That's what VCR's are for

Last night I had the privilege of going to Family Reading Night with Ally at her school. Quite honestly it has been a long week, we have had something to do every night and heading back to Parma at 6:30 was the last thing I wanted to do on a Thursday night. You may think this post is going to be about my t.v. addiction, but keep reading...So Jason Colthorp was the "celebrity" reader, I am now a Jason fan. He was hilarious, had the kids engaged in the story and seemed like a genuinely nice guy. He interacted with the kids and it didn't even seem to bother him when the kids interrupted or said things not quite appropriate for the moment. Ally even jumped off my lap so she could sit closer to him, quite a move for a clingy kid. As he is answering questions about what he does he tells the crowd that he will be moving to channel 10 as of Monday so look for him there at 11:00. He tells the kids that's pretty late so they might miss him when a dad yells "hey that's what VCR's are for". Maybe it was just me but it caught me a bit off guard to hear of someone still recording on a VCR. Quite honestly I had actually forgotten that function of the VCR. We don't have DVR in our house but I seriously thought I was the last person in Jackson without it. Until that guy mentioned it I had totally forgotten we even had the capability to record t.v. Granted you can't watch the tape till it is actually done recording your show but thanks unknown dad for reminding me that we do have the power to record. And by the way the book he read was Skippyjon Jones and it was a great book!

Her favorite "toy"

When people ask what to get my kids as gifts I usually stammer and say "I don't know" and this is why. Today was clean up day in Lanie's room. She is ready to retire her Dora Castle and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse both of which she just got for Christmas. All morning she has been playing in her clubhouse with cans of food. This is her clubhouse...

yep, it's a box

Penicillin and Clown Make-up

These two items may not seem related at all to you, but to one of the patients in my office - these items could cause an allergic reaction. Since we need to know any allergies you have we have a box marked OTHER. Honestly, this is the first time I have seen clown make-up but I am wondering if I should add it as a permanent resident on the medical history. You never know when we might bust out the clown paraphernalia when you are hyped up on nitrous and Novocaine:)

Do you back up?

So I get my computer back tonight and I guess it was an easy fix. Bryan said it wasn't too much to get it back on track but to make sure I have my files backed up because generally with the 2006 Dell's it is the hard drive that crashes. Again such comforting words! Luckily I do back up, the threat of losing my entire itunes collection and family photos was just too much for me. I found free offsite at mozy.com, if you sign up, mention me and I will get some additional storage space. I am going to try to stop complaining about my computer now...

I guess you have to enter a referral code or my email address for me to get credit. Here is the code: 3B8H88

Blue screen of death

So a couple weeks ago I'm downloading some pictures and the "blue screen" comes flying at me! Have you seen this screen? It has a bunch of technical stuff and the comforting words your computer is doing a physical memory dump as to not harm windows....HUH? So it shuts down and when I go to turn it back on the blue screen is the only screen my computer wants to present. After it sits for a couple days I decide to call my friend Bryan who usually bails me out when my computer and I disagree on how it should run. Of course me vs. computer the computer wins. Computer vs. Bryan, Bryan is triumphant and he says it's a driver issue with 2006 Dell computers. You may remember a couple months back I was ready to smash my Dell with a sledgehammer. I am still feeling this way and am really disappointed with the lack of concern from Dell customer service.
This being said they certainly won't be receiving any further business from me. I feel I was duped into buying a computer that was more than I needed, translation: cost a lot more money AND has had issues since we purchased it AND the last rep I spoke to told me it was a known issue with the model. The fans have been replaced twice with no correction of the problem and now they won't even consider looking further into the matter as my warranty has expired. If it was a new issue I would expect that I would need to pay for service or get a new warranty or whatever. But this is an ongoing issue, a problem that has not been resolved since 2006 and new fans, a new motherboard and BIOS updates have all been unsuccessful. Is it really too much to ask for your computer to not sound like a jet engine preparing for take off? I think not! Macbook, here I come...

Letter to my pastor...

