Yano Akimura 1904 - 2008

My Grandma in Japan passed. At 104, she lived a full life, saw some amazing changes in her life. She was definitely not the stereotypical passive Japanese lady. She had a lot of fire and independence in her.

What color crayola are you

You are most like: Black
You are bold with a dark side. You make clear lines wherever you go, though you color outside of the lines. Many people may just see the surface of you and think you are merely plain, but you have a lot of depth to you as well.
Take this quiz: Which Crayola Box of 8 Color Are You?
Visit Toys For Your Blog.com for more blog quizzes

i met james hilton

For those of you who don't know, James Hilton is a fixture in stock car racing. The man is 77, still qualifies and runs races. AND when he's running in the back he doesn't cause or get involved in wrecks. I've always had a lot of respect for the man. Anyway while prowling around the garage this morning, an ARCA official comes backing out of the garage and crashes right into me. I was checking out a car in another garage so I didn't even see it coming. Well no harm, no foul, but the guy starts talking to us. Turns out he was just talking to Hilton. He actually introduced us! Very cool! He saw us a bit later asked who else we were looking for and let us know where Dexter Bean would be signing autographs. More pics later. I promise!

Confirmation Pics

Angie and Bishop Rodimer
Angie and Uncle John
Me and my brother
Anna and Angie

Gramps and Angie

ARCA road course

Going down to NJ Motorsports Park today for the ARCA race. It's ARCA's first road course race in a long time ( I believe 7 years) Dexter hasn't ever run a road course before but NASCAR East has had a race in NJ so the team used some of that info to set up the car for this weekend. Dexter has also been talking to Scott Speed (yuck) to get some pointers (ugghh). Leaving early, in about an hour, stopping for breakfast, should be there when the gates open at 7am. Not sure if ARCA runs on rain tires, but Hoosier does make rain tires so the tires are available.


Curt thinks its a good thing we won't be home as Tony is starting 41st. I'd be highly stressed as he tries to work his way through the field . Ugghhh.

Paul Newman - you will be missed

"Paul Newman was a phenomenal individual who made a profound impact throughout his life," said NASCAR driver Tony Stewart. "His acting skills are well-known, but equally impressive was his desire to give back and help those who just didn't get the same shake out of life that we did. I got to know him through our time helping build Victory Junction Gang Camp and during my handful of races in the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona. We connected as racers, but Paul's ideas of what we should do for charity is what really resonated with me the most.

"He set the bar, not only with his giving, but in how he gave. Whether it was through his own line of food products — Newman's Own — or his work in helping create the Hole in the Wall Camps, Paul did it right, and he did it with class. He'll be terribly missed."

What a nightmare!

I don't think I've mentioned this before, but my daughter is getting her confirmation tomorrow. Or supposed to. This whole confirmation process has been an unorganized nightmare. First of all, we get a schedule of volunteering opportunities. The kids were told they had to work a certain number of hours last school year. Ok. Then one of the MUST do's is the kids are paired up and the first weekend of the month when people bring in food pantry donations, each pair is responsible for a particular mass to bring the donations after mass to the rectory and sort them. OK. Of course no thought is given to the fact that there are 5 services from Saturday evening through Sunday night, and maybe there is a reason why certain families attend certain masses. I never go on Saturday, because between her dance( which last year was done 15 minutes before that mass, but her studio is 25 minutes away) And Curt bowls on Sat night and has to be 30 minutes away, 30 minutes after mass STARTS. So naturally she gets assigned Sat night. She tried to trade with a kid who ALWAYS goes on Sat nights for the 8am Sunday service he would find difficult to go to ( mind you she is NOT a morning person, but figured that since I am I;d wake her up and give her a ride) Well the Sister in charge didn't want the "confusion" of trade offs and it was a "sacrifice" so they need to do their scheduled service. Ok not a HUGE deal, since they only had to do it every other month. But still.

Confirmation class was cancelled the week before she was supposed to do it, and when she and her partner got there, no one, not even the priest who said the mass had any clue what they were supposed to do! then by the next class they were told they didn't have to do it anymore.

OK. fine. Then since only a handful of kids showed up to help clean the church on a Saturday morning, they were all told they had to do it at least 2x. Saturday morning is rough for any kid involved in high school sports. There are games, meets, practices etc. She had to try to sign up for the sat between tennis and fencing and the sat between fencing and track. then she made an invitational for fencing which was supposed to be on the sat between fencing and track. so she called to see if she could come later or earlier and they could just tell her what to do, or leave her something to do. They just told her don't worry about it. But now the Sister is acting like she's being a pain! ( ps this nun is not american - not that that matters, especially since american women aren't really becomiiung nuns anymore. But she didn't go to school in the US and she really doesn't understand the lives these kids lead)

Then not enough kids in the church signed up to be in the Living Stations of the Cross. So the kids were told if you want to do that, it would fill all your hours. So she did that. But then, a few weeks later, she got a phone call that there was another mandatory thing that weekend. ( If anyone wonders why kids are not as active in Catholic Churches as in some other churches - take note!)

