Ebay blues

I have been wanting a multimedia projector for some time now. You may be wondering why in the world would I need a projector. I really want one for youth group, I have for years. To be able to project pictures or videos or PowerPoint slide shows would be wonderful. But I need a projector first. I could ask Father to get one for us, however I am a little selfish here. I want a projector that I can count on being there when I need it, not on that will be lent out to every Tom, Dwayne, and Harrison. So I hoping to invest in one personally. Not having a fortune to invest in such things, I turned to Ebay, because "every thing's better when you win it!" according to the ad company that Ebay hired. So, I found a great one, without any reserve, and bid on it with 2 days to go. I just found out that I was out bid. :( If everything is better when you win it, then is it worse if you don't? I'm beginning to think, "Yes!"

My very generous boss has offered to let me use HIS projector when I need it, and I have taken him up on the offer a few times now, and it is a humdinger of a projector! Very nice, and so easy to use! But VERY expensive, and it makes me a little nervous that klutz-o me might drop it or bust it up in some bizarre way. SO I am now wishing that the "Projector Fairy" will bring me a projector for being a good little girl. I won't be holding my breath!

Goons and goombas

Hey, everyone. I hope that you are having a blessed week. I had oodles of things I could have written about tonight, but my roomie, Yvette mentioned something to me in passing. This simple comment got my thoughts a flame.





I started this blog simply to connect with my family and friends, and because I was encouraged to do so. It never occurred to me that people that I don't know might even think to read these paltry musings of a simple Floridian gal. Well, that naivete it long gone.





Vette tells me tonight, rather proudly, that she has caught up on all my blogs. Yahoo! She referred to a few things in the blog, then said something about a "horrible comment". It took a second to register, I had no CLUE that there was a horrible comment on my blog! I went to check it out, and sure enough, there it was. A horrible comment. Well, not as horrible as it could have been, but it's pretty obvious the spirit in which the comment was left. To quote Mister or Miss Anonymous :"This is dumb! You are a corney goon!" (spelling mistakes were his/her's, NOT mine!) AllRightyThen! Now I could respond any number of ways to Anonymous. I choose this as my response:





As I mentioned before, this blog was intended for my family and friends; people who are abundantly aware of my flair for corniness. In fact, they happen to like it. Most of the time. I think. (? ) I make no excuses for my silliness. It is who I am, and I like that part of me. Now ask me how I feel about my thighs, and you will definitely get a different response! But as for me being corny? That's just me. Deal with it, or don't read the posts.





As for the "dumb" part. This leaves me wondering if a 13 year old boy left this comment. I draw this conclusion for a few key reasons. (I was channeling Colombo there!) First, who leaves anonymous comments but 13 year old boys? Come on! What adult that you know does goomba things like post anonymous comments on people's blogs that they don't even know? Second, who uses "dumb" to describe anything? OK, maybe if you were trying to be politically incorrect about someone who couldn't speak, maybe. (dumb=mute, as in deaf and dumb) But I doubt it. This may have upset me if someone wrote a comment about me being a terrible person, or even called me out on my spelling. Calling my blog dumb. That was just, well...DUMB! I mean, come on, dude! Did you not know that I have control over which comments stay and which ones get zapped out into outer space? Ph-lease!!! By the way this comment HAS been zapped.





All kidding aside. I never considered that any negative comments might be left because I would never dream of leaving such a comment on another person's blog. I haven't mentioned the fact that I am deeply effected by the beliefs I hold firmly to. I didn't think I would have to. It looks now like I should.





Briefly; I am a Roman Catholic, devoutly committed to the Magisterium of Mother Church, and it is my great joy to say that I am a daughter of God. To love one's neighbor as thyself is something I strive to do each day. So tonight as I close this post, it is my sincere prayer that Anonymous might learn to live the two greatest Commandments: To love the Lord your God with your whole mind, your whole heart, your whole soul, and your whole strength. And, love your neighbor as yourself.





Anonymous, I hope that you have moved onto greener pastures, and more entertaining blogs. And I'd like to thank you for giving me a topic for this post!





Until next time...





Be good and God Bless!

Warren's Latest Movie

I know that I already posted today, but I had to share this with you guys! Wern's latest movie was one that he completed for school. He was assigned to give an example of satire along with a group. Their group subject was forced child labor, and they could choose to do a speach, a cartoon, or a movie satiring forced child labor. Of course Wern chose the movie. Without further ado: Handguard5000!

Hairy Situations...

There seems to be a common thread to many of the conversations with the kids the past few days: Meghan's hair. Brian started it all off while making some window clings he got for Christmas. There was a girl super hero and he says, "I should make this super hero for Meg." I assumed it was because it was a girl and so is Meg, but nope. He tells me it's because they both have curly hair. That's all well and good, but then latter on he is telling his mom the story, and Celine pipes in, "I love Meggie's hair. I wish I could dye my hair curly!" OK, how cute is that???

