Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Wordy Tribulations

Wed 1/31 Blog Prompt: Write for at least five minutes any words that come into your head. Forget punctuation, spelling, syntax, even meaning. If you get stuck, keep writing the last word you wrote until a new one comes.

Any words that come into my head. No punctuation, sorry that one will be next to impossible for me. punctuation comes naturally, but capitalization does not, if you see what I mean. I really can't think of any one thing, but I will try.

Bombshell, the Princess, planner, work, billing week, a new book. The Artist's Way, journaling, memories, green tea (need a sip right now), hot outside again, rather liked the cold. tribs with blog banner, hope vw can figure it out for me. a room that needs to be finished, vhs tapes to go through, Indy is home, Thomas train, dinosaurs, which invade my dreams, planes, pet shops.

Japanese fans, chopsticks, Pan has bronchitis, Nuke turns 30 on the first of March, Scamp just turned 28 and Bombshell will be 27 the middle of March. Pets, alligators, rabbits, birds, cats, dogs, gerbils and mice. Mice got loose, gerbils were given away. Mutes died 4 years ago. Doesn't seem that long; yet seems an eternity.

Okay the timer just ween off, so my wordy tribulations are now over :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCAMP

Today, Scamp is officially 28 years old. Congratulations kid for making it. Hope you, Honey and the Ballerina have grand plans for the day (or evening).

Then:
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And Now:
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The Tribulations of Being a Kept Love Letter

Tues 1/30 Blog Prompt: Do you have a box of old love letters stashed away somewhere? Who are they from? If they're not from a current significant other, why have you kept them? Any quotes you can share?

I have no idea whether I have or not. Most certainly, if I had gotten any, I would have kept them. As to there whereabouts, who knows. But then again maybe I didn't keep them (or get any). Pan doesn't do letters, he does cards. Every once in a while, I'll go out to my car to find a love card sitting on the seat. Then every day for a week or two there will be one there. Cards are fine by me, I don't do letters either. Not love letters anyway. Baring one's soul for the world, and an item to come back and bite me in the rear, has never appealed to me. I do enough otherwise, don't need to have something in writing as well.

But should I ever find any, I will most certainly share them with you.

Now onto the Bishop
Museum in Hawaii:

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Looks like a castle, doesn't it?

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Honey, Scamp & Ballerina

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The Planetarium

Monday, January 29, 2007

More Meme Tribulations

Mon 1/29 Blog Prompt: Sooooo....it's Monday. And I'm tired after a weekend with hyper kids, so I'm going to be lazy and give you a meme. Enjoy!

Two Names You Go By:
1. Tink
2. Mom

Two Parts of Your Heritage:
1. German
2. Swedish

Two Things You Are Wearing Right Now:
1. PJ bottoms
2. T-shirt

Two Things You Would Want in a Relationship:
1. Honesty
2. Conversation

Two of Your Favorite Hobbies:
1. Cross Stitching
2. Scrapbooking

Two Things You Want Really Badly At The Moment:
1. Another cup of green tea
2. To convince myself to get up and turn the heater on

Two pets you had/have:
1. Cat
2. Grandson

Two people you talked to today:
1. Sister
2. Daughter

Two things you did last night:
1. Ate dinner
2. Went to bed

Two people that live in your house:
1. Me
2. Pan

Two things you ate today:
1. n/a
2. n/a

Two people you miss:
1. Dad
2. My friend Barb

Two Things You’re doing tomorrow:
1. Going to work
2. Watching the grands

Two vacations you’ve been on:
1. Hawaii
2. Orlando

Two Favorite Holidays:
1. Halloween
2. Christmas

Two favorite Alcoholic beverages:
1. Margarita
2. Wine

Two bands you have seen live:
1. Black Oak Arkansas
2. Guess Who

Two things you will do after you finish this survey:
1. Turn on the heater
2. Fix a cup of green tea

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Word of the Week - PEREGRINATE (vt)

Disclaimer: All words that I choose come from the 1968 edition of the Webster's New World Dictionary, 2nd college edition. It's close and also nearly 40 years old so we may come across some words that are no longer in general use or have completely changed definitions. But that is part of the fun.
peregrinate (vt)
to follow (a route, etc.); travel, esp. walk along or through
-vt. to journey or travel
.
And what in the world can you do with this word? Well, you could write a sentence using it. You could look it up in another dictionary or reference book. (several dictionary searches available in my sidebar for your use.) Use it as a jump start for a short story. If applicable, find a picture of it. Whatever you do, post a link in my comments so I can check it out and put a link back to your post. And have fun.

Tribulations of a Fortune Cookie........

In Bed...

It has not been the best ending to the week. I picked Pan up from the airport on Friday night and they had lost his luggage. This always seems to happen to him; especially when he is bringing me a bottle of tequila from Mexico or a bottle of Klingon Blood Wine from Las Vegas. The tequila bottle broke; the blood wine did not.

Anyway, it still had not arrived as we were leaving for the dinner reservations and they tried to deliver it while we were gone (so much for calling them way ahead of time and giving them a cell number; we had to go right past the airport and could have picked it up). It came between 10:30 and 11 p.m.