Anyway, apparantly there was a letter sent out in May. We never got it. Part was due back on July 1st, the other part (with check of course) on Sept 17th. Well obviously we didn't send it back as we never got it. The priest in charge told me well, it didn't come back here you must have got it. Do you KNOW how many times I get other people's mail? Especially since everyone in the circle has to go out to a box thing ( sort of like apartments have but on a post not in the wall) to get their mail that the mailman fills from behind. So I write wrong box and put it back in my box. What about people who don't? Then he says he called and left several messages. Not my phone! I have voice mail on my cell, I never turn off my cell, so no voice mail and no missed calls. I was really good good friends with the previous pastor of the parish. So all the lines are in my phone, because my default ring is no ring, my phone only rings if you are in my contacts. so it would have rang! Either way it would have been a missed call. Went back to July 8th (I had deleted the file july 7th) And not one call. i think he was dialing the wrong area code. At one time NJ had 2 area codes. 201 in the north and 609 in the south. ( now there are 5 or 6) when they created 973, the cell towers were still all 201 so cell numbers didn't roll over like regular land lines. I am one of those dinosaurs who has had the same cell # ( I do get a new phone every 2 years) for the last 17 years. so even though it is a local number the area code is still 201, because when cells went 201 I would have had to change the whole # and I didn't want to do that. So I really do think he was calling 973.

So he couldn't give these forms to the secretary NOOOOO that would be to easy. ( oh did I mention I had to call 3 times to get him, because he never let the scretary know what was going on) he wanted me to see him in person. Said his only open appointment was 10 am this morning. Now, I leave work 4 hours early. Go see him, he looks at me and says how can I help you. Are you kidding me?!?!?!?!?

he gives me the forms - yes and I need to give them a $25 check, and says i have to have them back at the rehearsal tonite at 7pm. Ok great. then I look at the forms, i need a copy of her uncles confirmation certificate. He was getting on a plane in california at 8:30am their time which is like 30 minutes from that point. My brother lives in LA. In case anyone lives in a cave ( I guess cave dwellers won't be reading this anyway) there is a lot of TRAFFIC in LA. He would already be at the airport and I don't think he carries it with him.

I call my mom. She looks in her file. She has his baptism and a copy of his birth certificate, even a photocopy of his latest passport (he travels a lot) but she doesn't think she ever had an actual hard copy certificate. She also has no idea what year he was confirmed. So now I look in my stuff and I found a copy of the letter my old church sent this church certifying that i was confirmed so I could get married. ( Mind you no certificate, just a letter) but I got it in 79 which meant my brother either got it in 81 or 82 depending on what month the bishop showed up. My poor mother just drove 30 minutes each way to our old church to get a certificate.

So you think everything is ok right? Well only maybe. I still have to get the certificate from her this afternoon ( 40 minutes each way) AND they moved rehearsal from 8pm to 6:30 pm. Hello? it's not like he can leave work a few minutes early. He's on a plane with a layover and there's a big rainstormon the way and his flight isn't scheduled to land in newark until 5:45pm and even when it's not raining to get from Newark to here during rushhour is at best an hour. So best case scenario he's 15 minutes late, worse case he comes in around midnight. Scenario that implies I should just start killing people and bumping off banks - his flight is cancelled and he flies in in the morning. Oh and they couldn't tell me that when I'm in the rectory. NOOOOO. I get home ( no point in going back to work for an hour and a half, and since I have a 130 appointment I can't stay late) there is a message on the answering machine from the Sister ( why can't they use the same #?) about rehearsal. so now I have to call again. And they are alll hummmmm isn't there anyway he can get here in time? Duh? Plane? He's supposed to change his connecting flight while on another flight in midair? Have these people never flown? Did they get here in boats? Rafts? submarines? i mean I guess you can drive from south america, but it'd be a bit tough from africa. ( mind you, he was orginally flying in tomorrow morning, but the investment group that owns most of one company he works for wanted a short meeting, so he's doing that in the am tomorrow) so then he's like - well one of you maybe can stand in for him if he's not there and let him know what's going on. GRRRRRRRR.

