just because I'm a highly trained tactician doesn't mean I don't have a sense of humor!!) Anyway,...
... to all who saw us, it looked as if I didn't have a care in the world, boppin' along walkin' the dog. In reality however, I was carefully assessing the situation, recalling to mind every detail that I had catalouged on my previous forays into the neighborhood. And I noticed the things that didn't seem quite right on this particular evening. Odd things such as the dead chipmunk that was squashed flat on the road right next the the UN-squashed coke can, hmmm, something's fishy... and the leaves that were piled in the gutter in front of the yard that to all outward appearances looked carefully manicured, but whose owner had failed to weed eat around the AC unit, nobody misses the AC unit. Yes, my greatly enhanced 6th sense was telling my gut that this was the evening when something would happen.
As I approached the corner of Louisianna & Demorie, memory brought to focus the fact that I needed to remember the vicious fat yellow labrador that always rushes to the street in an attempt to rattle Banjo's cage, and I started to prepare myself for the massive HILL that we have to climb. As these thoughts were running through my mind, suddenly, the hair on the back of my neck stood up. THERE THEY WERE. THE LAWN BOYS OF DEMORIE DR. I had heard of these guys. They had the appearance of harmless southern boys, but the agency is certain that they have "other" things going on. And they played their parts well. There were two of them on riding lawn mowers, and one of had a weed eater. Neither of the Mowers had on shirts, and Mr. weed-eater had on a wife beater and sunglasses. I put on my best "chick with a dog and no worries in the world" look and turned the corner. I was still far enough away that all they could make out was "here comes a person with a dog", but being men, they focused on SHORTS, TANK TOP, and PONY TAIL. (they couldn't see the almost 40 yrs old and plain looking). There was much stretching of "muscles" and sucking in of guts, and Mr. weed eater adjusted his Dale Earnhardt JR. sunglasses about 50 times. The played their parts well, but Innocent Rednecks?, I THINK NOT. I realized that I was getting too close and that they would be able to recognize my face before too much longer and then my cover could be blown. So, keeping in mind the Fat LAB down the street, I averted my face to walk past without acknowledging the stretching, gut sucking and glass adjusting.
At that very moment, weed-eater guy revved up his machine, and Fat Lab jumped to the curb. Banjo lost his cool and dodged into my feet and I began to fall. Realizing that I was going down, and knowing that Southern Boys are Brainwashed to help any damsel in distress, so would be obliged to rush to my aid, my first thought was to SAVE THE MISSION!! In one swift motion I grabbed hold of Banjo's leash with my left hand, pulled a smoke bomb out of my pocket with my right hand, grasped the pin with my teeth and fell into the smoke. After quickly convincing Banjo that I really DIDN'T want to play, I checked myself for wounds and found only a nice case of road rash on my shin, two skinned palms, a broken watch crystal, and a pretty impressive cut on my left forarm. Nothing life threatening unless an infection was to set in, but I had been trained to fight through the pain, so I used the cover of wafting smoke to get away from the Lawn Boys before they could "make" me.
Obviously it worked, Banjo and I reappeared a little further down the road walking side by side as if nothing happened and the Lawn Boys didn't even appear to have seen a thing. Although when I looked back I noticed that they were planning their next mission which must involved something humourous because they were laughing their butts off.
CRISIS AVERTED!! THANK GOD FOR GOOD TRAINING.
My next mission is to find Jacque's friend Grace and kick her ass!!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Memories...
The other day I used the ol' "You split and then you choose" line on a couple of kids. It was weird to hear them complain about it:
C - "do we HAVE to share"
Me - "yep"
G - "but he always gets more"
Me - "well I've got a way to make sure that doesn't happen"
C & G - "HOW?"
Me - " C, you split and then G gets to choose which part he wants"
C - "aw, that's lame"
G - "I don't get it."
Me - Well it's simple... and I explained the win - win situation to them.
G - with a big smile "OOOOHHH!"