Now back to the story. We had dinner reservations for our favorite restaurant last night. You know the Japanese restaurants with the teppan tables (they call them habachi's here; but we all know that a teppan is a type of griddle and a habachi is a grill). We were seated at a table with.... need I say it? a bunch of children. They were extremely well behaved and our seats were by the adults so it all worked out, especially since it was one of the adults birthday. She turned 28 last night.

Our chef was a great sport and was constantly teasing the woman sitting by me (she kept putting her plate up in front of herself to hide); and at least he didn't throw any raw eggs at us like the chef at one of the other tables accidently did. I stole the his salt & pepper shaker (he had two by the way) and we passed it under the table and put it up on the other side to confuse him. like I said he was a good sport.

Dinner was delicious and I had plenty of shrimp and vegetables. I was still eating after everyone else finished and were cracking open their fortune cookies. They started to complain about their fortunes when I told them it was bad luck to open them while someone at the table was still eating their dinner and that they needed to ask for more cookies. Which they did (okay, I'll be honest I asked for them). They waited patiently while I savored every bit I put in my mouth. Ummmmmmmmmm. I could go again tonight. After I finished we all opened our cookies to discover what treasures lay inside.

Now our son, Scamp, told us one time that when you are reading your fortunes you always need to end them with .... in bed. I seem to be missing one but here are ours from last night:


Your future is as boundless as the lofty heaven ... in bed.
Culture and customs of China attract you ... in bed.
Pray for what you want, but work for what you need ... in bed.


Need I say more, :)

How about some pictures of our limo tour in Hawaii:

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Front to back: Scamp, Honey
and her mom.

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Ballerina doing the hula
while we stopped to take
a look at the blow hole.

Aaaaaaha Tribulations

Weekend Blogging 1/27 - 1/28 (brought to us by Suzanne): What has been your biggest AHA moment while blogging or journaling? What have you learned about yourself???

I don't know that I have had a biggest "aha" moment yet in blogging; other than remembering things that have happened in the past as fond memories as opposed to the tribulations they were at the time. It has been fun strolling down memory lane and thinking about all the stupid things I or friends have done. But see just sitting here and thinking about all that I have written brings to mind the prompt about changing the past.

I had written that I wouldn't change the past; no matter what mistakes I made as that would change the person I am today. I have learned that I am pretty happy to be me. So I guess I did have an "aha" moment after all.

Friday, January 26, 2007

Tribulations of a Submarine Ride

At least it wasn't the kind of tribulations that Nuke had to face while he was on a naval sub. Mine was the fun kind of tribulations and trepidations of going 120 feet under the surface of the ocean. I love flying so I just assumed I would love this too. And I did.

Here are some of the pictures I took while under:

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An artificial reef and a sea turtle.

Although I took dozens (if not hundreds of pictures), these are the ones that turned out the best. We did get to see a shark; a plane that was sunk to add to the reef and other artificial reefs that had been placed.

Weekend Trips and Tribulations

Friday 1/26 Blog Prompt: You're packing for a weekend away from your family. You're going to be seeing a bunch of online friends for the first time at, oh I don't know, maybe a CHA tradeshow in California. What do you pack? What do you wear???

Taking a break from organizing a room for a cup of green tea.... :) (and yes, mom, I got started before 7 this morning, LOL. But still haven't made much of a dent.)

I would probably wear slacks, blouse and loose, buttonless jacket with either sandals or sneakers. Something comfortable, definitely. Hair would be pulled back, unless I was fortunate enough to have it all chopped off before going.

Packing would include more comfortable slacks and jeans; if I was wearing sneakers then the sandals would be packed and vice versa. Pajamas, definitely pajamas. Aspirin and Imodium. If we got the Princess' laptop reformatted then I would pack that as well for the purpose of downloading all the pictures that I would be taking with the camera which would be my carry-on. If it is not reformatted then I guess I would just have to purchase more memory cards to carry me through.

I tend to just pack what is necessary, not what I think I might need. Figure if I forget anything, I can just buy it there.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Movie Drivel and Tribulations

SUPPOSEDLY if you've seen over 85 movies, you have no life (though being able to get out to see a movie seems like more of a life than not being able to get out to see a movie!). Nevertheless, mark the movies you have seen. There are 239 movies on this list.