Rant over ------- for now.

What Planet should you Rule?

You Should Rule Mars

Mars is a planet that shines brightly and loops wildly around the solar system. You are perfect to rule Mars, because you are both energetic and independent. Like Mars, you seems attractive and bright to others - but you're difficult to pin down. You are a great thinker, but you only think in the present and ignore the future. Full of enthusiasm and inspiration, you are into your own thing... and rather insensitive to others.

What Planet Should You Rule?

This is my swap package from vicki! Yellow bear is just too cute! And chocolate, I always love chocolate. Will post my package to her in a few days after she receives it. I don't think she's seen my blog, but i don't want to take any chances at ruining her surprise!

What did I make this week?

There was a bakesale at work for the holiday party. I normally don't attend ( it was from 9pm to 12 pm near work last year. I live 25 miles away, get up at 2:30, and if I wanted to bring my husband it would cost me $50. Mind you the party cost $25 a head, so if you bring a guest you pay for yourself too? ) So I don't normally don't participate in the fundraisers either. ( I'll buy something if it looks good, but I don't usually make anything) Anyway, the woman who basically runs receiving, is in charge this year ( chairperson from hell transfered to another store). She asked me to bake something because not enough people signed up. So I looked at what I could do, with minimal shopping. I ended up making black forest no bake cheesecake. ( very easy - chocolate no bake cheesecake with chocolate chips and diced cherries from cherry pie filling. topped with sprinkles and a cherry from the filling. I have every imaginable form of red sprinkles as red and white are my daughter's school colors. Quick tip to make the graham crust taste homemade? brush with egg wash bake at 400 for 3-5 minutes.) And below, carrot cupcakes. (carrot cake mix with a handful of shredded baby carrots, a can of crushed pineapple, handful of shredded coconut, raisins, and chopped pecans. mixed canned cream cheese icing with some vanilla extract - gets rid of the canned taste - yes i cheat, and fall sprinkles) Gotta say, people at work need to get out more. I had SOOO many requests for both recipes- my standard response is it's really not hard (truth) and I just throw in handfuls (truth) so it's hard to give a recipe (ok lie).

I made 2 crocheted amigurumi penguins for a MSN knitting and crochet swap. I'm becoming more of a crocheter it seems. I think it's because crochet seems to go so much faster than knitting. I still like knitting better. It seems softer, has a nicer hand and texture, and I like doing it more. but for projects on a deadline, I am confidant enough to pick up a hook. Now don't get me wrong, thread crochet is just never going to happen here. Neither is lace crochet. But penguins were fun! I am also sending a set of stitch markers that are almost done. I bought those new gourmet m & m's - they are made about 15 miles or so from here. I may add some coffee if I get to Denville before the post office, and maybe some Jersey Girl chocolate bars. Will post a finished pic tomorrow. I actually already got the box my partner mailed me, but I never think it's fair to peek before my box is in the mail.



Tony's starting 33rd. Arrgghhh ( yeah there's a bit of pirate in me every day) He was all like they worked more on race setup and the track changes a lot during the course of the race etc etc. BUT it's a mile track. He better get through some traffic so he doesn't end up lapped before the first caution. He better avoid being the first caution. Killing me, they're just killing me.

At least the 49er's don't play until 4:05. So by halftime the race should be over. i'm serious one day trying to watch an early football game and the race at the same time will cause an actual brain implosion. The lions, I'm hoping we could take the lions. Anyone not wanting to root for the 9'ers but wanting to help me out can root against the raiders. if they win this week, I won't be able to take a break all week, cause Carmen will be insufferable.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Week in Recap

Rough week. Monday, went to Angie's tennis match. Then there was a meeting at the Library for her trip to Ecuador next summer. Simultaneously was a meeting of the fencing booster club's exec board. Still trying to figure out how I got on that. So Curt had to go to the Library. There were a lot of things that we really can't figure out without answers from the coach. which we currently don't have. So it was a lot of what ifs. At least we thought we got our schedule set. ( the next day we were told one of our meetings was the night before Rosh Hashanah which is actually the start of the holiday. why don't calendars mention that??) Anyway, I got home at 9:30. The Eagles/cowboys football game was on. Now I categorically can't stand any Philly team on principle. BUT I HATE WITH EVERY CELL IN MY BEING the Dallas Cowboys. So I had to root for the Eagles. Ugghh. Now really both teams were playing to lose, but the score kept going back and forth. I kept saying I'd go to bed as soon as the eagles took the lead. But then Dallas would have a big play. I ended up going to bed at 12:30am! Mind you I have to get up at 2:30.

