Okay, it has been a little over a week since my last post and it’s time to post, and now that I have deleted the spam comments that have shown up in the last week I can begin.  I see that some of you have been posting machines over the last few days, so hopefully mine will be seen among all your furious activity. 😉  Let’s start with a quiz- which of last weeks videos were actually of my church choir and not just songs picked from the web by someone else?  C’mon- the post mentions one directly, and you might be able to logically deduce another one even if you don’t watch/haven’t watched them.  The answers are in the order of the videos in the previous post.  Good luck!  Answers will be forthcoming.

[poll id=”6″]

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So on to the post topic (and all said- “finally!” 😛 ), last night we had the second first of my small group events for the 4th-graders at my church.  Why the ordinal confusion at the beginning of this paragraph?  Well, last Saturday was the first scheduled event, for the Saturday night boys but one of the leaders backed out due to work so we are rescheduling it.  Last night was for the second-Sunday-service boys.  Or as it turned out, boy.  That’s right- out of over a dozen 4th-grade boys that service only one showed up.  So it was two leaders and one boy.  The chosen event was indoor mini-golf on a glow-in-the-dark course.  Being really nice out, and with outdoor courses starting to open, it was quite dead for a Friday night- no one in front of us though people started to come in behind us.  So since it was just the three of us, we kind of spoiled the one boy.  His mom gave him extra money for food or whatnot, but told him not to spend it on the video and redemption games, so what did Brian and I do?  Spent a few dollars on tokens for him of course!

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About the title of this post, even though last Saturday was canceled, I still can gather a statistic for that day as the one at church who was going to notify the parents of the cancellation failed to do so for some reason, so as far as the parents and kids knew it was still on.  The result?  Only the two confirmed students would have been there (only one showed up only to be disappointed since I called the other one personally as I had their number).  Lesson learned- if the parents don’t RSVP, the kids most definitely will not be there.

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So what was the deal?  I know warmer weather kept people away who would have otherwise dropped in, but these were planned events.  Do boys not like mini-golf?  Was it too expensive?  Do all of them have full plates outside of church to prevent participation in any event?  Well, the last can’t be true as there were plenty of kids at the official movie night last year and at the winter retreat.  I hope it wasn’t me! 😮   Okay, not likely.   I really want the next one to be successful.  To be safe, I think we will not make it mini-golf.  Plus, hopefully something cheaper than the $8.50 this one cost.  Maybe we could have an all-ministry event again like a picnic and games (maybe hiking) at the forest preserve- something to perhaps bring up to the leadership.

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Edit: I asked the kids tonight about it and they pretty much agreed that mini-golf would have been fun, but the outdoor kind not indoors.  So, we will likely try this again for the middle of May.  Of course, this was the kids talking.  I didn’t get a chance to question the parents so who knows if cost or transportation was a consideration?  In any event, now to locate a local, fun outdoor course…

For the past month or so, our family has been keeping tabs on  a mother dove sitting upon her nest, nestled way high on a ledge upon the neighbor’s tall house.

She sat there all day, every day; through rain, shine, and even a few nasty thunderstorms.  And then one day, she was gone.  I thought about her all day, wondering if she had abandoned her nest, especially since we never got to see the hungry open mouths of the baby doves (squabs?).  A few hours later, I spied this scene in the tree right in front of our house:

It’s Mom with two babies!  I guess doves grow faster than the traditional robins whose nests we are used to watching.  The dove chicks, er, squabs (as a quick internet search  led me to believe they’re called) hatched and left the nest before we even realized it!  A day after the above picture was taken, Mother dove was gone and the two babies sat in the same place, cuddling and preening.  They sat there for about 2 days, and I was worried that Mom had left them too early and they would starve.  Some more quick internet research told me that Mourning Doves grow rather quickly, and that the mother leaves the babies shortly after they leave the nest – so our doves were behaving normally.  I also learned that the mother and father doves take turns sitting on the nest.  The male usually takes care of the daytime duty, while the female relieves him at night.  Since both genders look alike, unless you are watching the nest constantly, you won’t notice the switch.  I was wondering how she didn’t get extremely bored sitting up there 24/7!