(X) Grease
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
() Boondock Saints
() Fight Club
() Starsky and Hutch
(X) Neverending Story
(X) Blazing Saddles
(X) Airplane
(X) The Princess Bride
() AnchorMan
() Napoleon Dynamite
(X) Labyrinth
() Saw
() Saw II
() White Noise
() White Oleander
() Anger Management
(X) 50 First Dates
() The Princess Diaries
() The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
() Scream
() Scream 2
() Scream 3
() Scary Movie
() Scary Movie 2
() Scary Movie 3
() Scary Movie 4
() American Pie
() American Pie 2
() American Wedding
() American Pie Band Camp
(X) Harry Potter 1
(X) Harry Potter 2
(X) Harry Potter 3
(X) Harry Potter 4
(X) Resident Evil 1
() Resident Evil 2
(X) The Wedding Singer
()Little Black Book
(X)The Village
(X) Lilo & Stitch
(X) Finding Nemo
(X) Finding Neverland
(X) Signs
(X) The Grinch
() Texas Chainsaw Massacre
() Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
() White Chicks
(X) Butterfly Effect
() 13 Going on 30
(X) I, Robot
(X)Robots
() Dodgeball
()Universal Soldier
(X) Lemony Snickt: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
() Along Came Polly
(X) Deep Impact
(X) KingPin
() Never Been Kissed
() Meet The Parents
() Meet the Fockers
() Eight Crazy Nights
() Joe Dirt
() King Kong
() A Cinderella Story
() The Terminal
() The Lizzie McGuire Movie
() Passport to Paris
() Dumb & Dumber
() Dumber & Dumberer
() Final Destination
() Final Destination 2
() Final Destination 3
(X) Halloween
(X) The Ring
() The Ring 2
()Surviving X-Mas
(X) Flubber
()Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
() Practical Magic
()Chicago
() Ghost Ship
(X) From Hell
(X) Hellboy
() Secret Window
() I Am Sam
(X) The Whole Nine Yards
() The Whole Ten Yards
(X) The Day After Tomorrow
() Child's Play
() Seed of Chucky
() Bride of Chucky
() Ten Things I Hate About You
(X) Just Married
() Gothika
() Nightmare on Elm Street
(X) Sixteen Candles
() Remember the Titans
() Coach Carter
() The Grudge
() The Grudge 2
(X) The Mask
() Son Of The Mask
(X) Bad Boys
() Bad Boys 2
() Joy Ride
()Lucky Number Slevin
(X) Ocean's Eleven
() Ocean's Twelve
(X) Bourne Identity
(X) Bourne Supremecy
() Lone Star: State of mind
(X) Bedazzled
(X) Predator
(X) Predator II
(X) The Fog
(X) Ice Age
(X) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
(X) Curious George
(X) Independence Day
(X) Cujo
() A Bronx Tale
(X) Darkness Falls
50 to date

(X) Christine
(X) ET
(X) Children of the Corn
() My Bosses Daughter
(X) Maid in Manhattan
(X) War of the Worlds
() Rush Hour
() Rush Hour 2
() Best Bet
(X) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
() She's All That
() Calendar Girls
() Sideways
() Mars Attacks
(X) Event Horizon
(X) Ever After
(X) Wizard of Oz
(X) Forrest Gump
(X) Big Trouble in Little China
(X) The Terminator
(X) The Terminator 2
(X) X-Men
(X) X-Men 2
(X) X-Men 3
(X) Spider-Man
(X) Spider-Man 2
() Sky High
() Jeepers Creepers
() Jeepers Creepers 2
() Catch Me If You Can
(X) The Little Mermaid
() Freaky Friday
() Reign of Fire
() The Skulls
() Cruel Intentions
() Cruel Intentions 2
() The Hot Chick
(X) Shrek
(X) Shrek 2
() Swimfan
(X) Miracle on 34th street
() Old School
() The Notebook
(X) K-Pax
() Krippendorf's Tribe
(X) A Walk to Remember
(X) Ice Castles
(X) Boogeyman
() The 40-year-old-virgin
(X) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(X) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(X) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(X) Raiders of the Lost Ark
(X) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(X) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
() Baseketball
() Hostel
() Waiting for Guffman
() House of 1000 Corpses
() Devil's Rejects
() Elf
(X)Highlander
(X) Mothman Prophecies
() American History X
() Three
() The Jacket
() Kung Fu Hustle
() Shaolin Soccer
() Night Watch
(X) Monsters inc.
(X) Titanic
(X) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(X) Dawn Of the Dead
(X) Willard
() High Tension
() Club Dread
(X) The Hulk
(X) Shaun Of the Dead
(X) Hook
(X) Chronicles Of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
() 28 Days Later
(X) Orgazmo
(X) Phantom of the Opera
(X) Waterworld
(X) Kill Bill vol 1
(X) Kill Bill vol 2
(X) Mortal Kombat
(X) Wolf Creek
100 to date

() Kingdom of Heaven
() The Hills Have Eyes
() I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
() The Last House on the Left
(X) Re-Animator
(X) Army of Darkness
(X) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(X) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(X) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(X) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(X) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(X) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
() Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
(X)Ewoks The Battle For Endor
(X) The Matrix
(X) The Matrix Reloaded
(X) The Matrix Revolutions
() Animatrix
(X) Evil Dead
(X) Evil Dead 2
() Team America World Police
() Red Dragon
(X) Silence of the Lambs
() Hannibal

Now Add them up and...

put "I've seen 116 movies out of 239" in the subject

The Tribulations of Beer and Dartguns

First you need to read Roses post here. I got such a kick out of reading it, that it reminded me of my wedding day to Pan.

The reception had to be rescheduled at his parents house so there was a lot of last minute maps to be given out. Still we had quite a number of people show up, one of which was Pan's supervisor... Mr. C. He is a darling man and I just think the world of him and his wife.

