Friday, February 24, 2017

Flashback Friday: Super Bowl!

Feb 2007:
The Super Bowl was set!  Colts vs Chicago Bears.

Since my oldest son's antics during the playoffs had threatened the shelf lives of everything on the piano, we completely cleared it off before friends arrived.

I'd acquired Colts PJ pants and a Peyton Manning shirt, so I changed right before the game began.  We snacked on Chicken Broccoli Braid, bacon-tomato cups, chips and dip, and whatever the spouse decided to fix.

Prince played the halftime show, in the rain, w/o missing any notes.  He was awesome!

In contrast to the playoffs, the game was a subdued affair, and the Indianapolis Colts won their 1st Super Bowl:)

For Valentine's Day, the spouse showed up with chocolates, as well as a stuffed Mama Tiger and cub for the daughter:)

We tried to eat at Garfield's restaurant, but the wait was too long, so we went across the street to the Dogwood Amish Buffet.

Next Month:  Joining The Online Community!

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Present Day:
Kenzie's 10th book released yesterday!  Go here to check it out and enter her contest:)

The weather the past two weeks has been outstanding!  Temps in the 60s and 70s....the only reason I've even worn a coat is because of rain!

Rehearsals for the Community Choir's Once Upon A Tree have begun:)  S and I also drove up to Ben Davis last night for MDQ's choir concert.

Filed our taxes last Sunday; we're getting $800+ back from Fed, but have to send $900+ to the state.  Bleh.

I did sing at a funeral on Wed, and had a disaster strike during the Responsorial:  G had one version; mine was completely different!  We only 'synched up' during verses 2 and 4, as well as the response.  OOPS!  Still, I like being paid to sing:)

Have a great weekend!  Hopefully, we'll be doing some cleaning up of the front yard and maybe the storage unit.

Friday, February 17, 2017

Flashback Friday

Feb 1997:
Valentine's Day was just another day; our taxes had been filed, but the refund hadn't arrived yet.  I fixed a nice dinner for the kids, bought them a modest amount of chocolate, AND we discovered we'd been approved for our new home.  We'd found some land in Morgan County, but now had to decide which lot we wanted.  I liked #26, but D liked #14 better.  When we met with the owners, it turned out the lot I liked had already been sold, so we settled for the other one, and chose the display model house.  All we had to do now was come up with a down payment and sign the papers.

Meanwhile, my baby girl was thriving in her pre-school class:)  She was making friends, enjoyed her teacher, and looked forward to every Wednesday.

After our refund arrived, we had a nice meal and paid off some debts.  D even attended a meeting and made the decision to sign up with QuikStar, a spinoff of Amway.  I wasn't thrilled, but he was excited about it, so I reluctantly agreed to go along to the next meeting.

I also began chauffeuring two kids home from school; I took the neighbor's daughter to school and even picked her up sometimes; the twins' mom made the decision to pull them out of their preschool, so I now had them all day long.  I did enjoy the money I was making:)

Managed to see T for a while, but his attitude was not the greatest; I began to think maybe that two months in a row was a bit much; he needed more time to 'departmentalize' his feelings toward me.

Next Month:  Signing the Papers!

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Present Day:
My parents are arriving later today, to spend some time with their grandchildren and great-grandchild, and for Mom to finally see the house:)

Tomorrow, I believe the daughter and I will be going to see 50 Shades Darker.

Sunday, I have to sing at the 11am service, and I will finally finish watching SE6 of Downton Abbey.  I also borrowed the movie Suffragette, and have to watch it this weekend:)

Kenzie is talking music!  Go visit her here.

Have a great weekend!  Our weather is supposed to be in the high 60's!  In FEBRUARY!


Saturday, February 11, 2017

Flashback Friday (Yes, I know It's Really Saturday!): Heartache

February 1987:
Brief Recap:  After graduation, I returned home to temp at a local craft factory while waiting for the Spring Quarter to start in March for BSU (providing I was accepted).  JF and I agreed to do the long-distance thing, and in January, for his birthday, we had a long-awaited reunion that was magical....

What followed, though, can only be called my period of rebellion.

I missed JF so much, I began to call him on a daily basis, whereas previously my phone calls had been weekly.  My work at the factory was good, though one day I was called to be in the Stuffing area, and since we'd been told that if we were placed in an area, we were to stay there until being reassigned, it stunned me two days later when I was the only one working in that area.  I resented it, until I asked someone about it and they told me to return to my table.  I did, and felt better, though I began every day by asking my mother to pray that I wouldn't be recalled to that area!