Thursday was back to school night. What a different experience from what my parents had. Angie is one of those kids whose reputation precedes her. She does live up to it- good kid- prepared- hard worker- helpful- teamplayer- etc etc. (None of those were even close to the rep I had - and lived up to) She's got her work cut out for her this year. 4 honors classes, 1 AP class, gym, tv production and brit lit. And she on 3 varsity teams, and in Project Lead, and the varsity club and fccla( a service club)

Friday, Curt picked up Buffalo steaks at Whole foods. he had a ribeye that was almost a pound, and got 2 strip steaks for Angie and I. Angie wanted to go to her friends house to work on her Pre-calc t-shirt ( her school seems to make a lot of t-shirts) so curt and I had a great romantic dinner. Dead animal, sweet potato and beans. Honey Porter beer and Black Lager. It was really nice. One of the perks of Angie growing up is more time for us.. Of course then i get sad thinking it's only 2 more years to college.

AARRGGGHHHH I missed it!!

Aye matey's! I've been counting the days and then I, stupid landlubber forgot!!! ARRGHGH!! And to think I was in a meeting all day - I'd rather have walked the plank! Could you imagine? They all think I'm weird as it is!

So as it is Friday night for all my matey's lookin fer their timbers to be shivered i leave you these:

Top Ten Pickup lines for use on International Talk Like a Pirate Day

(We came up with these in an effort to interest The Other Dave (Letterman) in TLAPD. His staff liked 'em, but alas, his show was"dark" the week of Sept. 19.)

10 . Avast, me proud beauty! Wanna know why my Roger is so Jolly?

9. Have ya ever met a man with a real yardarm?

8. Come on up and see me urchins.

7. Yes, that is a hornpipe in my pocket and I am happy to see you.

6. I'd love to drop anchor in your lagoon.

5. Pardon me, but would ya mind if fired me cannon through your porthole?

4. How'd you like to scrape the barnacles off of me rudder?

3. Ya know, darlin’, I’m 97 percent chum free.

2. Well blow me down?

And the number one pickup line for use on International Talk Like a Pirate Day is …

1. Prepare to be boarded.

Bonus pickup lines (when the ones above don't work, as they often won't)

They don’t call me Long John because my head is so big.

You’re drinking a Salty Dog? How’d you like to try the real thing?

Wanna shiver me timbers?

I’ve sailed the seven seas, and you’re the sleekest schooner I’ve ever sighted.

Brwaack! Polly want a cracker? … Oh, wait. That’s for Talk Like a PARROT Day.

That’s the finest pirate booty I’ve ever laid eyes on.

Let's get together and haul some keel.

That’s some treasure chest you’ve got there.

Top Ten Pickup Lines for the Lady Pirates

By popular demand ...

10. What are YOU doing here?

9. Is that a belayin' pin in yer britches, or are ye ... (this one is never completed)

8. Come show me how ye bury yer treasure, lad!

7. So, tell me, why do they call ye, "Cap'n Feathersword?"

6. That's quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard!

5. Aye, I guarantee ye, I've had a twenty percent decrease in me "lice ratio!"

4. I've crushed seventeen men's skulls between me thighs!

3. C'mon, lad, shiver me timbers!

2. RAMMING SPEED!

...and the number one Female Pirate Pick-up Line:

1. You. Pants Off. Now!

(gotten from talkelikea pirate.com)

Meme from Athena's owl

Alright, now I was innocently reading some of my friends blogs the other day. And Min had some kind of meme where she just wrote the answers. And I'm an answer, with parenthesis saying because of my TLV (Tony Love virus) So naturally I need to know what the question was. ( I think this is how one get's sucked in) So I had to go and ask her for the questions, which means now I have to do the meme. So I am telling you ahead of time, if you don't want to do a meme STOP READING HERE!!! Otherwise it won't be my fault when you want me to send you the questions.


1. Athenasowl
2. shante91
3. no one
4. bookfaerieknits
5. Girlwithneedles
6. Samsara
7. needles54
8. no one I know now - I have changed a LOT
9. Cjhunt68
10. kitchener
11. smassa
12. dancingdiva
13. dancingdiva
14. clairek
15. cjhunt68
16. curtisf
17. me
18. dancingdiva
19. jinniver
20. nataliemarie
21. athenasowl (we still need to get together for sushi)
22. smassa
23. mannym (ok he is my boss)
24. no one
25. smassa
26. cjhunt68
27. smassa
28. don't know what that means
29. cjhunt68 ( don't tell curt)
30. please no one get mad enough at being listed or not listed to consider #24!