Anyway, Pan's sister and I have a pretty good relationship going on and I hid one of those dart guns with the rubber suction cups behind my bouquet and I as turned to throw the bouquet I shot off the dart gun, which completely missed the sister and hit the boss square in the middle of the head and stuck. I was dumbfounded and Pan was sure that he was going to be fired.

Mr. C said that he would think twice about accepting a dinner invitation from us.

Tribulations Upon Tribulations

Been a long week, what with no Indy or Pan to interfer with the daily goings on. One is in Georgia; the other in Las Vegas. I'll leave it up to you to decide who is where.

Things I have discovered this week are:

1. That Italian semi-bitter chocolate goes well with Cabernet Sauvignon (my personal favorite this week is by Toasted Head).
2. That I can take 1/8 of an Excedrine PM or Tylenol PM without getting sick and still be able to relax enough to sleep.
3. That I should never start a project of cleaning a room if I can't guarantee it being finished before Indy returns.
4. That I definitely need to start charging my darling daughter for babysitting so I can hire someone to clean said room
5. That I like having time to myself and although I gave Pan a hard time about going to Las Vegas without me, it really doesn't bother me. (Oops, I guess I gave it away didin't I?)

Pre-nubiance Tribulations

Thurs 1/25 Blog Prompt: Between the ages of 5 and 10, what was your favorite activity?

Barbie dolls; imaginary people in the ground; cartwheels, splits and backbends on the front lawn with mom; turtles; hide and seek; laying on the lawn and watching the stars, picking out the different constellations; walking dolls and giant panda bears; the Flintstones on Wednesday night; Batman on Thursday night (same bat time, same bat station); Tarzan, Jungle Jim and Shirley Temple on the weekends; walking home from school.

There was no way to restrict it to just one.

Toilet Roll Tribulations

Wed 1/24 Blog Prompt: There used to be a veeeeerrrrrrryyyyy long thread here at DSP about this topic, let's see what you all have to say about it!

According to a physics professor quoted by Ann Landers, to get the toilet paper roll to turn requires a certain torque, which comes from the tension in the paper being withdrawn. The greater the distance between the plane of the paper being pulled and the axis support line, the lesser the force required and the lesser the chance of tearing the paper before you have enough.

(Yeah, I'm not sure what all that proves either.)

Which camp are you in: Should the toilet paper be hung so the paper dangles over or under the roll?


I prefer over, but will not get my undies in a wad of it is the other way, mainly because I also know who can keep from changing the roll is the one in charge and that just happens to be me. :)

One Word Meme and Tribulations

Tues 1/23 Blog Prompt - Here's a meme for you today (copy & paste into your blogs):

One (word only)

This Moment: Wine
Your Shoes: Huh?
Craving: Avocado
The State of Your Home: Florida
Annoyed By: Idiots
Noise In the Background: Television
Really Want To: Cry
Thinking about: Military
Smelling: Wine
Favorite Product In Office Supply Aisle: ink
Don't Ever Want To: drown
Your Eye Color: hazel
The Weather: clear
Have Never Tried: skydiving
Think Everyone Should Try: reading
Last Vacation Destination: Hawaii
The Last Thing You Had to Drink: Wine
Your Bad Habit: eating
What You're Going To Do Now: shower

Monday, January 22, 2007

Geeky Tribulations

Mon 1/22 Blog Prompt : Today I ask you to share your geekiest, nerdiest moment.

Funnnny... To set it up, when Pan and I were dating and then engaged, we lived in different cities. So in order to see one another one of us would drive over on a weekend.

On this particular weekend I was visiting him and the guys were taking him out for the "bachelor" party. We all thought this would be the party to end all parties since he was the last in the group of friends to get married.

Ahhh, this gave me a night with no kids and to sit down at the computer (an Apple IIe, no less, LOL) and play games. You remember those games don't you? No graphics just answered questions to proceed? I loved them, and Pan and I would play them together for hours.

Anyway, about 11 p.m., Pan and two of his buddies come stumbling in. (Yep, they had had a bit much to drink). I was incensed that my night was ruined as now I had to get three boys from making a mess (not the ill kind, but constantly picking things up and asking about them).

As I took things back from them and put them back, I complained how they ruined my computer night. I think Pan decided right then, he was marrying the right person.

Pictures from Hawaii:

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The luau starring (from
left to right): Pan, Scamp
Honey's brother and
Honey's father (they both
have the white pants on)

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The end of the 26 mile
marathon for (from right
to left): Scamp (in black),
Honey (in black), and
Honey's mother (right
next to her)

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The Ballerina swipes
the apple her daddy
got right after the
marathon.

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Word of the Week - APOPHASIS (n)

Disclaimer: All words that I choose come from the 1968 edition of the Webster's New World Dictionary, 2nd college edition. It's close and also nearly 40 years old so we may come across some words that are no longer in general use or have completely changed definitions. But that is part of the fun.
apophasis (n)
the artful mention of something by denying that it will be mentioned
[ex] We will not remind you of his many crimes
.
And what in the world can you do with this word? Well, you could write a sentence using it. You could look it up in another dictionary or reference book. (several dictionary searches available in my sidebar for your use.) Use it as a jump start for a short story. If applicable, find a picture of it. Whatever you do, post a link in my comments so I can check it out and put a link back to your post. And have fun.

