Videos

The kitty cat and the bald eagle don't have anything to do with my topic, which is videos, but someone sent it to me, and I can't resist posting a great picture, since I don't take any great pictures myself. I'm not sure what a bald eagle was doing on someone's deck, but in the original pic, you can see the reflection of the eagles legs and the cats legs in the water on the railing, so I'm thinking possibly it wasn't Photoshopped. Even so, it makes a great pic.

Now, as for videos, I finally got a small video camera. It's an RCA Small Wonder, and it's pocket sized. This is a picture of it:It takes 60 minutes of video on the hard drive, and with a $20 memory card, you get 5 hours of memory. I think it's cool for the price of $129.00. I don't want anything bigger, as all I'll probably film is grandkids and pets. I don't know if a lot of people who have used video cameras over the years sit around and watch old videos or not. I can't imagine doing that very much. I post on YouTube for friends and family to watch, and that's about it.

I'll link to a YouTube video that I've already posted, so you can get an idea of how clear the videos are. Not great, but like I said, I just wanted a cheapie that I can throw in my purse.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd4xNCaaGnA

Allrighty then, I guess that's about it for today.....

As Forrest Gump says, that's all I want to say about that!

You stay dry, Columbus.

I love: Origami

September blues

October is just around the corner, altho' you'd never know it by the weather. I've been bitching about the weather for 4 months now, and I thought sure I'd be done by now, but it was 94 fricking degrees outside today, and I had to be out in in. And I'm sick of it. Thus the title today: September blues.

The pumpkin conveys how I feel tonight; felt that way all day, and Pepcid didn't help. Speaking of pumpkins, we have 5 of them already. Plus a ghost pumpkin, a white one, which is totally cool. I think I'll pick up a couple more of those, and carve at least one. I got one of those pumpkin carving kits that has the tools in it to punch thru' the paper templates with a little punch thingy. Then when you carve, it's much easier to do. Which is what I need, with my hands getting arthritic. But I love Halloween and wish I had more room for decorations, namely, that little Halloween Village that Michaels has. The little buildings are all lit up and have moving parts and little moving people and music or screams.... and each one costs anywhere from $39.00 to $109.00. They're not the cheap ones ~ but they are awesome. I'd have the whole town if I had room. Well, at that price, maybe not the whole town. I guess it's something you'd have to start buying young and adding on to. Which leaves me out. Bummer.

Tonight is the premier of Dancing With The Stars and Heroes and Journeyman, and with overlapping times, I'll have to save Heroes, and possible Journeyman to the DVR. Jane Seymour is going to be one of the celebrity dancers, and she is 56. Wheew. That's a lot of work for someone her age, since I'm not that much older. I sure wouldn't want to be dancing 8 hours a day. Usually the older ones are weeded out fairly early, which I'm sure is okay with them.

So...I'd better clean up the birdies and fold a little laundry and be ready for TV again. It's been a long time.

I love: cotton blankets

Death Pools

I don't remember how I stumbled on this, but there are a whole lot of sites on the internet devoted to "Death Pools". One hub I looked at had over 50 separate sites where you could play, and another had even more. They are actual pools - like a football pool - where you make a list of people that you think will die this year, and put money on it. Some of them are just for fun. Some offer trophies. Some of them have been around for 20 years. Once I overcame my surprise, curiosity took it's place.

One of the sites I looked at gave points according to the age of the people you picked. Say you picked someone who was between 16 and 29 you would get 12 points, while a person between 70 and 79 years would only net you 7 points. You earn 1 extra point for a unique pick ~ if you were the only competitor to pick that person. You get 2 points for a celeb who dies on the 13th of any month. Three points for murder, suicide or other accident, and five points for a celeb who dies on their birthday or Christmas Day. Don't know why that site didn't award 4 points for anything. I imagine most of the sites award points this basic way. Anyhow, you total up your points at the end of the year based on that kind of criteria.

They have great names: "Dying for Dollars", "You Bet Their Life", "Cash for Cadavers", Celebrity Crypt", "Grave Expectations", and on and on. Gotta like the originality.

In no particular order, I made up a list of the celebrities that appear on alot of the lists. Some surprised me, some didn't:

Billy Graham, Jerry Lewis, Osama bin Laden, Fidel Castro, Kirk Douglas, Dolores Hope, Willie Nelson, Nancy Reagan, Mickey Rooney, Elizabeth Taylor, Mike Wallace, Muhammad Ali, George Bush Sr., Courtney Love, Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and Nicole Richie. I saw Madonna and Howard Stern's names on a couple of lists.

Recently deceased people were on a lot of lists: Lady Bird, Tammy Faye, Brooke Astor, Luciano Pavarotti....

Merv Griffin and Anna Nicole weren't on many lists.

I don't know whether to think this is a sad commentary on life today, or whether it's just harmless fun. I think I'm leaning to "harmless fun" since I really enjoy being in pools. What do you think ~ would you ever participate in a Death Pool?

I love: Bacon

Chit chat

Absolutely nothing went on today with me. Took mom to the doctor, and went to the bank. That's about it.