C- "that's still lame"
What was funny to me is that I HAD to explain the concept. I'll never forget the first time I heard that one. It was over a piece of Dentyne gum, you know those blocky LITTLE pieces, that OF COURSE had to be shared? And OF COURSE, tony had grabbed the little piece out of Mom's hand as she handed it back for us to share. I knew without a doubt that my part would be itsy, bitsy, maybe even so tiny that I'd need to lick the paper to get the flavor of cinnamon, but I also knew that it wasn't worth fussing about because it would just get everyone all upset, when Dad said... "Ok, tony, you divide, and E gets to choose". Only the tiniest sliver of a nano-second passed when I heard the heavens open up and "WAAAA" I KNEW this was the greatest resolution to an age old dilema since Soloman threatened to split the baby!! And FINALLY it was the ONLY way that tony wouldn't win. No, it didn't have to be explained to me and I've never forgotten it and have used it many many times since. I will say, if memory serves, it took a LONG time and carefull engineering and mathmatics to rightly divide that piece of gum, but it was FINE WITH ME.
C - "do we HAVE to share"
Me - "yep"
G - "but he always gets more"
Me - "well I've got a way to make sure that doesn't happen"
C & G - "HOW?"
Me - " C, you split and then G gets to choose which part he wants"
C - "aw, that's lame"
G - "I don't get it."
Me - Well it's simple... and I explained the win - win situation to them.
G - with a big smile "OOOOHHH!"
C- "that's still lame"
What was funny to me is that I HAD to explain the concept. I'll never forget the first time I heard that one. It was over a piece of Dentyne gum, you know those blocky LITTLE pieces, that OF COURSE had to be shared? And OF COURSE, tony had grabbed the little piece out of Mom's hand as she handed it back for us to share. I knew without a doubt that my part would be itsy, bitsy, maybe even so tiny that I'd need to lick the paper to get the flavor of cinnamon, but I also knew that it wasn't worth fussing about because it would just get everyone all upset, when Dad said... "Ok, tony, you divide, and E gets to choose". Only the tiniest sliver of a nano-second passed when I heard the heavens open up and "WAAAA" I KNEW this was the greatest resolution to an age old dilema since Soloman threatened to split the baby!! And FINALLY it was the ONLY way that tony wouldn't win. No, it didn't have to be explained to me and I've never forgotten it and have used it many many times since. I will say, if memory serves, it took a LONG time and carefull engineering and mathmatics to rightly divide that piece of gum, but it was FINE WITH ME.
Friday, July 18, 2008
a 3 yr old grows up
These are from my trip last May to Tucson to attend my younger Brother's Commisioning ceremony. Got to say, I'm awfully proud of him.
Also had a blast visiting with Mom, Dad, Suze, Jacqu and all their attachments. It's an amazing blessing to have a loving, if somewhat crazy, family.
Here's the man of the hour:
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Friday, June 13, 2008
It's A WRAP!!!!
We Rallied...
We Relayed...
We Rocked...
Relay for Life 2008 was a ton of fun and the culmination of a year's extremely hard work. After making a movie, hosting a cookout and gathering donations from our amazing families and friends, The "C-team" was able to add approx. $7200.00 to the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. What blessings abound when people come together and work towards a goal for a worthy cause.
Many thanks to all who helped in whatever capacity they were able. You are all Angels to me and deserve so much more than "blogged" thanks, but please know the gratitude is more than heartfelt. And don't worry, if you didn't get in on this year's fun (I can't imagine that there's anyone who wasn't roped in somehow) we'll start again next year. Just put your name on the list and rest assured you will be called upon!!
GRAPES OF WRATH
Ok, so I've been munchin' on what some people might see as sour grapes for a few weeks now. And I'm getting more and more fed up, so I’m going to spew seeds and pulp onto my blog and see if I feel any better.
I'm want to start out by saying that I have totally intended and done my best to make this whole relay for life movie thing all about WE. You know, WE worked so hard, and WE took so much time out of our daily lives and WE made it happen!! And it's all true. It was such a group effort to make the dream come true, BUT I really don't want any of the amazing people who helped with this project to have to share any of the blame for this blog entry if it is ever seen by the illustrious Cullman County American Cancer Society. (here's my disclaimer) This is MY opinion and doesn’t necessarily reflect the opinion of anyone else on my team. Here goes...
The Cullman County Relay for Life is BIG. I mean for our county size, we are one of the top in the nation. And everyone seems to go all out, which is good. But the whole thing seems to be too competitive and somewhat political, which is not good. My understanding is that the real point of the Relay is to raise money for the American Cancer Society to use in the fight against cancer, which is GOOD. Another good thing about the RELAY is that it seems to bring the community together in an effort to do something good. YEAY!!! However, our Relay seems to be as much about who has the best campsite as who raises the most money. That means that in some cases, as much money, time and attention is spent on the campsite as is raised and spent for the ACS, and that's where my "grapes" come in.