My adorable niece Cora has decided that at the mature age of 21 months, that she is ready for potty training. My sister tells me that yesterday she actually refused to wear diapers, and after a few hours of wearing pull-ups she discovered that pull-ups are not exactly the same thing as "big girl panties", so she wanted to be wearing those instead. Now, for those of you who don't know my sister's middle child: Cora is fiercely independent! She does only what behooves her to do. My sister, knowing this child's profound love of nay-nay(candy), promised her that she would be rewarded with her favorite food group, candy, hoping that it would speed the Potty training experience along. The conversation went something like this:

Cora: "I want nay-nay.

Katie: "No, Cora. No nay-nay.

Cora: "I want nay-nay, Mama."

Katie: "If you go pee-pee on the potty then you can have some nay-nay. Wanna go pee-pee on the potty, Cora?" (Nodding her head and grinning broadly as she asks this)

Cora: "I want nay-nay, Mama!"

Katie: "Then, let's go pee-pee on the potty."

Cora: "OK, bye!" (As she walks away.)

Latter that day, after a successful potty attempt, Cora called her GiGi (grandma) to tell her about the triumph, and handed the phone off to her mother. As Katie is telling Mom just how cute Cora is in her big girl panties, she shrieks, "OH_MY_GOODNESS! (one word) I_GOTTA_GO! (again, one word) Cora just peed all over the floor!" And clicks off the phone. Now as a nanny I have assisted in the potty training of several children, and have experienced my share of accidents, and it's not always a funny thing when it happens to you. But somehow it becomes wickedly funny when it's someone else, especially your younger sister who put you through HECK when you were children. Sorry, Katie, but I loved this story.

Be good and God bless!

LOOKIN' GOOD!

Man! I broke my blogging streak! Too bad, so sad!



This weekend was eventful! I had a BLAST with Penny and Yvette. We went out for drinks and then to dinner. We laughed SO hard! Yvette made Penny snort! (Sorry, Pen, I had to share that!) It was a great night for old friends getting together and enjoying each other.

The school room holds many wonders for us. It's is a place to learn, play, and yes, at times torture one another. Our space is well organized and laid out. Grant and Celine's desks are separated by a cubical wall, only because Grant has the uncanny ability to be distracted by ANYTHING!!!! No, really, anything! So he is separated from the rest of the world by this "wall". He has found a mirror, (he probably was supposed to be doing Religion or English when he discovered it.) It has a wide neon pink frame around it with a magnet on the back. He quickly realized that he could attach said mirror to aforementioned wall because the frame of the wall in question is indeed metal. Well, each time he passes his new toy he can't resist checking himself out! He'll stop and admire his "guns", as he calls them, which would be his non-existent bicep muscles that he loves to flex. Or he'll flash a cheesy smile and give himself two thumbs up. As if this weren't kooky enough behavior, when we entered the classroom today Meghan noticed a new addition to the Mirror o' Vanity. It now has a caption that reads, "GRANT YOU ARE LOOKEN GOOD" (typo is as it appears on the mirror). Meghan feels compelled to question Grant:
Meghan: "Grant, did you put this on this mirror?"

Grant replies, "Uh-huh."

Meghan: "Why?"

Grant: "Because I am lookin' good!"

So now each time Grant passes the mirror he not only primps and parades, he now mumbles "Yes you ARE, looking good, Grant!" As he plants a kiss on each "gun". My concern is growing. Yes, the child should have a healthy self-image, but can one have TOO healthy a self-image at the age of nine? Not to mention that he has forbidden the other kids to look in "his" mirror: "SEE! It says MY name on it! So it's MINE!"

I have included a few pictures...

On a roll!

Yahoo! I've blogged three days in a row! I think the trick to this blogging thing is to keep it short and sweet! So that is now my goal! Short and sweet!

I am so looking forward to tonight! An old friend, Penny and I are meeting up tonight for dinner and drinks. Pen and I were partners in crime back in the day! So I am so excited about us spending time together. Man, the things we do when we are young and stupid! Well, for that matter, the things we do when we are OLD and stupid! I have no CLUE how my mom survived me growing up. I pushed her boundaries to the limits! Now I was a dear, sweet child, but if I could get away with something, or better yet if I thought I could get away with something, then by-golly I was going to try! Mom, I would like to "publicly" apologise to you before all 2 of the people reading this post. ( and unfortunately that number includes YOU!) Thanks for putting up with me and never making good on your threat to "take me out of this world", regardless of your prerogative to do so.

Warren passed his driving test yesterday, so now he can cruise the beach for babes. Saints preserve us! Don't worry, he is NOT getting a vehicle, regardless of how much he insists what a HUGE help it would be to his mother if she didn't have to car pool anymore. She says she'll suffer through ferrying them to and from school each day, for now. I'll let you know how the driving thing progresses!