I posted the picture of that huge spider web in Texas. I've never seen anything like it, and I'll bet you haven't either. People are quoted as saying that so many mosquitos were trapped in the web, you could actually hear them screaming. Make my hair stand on end..... I love it around my own house on foggy mornings when the sun breaks thru and you can see all the webs that you never knew existed till then. They are truly amazing.

I also read that the oldest person in the world, Tomoji Tanabe, turns 112 today. This is a bit mystifying to me, as there are quite a few sites that list the worlds supercentarians (over 110 years of age), and they still list Edna Parker of Indiana as the world's oldest at 114. I checked 4 web sites, and according to them, she is still around. Maybe we're all wrong. Who cares, right??

Also noted on CNN's site that the Phil Spector jury is deadlocked. Why am I not surprised? I hope I never get called for jury duty. To me, looks are foremost in determining innocent or guilt. :-) Also, can't make myself even mention O.J........

One last note: the Autobahn is 75 today. CNN has a feature on it. I was hoping it would be filmed from inside a car going about 110, but no such luck. They did mention that even tho' there is no speed limit on it, there aren't any more accidents on it than on any other road. Marco and I were on an amazing freeway system in Montreal, Canada quite a few years ago, and cars were zooming past us and we were doing 70 or 75. There were about 16 lanes, counting east bound and west bound lanes. Compared to that, the Autobahn seemed more like Interstate 70.

Okay, kids, this old lady is heading for her jammies and a coke. You all be cool!!

I love: Being ALONE in my car.

The Kitty and the Truck

Look at this sad little face. This is a baby kitty that ended up in Marco's car, and I'm not sure if I can condense the story enough, but I'll try. . . .

Marco was on his way to the Legion last week. On the way, he was just coming over a hill, and about 25 feet in front of him was this kitty playing with a bug in the middle of the road. He stopped his car, thinking the kitty would run off, but the kitty didn't budge. Marco got out of his car and that's when the kitty ran. Under his car. He thought the kitty ran under his car to get to the corn field next to the road. He proceeded to the Legion, and was there about 3 hours, and then he came home and parked the car in Grandma Jean's garage next door. The next morning, we were sitting on the front porch having our coffee and we thought we heard a cat meowing. Marco said, "Oh no!", and proceeded to tell me the story of Mr. Kitty. We opened the garage door, and sure enough we heard meowing, and it was under the car. We looked everywhere, and Marco even got under the car, but we couldn't see it. Marco put the car into gear and we pushed the car out into the driveway so the cat could get out and run into the corn field across from OUR house. Marco drove the truck to the Legion that day. When he came home that night, the kitty was STILL under the car. We couldn't believe it. I got a bowl of water, and some cat food so it might be lured out of the car better, and then run across to the field or WHERE EVER. The next morning while we were having our coffee on the porch, we heard meowing coming from under the TRUCK. The kitty had eaten the food, drank the water and climbed into the engine of the truck. Marco had to drive the car that day, and when he came home the kitty was still in the truck. I had given it more food, which it ate when I wasn't around. We were tired of Mr. Kitty to say the least. We ate dinner, and Marco went out to the truck to look for the cat, and he opened the hood the the kitty was sitting right there on the radiator. Luckily, Marco made a grab for it and caught it!! Mr. Kitty went right in one of the plastic carriers that we have for the dogs. Also, luckily, the Humane Society was still open, and we were able to take the kitty up there. They said that as young as it was, they would more than likely have someone to foster it, and as cute as it was, it had a good chance of being adopted. Hopefully, if it is tamed and adopted, it won't go back into the engine of it's new owners car! That kitty got the best of us for 2 days. But he sure was a cutie. We wish him the very best!!!

Rain on our parade

Looks like rain is moving in, and we won't be mingling with Woody and the rest of the Buckeye fans this weekend up at tailgating. The new parking arrangements for campers is going to put a crimp in it, as it is. We used to be able to have our guests park next to our motor coach, but this year there will be a separate parking lot for cars. All in all, it will be about 14 hours expended for a 3 hour game.

Plus, this year I am going to have to get an electric scooter like the kids all have if I'm going to be able to get around. Marco and I used to walk all over the place; sometimes down 2 or 3 parking lots to chat with other tailgaters that we know. With the total crash of my left knee, I never know when it's going to be a "bad day". Ha. I'm going to talk to the doctor about getting a brace made especially for me, and my chubby little leg. Plus, I may give in, and get the series of Synvisc shots to cushion the knee joint. But I've hit the floor too many times to try to walk all over the campus, and risk hitting the concrete. Just recently, the knowledge that I'm never really going to be able to walk well again is just sinking in. It's been bad. Never thought I'd be in this situation this early, but there's not much I can do about it. No total replacement is in my near future, with my allergies to all pain meds. Doc won't do it. So...............

DH and I are going out for a late dinner; think we'll probably just go to bed when we get home, so Columbus.............you be cool.