The Tribulations of Dining Out

Weekend Blogging 1/20 - 1/21: Brought to us by Love2Scrap - have we done anything about ordering at restaurants? do you get the usual each time? do you sample food from your friend's plate? are you adventurous? and most importantly, do you save room for dessert?

Pan and I eat out quite frequently so this should be a snap to answer, right? Well not really, because it all depends on where we are eating. At my favorite Japanese restaurant I usually order the same thing; same goes for the two steakhouses we go to. Any others are fair game and I usually try to order their special of the days, because you just might find something new you like.

Do I sample of Pan's plate? Only his fries. But then he orders the same thing all the time. Bombshell, the Princess and I do sample one another's though.

As for dessert? Only if we have the Princess with us and usually not even then. She doesn't often want dessert and we just got out of the habit of ordering it. Besides if you eat all your dinner; there's no room.

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Tribulations of Boring (?) Job

Friday 1/19 Blog Prompt: Take the most boring job you've ever had and write a glowing job description for it.

HELP WANTED
A self-styled receptionist who can handle a variety of challenges on a day to day basis. Must be able to communicate with low-level workers and administration. Must have a can-do attitude and be able to anticipate what is expected of you with no prior knowledge. Janitorial, typing and computer skills required. Automotive skills, a plus, but will train if necessary. Must enjoy reading between tasks.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

An Arty Type of Singing Tribulation

Thurs 1/18 Blog Prompt: Write about someone or something that inspires you artistically.

Something or someone that inspires my non-existent artistic talent. It's kind of hard to answer that one right now since I'm not feeling very artistic at all. The Princess always inspires me with her quick wit and beautiful smile. I love doing the ABC album for her using songs to convey the feelings within the photograph.

Beautiful sunsets on the bayou; white tops on a inclement day; Indy's laughter; the Ballerina's tinkling voice on the phone.... "are a few of my favorite things."

Stop the Presses: I got to see the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile up close and personal today when it stopped by the office (one of the perks of working for a newspaper). Even though I could have gone inside, I didn't, although I did take a sneak peek at the clouds painting on the ceiling and the mustard painted on the floor. The Weiners gave me a sticker and a Oscar Meyer Weinie Whistle. Wooo Hooo

One more not: Answer to yesterday's prompt is below the pictures.


Pictures from Hawaii:

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Wed 1/17 Blog Prompt: Do you think you can sing? In front of people or just in the car?

Having spent years in chorus in school and singing for both the Lutheran and Catholic Church in Guam, I can honestly say, I am not afraid to sing in front of people, unless, of course, Bug is trying to sing with me. Then I try to fade into the distance. Oh, and yes, I can sing.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Childhood Tribulations and More

Tues 1/16 Blog Prompt: Describe a favorite childhood friend and something you did with her or him.

I overslept this morning; oh not by much. but enough that between the calls from Bombshell and sister and the calls to the office for Bombshell, it didn't leave me enough time to do the blog prompt or much of anything else.

Now it is evening and the Princess and Indy are here; soon to go to bed, I hope. So while I will answer the prompt in my own fashion, I am going to spend some time just rambling; which is what I do best anyway.

First I am going to ask you to stroll on over to Letters from NYC. Leave some words of encouragement as you read through her blog (don't just read the most recent, take time and read it all), she has been through more than most of us can even imagine; and then keep her in your prayers. Michelle, we love you. Colin, we love you too.

Secondly, if any of you have seen my Halloween pictures, particularly the Blair Witch one, the snake as seen on one of the tombstones has been seen around my computer station. We are talking about a 6' realistic looking snake that I have been stepping on and over. Pan thinks it is funny, maybe I should put it around his throne so that when he gets up in the morning it is not quite so amusing (another story here, lol).

But about childhood friends.... I was an AF brat and moved around so.... In Arkansas, my best friend was Donna. We use to catch bumblebees and put them in our fathers nearly empty bottles of beer and shake them up before releasing them.

Many of the years after passed rather quickly in each of the places we were stationed so I don't recall much about friends until high school in Guam, where my best friend was Lorilei. But quite frankly, the only memories I have of the two of us is riding to school in her boyfriend's neon orange vw bug (no relation to sister).

Personality Tribulations

Your Personality Is

Guardian (SJ)


You are sensible, down to earth, and goal oriented.
Bottom line, you are good at playing by the rules.

You tend to be dominant - and you are a natural leader.
You are interested in rules and order. Morals are important to you.

A hard worker, you give your all at whatever you do.
You're very serious, and people often tell you to lighten up.

In love, you tend to take things carefully and slowly.

At work, you are suited to almost any career - but you excel in leadership positions.

With others, you tend to be polite and formal.

As far as looks go, you are traditionally attractive. You take good care of yourself.

On weekends, you tend to like to do organized activities. In fact, you often organize them!


Well it was going good until the last two, LOL

Monday, January 15, 2007

The Tribulations of Hard Drives

Okay, my computer is still running, now with a 160g C drive and a 400g D drive. But what doesn't seem to be working yet are some of my graphic programs and the dvd/cd drives will only work for Pan.