Every day these little guys grow by leaps and bounds, and this picture was taken only one day after the above picture, note how mother has left the babies to fend for themselves:

The day after this picture was taken, there was only 1 baby left in the tree, and now there are none.  We enjoyed watching these little guys grow up, and I hope it’s true when they say that a pair of mated Mourning Doves will reuse the same nest over and over again – I’ll be watching the nest and waiting!

A cute Spring video I shot the other day of my 3-year-old daughter Disney explaining what would happen if a ball rolled into the street and got hit by a car:

My husband and I have been watching some stinky movies lately.  Many of them have had something in common, but I don’t want to say which ones or what their common trait is for fear of making these movies predictable and even worse for people who might decide to watch  them.  I will just name the titles of the movies we’ve watched lately that weren’t any good along with some quick notes:

Edge of Darkness (recent Mel Gibson mess), Shutter Island (so looking forward to this one and it let me down), Memento (man loses memory and uses Polariods to remind himself of his mission in life), Fight Club (made us permanently question imdb.com’s rating system – this one got an 8.8 and we hated it), The Skeleton Key (Kate Hudson voo-doo flick – need I say any more?), The Machinist (the best part of this movie was Christian Bale’s acting – what does that tell you?), Angel Heart (more voo-doo, this time from the 80’s with Robert DeNiro and “Denise” from the Cosby Show which will never be the same for me again – I saw more of Denise than I ever needed to see; there was little about this movie that wasn’t disturbing – why they are bothering with a remake in 2011 is way beyond me), Surveillance (I liked this one a little, but my husband did not.  One of the rare movies upon which we disagreed.  Bill Pullman was pretty good), The Collector (a horror movie that wasn’t quite as bad as the other mentioned above.  VERY gory, and the amount of squirms and gore did not outweigh the good things about the movie).

Some of those movies are newer and we saw them in the theater; others are older releases watched at home.  There just isn’t much coming to the theaters these days.  The Nightmare Elm Street remake is coming soon, but my hopes are not high for that one –  the Halloween remake was awful, and the redone Friday the 13th wasn’t much better.  I did enjoy My Bloody Valentine 3D that came out a few years ago, but then again, I never saw the original.

At least we’ve been offered a break from all the stinkers.  We saw the Steve Carell / Tina Fey comedy-adventure flick Date Night for our date night the other night, and it was enjoyable.  Better than I thought, actually.  Steve Carell plays an everyman suburban husband who takes his wife out for a date night, and they say they are another couple in order to get a table at a swanky restaurant.  Problem is, the couple they pose as are mixed up in no-good business – hijinks ensue.  Steve Carell wasn’t given much to work with for his character, but it amazes me how he brings life to every one of his roles and makes every character different from one another – how does he do that?

And surprisingly, we got a break from our stinker-streak for at home movies too with a Sarah Michelle Gellar suspense thriller that was actually quite enjoyable, despite my usual disdain for the actress.  It’s called Possession, but don’t let the title fool you – it was a pretty good suspense movie with a crummy title.  The movie follows a young couple who are very much in love and celebrating their first wedding anniversary.  Complicating their lives however, is the husband’s convict brother, who has just been released from prison and is staying with them.  There is a horrible car accident, and both brothers end up in comas with the brother-in-law waking up thinking he’s the husband…  sounds like a cheesy soap opera, but it was well done, and we liked it.  From what I’ve been reading, it’s a remake of a Korean movie called Addicted; I might have to check out the original.  There is also an alternate ending, but I’ll stick with the ending I saw – the alternate sounds dumb.

I’m just glad that we broke our stinker-streak, even if it did have to involve Sarah Michelle Gellar.  Consider this blog post your warning to stay away from the ones I listed above – some were almost bad enough to add to my “horrible movies” list; one that includes such bombs as The Love Guru and The Night Listener.  You’ve been warned!!

I was looking for a collection set to add to my movie library. A few years ago Universal studios released their “Monster Collection” as a boxed set (DVD or VHS). 8 movies in all. Since I had the ones I thought I wanted, I didn’t bother with the set.