My work on the then-titled Love On The Rocks continued, and I was counting down the days until I could return to JF's for the weekend.  The day before I was scheduled to go, I called him, and received a blow.

"Don't bother coming down; we're done.  Goodbye."  He hung up.

I stared at the phone, then slowly replaced the receiver and walked, in numb shock, to my room.  How could this have happened?  I was so numb I couldn't even process the news, or even cry.  I returned to the kitchen (remember when the family phone was only in one place?) and called my BFF, to see if I could sleep in my old room that weekend; I'd drown my sorrows with her.  The next day, I drove down, still trying to process the breakup.

EY commiserated with me, then apologized; she had plans with her b/f for the evening.  I told her to go ahead; I'd amuse myself for the evening.  I called TH, my 'FWB' guy from the previous summer, and told him what had happened.  He took me to dinner, along with DW, the guy with whom I'd had the one night stand at Halloween.  Thanks to DW, I discovered JF had been cheating on me the last three weeks, and had confided that my suddenly clingy attitude was getting on his nerves, and he was preferring the more mature behavior of someone in his evening class.  That news put me over the edge, and the tears finally fell.  Knowing I'd just had a blow, DW offered to take me dancing at a new nightclub, The Bank.  I agreed, but TH had plans.  When a very good-looking friend of DW's showed up and on crutches, I invited him along, since I did NOT want to be alone with DW.  We had a wonderful time, with me dancing with my new friend CS on the slow songs, due to his sprained ankle.  We left around midnight, and dropped CS off at the dorm.  Needing something, but not knowing what, I drove by JF's trailer and discovered a strange car parked outside, then drove over to Illinois to simply see my AF officer's house.  DW had been making hints about going back to his room, but I was most definitely NOT in that sort of mood.  I timed it so we returned to campus after Open Vis was over, then I went to my old dorm room and cried myself to sleep.

I did meet with TH the next afternoon before heading home, and the next day brought news of my acceptance to BSU; I was to move in to my new dorm room in LaFollet Complex, Woody Hall, Room 806 the second Saturday of March.

Next Month:  A New Chapter Begins!

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Present Day:
I've had a lazy two days.  I've binge-watched Seasons 4 and 5 of Downton Abbey, and will begin SE 6 tomorrow.  Today, I'm helping serve lunch to the Men's Retreat, then choir is singing at the 5 pm service at Sacred Heart.  I'm praying my voice will cooperate, since it refused to do so Thursday night.

Probably why I feel a bit depressed, lol....

I did manage to finish the 1st round edits on Kira, and have paid the 1st installment on my shiny new cover:)  You can see it here.

Have a great weekend!

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Wait....What Happened?

In case you were deep in a cave or some remote island with no wifi, there was a big game that was played on Sunday, Super Bowl 51, NE Patriots vs Atlanta Falcons.  NE was the heavy favorite, but my household is a divided one, with my older son and I cheering loudly for the Falcons.  I'm just tired of 'Brady Fever' and think it's high time another team won.  In case you've not noticed in the nearly ten years I've had this blog (has it really been that long?  *gasp!*), I often cheer for the underdog.

Opening Ceremony:
I love Luke Bryan, and thought he did an awesome job on the National Anthem:)

I was also thrilled to see the stars of Hamilton perform God Bless America, and giggled when they inserted 'and sisterhood' into the last stanza!  No, I did not view it as 'political posturing' or 'standing up for women'.  It's a song, people....get over it.  I was neither offended nor burning my bra in favor of it.

I was also thrilled to see Frmr Pres HW Bush and Barbara, who had recently been hospitalized, do the coin toss.  Though the coin flew into the Falcons' line up.....it still went Atlanta's way.

1st Qtr:
Both teams tried hard, and it soon became a running joke between my daughter and I if either team would ever get the ball past the 50 yd line and into their own territory.  Score at end:  0-0, and I tossed out the idea, 'Hey, wouldn't it be neat if the entire game went into overtime, scoreless?'  My daughter sniffed.

"Brady won't let that happen."

2nd Qtr:
Atlanta put up 3 TDs AND sacked Brady 4 times.  I started cheering whenever the Pats finally moved the ball past their own 30 yd line, but was thrilled when the Falcons kept them from a TD, and they had to settle for a field goal.  Score at halftime:  21-3.  Never in the history of the SB had a team ever come back to win from more than a 10 pt deficit.  I was also slightly put out because we hadn't seen any *good* commercials.