You might recall that Pan writes accounting programs. What that means for me, is I get to test all the new operation systems for him. Actually I was somewhat surprised I managed to get this far along without Vista being loaded. Then again the Nuke was here when he got the beta version and brought it home.

I totally understand why Pan doesn't load it at work and I don't have a problem having them loaded on my system. By the time they come out for the public I have gotten pretty use to it. It's that first 6 months that drive you crazy.

Like I had huge icons on my desktop; the wallpaper was stretched all out of shape and I had icons under the sidebar. First lets address icons. These are not a problem for Pan as he only keeps 2 or 3 on his computer; but puts an icon for everything on mine and I want my icons there as well. I know you shouldn't, but it's my desktop. Well they were huge, I could see them clear across the house without my glasses. Arrggggg. I did what any smart woman would do.... I opened the help files. Sure enough there was a fix and my icons are now tiny again.

Next was the icons hiding behind the sidebar. They were icons I was using but it was the point of it. Actually it didn't make any difference to me until I fixed the wallpaper, which I just made a new one and replaced the original. Worked like a charm, until I realized there were icons that ended up on the sidebar I needed. Again a quick peek at the help files and guess what. Yep that's right, it's fixed.

Speaking of the sidebar, I really wasn't sure how I would like it, but I think I do. I have a calendar, so I always know what day it is; a temperature gadget which gives me a good indication of how I need to be dressing (and it beats checking out my blog site). Scrolling pictures, for just because (I will figure out how to put my own in just as soon as I am up to reading the help files again, LOL). Sticky pad and my contact list. Anyway here is what my desktop now looks like:

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Kind of. Looks like there still may be some graphics issues. Oh well, that now falls in Pan's domain. So crossing my fingers by this time next week, the bugs will just about be weeded out and I will be back full swing.

Word of the Week - COLLIERY (n)

Disclaimer: All words that I choose come from the 1968 edition of the Webster's New World Dictionary, 2nd college edition. It's close and also nearly 40 years old so we may come across some words that are no longer in general use or have completely changed definitions. But that is part of the fun.
colliery (n)
a coal mine and its buildings, equipment, etc.
.
And what in the world can you do with this word? Well, you could write a sentence using it. You could look it up in another dictionary or reference book. (several dictionary searches available in my sidebar for your use.) Use it as a jump start for a short story. If applicable, find a picture of it. Whatever you do, post a link in my comments so I can check it out and put a link back to your post. And have fun.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Friendly Tribulations

You Are A Good Friend

You're always willing to listen
Or lend a shoulder to cry on
You're there through thick and thin
Many people consider you their "best friend"!


Another as seen at Paula May's.

Saturday, January 13, 2007

A Challenging Tribulation

Gotcha didn't I? Hahahahahaha..... But before I actually get to that, several have asked for pictures from my in-laws anniversary party. Well I started going through them and realized I was the unofficial "official" photographer that night, so I only found two pictures; neither very good but here they are:

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We'll have to go from right to left, because that is me on the right; in the middle is my BIL, Pan's older brother; and then older brother's SIL is on the left.

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Oh no, someone got ahold of my camera and got this photo of Pan and I kidding around.

Now back to the post. I noticed for the weekend blog prompt (which is a free for all apparently this weekend) most are posting some layouts. As some of you may know, I have been doing an ABC album for the Princess and here are a few layouts I have recently done:

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King of Trees
~Cat Stevens
Layered Template, ©2006 Mars Olson for SNL #21
Alpha, ©2006 Mars Olson for SNL #21
Papers, ©2006 Tink2Zoe for SNL #21
Font: AvantGarde Bk BT


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Me & I
~Abba
Papers ©2005 Brenda Miller & ©2005 Stacy Carlson,
Gotta Pixel July 2006 Group Kit
Sketch provided by Brenda
Font: AvantGarde Bk BT
Font: Victorian LET


So where does the challenging come in? Welllllll, I need songs, specificially songs that begin with N, P, Q, S, T, U, V, X, Y, Z; where either a verse or the chorus would be appropriate for a young girl. So if you could help me out here, it would be much appreciated.

Tribulations and Vocabulary

Your Vocabulary Score: A+

Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary!
You must be quite an erudite person.


Seen at My Scrappin' Life.

Friday, January 12, 2007

Avatar Tribulations

Your's Truly:


Technician Intended for Nocturnal Killing


Get Your Cyborg Name



The Better Half:


Positronic Artificial Neohuman


Get Your Cyborg Name

Foods and Tribulations

You Are Chinese Food

Exotic yet ordinary.
People think they've had enough of you, but they're back for more in an hour.


Well Pacific Tonz (at whose site I saw this); mine seems to be fairly accurate. :)

Time and Tribulations

Friday 1/12 Blog Prompt: If you could freeze time for less than an hour, and you’d be the only living thing that’s “alive” in that moment - What would you do? Why you wouldn’t be able to do it if everything were normal and the time weren’t frozen?

I don't know. I really can't think of anything that I wouldn't be able to do in normal time. Maybe I should go read other posts to see what they had written; but that just wouldn't seem right, LOL.

