Coming out of my slump to say...

Excuse me? Obama killed Osama? I don't think so. That distinction goes to the US Navy Seals, thank you very much. Obama just happened to be president during this whole deal.

/rant

I have a list of blogs that I check on an almost daily basis. Whenever I find a "less active" blog on my list, I give it a year to post again. If there are no posts for a year or more, I delete it.

I'm telling you this because it has not been a year since my last post, so I'm not closing it down. Yet. However, I'm not sure what direction I want to take this in should I continue to keep it up. I keep most people I know up-to-date on my life on MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter. Also, I'm currently trying not to reveal too much info about exactly who I am on here (at least, for those of you who don't know who I am), and I'm wondering if I should keep that up or finally reveal to those waiting with bated breath (ha!) exactly who it is that spills their guts here on a not-so-regular basis.

So many thoughts, so many questions. What to do, what to do?

It's August! And you know what that means...

Yes, besides the lack of recognized holidays. It means that Halloween stuff should be cropping up soon. *happy dance* I noticed last year at Sam's that they started putting up Halloween stuff about mid-August. I'm so excited! (And ragweed season unofficially kicks off on the 15th, but that's a subject for another day.)

I have a costume in mind, but I seriously doubt I'll have it done in time for this year, so I might have to wait another year or so. I want to do a female Red Death, a lá The Phantom of the Opera. I originally wanted to incorporate both the original book by Leroux and 2004 movie versions, but I'm considering just going full Leroux. I originally wanted to have a red dress, some kind of hairstyle, the half-skull mask from the 2004 movie, and the cape from the book ("Don't touch me! I'm Red Death stalking abroad!). But I'm considering a big hat instead of a hairstyle (since Erik didn't have a lot of hair), maybe some make up or skull-like mask, and gloves with a bone design on them.

There's a blouse and skirt that I have my eyes on (the burgundy one; I'm going for a Victorian era look), but I'm not totally sold. I also think I'd have to wait until closer to Halloween to thoroughly check and see if all I want is available, which is why I'd have to wait until next year to do this costume. In the meantime, I guess I'd better try and find an alternative, hopefully something other than my Renfaire garb (and Pirate Fest costume); I think I've overdone it a bit in the past couple years.

Wanna wanna wanna!

There are a bunch of great shows coming here within the next year and I'd love to have the means (money, time, etc.) to see them all.

No Doubt is coming next month. Il Divo, The Moody Blues, Phantom of the Opera, Chicago, Mamma Mia, and Young Frankenstein will be here within the next year at the Fox, and The Music Man will be at the Muny this summer.

I so wanna go!

Tabhair póg dom, táim Éireannach!

That's "Kiss Me, I'm Irish!" in Irish Gaelic.



"May you be in heaven a full half hour before the devil knows you're dead."

In the meantime...

I suppose I can try just getting something out there every once in a while, so I thought I'd talk about something I thought about a few days ago.

I turned 26 this week, and I still don't drive. I let my permit lapse almost two years ago. I had renewed it every year since I turned, like, seventeen or so, but didn't do much driving for a long time. I wanted to let it lapse so I could retake the permit test, then go on to get my license. Now it's almost two years and I still haven't done so.

So, I have the website for the driver's guide, which I can read online. I intend to have my permit in the first week or so of April, then to hopefully have my license by the end of the year. So, wish me luck!

I swear I never meant to let it die...

So I'm thinking about closing down my blog, unless I can think of some way to get blogging more often. I don't know how many people read this anymore anyway. I started this when the whole blogging thing started getting popular and just about all my friends had one so we could keep up with each other. Now I have Myspace and Facebook to keep people updated, and Myspace has a blog option, which I don't use much, either.

Anyway, I'll just have to wait and see how it goes. If any of my friends still read this, I hope they'll send me some kind of feedback. I don't know how long I'll wait to see whether or not I want to keep blogging here, but I'll post something once I make a decision.

I don't feel 26

I had a pretty good birthday today. The husb gave me some blue hydrangeas, irises, and lilies, plus some little reddish-purple flowers and made me a cute card. My in-laws gave me a card and some money.

The girls at work surprised me with a cake and a card when I got to my room. The cake was really good: white cake with yellow frosting. We all had some and I brought the rest home to eat. I also got a scratcher card from one of the gals I work with whose youngest grandson is in my room. I didn't win big, but I did get something.

We had pizza for dinner and my mother-in-law bought a chocolate lover cake for dessert. Not only was it chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, it also had some Hershey's pieces on it. They weren't kidding when they said "chocolate lover". ^_^

My sister called while I was at work to leave me a birthday message, and various friends have posted birthday wishes on my Facebook and Myspace profiles. All in all, it was a good day. Now I'm looking forward to our 6th wedding anniversary on Saturday.