Ya'll know I belong to a wonderful Relay for Life team and that we decided to try to do something really unique and special for this year's Relay. To start off, we wrote, created and produced an original, one of a kind, never been seen before MOVIE, about a young child with Cancer. (if you don't already know all about it, stay tuned, I'm working on blogging retroactively about the whole thing) Anyway, after a whole lot of time, money, brain cells and phone calls, we finally got to Relay Night and set up the most wonderful booth. We created a MOVIE THEATRE out of an Army tent that was set up on a soccer field, and we did it without "real" electricity. Meaning we had to use a generator instead of just plugging in to a quiet outlet, (unlike the power board who somehow managed to run temporary electrical service to their booth. HMM. Imagine that) Anyway, our theatre was complete with big screen, movie projector, popcorn maker, and an great concession stand, thanks to my favorite chaplain. AND WE RAISED approx. $7200.00 to boot. So we did an amazing job.
The Cullman County Relay for Life is BIG. I mean for our county size, we are one of the top in the nation. And everyone seems to go all out, which is good. But the whole thing seems to be too competitive and somewhat political, which is not good. My understanding is that the real point of the Relay is to raise money for the American Cancer Society to use in the fight against cancer, which is GOOD. Another good thing about the RELAY is that it seems to bring the community together in an effort to do something good. YEAY!!! However, our Relay seems to be as much about who has the best campsite as who raises the most money. That means that in some cases, as much money, time and attention is spent on the campsite as is raised and spent for the ACS, and that's where my "grapes" come in.
Ya'll know I belong to a wonderful Relay for Life team and that we decided to try to do something really unique and special for this year's Relay. To start off, we wrote, created and produced an original, one of a kind, never been seen before MOVIE, about a young child with Cancer. (if you don't already know all about it, stay tuned, I'm working on blogging retroactively about the whole thing) Anyway, after a whole lot of time, money, brain cells and phone calls, we finally got to Relay Night and set up the most wonderful booth. We created a MOVIE THEATRE out of an Army tent that was set up on a soccer field, and we did it without "real" electricity. Meaning we had to use a generator instead of just plugging in to a quiet outlet, (unlike the power board who somehow managed to run temporary electrical service to their booth. HMM. Imagine that) Anyway, our theatre was complete with big screen, movie projector, popcorn maker, and an great concession stand, thanks to my favorite chaplain. AND WE RAISED approx. $7200.00 to boot. So we did an amazing job.
Anyone who disagrees, is liable to get punched right in the mouth.
Anyway, the night of the Relay they have contests: Best team T-shirt, Best Spirit Stick, they have a talent contest and a hoola- hoop contest.
Anyway, the night of the Relay they have contests: Best team T-shirt, Best Spirit Stick, they have a talent contest and a hoola- hoop contest.
(who knows what all that has to do with raising money for Cancer research, but people respond, so…)
But the BIG contests are:
1. who raises the most money and
2. who has the best campsite?
OK, so the most money contest will most likely be won by the team who has the most members helping and works the hardest. (That's logical.) Usually that’s one of the bigger teams, for instance, the companies who have employees and do fundraisers all year long including payroll deduction etc. It’s hard for the little teams to really compete. So to compensate, the Relay organizers have come up with catagories, ie: gold, silver and bronze teams, best family team, best company team, yada yada yada. To me that means do your absolute best and turn the money in with a smile & forget the awards.
But the BIG contests are:
1. who raises the most money and
2. who has the best campsite?
OK, so the most money contest will most likely be won by the team who has the most members helping and works the hardest. (That's logical.) Usually that’s one of the bigger teams, for instance, the companies who have employees and do fundraisers all year long including payroll deduction etc. It’s hard for the little teams to really compete. So to compensate, the Relay organizers have come up with catagories, ie: gold, silver and bronze teams, best family team, best company team, yada yada yada. To me that means do your absolute best and turn the money in with a smile & forget the awards.
(There’s no way a team like ours can turn in $30,000 dollars like Axys. But when you think about the fact that the their team has about 400 people that means that they turned in about 75.00 per person, which would translate into about 750.00 for us IF we had 10 people actually collecting money, which we didn’t, and we wound up turning in $7200.00.)
Again, I say, we DID GOOD!