It would definitely have to be more than an hour for me to even begin to come up with something and probably more like a day or two. I have an hour or less each morning to devote just myself (and isn't that pretty close to having time frozen for an hour?) and during which, I blog, drink a cup or two of hot green tea and read my emails. Sometimes, like this morning, I watch what programs they have on HD Discovery. These are relatively difficult to accomplish during the day with Indy and/or the Princess around. And the evenings, I try to devote to Pan. So I cherish my hour in the morning.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Formally Tribulated

Thurs 1/11 Blog Prompt: Do you like to get dressed up? Why/why not? When's the last time you had a chance to dress formally?

Yes and no. Yes, because when we use to have to, I tended to keep weight off. Now, not such much because I do need to lose weight. But baby watch out when I get it off.

The last time I really got to dress up was for my in-laws 50th anniversary. I wore a street length burgandy dress with a Jacob's coat jacket that was only an inch or so shorter than the dress. At that time, like now, my hair was waist length so my sister french braided it for me and then placed rhinestone diamonds throughout. Yep, I like to dress up.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Shocking Tribulations

From Michelle at Letters from NYC a challenge:

Your Political Profile:
Overall: 65% Conservative, 35% Liberal
Social Issues: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal
Personal Responsibility: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal
Fiscal Issues: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal
Ethics: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal
Defense and Crime: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

Why Do I Dream of Tribulations

Wed 1/10 Blog Prompt: What do you dream about lately (literally or otherwise)?

A little groundwork... I dream in bright vivid colors. I rarely dream about family or friends, although I will dream about places I know. And I see through my own eyes, I don't see myself from a third party position, in otherwords. These 3 factors can make dreaming a little bit disconcerting, as when I first awake it is hard to distinguish between dreaming and reality. Needless to say, I try not to remember my dreams. But sometimes it is hard to forget them.

The last couple of weeks the dreams have been strange, bizarre and to a degree, scary. The one I recall the best is one that actually includes Pan (that in itself is strange).

We were touring Hawaii (I wonder where I thought up that one, LOL) in a beat-up camper truck when we paused at the top of a mountain where a bunch of people were gathered looking down into a valley. Curious we debark from the truck and walk over to see what they were looking at. Down in this valley were a bunch of zoo workers feeding alligators, except something went wrong and the alligators started eating the workers.

At this point I really want to wake up; but my dream has other ideas and off to sleep Pan and I drift. On the mountainside, in the grass; not as one would suppose, in the camper truck.

When I awake in the dream, we are still in the grass on the mountainside, but now we have a sheet over us and a brick house behind us. I get up to walk around the house where I spy a chain link fence with a bunch of silver trash cans next to it and the house on the right hand side. On the other side of the fence is a photographer taking a picture of a huge alligator, which suddenly starts to charge at the photographer. I yell out for her to be careful, when everything rewinds. The alligator is back where it was and the photographer is starting to take her pictures.

I now notice there is a part of the fence missing by the garbage cans and over them comes a really old woman cackling and calling for the alligator to follow here. I am stunned, literally, in place. I could not believe this old woman was calling to the creature and that it was coming. It started to charge at me and I could do nothing except stand there. As it got right up to me, and I could see my life ending, it changed into a toddler girl with black hair that started nibbling on my leg. Granny joined her shortly.

About this time I woke up, thankfully. For me dreaming is nearly as stressful as real life.

Pictures from Hawaii:


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I love this picture and think it would make a wonderful Marine Corps poster. But then I am prejudice.

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Every once in awhile (like after 2000 shots) you get one that is fantastic where time seems to stop.

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The happy couple

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Tardy Tribulations

Tues 1/9 Blog Prompt - Two for Tuesday: Do you usually arrive on time or late? Do you get annoyed when other people arrive late or you really don’t care?

To answer the first, I'm always on time unless it is absolutely beyond my control. I remember I had been working at a job for several months one time, when the way I normally traveled was blocked because of a fire. Only thing was they did not start diverting traffic until I was near the site. I ended up being an hour late and the boss thought I had quit because I was so punctual (didn't help that the guys in the office were teasing him about it either). And this was the same boss that I ended up getting to the interview with only a minute to spare because his wife had given me the wrong directions.

And that should have answered the second part of the question. I get most annoyed when people are late. I know I shouldn't but I do and can get rather burly about it, huffing and puffing when they finally get there. It's strange to think that none of my children are punctual.

Pictures from Hawaii:

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Look carefully and you can see
Scamp, Honey and me in the reflection


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Pan and the Ballerina

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At the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial

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Playing in the water. Both
Scamp and Princess told us
that she wouldn't want to
stay at the pool, but we
couldn't get her to leave.


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Kisses (just a fun photo)

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Pan and the Ballerina the
night before we left.

Monday, January 08, 2007

Tribulations of a Neglected Computer

Hi Folks, I'm Tink's computer. And while I am not neglected normally, she has left me to my own devises for nearly a month. I DO NOT like that at all. And then to let a young thing play on me so she can go cavorting around the house with a 2 year old, well that is just not acceptable.