What felony are you?

You Are Stalking

You tend to be very obsessive. Once you focus your attention on something or someone, it's all you think about. You are also very secretive. People don't know much about the life that you lead. You are attracted to weak people. You may want to prey on them, but you also may just want to help them. You need attention, and you can get desperate if you aren't getting attention from the right person. You'll do about anything to get noticed.

What Felony Are You?

Manic Mondays! Don't know why I'm amazed at what people at work manage to screw up over the weekend and expect me to fix with a wave of my magic wand! ugghhh I knew I wasn't getting a carpet delivery today, as I got everything that shipped on Friday. So I figure Oh, cool I can catch up on some little stupid stuff right??? NOOOOOO I actually got out of work an hour late by the time I was done. Geez! And they don't even keep enough details for me to figure out what happened. even sherlock holmes needed some clues!


Then I come home, and my door is wide wide open, not unlocked mind you, open. actually the lock was locked but not to the frame. Darling daughter must have been late again. Well she's grounded. she just doesn't get, make sure the door is locked. I'm waiting to come home to emptiness one afternoon. Or worse, come home to the guys emptying it! It's even worse. curt left the window ac on when he left, so to quote my dad - we paid to aircondition the entire outdoors!!!


Tried to take a nap, as I have that fencing booster club exec meeting tonight. Curt's going to the library with angel for another meeting on her ecquador trip next summer. So since I'll be up past my bedtime i figure nap, right. NOOOOO I'm to pissed off about the door to sleep. So I'm checkng out the net instead.


So I'll leave you with 2 things. first - can anyone tell me what I'm doing to cause the first paragraph to underline??

Second Here's a start to preparing for Speak like a Pirate Day on Friday!

The basics

Pirate lingo is rich and complicated, sort of like a good stew. There are several other sites that offer glossaries that are pretty good, and you can find some of them on our links page.

But if you just want a quick fix, a surface gloss, a "pirate patina," if you will, here are the five basic words that you cannot live without. Master them, and you can face Talk Like a Pirate Day with a smile on your face and a parrot on your shoulder, if that's your thing.

Ahoy! - "Hello!"

Avast! - Stop and give attention. It can be used in a sense of surprise, "Whoa! Get a load of that!" which today makes it more of a "Check it out" or "No way!" or "Get off!"

Aye! - "Why yes, I agree most heartily with everything you just said or did."

Aye aye! - "I'll get right on that sir, as soon as my break is over."

Arrr! - This one is often confused with arrrgh, which is of course the sound you make when you sit on a belaying pin. "Arrr!" can mean, variously, "yes," "I agree," "I'm happy," "I'm enjoying this beer," "My team is going to win it all," "I saw that television show, it sucked!" and "That was a clever remark you or I just made." And those are just a few of the myriad possibilities of Arrr!

5 days until "speak like a pirate day"

My pirate name is:

Mad Mary Kidd

Every pirate is a little bit crazy. You, though, are more than just a little bit. Even though you're not always the traditional swaggering gallant, your steadiness and planning make you a fine, reliable pirate. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

So for the next 5 days ( until Sept 19th) in addition to my usual chatter, there will be updates to get ready for Speak like a Pirate Day. The first thing a person needs to know is their pirate name. I'm Mad Mary Kidd. There's something warm and fuzzy to being a psychotic isn't there?

So Nascar is at New Hampshire today. The first race in the chase for the championship. Of course tony has another bad day. Made contact with the 70 in the pits ( ironic he'll own that car next year huh?) So he has to come back in, ends up near the back. Then he gets caught speeding in the pits, has a penalty ends up a lap down. So right now Jimmie F'ng Johnson is in the front, and I find myself rooting for Biffle. can you believe that? The 49ers are losing in the second quarter. The Raiders won, the giants won. Thank God the jets are losing. Ugghhhh. I'm going to start needing valium on the weekends soon! On the plus side my daughter's high school football team won 64 to 0 yesterday.

On the knitting side. I actually didn't do much all week. I did a few rows of the ripple 'ghan. did a couple rows of another market bag, but I am not happy with that and may frog it to start over. I still haven't finished seaming the red/white/blue 'ghan. I did finish one of my lacey anklets this morning and have just cast on the second. I need to pick an animal and make my amiguri for my animal swap for the msn knitting and crochet group's swap. I don't think I'm doing any more swaps until after Christmas. I need to work on other things.