(cue grape stomping sounds)
The best Campsite contest this year was a complete farce. It has been won by the same team for year after year. Axys. (They are a huge company here in town who works on government contracts including making the mirrors for the Hubble Telescope.) I will say that they have done some amazing things in the past to win. Last year they built a “real” volcano that rumbled and roared and spewed smoke and “flames” from the top. It was cool and deserved to win, LAST YEAR. This year however, for the first time the Relay organizers came up with a THEME for the event. (they came up with the theme AFTER we were already done making our movie. coincidence?, karma?, hmm) The THEME was “MOVIES & MUSICALS” the point was to use a movie theme and tweek it to say something about the fight to find a cure for cancer. So there were campsites with everything from VIVA LAS VEGAS, to JUNGLE BOOK and SNOW WHITE, and then there was Axys who chose “HAIR”. They did a hippie theme and pulled two VW buses onto their campsite, the buses were painted all hippi-ish and they put campfires and protest signs and afghans on cots and everyone wore tie die and hippie wigs. They were protesting Cancer or something. It was cute, but…
DID I MENTION THAT WE MADE AN ORIGINAL MOVIE ABOUT A CHILD WHO HAS CANCER AND WON THE BATTLE? AND DID I MENTION THAT WE CREATED A THEATRE TO SHOW THE MOVIE @ THE RELAY? (here’s a picture)
The best Campsite contest this year was a complete farce. It has been won by the same team for year after year. Axys. (They are a huge company here in town who works on government contracts including making the mirrors for the Hubble Telescope.) I will say that they have done some amazing things in the past to win. Last year they built a “real” volcano that rumbled and roared and spewed smoke and “flames” from the top. It was cool and deserved to win, LAST YEAR. This year however, for the first time the Relay organizers came up with a THEME for the event. (they came up with the theme AFTER we were already done making our movie. coincidence?, karma?, hmm) The THEME was “MOVIES & MUSICALS” the point was to use a movie theme and tweek it to say something about the fight to find a cure for cancer. So there were campsites with everything from VIVA LAS VEGAS, to JUNGLE BOOK and SNOW WHITE, and then there was Axys who chose “HAIR”. They did a hippie theme and pulled two VW buses onto their campsite, the buses were painted all hippi-ish and they put campfires and protest signs and afghans on cots and everyone wore tie die and hippie wigs. They were protesting Cancer or something. It was cute, but…
DID I MENTION THAT WE MADE AN ORIGINAL MOVIE ABOUT A CHILD WHO HAS CANCER AND WON THE BATTLE? AND DID I MENTION THAT WE CREATED A THEATRE TO SHOW THE MOVIE @ THE RELAY? (here’s a picture)
There were some great campsites and evidently the judges did have a hard time deciding. They even came back to our campsite a couple times to look around and ask questions. And evidently they had such a hard time deciding that they asked if they could come up with an extra category just so they could acknowledge enough teams. The category they came up with is:
“Best in Capturing the True Meaning of Relay for Life – Campsite”
(aka: the “damn that’s an awesome campsite, but you didn’t contribute enough money to the cause so…” award.)
PUH-leeeze…
Let’s just call it Miss Congeniality and let it go.
DID I MENTION THAT WE MADE AN ORIGINAL MOVIE ABOUT A CHILD WHO HAS CANCER AND WON THE BATTLE? AND DID I MENTION THAT WE CREATED A THEATRE TO SHOW THE MOVIE @ THE RELAY?
Well we got 2nd place in that category. 1st place went to the Power Board whose theme was “STATE FAIR”. They did a lot of work and their booth looked good, (remember the team who just happened to be able to run their own temporary power to their campsite? Of course it looked good), but I’m still having a hard time figuring out how they captured the
PUH-leeeze…
Let’s just call it Miss Congeniality and let it go.
DID I MENTION THAT WE MADE AN ORIGINAL MOVIE ABOUT A CHILD WHO HAS CANCER AND WON THE BATTLE? AND DID I MENTION THAT WE CREATED A THEATRE TO SHOW THE MOVIE @ THE RELAY?
Well we got 2nd place in that category. 1st place went to the Power Board whose theme was “STATE FAIR”. They did a lot of work and their booth looked good, (remember the team who just happened to be able to run their own temporary power to their campsite? Of course it looked good), but I’m still having a hard time figuring out how they captured the
“TRUE MEANING OF RELAY FOR LIFE”.
I think I mentioned: ORIGINAL MOVIE, A CHILD WHO HAS CANCER, WON THE BATTLE, & CREATING A THEATRE TO SHOW THE MOVIE @ THE RELAY?