I love:a good hair day

Waiting for Cool

I'm fresh out of pics from the camera to post. Maybe I'll get a few more at tailgating this weekend. If it doesn't rain. I forget who sent me the pic of the bird and the mouse, but it's cute. Obviously someone posed it and then snapped it quickly, but it works.

I keep hearing on the news that some of the schools are using their 'snow days' as 'heat days' already. I think most of our kids have airconditioned schools, but some of them ride the bus, and I can only imagine how hot that is. Since it's too hot to be out, I bought a variety of books at Barnes & Noble. Some are for our new laptop that has Vista on it, and has new features that we have to learn. We also want to set up our webcam in the great room and aim it where we can see the birds and the dogs. Then we'll set up a home page and that way, as long as we have the wireless laptop with us, we can log onto our home page and see what's going on at home. Nifty.

Also got a new Ann Lamott book. I'm reading non fiction at the moment. I'll read a couple of scary books as fall progresses, and we get closer to Halloween. Anyhow, Ann's book that I'm reading is 'Bird by Bird', one of her earlier books. Before Dubya was president. I like her recent books for the anti-Bush and anti-Cheney stand. Wonderful reading. She kind of echos Dennis Diehls' assertion that our president and his whole family seem to have family ties, intentions, backgrounds, beliefs and motives that are a whole lot less glorious than we poor commoners have been led to believe. Dad would have approved of her books. We're not much of a Bush family. And my view of him is mild. Check out Rick's blog on the sidebar. It's much more informative on the gang in D.C.

Well, until it cools off, I'll just be huddled away in some air conditioning or another. We've got some neat fairs and festivals in the upcoming weeks, so that will be fun, and hopefully cooler. Since Marco is at a general meeting at the Legion (and probably drinking beer on the patio again), I'm going to haul out my DVD player and watch something chick-flicky. So....later, ya'll.

I love: when the cashier rings it up, and it's cheaper than I thought.

You stay cool, Columbus.

A good night's sleep

Here's a great pic of Kayla that papaw Marco took Sunday at the Labor Day picnic. Papaw just saw Kayla chilling out and snapped her and I love it. Miss Kayla is a junior this year. (!!) Amazing. She drove over to the picnic. I still can't get over that. A grandchild driving. Jeff knows how this is also. How did we get so old so fast?? The question now is: who will become a great grandparent first?? It will be interesting.

This is another really hot day, and I think that makes about 400 this year alone. It's 94 outside and humid and hazy. I feel terrible. Oh.....I'll bet you're all thinking: What's the deal with "a good night's sleep"? Well, we got a new mattress and it was delivered today. It's awesome and it was badly needed. I can't wait to hit it tonight. Let's see ~ it's about 7:00 now, and I think bedtime will be about 8:30. We have a king size bed, but not king size pillows. They're standard. Down filled. And I have 6 of them on the bed. Everything is fluffed and clean and waiting on me. Marco is at the Legion working on the books, which is a euphemism for "drinking beer on the patio." Which is probably a good idea. I think I'll have something icy before bed; I think there is cranberry juice and vodka here.

I've been yaking to mom that she ought to have a debit card, even if she doesn't use it. You never know when you'll need access to your money at 2:00 a.m. in the morning. She always refused. Then her bank SENT her one. Yay. It's been activated and she has her PIN. We're gonna get this ole lady into the 21st century yet. Can't wait to see if she actually uses it. :-)

I can't think of anything else exciting today. Guess I'm too excited about my new mattress. In fact, it's calling me now, so I think I'll wind this up.
Let's see.....I love kissing in the rain.
You be cool Columbus.

September!!

Here's another view of Austin. Papaw took it on the staircase, so he was a couple of steps above me, and I really like the picture. I know......regrowth.....I need a weave. Maybe soon. I just love new babies and he makes the cutest little sounds, and as you can see, he's always moving his little hands around. In my humble opinion, he looks just like Travis. But that's just me.

I haven't blogged for a couple of days as I haven't even been close to my computer. On the road making personal appearances. In fact, we just got back from a very fun party at Debbie & Ernies. We played horseshoes, and it was actually fun, bad knee and all. Scott and I won our game, and we played Marco and Jackie! Surprise. We showed 'em, didn't we sweetie??

Today would have been daddy's 86th birthday. His was always the hardest to remember, as his was right there when you flipped the calendar from August to September. We have a couple during the first week of a month....Jackie, Kayla, Trent, and Amie, but at least there would be time to get a card and send it to them, along with their birthday check. One time I forgot dad's and when I turned the calendar, I was in tears. I forget what I did....I could swear I did something like Western Union but........it was at least 10 years ago, and my mind isn't quite what it used to be. Ha.

Anyhow, family and friends, I'm tired from a day in the sun, so I'm heading for my nightgown and bed. And speaking of BED, we finally got a new mattress and box springs that will be delivered Wednesday, thank goodness!! We got a Serta and they gave us one of those little sheep that are on their commercial. We looking forward to better quality sleep on the new one, needless to say.

I love: babies, needless to say!

Okay, Columbus, you keep cool and enjoy the holiday tomorrow.