The rest of this month is going to be pretty busy. monday night, there are 2 meetings we need to attend for Angel. Curt is going to the meeting at the library for the Global trip to Ecquador next summer. I'm going to the board meeting for the fencing team. Angel has an away meet for tennis, so I'll be at that until I have to leave to make my meeting. next weekend angel has a retreat. I also have to take her shopping for an outfit for her confirmation. Saturday, there wll be a party for her at a local japanese hibachi restaurant. Sunday ARCA is racing at NJ Motorsports park in SOUTH Jersey. So we'll be leaving the house around 4am. Curt's bowling wed and sat nights. Deep breath!!

My sister and sister in law are making me nuts! neither one wanted to go out to eat after the confirmation ceremony, because it started at 7:30 so it would be " too late ". My brother is flying in from California and has to fly back out Sat night because he has a big meeting Monday morning. So We made reservations for 1pm on Saturday. Then S-I-L starts whining she doesn't want to drive "all the way out here" by herself and if she rides with my F-I-L she wants hm to leave early with her. Now after my sister, wanted SIL to find a date so she could bring her "friend" and we made reservations for her and her "friend", she calls me and says she may not be able to go on Saturday because they are doing an inventory and audit at work, and can we meet her for breakfast! AARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!


Ok, sports update. Biffle won, Tony worked his way up to an 8th place finish. So now F'ng johnson and Edwards are tied for 1st place and Tony is up from 8th to 7th. But there are only 9 races left. Thank God for knitting! Or i'd have an ulcer already. The 49ers work their way up to tie the game and send it into overtime. They actually won by a Field Goal - May need knitting and Valium and Nexium and Prilosec by December!

Some saturday!

So I guess all those people who said the Large Hadron Collider was going to cause a black hole and end the world as we know it, can go hang out with all the rest of the "world will enders" I wonder if they got anything good yet? Weird huh? Looking for the universe inside instead of outside the planet.

So onto more mundane things. I went into work for 2 hours to train a guy who had "20+ years running lift equipment in warehouses" I hate training people like that. They think they know everything ( how can they, when I do? LOL) And either they don't get the safety rules around other employees and customers. Or they can't deal with our narrower aisles, stuff sticking out into the aisles etc. Well this guy has obviously never run anything with a pantograph. couldn't get the hang of extending and retracting the forks. also he did ok in the wider aisle, but he wants to get all lined up before going in the pallet and our aisles are too narrow for the most part and so you have to turn into the pallet. and he had a lot of trouble remembering the three sets of buttons. Now one of the "perks" of being a lift trainer is we practice dropping stuff in my department. So rather than the other trainers that just drop and lift the same pallets, we pack out my holes. Well I knew it wasn't good when I got on the machine and moved a skid before I let him drop it. And the last skid I was going to drop, I left up. Then he acted all surprised when I told him I'd try to get one of the other trainers to schedule another practice session and then we'll schedule a test. ( sometimes another trainer can get through to someone, plus everyone has a slightly different way of explaining things. So we rotate the people who don't pass that session to another trainer) he thought he was getting a license. Then he got mad at me for being a perfectionist. hello? the reach is the most likely machine to hurt someone. I'll take that as a compliment!

I got home, it wasn't raining, so off to the tennis team's car wash. I was definitely wishing I wore shorts! And NOT a black t-shirt! Every member of the team was supposed to sell 10 tickets for $5. I took angel's tickets to work and sold them to people who weren't ever going to drive to my town ( I live 22 miles away, average distance for our associates - 3.5 miles) I actually sold a bunch of them to the tractor trailer drivers who deliver my stuff. One guy from florida, a bunch from south and central NJ. The one garage/towing place in town showed up with a wrecker. he paid $20. then he came back with another! Then later on, He bring's a flatbed (not sure how much he gave them for that).

Picked up pizza for lunch, then dropped angel back at school for the football game. She went with a bunch of her friends to the mall after that to get shirts to decorate for spirit week. After which she went to her friends to decorate them. Curt went bowling, I've been playing with the laptop since then.. I'm starting to get hungry, guess I'll find something to make in a bit. Angel was going to need a ride from her friends house to the movies to meet some other friends, but decided to stay put. None of the usual channels that show brit-coms are showing movies instead, so there's nothing on.

Mikey's on a date, dave's at his in-laws down the shore, matt's working at the hospital, so very sad saturday night for me.

Sigh....

Yes, another meme!

meme!

A) People who have been tagged must write their answers on their blogs & replace any question that they dislike with a new question formulated by themselves.