Bottom line, next year I say just give the awards to Axys up front, and move on. The rest of us will spend our time and effort raising as much money as we can to help with Cancer Research, and maybe someday a Cure will be found and the Campsites won’t matter anyway.
Now, I really do feel better and I’m going to let it go and see if I can turn these grapes into really good wine for next year
I think I mentioned: ORIGINAL MOVIE, A CHILD WHO HAS CANCER, WON THE BATTLE, & CREATING A THEATRE TO SHOW THE MOVIE @ THE RELAY?
Bottom line, next year I say just give the awards to Axys up front, and move on. The rest of us will spend our time and effort raising as much money as we can to help with Cancer Research, and maybe someday a Cure will be found and the Campsites won’t matter anyway.
Now, I really do feel better and I’m going to let it go and see if I can turn these grapes into really good wine for next year
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
sometimes it's the little super absorbant things...
Considering what normally goes with it, I usually grimace and shudder when I look at one,
but today,
A tampon actually made me smile!
I keep a cute little makeup case with hearts on it, under the cabinet at work so that those pesky femine products can be a bit more discreetly stored, but still be at hand when needed. Well, today I unzipped the little case and looked in and just had to smile. There, nestled with the assorted "flavors" of my usual brand, was one with a different wrapper. It was left over from my trip to Arizona and was taken without permission from my sister's stash. Upon revealing my theivery, her immediate response was: "that's what sisters are for"!!
Gosh, I love my sisters.
I think I'll leave it in there forever!!!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
OVERHEARD...
I was so extrememly tired after my trip to AZ, (which was wonderful. look for blog to be posted) so after eating lunch with the counselor, I decided to spend 35 glorious minutes napping in my car at the park. Of course, there are only two and a half trees on the entire property that actually provide any shade, so all 22 vehicles were trying to crowd into a very small area. Fortunately the nap gods were smiling upon me and a veh moved just as I turned in. I gratefully took the spot which was in between a great big camo clad military guy napping in a tiny little sports coupe and two tiny little teenage blondes smoking in a great big jacked up, and beat up green pickup truck. Since the soldier was so relaxed, I decided there was probably no immediate danger of terrorist attack, so I let my seat back and got as comfy as I could in my car and closed my eyes. Just as I was about to doze off, this young blonde voice drifted through the open window. That's when I heard:
"Daddy says he won't do it again if I promise not to do it again either..."
Not sure what else was said, but I didn't get my nap 'cause my mind was spinning wildly to come up with any possibilities as to what that sentence could have been referring.
We are in Alabama after all...
I'm just glad I was able to serve my country in some small way. By being between the girls and the soldier, at least his nap wasn't disturbed.
"Daddy says he won't do it again if I promise not to do it again either..."
Not sure what else was said, but I didn't get my nap 'cause my mind was spinning wildly to come up with any possibilities as to what that sentence could have been referring.
We are in Alabama after all...
I'm just glad I was able to serve my country in some small way. By being between the girls and the soldier, at least his nap wasn't disturbed.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
FISH TACOS & FAMILY FUN
(FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY... i realized yesterday (9/08) that this had not been finished and published when it was supposed to have been. So, I finished it. I thought. Actually, for some reason it published the unfinished draft, sooooo if you saw it between yesterday and today, you've only seen part of it. I wanted to share with any of you who are interested, so I'm going to leave it here for a few days, and then I'll tuck it back into its place in May.)
I just got back from an amazing trip to Tucson, AZ!! It was so much fun despite the fact that the counselor (Roger) stayed at the "camp" with the security guard (Jiro). I truly have a wonderful if somewhat, um, well let's see... yeah, there's just no one word to describe my family, but wonderful, funny, strange, intelligent, eccentric, weird,... wait..., gotta add LOVING & LOYAL... yep, those all work. Sometimes I feel a bit overwhelmed by my family, but mostly I just feel Blessed.
I got to watch my "little" brother go through his commissioning/graduation ceremony. I got to visit with Mom & Dad, another little brother, two sisters, their men, a nephew, and tons of other kids. I was also introduced to FISH TACOS for the first time: I have 3 words: MMM, MMM, GOOD!! Thanks lil' bro!! Sometimes I forget how great the hullabub can be with that many people in one place. And though it can be the sourse of a massive headache, the fact is, I miss it sometimes. Along with the noise and activity and general chaos comes the feeling of LIFE. No chance to grow stagnant because there's too much going on. Of course, I was grateful for my little office/room and some privacy, but all in all, it was wonderful!! Here are some pix of people, places and activities. (sorry if you've seen this on the family blog, but I have other people you know!!!)