Now some of my old VHS tapes are showing there age, and I thought it may be time to pick this up if it was still available anywhere. I did a quick search and found used DVD sets going for over $200. And a new “In the box” set going for close to $500. NO WAY would I pay that much for these movies, I can get them cheaper buying them one at a time when I see them at video stores. The Wolf Man at Wally World was only $7.50

A further search found that those same movies will released as a collection again at the end of this month. Pre-Orders are less than $50. I’m sure if I time it correctly, I can get if for less than that. Here is a toast to patience. 😉

I will join in my two fellow tangenteers who have exuded about the beautiful day we had in our little corner of NWO.  PICTURE PERFECT!  Had to work, but got off at two so I had plenty of time to enjoy it!  The down-side… learning from our friendly (no… really… he’s always looking out for all his customers) mechanic that I will soon need to purchase four new tires.  Not so bad considering I’ve had the same car for 8 years and have yet to make the purchase.  And he promised that he can get me a good set for $300.00… not WM el cheapos.

On my way to the garage, I stopped by our going out of business video store where all DVD’s MUST GO for $5 a piece.  I picked up yet another of my childhood memories: The Great Muppet Caper.  I may watch after I finish watching my boys take care of the Angels.

Rehearsal went very well tonight.  Actually, I think this is going to be another dandy!  It’s a good thing I decided to check the door.  I was my usual 15 minutes early, so I got to enjoy the weather a bit more.  Unbeknownst to me, Beth and Rebecca were already inside.  No cars parked except for mine.  Finally at 6, Dawn arrived and we headed upstairs to the costume room where the other two were waiting.

Our director commented to me how well I have been doing.  She wasn’t sure (as I wasn’t) that I had it in my acting prowess to convey all the emotions that “Tom” must go through during the course of the play.  She has not seen me on stage enough to know the full extent of my performance arsenal.  To be quite honest, I don’t think I know.  To me, that is one of the most rewarding things about the theatre… growth and development.  If you are not willing to take chances… you never know what you are capable of.  Sounds a bit like life.  Maybe I should listen to some of these ramblings, eh?  Can you tell I am a wee bit excited… not that that hasn’t happened every show.

OH, YEAH… Jackie Robinson Day.  EVERY player on EVERY team is wearing #42 in recognition of the 62(?) anniversary of the breaking of the color barrier in major league baseball.

wonderful.

I just can’t believe the day we had today. I’m sure the weekend is going to spoil everything, but today is a good day. Now, if I could have spent the day outside to enjoy it all, the day would have been stupendous.

It is a bit funny that even days that I can be outside, I don’t always go out. But I do like having the option of doing it. I guess that is the whole point, isn’t it. If you have the ability to choose, the day just seems nicer. I’m not outside right now, but I do have an option of going out. At work, I can only look out the window as I get my cup of coffee. Choices make the difference.

Enjoy the day as you can, and hope that tomorrow brings all you need.

But some of us don’t have a choice where, or even if, we get to play all day.  And it’s tax day, and shame on you if you haven’t done yours yet!  I don’t know about you, but where we live, it’s oh-so-nice out – I’m talking 80° weather!  But you might be stuck inside doing your taxes…

So here is a song just to torture you.  I’ve seen this on Sesame Street twice now, and I just think it’s so cute; especially when Elmo sings along!  It aired again the other day, so blog time!  Sorry if you were stuck inside all day for work or other unpleasant tasks.  Take comfort in that there will be a whole spring and summer’s worth from where this came from – I ♥ Spring!

master of ???.

As a homeowner, I come across many things that I need to do. Some of them I do well, some of them I put off until they absolutely need to be done. And of course some things I just ignore. 😉

Not having water for my morning shower or tooth brushing session isn’t something I can ignore. It also isn’t something I can put off. It is one of those things I just have to do.

I live in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in the NW corner of Ohio. And because of where I am, I have a well. No city water out here, so if there is no water running, it is something I will need to deal with.

In my 20+ years of living here, I’ve had my share of water problems. Well pump went bad, storage tank leaked, water heater leaked, pressure gage/switch failed. And finally the circuit breaker went bad. I’m just wondering what will happen next.

The latest seemed to be bad pressure switch. I had electricity and I could manually trigger the switch. It just didn’t want to come on when the tank pressure got low.

I’ve replaced one of these before, so I knew what needed to be done. Drain all the water and find the right tools. Take of the switch and get a new one to match it. The nearest hardware stores did not have the part I needed, so it was something that would have to be ordered. Hmm, how long would I be without water??? Since I knew I could turn it on, I decided to order the part and put the old one back on until the replacement arrived.