B) Tag 8 people to do this quiz & those who are tagged cannot refuse. These people must state who they were tagged by & cannot tag the person whom they were tagged by. Continue this game by sending it to other people. **I'm not going to tag anyone...if you want to do the meme, go ahead! :) **



1. What are your nicknames?
Ria, kiko, flipper

2. What is your favorite time of day and why?
That few minutes in the morning when everyone is asleep and it isn't quite sunrise yet. the sky is black but the horizon is all on fire.

3. What fandom(s) are you most into at the moment?
Duh... Tony Stewart, Go Smoke!

4. What is your favorite scent?
The electric air smell during a good thunder/lightning storm

5. What book are you reading at the moment?
the SIGNS Of Seven Trilogy by Nora Roberts, I have the first 2 books

6. What's the last movie or TV show you watched?
history Channel's show on the Large Hadron Collider

7. Do you trust easily?
No, I don't make friends easy either.

8. What was your first big fandom?
Joe Montana, starting in Notre Dame - Why I'm a 49er fan now.

9. Is there anything that has made you unhappy these days?
No - I've been in a freakishly good mood for about 6 or 7 weeks now - it's frightening peoole at work.

10. Do you have a good body-image?
No. i have just gone back to working out to try to fix it.

11. Is being tagged fun?
sometimes

12. What websites do you visit daily?
Ravelry, Daily Sudoku, Hotmail, Tonystewart,

13. Who are currently the most important people to you?
Curt, Angel, My handful of actual friends

14. What did you have for dinner last night?
Spicy Meatloaf, pasta w/ garlic and broccoli, steamed carrots and green beans

15. What’s the last song that got stuck in your head?
believe it or not the song from flashdance.

16. What’s your favorite item of clothing?
whichever Tony Stewart item I'm wearing at the time

17. Where is the last place you flew to?
California

18. What would you do if you see $100 lying on the ground?
give it to angel

19. What items could you not go without during the day?
coffee, cell phone, yarn

20. What should you be doing right now?
making dinner

Never forget

Mom's Playing Hookie!

Ok, not exactly hookie, but close. I will admit I get an itch when I have accumulated more than 3 sick days. Mind you I haven't actually called out in years. I either schedule a personal day, or I go in for 2 or 3 hours and leave by 7am. So, since I've been unloading the carpet trucks and that sometimes keeps me a bit late, I figured I'd leave today at 7, and use 4 hours of sick time. BUT apparantly, the other 3 trainers are having issues training. ( Mind you right now I'm doing my job plus half of 3 other jobs plus unloading 3 carpet trucks a week.) So there'a a guy working part time nights and weekends who has an OSHA warehouse license for lift equipment. But, it's no good in retail ( I think if someone runs over a customer they would rather I get sued then Osha. ) so I told them if they bring him in at 5am on saturday I'd spend 3 hours with him. - I'll still be home before the rest of my house wakes up - sad isn't it? Then to top it off, I was BSing with the carpet driver and left late yesterday. So this morning I went in at 4, took care of my orders and counts did about 1/2 of a weekly report and left. I was home before Angie or curt were dressed. Made breakfast and ate with Angie.

So looking at the whole day ahead. And what do I do? decide to take all the blankets, comforters and fleece throws to the laundromat to wash.. And hey, since I'm there i brought the rest of the laundry too. Everything went ok until I had to fold it all. Ugghhh. I didn't get out of there until 12! Then i went through the car wash, I wanted to vacuum the inside too, but I didn't have time.

Got an iced carmel macchiatto. then headed to Livingston for my nail appointment. Why drive so far you may ask? Not environmentally friendly you say? I DON"T CARE!!! i haven't broken a nail in 3 years! (knock on wood or fake wood, not sure what this stand is made of) Lauren is expensive ($35 for a fill but worth every penny). I also got a 45 minute massage from the most gorgeous guy I've sen in a long time. He was a sub, and I guess a few women cancelled their appointments 'cause of his amazing guyness. ( Yeah , I know he's probably gay, but I can deal) he was amazing. I keep all my tension in my neck, shoulders and upper back.... I'm like gumby now. I have to find out where he gets a job (he's looking- he was subbing for his sister who is the regular massage therapist) And I got a pedicure. yes , almost 3 hours of bliss.... sigh.

I stopped at the Livingston farmer's market. The pesto and dip guy hasn't been there the last 2 times. i was very disappointed. He had the best artichoke pesto and goat cheese sundried tomato spread. Yum. I did get some jersey cantalopes that were bigger than a bowling ball, and a small seedless watermelon. i got a pack of figs for Curt.

Came home just in time for the Schwann's guy's delivery. it's always a surprise to see what curt and angel add to the order. Angel apparantly added chicken bacon ranch flatbread melts that don't look bad at all, but curt added breaded prok cutlets? what is that about? hmmm.