Some of the PEOPLE
The PLACE
... and other THINGS
I just got back from an amazing trip to Tucson, AZ!! It was so much fun despite the fact that the counselor (Roger) stayed at the "camp" with the security guard (Jiro). I truly have a wonderful if somewhat, um, well let's see... yeah, there's just no one word to describe my family, but wonderful, funny, strange, intelligent, eccentric, weird,... wait..., gotta add LOVING & LOYAL... yep, those all work. Sometimes I feel a bit overwhelmed by my family, but mostly I just feel Blessed.
I got to watch my "little" brother go through his commissioning/graduation ceremony. I got to visit with Mom & Dad, another little brother, two sisters, their men, a nephew, and tons of other kids. I was also introduced to FISH TACOS for the first time: I have 3 words: MMM, MMM, GOOD!! Thanks lil' bro!! Sometimes I forget how great the hullabub can be with that many people in one place. And though it can be the sourse of a massive headache, the fact is, I miss it sometimes. Along with the noise and activity and general chaos comes the feeling of LIFE. No chance to grow stagnant because there's too much going on. Of course, I was grateful for my little office/room and some privacy, but all in all, it was wonderful!! Here are some pix of people, places and activities. (sorry if you've seen this on the family blog, but I have other people you know!!!)
Some of the PEOPLE
The PLACE
... and other THINGS
(a NOT so extreme, but lots of fun, home makeover - bedroom edition)
Always check your panties for holes!!!
1 LILLY WHITE BUTT CHEEK
+
10 MINUTES IN TANNING BED
=
'NUFF SAID!!!
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Now I'm Back and Happy as a Clam!!!
Life truly is good and I'll be back bloggin' with a vengence soon. There's so much to tell. Bear with me and you'll see...
I'm BACK, & I'm a bitchin'...
What "they" Cullman Primary Care sent me on 03-04-08 with my name "filled" in the blanks:
Dear:_____You were scheduled for an appointment on___ with_____which you did not keep. We want to be sure you are all right, and of course, we would - like to complete you examinationltreatment as soon as possible. It is very important for you to notifr our office if you are unable to keep your appointment; This time can be used for another patient who is need of medical care. Will you please call our office today? The telephone number is734-3202.
Sincerely,Culinian Primary Care. P.C.
Date: ___________
What I sent back on 3/5/08 on the reverse side of their letter:
To Whom It May Concern:
While I appreciate your “concern” for my health and well being, I am not at all pleased with the reprimand that I received from your office yesterday.
If you had a better plan in place that would allow you to more adequately attend to your phones, you would have seen that I DID call to cancel my appointment. I am certain that this is not the first complaint that you have received over this problem in your office as it has been an ongoing problem for years, but just to be sure that you properly understand the situation I found myself in, let me explain.
On Thursday February the 29th 2008 at 8:00am I made a phone call to the office to see if I could schedule an appointment with my regular physician, Dr. Elliott. I do not call my Dr’s office on a regular basis and never for anything other than a real illness. I was suffering, as so many others out there are right now, from the flu. I had already visited my Dr. two weeks earlier and was still sick. I had put it off as long as I could, but finally decided that I needed medical attention. I called but held for at least 10 min. so I headed out to CPC Urgent Care. On my way there, I decided that I would give one more effort to call the office and get an appointment so that Urgent Care could have the spot for other people. After being on hold, as usual, for another 8-10 min, I finally spoke with someone who was, thankfully, able to give me an appointment for 2:40pm that afternoon with Dr. Elliott. By that time I had arrived at Urgent Care, and was feeling so badly that I went on in to see if they were way behind. Not only was I feeling dreadful, but I knew that the sooner I could get some medications, the better off I’d be, and I also knew from prior experience that if I waited until my 2:40 appt, I’d be lucky to even get back to see the Dr. before 4:00 and by that time, there was no telling how I’d be feeling. So I signed in, gave them my cell phone # (what a great idea) and went out to my car to wait. After being seen by Dr. Saltz, I left urgent care to get my prescriptions filled and to go home to recuperate from what was tested as being the full blown flu.