I just wanted to thank you for the grow survey. The timing for me could not have been more perfect as my lowest scoring area was missions. Honestly, I have in the past dreaded "missions month" and it is probably my most missed month of church in the year. I know that sounds horrible...
This year after the survey, after talking with my small group, I have tried to examine my heart and find a new perspective. I think I personally feel so insignificant sometimes here in my own little world how could I impact someone across the universe? I guess I didn't think that my prayers or pennies counted. It didn't seem like it was a big enough sacrifice, but I guess every baby step counts. When I was in Florida I came across an article about Haiti's poorest eating dirt to survive. I thank God for putting that article in front of me, when I got home we got the hand out that outlined missionary family's and different church projects. Lo and behold our church has a program with goats in Haiti! It was exciting and pointed me towards a way to reach out. So I guess I just wanted you to know that my heart has been touched by the missions focus and thank you. Without that survey, without the missions focus I would be none the wiser and probably would have just glossed over the article, and gone through the month only half in to it. I really enjoyed hearing Blake Wood yesterday and learning more about Mel Hayward's adventures. Sometimes new perspective is all we need.
Thanks again, Maria

facebook

So I signed up for a facebook account a while back, but I'll be honest, I think it's tough to navigate. Maybe I just need to spend some time messing around with it but I am in need of a facebook lesson. I find it difficult to sometimes even get back to my own profile. So if you have an account look me up, hopefully the more I use it the more it will make sense!

Lost and Redneck Weddings

Ok, so what happened to Lost? I missed the season premiere last week because we were flying home from Florida. I thought last week it was on Thursday for a special premiere. I still haven't seen it because my computer has a "blue screen" error but that is a whole different story. I have been waiting for it to replay as I know ABC, and I know they just have to re-play the episodes to fill in. So last night I assumed that it would be back to Wed night, I check the listings and find Wife Swap, Suppernanny and Cashmere Mafia, no Lost. What the heck? I check yahoo tv this morning and find that it is on tonight following a re-broadcast of the premiere. Did I miss a memo that it was moving to a new night? A new night that does not work well for me if the writers strike ever ends. How am I supposed to watch Ugly Betty, The Office, Grey's Anatomy and Lost when they are all on at the same time and we don't yet have Tivo? So I am in the kitchen doing dishes and pouting about no tv and Trent yells "turn on 58, hurry". The girls at his his work have been talking about this show, My Big Redneck Wedding. Have you heard about it? If you haven't, and you want a good laugh, check it out on CMT! Geneva and Kyle were featured last night and wow, here is just a bit about them...
"Geneva and Kyle are 18 years old, redneck and in love. Deep in the Appalachian Mountains of Tennessee, this worry-free couple chose the public golf course with its busy driving range for their chapel. Fearing neither flying golf balls nor Geneva's traditional parents, they're going whole hog with all the fixings -- pork rinds, ground souse meat and pickled pig's feet. Attire is camo for all the guests. A tractor brings in the bride. That is, if the groom survives his own bachelor party -- a full-on bottle rocket war where the fireworks are aimed at each other. Somehow, these two are set on showing their friends and family that they're young and fun, but their marriage is the real deal with a beautiful country-themed wedding in the great outdoors."
And, no I didn't make that up. When other shows come back, this one still may be searched out when I need a laugh:)

I love you so so so......

As heard at bedtime a couple nights ago
Me: I love you so so much
Lanie: I love you so,so,so,so,so,so,so,so(continues for another 58 times) much. But it really comes out more like "ho" because of the way she says her "s"
Me: Wow I am so lucky, I love you this much - arms opened wide
Lanie: I love you the biggest mucher - arms opened as wide as they can go
Me: I am so lucky that God gave you to me
Lanie: Yeah, I know it, with her nose scrunched up and giggling

Was it the Haircut?

One of my favorite parts of any sporting event are the statistics they pull from past events. Some of my favorite examples are:
The last time a team came back to win after being down in the 4th quarter was...
The only other team that came back to win after scoring no points in the 1st half was...
The last time a team won after the quarterback was sacked this many times was... yada yada, you get the picture. The next time you watch a game look for the comparisons they make to "the last time" it really makes the game more entertaining.
So I am waiting and wondering if anyone will comment on Tom Brady's haircut and blame their Superbowl loss on the fact that it appears he got a little trim before the big game. I don't know but I am sure somebody at ESPN could find out how many Superbowls were won or lost when the quarterback sported a fresh do on the day of the big game. Who knows if Tom would have done his research the numbers may have proved he should have held off...