Halftime:
OMG, Lady Gaga rocked!  She pulled a Pink stunt, being hoisted on wires and flipping end over end from what seemed to be the top of the stadium.  Very classy!  She began with a line of God Bless America, then segued into This Land Is Your Land.  After landing on the stage, she went into Pokerface, Born This Way, Telephone, and Bad Romance.  Time for a quick change before slowing it down for a new one, even saying hi to her mom and dad, before jumping back into Bad Romance and exiting with a mic drop, a catch of a ball, and jumping down off camera.  Very well done and very classy!  No scandalous politicking!

3rd Qtr:
I joked that the thumping heard wasn't due to the music, it was Brady chewing out everyone and kicking some a$$.  It seemed to work, though the Falcons did get another TD, but ran into some holding issues.  Where previously they'd force a 4th down punt, this time on the 3rd down, defense would get penalized for holding and the 5 yd penalty would result in 1st down.  Thus the Pats marched down field and scored their 1st TD finally, but could not connect on the extra point.  Score at end:  28-9.  Both Brady and Coach looked furious.

4th Qtr:
Pats seemed to wake up, or maybe they had simply worn out the Falcons?  Because nothing the Falcons did worked.  Brady and Co scored two TDs and another field goal to tie, sending the SB into its 1st OT in the history of the SB.  Score:  28-28.

OT:
Pats won the toss, and pushed the Falcons all the way to the 2nd yd line, then scoring a TD.  Rules in OT say whoever scores first wins, so there you have it.  34-28, an awesome comeback for the very tired Brady!



As per my daughter's requirements, I spent yesterday in her Tom Brady jersey.

I also joked about needing a teddy bear, counseling, and the need to riot because my team didn't win.

The game echoed our political climate, and I decided to put my tongue in my cheek in reference to those on the other side. You knew I had a twisted sense of humor, right?  ;)



Monday, February 6, 2017

February Reading List

So far, 2017 is off to a really bad start:  4 celebrity deaths and 5 classmates/teachers/friends.
January claimed Mary Tyler Moore, Miguel Ferrer, Barbara Hale, Mike Conners, Craig Clifton, Mr. Kendall, Mr. Prill, Mr. Skibinski, and Carla Jones. 

How'd I do last month?
-Give B partial payment for print covers (still yet-to-be-made) Check:)
-Send Kira off to editor with payment  Check:)
-Finish cover request and send off with partial payment Not yet....
-Order more copies of Hotel (currently sold out)  Not yet....
-Finish Ghost Story  Not even opened it.
-Add at least 5K words to Heart Song  Added 500 words....
-Find out where the Crossroads antho stands  Check....sort of....?
-Pack away the Christmas decorations  (check!) and begin hanging pictures and shelving units in my new house. Check:)
-Send some 'pretties' to my SIL (check!) and photograph others for family members  
-Watch SE4 (Check!) and 5 (Check!) of Game of Thrones, plus maybe even 6 (check!), then start on the Classic TV DVDs I've acquired.  Began Downton Abbey instead:)

Health:  Apparently, even though I've ping-ponged last fall, I am now the same weight I was six months ago.  Sigh....I guess that's a good thing!

Books Read:  16
             Print:  4
         E-book:  12
              DNF:  1

Songs Added To Karaoke Good List:  Only 4, due to voice taking a vacation and being gone.

So What Do I Hope To Accomplish This Month?
-Finish cover request and send partial payment  Check:)  It's beautiful!!!!
-Finish Ghost Story  I've added at leat 600 words to it:)
-Add words to Heart Song
-Buy copies of Hotel Stories
-Get more decorations up on walls still working on it:)
-Finish watching Downton Abbey Check:)
-Finish Kira edits and start early promo  1st round finished, plus cover art shared:)  2/23:  Book Released!  Now working on print version.
-Lose 5 pounds
-File taxes  Check:)

Feb Reading Schedule:
Print:
A Maverick For The Holidays-Leanne Tyler  DNF
Because It's Christmas-Kathryn Shay  Finally finished this!
The Girl w/o a Name-Sandra Block  Did NOT see that ending!  WOW....


E-Book:
Misfortune's Lady-Sandra Sookoo  Good story:)
Healing Hearts-Liz Crowe Loved this!!