Before putting the old part back, I decided to clean it up and hope that it might kick in for a while. I was lucky today. So far it is working as it should. I will still have a new part if it decides to go on me soon, at least I will when it gets here.

I came across this article the other day by Janine Dorsey of the Tampa Tribune; it’s called “Don’t Laugh; It Could Happen To You: Common Reasons For Emergency Room Visits Are Common and Serious”

If that title alone doesn’t intrigue you, then go ahead and skip this post.  But I found the article to be both interesting and amusing, so I’ll share some highlights:

Federal regulators review a sample of those visits for signs a product might need to be recalled. Those records provide a view into the dramatic injuries of Americans who seem able to hurt themselves with almost any product made.

One woman fell from a galloping horse while texting.
Another woman’s bangs caught fire as she peered into a toaster.
More than 818 emergency room trips in the past four years involved “chicken” – dead and alive.

Boxes of cereal (cut fingers), cans of pork and beans (falling from a cupboard onto one’s head), wood chippers (yes, people stick their hands in) and trombones.  Hundreds of people suffer piercings gone wrong, thousands fall out of their mobile homes or have objects intractably lodged in orifices.

“Every day, people come in and you just think, ‘You gotta be kidding me,'” said Brian Peckler, an ER doctor for 15 years, now at Tampa General. “I mean, what makes a guy think using a fish hook to clean out ear wax is a good idea?”

Everyone knows by now that talking on the phone is distracting, and now that cell phones have become even cheaper than land lines in many cases, people are finding a variety of ways to hurt themselves while using the phone:

A 19-year-old male, on the phone while lifting weights, drops a barbell on himself.

A 21-year-old male, riding his bike and texting, crashes, scrapes his face.

A 37-year-old male cutting chicken while on the phone slices his hand.

A 25-year-old male, texting, walks into a telephone pole’s guide wire and tells emergency room workers “he might have gotten zapped.”

Hundreds of injuries are blamed on the phone in its capacity as a weapon: They’re used as missiles or as a bludgeon to beat people on the head.

And then there is something that’s become obvious to me ever since I had a son almost two years ago –  men are more apt to hurt themselves than women.  There are more women than men in this country, yet men account for 56% of the ER visits, according to federal data.

Men suffer injury in 80 percent of pressure washer cases. Nine in 10 injuries involving “mobile home” and “alcohol” were suffered by men. And 96 percent of “nail gun” cases were men.

“Guys are definitely dumber than women in this regard,” Peckler said.

One 37-year-old man tried cutting branches with a circular saw – on top of a running wood chipper. The saw cut off several fingers, which fell into the chipper.

Having a brother appears dangerous as well. Regardless of who was injured, ER records implicate the brother twice as often as the sister.

And my personal favorite part of the article:

“Demonstrate” appears in no small number of cases where less-than-skilled people tried to show off martial arts moves, wedding dances, pogo-stick skills and cheerleader routines.

Though many people consider themselves expert enough to demonstrate something, Robert Cano at University Community Hospital sees scores of cases that prove otherwise.

“Almost nothing good comes after someone says ‘Hey, watch this!'” Cano said.

Note the 52-year-old mother, demonstrating judo to her daughter by flipping her husband. Torn left knee.

Other cases: The 25-year-old man demonstrating to children how to climb on monkey bars when his shoulder “snapped.” Or the 16-year-old demonstrating a softball technique who stepped on a rake that smacked her in the forehead.

Or the 55-year-old woman showing her grandson how to use a pogo stick – she fell and smacked her head.

And finally, the ER doc’s favorite story:

Peckler at Tampa General marvels at accidents that should have been fatal but weren’t.

His favorite case: the man who was supposed to be watching his 3-year-old, but decided to change his car’s oil in the driveway.  Seeking a safe holding area, Dad put the child in the car and crawled underneath to drain the oil.

The child knocked the gear shift from park to neutral, and the car’s tire rolled over the man’s chest.

He suffered no major injuries, Peckler said. But how could anyone survive?

Peckler shrugged and said, “God’s strong love for fools.”

Indeed.  Just be careful next time you hear someone say, “Watch this.”  Maybe you should get the phone ready to dial 9-1-1.  Then again, after reading how inclined some folks are to hurt themselves while using the phone, perhaps a better response to “Watch this.” would be “No thanks.”