No Pain, no________! (you fill in the blank)

As I type this I truly believe that I SHOULD be in traction. Every muscle I possess is crying out in pain! (Thank you, Stacie!) In know that old saying, "No pain, no gain", but I have my own saying, "No pain, stay sane!" I am not much for discomfort, EVER, so this is no fun for me. OK, sure, at least I know I did some good, right? Wrong! What fun is it being fit, if you are too miserable to enjoy it? All whining aside, I am glad that I had a hard workout last night. I was mentally prepared for it, really I was! And while Stacie gave me the most challenging routine I've had so far, it makes me glad to know that this time LAST YEAR I would have never even imagined I was capable of some of this stuff. So thanks to Stacie for the pain and suffering! Really, there is NO sarcasm in that statement! Honest!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2008 to all!

I pray that each of you will be abundantly blessed in this new year! My family had a sad start to 2008. We had to say good-bye to a beloved uncle and brother. My mom's oldest brother, Drew passed away on New Year's Day after a long battle with cancer. He was a wonderful, loving man of God, who will be greatly missed. It is a great comfort to know that he is with his parents, and together they are all praying that we too will join them one day.

May the souls of the faithfully departed, through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.

OK, on to the funny stuff, my life! SO this past week has been full of the craziness of getting back in the swing of things...You may be wondering what things might be swinging in my life, but it's more likely that you aren't! He he! But in case you are then here they are in no certain order:

The school bell has rung, and we are back to the good ole learning routine. (and as I type this, Meghan is trying to teach Grant the finer points of double negatives and they are both chanting, "I haven't never had a hat! I haven't never had a hat!" They seem to think that is a great sentence to chant.) Even with all its stresses and headaches I so love this time with them. Sure I lose my temper often, and I frustrate easily, but to be with them as they learn and to hear the off the wall and funny things they say makes it worth it! Don't dare tell my boss this, but to be honest, I'd do this work if the the only payment I received were the hugs I get when they finish their work at the end of the school day!

Healthy living is something we all start thinking about this time of year, and I am no exception! I have recommitted to the decision I made last year to lose weight and become healthy. I am well on my way to achieving my major goals, knocking out little goals along the way to the major ones. I have decided to forgo any sort of social life and opted instead to become a gym rat! When I said this to a friend yesterday she replied: "Shannon, I don't know that I would EVER describe myself as a 'rat' under any circumstances!" I would normally agree with you, oh wise friend, but in this case, it is SO applicable. Let me explain...

Each evening I scamper into the gym, (not the excited, "I can't wait to workout!" kind of scampering, more of the "Get me in there so I can get OUT!" kind of scamper, or even MORE rat-like is the "I hope nobody sees me" scamper.) I scan my membership card, and much like one of Pavlov's dogs, I have an automatic response to hearing the BEEP of the computer acknowledging my existence. One of doom, gloom, and fear of the pain that is bound to follow soon.(Hey that rhymed! ) I then head for the ladies' locker room to change my clothes and psych myself into climbing up onto an elliptical machine and not back into my car. I have come to a recent realization, that I really don't have a problem with the act of working out. My problem is with having to workout in front of dozens of people, all of whom, I'm convinced, have their own membership solely to stare at and snicker at the fat girl trying to workout. I know this is all in my head, and I'm sure that many a skinny girl has felt the uncomfortable heat of an intense stare while sweating on a treadmill, but for very different reasons, I'm sure. I'm already extremely self-conscious, put me in spandex and get me huffing and puffing and sweating profusely, then my self-conscious meter skyrockets! So now I have the complex of a "rat", feeling like I have no business being there. Then I work my boo-ta-tay off(hopefully) grunting as I struggle through my weights routine and sweat so much that I smell like a rodent of unusual size (that movie quote is for my roommate, Yvette!) Finally, I scurry out of the gym with lightning speed, desperate to be free of my smelly prison! I have to say that anyone who claims to have met their significant other in the gym either worked behind the counter handing out towels, or was blind and probably has a broken sniffer!

I have also been searching for a new T.V. Now I had a perfectly good television: not too big and not too small. But obviously it had issues. A few weeks ago while I was working through a long weekend, my Sainted roomie, Yvette called me and began to explain to me that, just as she was settling into a DVD she's been wanting to watch, my T.V., the main one in our sitting room, had jumped off the shelf it has been sitting on for six months now, and landed face down on the tile. Try as she may to revive the set, it was a goner, and had to be "put down". This left us without a T.V., horror of horrors, I KNOW! So I started looking for a new T.V. I knew I wanted it to be a little bigger than the other one, so I was checking out 32" flat panel screens. Man, are they pricey! I made the decission to wait until after the Super Bowl to buy one. In the meantime we were watching T.V. on a tiny 15" set. In desperation I called my mom and dad and, low and behold, they said I could have my "old" set back. It was indeed the 32" I was hoping for, but not a flat panel, but it was priced just right: FREE! I am happy to report that this new set is indeed well adjusted (Ha Ha!) and in no danger of committing "set-icide"!

Wow! When I write I get carried away. This will have to be it, for now! Have a great day!

God bless and BE GOOD!