Karaoke Songs:
Thurs:
Week 1: Husky voice; sang Jar of Hearts, alto part.
Week #2:  Still no voice.
Week #3:
We've Got Tonight-Bob Seeger  Fairly good....
From This Moment-Shania Twain  Gary sang it with me and we nailed it:)
Week #4:  Celebrated Release Day (Kenzie's Kira's Slice of Pizza) with an entire Miranda Lambert line up:)


Sat:

Love Story-Taylor Swift  Sounded good:)
Love The One You're With-Crosby Stills and Nash  Thought it was a bit crackly, but others liked it:)
(rotation was 90 mins)
Love Will Keep Us Together-Captain and Tenille  Did well:)
Lovin Touchin Squeezin-Journey  Rocked the bar:)
(Valentine's weekend; sang other songs also and rotation was 1 hour long.)
Week #3:  Daughter and I went to see the FSD movie, which I attempted to sleep through, and was too tired to go to 'roke afterward.
Leave The Pieces-Wreckers Did well, except for bridge.
Loverboy-Billy Ocean  Better than expected!  Had to sing 'You want a be my lover, lover, loverboy...'
Lovergirl-Teena Marie  Very surprised this turned out well, considering I didn't know the right words!
Lucky Star-Madonna  Slightly high; probably won't sing again.


Friday, February 3, 2017

Flashback Friday: Note Passing Fiasco!

Kenzie is blogging again!  To see her posts for the past month, and meet *our* BFFs, go here.

Feb 1977:
I mentioned my 5th grade teacher was rather strict?  Well, my BFF at the time found out the hard way what happens when you get caught passing notes in class.

Two new boys joined our class.  RU, a kid with cerebral palsey and used a crutch; and WB, on whom my BFF developed a HUGE crush!  So much, she wrote him a love letter.  And tried to pass it to him during class.

Mr. M intercepted it, however, and instead of simply dropping it into the trash, decided to read it out loud, embarrassing both parties and causing laughter for the rest of the class.  I had actually forgotten this incident until last year, when A and I got together and she had asked me if I remembered poor WB.  We had a good laugh over it, and A told me how humiliated she'd felt that day.

In the meantime, my creative mind was still being unlocked.  In English class, we were leaning how to create paragraphs, use quotation marks, and to write fairy tales and legends.  My 2nd story explained my theory of how people began to use streetlights.  It's a funny little story about how a firefly who couldn't fly managed to have a family, then be brought inside by a curious little boy.

The entire two-sided story is one paragraph, conversation and all!  My mother enjoyed it, and had mentioned sending it in to Jack and Jill magazine, a children's magazine that I read.  I was thrilled by the prospect, but Mom either forgot about it, or they rejected the story.  I'll never know, because my mother doesn't remember this conversation at all.

I think it was about this time we saw the movie Freaky Friday:)

Next Month:  Going To Chicago!

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Present Day:
Edits have arrived for Kenzie's Kira:)  As soon as MS Word can be reinstalled on my laptop, I'll get to work on them.  I was complimented; several pages of the MS had nothing wrong, which editor says is very rare for her to find:)  There's only two places where I disagree with her, and it's mainly a misunderstanding and easy to fix.  Now I really need to get that cover art request sent off!

Voice is still gone, but getting better!

****WARNING:  Rant ahead*******

Politically speaking, half of our nation has lost its mind.  For the past 8 years, the right held its tongue and endured the PC culture, in case of being accused of racism if we spoke out against our president.  But now DJT is in charge, and hopefully restoring some common sense back into our lives, the left is in an uproar, rioting, causing damage, and doing a 180 against a supreme court nominee.  Both parties had no issue with him when it came to the lower courts, but now he's nominated for SCOTUS and suddenly the left has found him less than desirable?  WTH people??

As for our Secretary of Ed.....I have mixed feelings.  I do see both sides of the issue, and can only hope and pray the correct choice will be made.

I've also heard the words 'fascist' and 'nazi' thrown around.....if the right had tossed around the 'n' word or even mentioned the 11th letter of the alphabet three times 8 years ago.....holy hell, watch out.

Can we return to common decency people?  Common courtesy?  The man's only been in office for TWO WEEKS!  Give him a chance and revisit this in six months.

Oh, and for the record, yes, I am a woman, but no, the idiots who marched two weeks and screamed 'torch the place' do not speak for me.  I just want them to stay the hell out of my reproductive tract.  Women should have the right to choose when it comes to their bodies....provided it is within the 1st twelve weeks, which usually gives us four weeks to decide yea or nay.  After that 12th week, though, there are really only two viable options:  Accept your actions or make someone else very happy.

*****rant over*******

Thankfully, no tragic celebrity deaths this week, however, at the end of SE3 of Downton Abbey, a series regular is killed off.  *blinks back tears*

Anyway, have a wonderful weekend!  I hope to spend it watching SE4:)