I’m not sure exactly what time that morning I called back to your office to cancel my appointment, but it was before noon and I lay in bed and held for at least 15 or 20 minutes, listening to the message over and over and being told to press this ext. and that ext. for different reasons. Finally, after getting no answer so that I COULD cancel my appointment and “leave it open for some other patient” I pushed either ext. 103 or 105 and left a message that went something like this: Hi, this is Elena Caudle birth date 11/3/69 and I have an appointment with Dr. Elliott at 2:40pm today. I realize that this extension is not specifically for cancelling appointments, but I’m horribly ill and can’t hold my head up to continue holding for someone to answer the other line. I figure that whomever this extension belongs to will listen to the messages and I would very much appreciate it if you would pass this message along. I need to cancel my appointment, I have been to Urgent Care and I don’t want to keep another sick person from being able to see Dr. Elliott. Thank you and good bye.
Evidently the lines of communication within the office are not much better than the lines between the office and the public.
I am sorry that you did not get my request to cancel my appointment. It WAS made and was made in a timely manner. I also understand that people are not very considerate of our Dr’s time sometimes, but I think that consideration of people’s time needs to go both ways.
Sincerely, ME
SO THERE!!!
Dear:_____You were scheduled for an appointment on___ with_____which you did not keep. We want to be sure you are all right, and of course, we would - like to complete you examinationltreatment as soon as possible. It is very important for you to notifr our office if you are unable to keep your appointment; This time can be used for another patient who is need of medical care. Will you please call our office today? The telephone number is734-3202.
Sincerely,Culinian Primary Care. P.C.
Date: ___________
What I sent back on 3/5/08 on the reverse side of their letter:
To Whom It May Concern:
While I appreciate your “concern” for my health and well being, I am not at all pleased with the reprimand that I received from your office yesterday.
If you had a better plan in place that would allow you to more adequately attend to your phones, you would have seen that I DID call to cancel my appointment. I am certain that this is not the first complaint that you have received over this problem in your office as it has been an ongoing problem for years, but just to be sure that you properly understand the situation I found myself in, let me explain.
On Thursday February the 29th 2008 at 8:00am I made a phone call to the office to see if I could schedule an appointment with my regular physician, Dr. Elliott. I do not call my Dr’s office on a regular basis and never for anything other than a real illness. I was suffering, as so many others out there are right now, from the flu. I had already visited my Dr. two weeks earlier and was still sick. I had put it off as long as I could, but finally decided that I needed medical attention. I called but held for at least 10 min. so I headed out to CPC Urgent Care. On my way there, I decided that I would give one more effort to call the office and get an appointment so that Urgent Care could have the spot for other people. After being on hold, as usual, for another 8-10 min, I finally spoke with someone who was, thankfully, able to give me an appointment for 2:40pm that afternoon with Dr. Elliott. By that time I had arrived at Urgent Care, and was feeling so badly that I went on in to see if they were way behind. Not only was I feeling dreadful, but I knew that the sooner I could get some medications, the better off I’d be, and I also knew from prior experience that if I waited until my 2:40 appt, I’d be lucky to even get back to see the Dr. before 4:00 and by that time, there was no telling how I’d be feeling. So I signed in, gave them my cell phone # (what a great idea) and went out to my car to wait. After being seen by Dr. Saltz, I left urgent care to get my prescriptions filled and to go home to recuperate from what was tested as being the full blown flu.
I’m not sure exactly what time that morning I called back to your office to cancel my appointment, but it was before noon and I lay in bed and held for at least 15 or 20 minutes, listening to the message over and over and being told to press this ext. and that ext. for different reasons. Finally, after getting no answer so that I COULD cancel my appointment and “leave it open for some other patient” I pushed either ext. 103 or 105 and left a message that went something like this: Hi, this is Elena Caudle birth date 11/3/69 and I have an appointment with Dr. Elliott at 2:40pm today. I realize that this extension is not specifically for cancelling appointments, but I’m horribly ill and can’t hold my head up to continue holding for someone to answer the other line. I figure that whomever this extension belongs to will listen to the messages and I would very much appreciate it if you would pass this message along. I need to cancel my appointment, I have been to Urgent Care and I don’t want to keep another sick person from being able to see Dr. Elliott. Thank you and good bye.
Evidently the lines of communication within the office are not much better than the lines between the office and the public.
I am sorry that you did not get my request to cancel my appointment. It WAS made and was made in a timely manner. I also understand that people are not very considerate of our Dr’s time sometimes, but I think that consideration of people’s time needs to go both ways.
Sincerely, ME
SO THERE!!!
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