So I am doing the only thing I can to retaliate. I'm shutting down. Kaput, gone, left the building, etc. You get my drift. We're all in this together. The D drive thinks she spends to much time with the external hd; the C drive is making funny noises just to annoy her and the wireless pen and mouse are no longer in sync with the monitor.

So if Tink suddenly seems to disappear (wicked chortle), you will know we have had our revenge.

Sunday, January 07, 2007

Designer Christmas Tribulations

Bug has some pictures of our other sister's house posted and assumes I have some better ones. Well, of course, she is right. Although I did not get any of the angels in the alcoves in the kitchen like she did.

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Angel in the Family Room

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Armed Forces Tree

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Bear & ddpup's Tree

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Big Tree

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Close up of Big Tree

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Dad's Tree

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Mom's Tree

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Tool Tree

Judgmental Tribulations?

You Are 80% Open Minded

You are so open minded that your brain may have fallen out!
Well, not really. But you may be confused on where you stand.
You don't have a judgemental bone in your body, and you're very accepting.
You enjoy the best of every life philosophy, even if you sometimes contradict yourself.


I don't know whether to be insulted or not....

The Tribulations of Having an Aristocratic Title

Swiped from Bug.

First mine:

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:
Reverend Countess Tink the Confused of Chalmondley St Peasoup
Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title


Now Pan:
My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:
Very Lord Pan the Herbaceous of New Porton Wells
Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

Overdue Blog Prompt Tribulations

Thurs 1/4 Blog Prompt: What do you sense you're supposed to do before your life is over?

Oh I don't know.... I have done so much in my life already. Some of which I am really proud of and some I'm not. So I guess at this point in time in my life, I sense I should just be enjoying my family and friends. Listening, watching, participating in their lifes. Being there for them.

Friday 1/5 Blog Prompt: Describe your sleeping style. Are you a side sleeper, snoring on your back sleeper, wake at the slightest sound sleeper, sprall across the bed and sleep through an earthquake sleeper? Spill your secrets! (Keep it family friendly, girls!)

I sleep on my stomach with one leg curled up next to my side; one straight down and my arms above my head. I can sleep through just about anything except a child crying and my alarm clock (although I can sleep through Pan's alarm clock, go figure).

Weekend Blog prompt idea, brought to us by Sandra: "Patterning." Make a list in which you repeat the same form of words to introduce each item.em>

"Happiness is" sleeping late curled next to Pan.
"Happiness is" Indy not swallowing something inedible.
"Happiness is" a rainy day cuddled next to Indy watching tv.
"Happiness is" The Princess' bright smile.
"Happiness is" Ballerina calling to talk to Pan.
"Happiness is" Bombshell introducing us to her beau.
"Happiness is" talking with Nuke.
"Happiness is" listening to Scamp talk about his daughter.
"Happiness is" being able to do all the above.

Saturday, January 06, 2007

Word of the Week - COIR (n)

Disclaimer: All words that I choose come from the 1968 edition of the Webster's New World Dictionary, 2nd college edition. It's close and also nearly 40 years old so we may come across some words that are no longer in general use or have completely changed definitions. But that is part of the fun.
coir (n)
the prepared fiber of the husks of coconuts used to make ropes
.
And what in the world can you do with this word? Well, you could write a sentence using it. You could look it up in another dictionary or reference book. (several dictionary searches available in my sidebar for your use.) Use it as a jump start for a short story. If applicable, find a picture of it. Whatever you do, post a link in my comments so I can check it out and put a link back to your post. And have fun.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Word of the Week - PERIPATETIC (adj)

Disclaimer: All words that I choose come from the 1968 edition of the Webster's New World Dictionary, 2nd college edition. It's close and also nearly 40 years old so we may come across some words that are no longer in general use or have completely changed definitions. But that is part of the fun.
peripatetic (adj)
1. of the philosophy or the followers of Aristotle, who walked about Lyceum while he was teaching
2. moving from place to place; walking about; itinerant
-n 1. a follower of Aristotle
-n 2. a person who walks from place to place
.
And what in the world can you do with this word? Well, you could write a sentence using it. You could look it up in another dictionary or reference book. (several dictionary searches available in my sidebar for your use.) Use it as a jump start for a short story. If applicable, find a picture of it. Whatever you do, post a link in my comments so I can check it out and put a link back to your post. And have fun.

Collecting Tribulations

Wed 1/3 Blog Prompt: Does anyone you know collect unusual things or have an excessive amount of something? Do you?

Before I answer this I would like you all to know that Scamp will be celebrating his 28th birthday this year. Wooo Hoooo and Hoo Rah.

Now back to the post. Let's see I collect..... EVERYTHING. I hate to through anything out in the event it may be something I need later or be determined to be important or of value. I am learning to throw things away though. It is just taking time.

I do have a vast collection of paper scrapbooking supplies and cross stitch. Enough that they have their own room (they do have to share though).

Pan collects Halloween decorations and Franklin Mint pewter Star Trek pieces. Bombshell collects souvenir spoons; Scamp collects Marine Corps items and Nuke collects cameras and computers.

Nothing unusual or outrageous here I don't think.

Pictures from Hawaii:
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Honey & Scamp

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The Kiss

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Family Portrait