And God bless us all, everyone!

I don't know about everyone else, but I had a pretty good Christmas holiday. A few of the daycare parents gave me some fun stuff: various candies, a Borders card, a cute ornament, a bath set, a Panera card, and a Starbucks card (they have hot chocolate and cookies, right?).

My favorite gift this year was from my wonderful husband. He gave me a "Phantom of the Opera" music box (actually more of a big figurine, but it still plays music) that plays "Music of the Night". He told me, "Now, when I saw this, I immediately thought, 'This is you'. Now, if you don't like it, I'll be surprised, and it'll be like I really don't know you as well as I think I do." When I opened it, I told him. "You do know me!" ^_^ All he wanted from me were some cookies and fudge made with stevia, not sugar. I also got a sleep mask from him, and we both got some money from my in-laws, some survival stuff from a brother-in-law and a sister-in-law, and a coupon for a full-body massage from my mother-in-law. She has a friend that's a massage therapist. Yay!

We also went to have dinner and visit with my family, plus my sister's in-laws and family. My mom got my husband a couple movies, some shaving stuff, a pair of warm pajama pants, and some cashews. Laura got me the Sweeney Todd movie soundtrack, and I got her a Lacuna Coil CD, gave my nieces the Miley Cyrus CD, and their family Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird! Lar and I watched it later that night. We had forgotten so much!

I got my mom the Il Divo Christmas CD, dad the 1997 Broadway cast recording of 1776 (with Brent Spiner as John Adams), and Whiteshark a Nightwish CD. My mom gave me some a pair of pajamas and some comfy socks, some Cadbury chocolate, a few CDs (The Promise from Il Divo, the Twilight soundtrack, and others), The Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling, and some DVDs (Mamma Mia! and Prince Caspian, plus a few others).

All in all, I got a lot of good stuff and I hope the gifts I gave are as appreciated as the ones I received.

Need some cheering up?

This has got to be one of the cutest pictures I have seen on ICHC, although I think the caption helps as well.

Everybody now: Aw!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This poem came with our weekly memo from our boss at work. I don't know who wrote it, but it's cute.

May your stuffing be tasty.
May your turkey be plump.
May your potatoes and gravy
Have never a lump.
May your yams be delicious,
And your pies take the prize.
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!

Have a safe, fun holiday!

An appropriate quote for today's turbulent times

Anger or hatred is like a fisherman's hook. It is very important for us to ensure that we are not caught by it.
-Dalai Lama

If you get my costume, then you're probably a geek like me. ^_^

P.S. I'm not a huge fan of the show, I just thought this would be fun.

In a world of sadness...

Don LaFontaine passed away yesterday at the age of 68. He was known as "The Voice of God" in the movie business, lending his voice to thousands of movie, TV, and video game trailers.

He will be sorely missed.

A "Golden Girl" passes

I heard on the news today that Estelle Getty, famous for her role as Sophia on "The Golden Girls" has passed away. She was 84.

She will always be remembered for her spunk, and for having some of the best lines on the show.

It's that time of year again!

Provider Appreciation Day is this Friday, 9 May 2008. Be sure and thank your childcare providers for all the hard work they do in taking care of your children.

Earthquake?

Apparently there was an earthquake early in the morning yesterday, with an aftershock a few hours later. We must have slept through the whole thing, because I didn't have a clue anything had happened until I saw the news at noon.

Then again, we live not too far from a quarry, so we hear and feel rumbles every once in a while. We probably wouldn't have thought anything about it if it were as intense as those.

Happy birthday to me!


I can't believe I'm a quarter of a century old already! Thank you to everybody who sent me birthday wishes and made my day special. You guys are awesome, and I love you all!

Some of the gals at work had a cake, ice cream, and a few gifts waiting for me when I got there, so spent the better part of an hour in the break room talking with and thanking them.

The weather got crummier as the day wore on, and one of the gals Lar and I work with needed help getting her car started, so we helped her with that. I called home on the way and let Milly know what was going on, and she invited Lar and the girls to eat dinner with us, which she accepted. We had chicken-broccoli casserole and salad for dinner, with German chocolate cake for dessert, per my request. The rest of the evening was spent hanging out with my sister, then with the husb after she left.

All in all, it was a great day. I feel blessed to have made it this far, and to know people love me.

Goodbye and good luck!

My sister's husband is leaving for Iraq tomorrow. From what I understand, he'll be gone for a year. Good luck J! May you and your unit return home safely to your families and friends.