So I'm still on a spicy kick. So Spicy blackened chicken alfredo for dinner tonite. And I roasted some poblano peppers to toss over the salad.

I still have an hour before Curt is home and 2 hours before Angel gets home so, I brewed another pot of coffee, have GAC videos on and I am about to sit in my new reclining couch and work on my lacey anklet sock.

I'm thinking about training 3 hours on saturday like once a month so I can do this more often.

ria.

Meme- songs from 1984

Took this from Grace's lovincomfort blog from yesterday.

The rules:
A.) Go to musicoutfitters.com

B.) Enter the year you graduated from high school in the search function and get the list of 100 most popular songs of that year

C.) Bold the songs you like(making them red), strike through the ones you hate (making them green) and underline or italicize your favorite.(making them purple ) Do nothing to the ones you don’t remember (or don’t care about)


1. When Doves Cry, Prince
2. What's Love got to Do With It, Tina Turner
3. Say say Say, Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson
4. Footloose, Kenny Loggins
5. Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now), Phil Collins
6. Jump, Van Halen
7. Hello, Lionel Richie
8. Owner of a Lonely Heart, Yes
9. Ghostbusters, Ray
10. Karma Chameleon, Culture Club
11. Missing You, John Waite
12. All night Long, Lionel Richie
13. Let's Hear It For The Boy, Deniece Williams
14. dancing In the Dark, Bruce Springsteen
15. Girls Just Want To Have Fun, Cyndi Lauper
16. The Reflex, Duran Duran
17. Time After Time, Cyndi Lauper
18. Jump (For My Love), Pointer Sisters
19. Talking In Your Sleep, Romantics
20. Self Control, Laura Branigan
21. Let's Go Crazy, Prince and The Revolution
22. Say It Isn't So, Daryl Hall and John Oates
23. Hold Me Now, Thompson Twins
24. Joanna, Kool and The Gang
25 I Just Called To Say I Love You, Stevie Wonder One of my all time - I hate this song - songs
26., Rockwell - oops deleted the song - don't remember it now.
27. Break My Stride, Matthew Wilder
28.99 Luft Ballons , Nena
29. I can Dream About you, Dan Hartman
30. The Glamorous Life, Sheila E.
31. Oh Sherrie, Steve Perry
32. Stuck on You, Lionel Richie
33.I Guess that's why They call it the Blues, Elton John
34. She Bop, Cyndi Lauper
35. Borderline, Madonna
36. Sunglasses at Night Corey Hart
37. Eyes Without a Face, Billy Idol
38. Here comes the Rain Again Eurythmics
39. Uptown Girl, Billy Joel
40. Sister Christian, Night Ranger
41. Drive, Cars
42. Twist Of Fate, Olivia Newton-John
43. Union of the Snake, Duran Duran
44. The Heart of Rock and Roll, Huey Lewis and The News
45. Hard habit to Break, Chicago
46. the Warrior, Scandal
47. If Ever You're In My Arms Again, Peabo Bryson
48. Automatic, Pointer Sisters
49. Let The Music Play, Shannon
50. To All The Girls I've Loved Before, Julio Iglesias and Willie Nelson
51. Carribean Queen, Billy Ocean
52. That's All, Genesis
53. Running With The Night, Lionel Richie
54. Sad songs, Elton John
55. I want a new Drug, Huey Lewis and The News
56. Islands in the Stream, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton
57. Love is a battlefield, Pat Benatar
58. Infatuation, Rod Stewart
59. Almost Paradise, Mike Reno and Ann Wilson
60. Legs, ZZ Top
61. State Of Shock, Jacksons
62. Love Somebody, Rick Springfield
63. Miss Me Blind, Culture Club
64. If This Is It, Huey Lewis and The News
65. You Might Cars
66. Lucky Star, Madonna
67. ,Cover MeBruce Springsteen
68. Cum On Feel the Noize, Quiet Riot
69. Breakdance, Irene Cara
70. Adult Education, Daryl Hall and John Oates
71. They Don't Know, Tracy Ullman
72. An Innocent Man, Billy Joel
73. Cruel Summer, Bananarama
74. Dance Hall Days, Wang Chung
75. Give It Up, K.C.
76. I'm So Excited, Pointer Sisters
77. I Still Can't Get Over Loving You, Ray Parker Jr.
78. Thriller, Michael Jackson
79. Holiday, Madonna
80. Breakin'... There's No Stopping Us, Ollie And Jerry
81. Nobody Told Me, John Lennon
82. Church Of The Poison Mind, Culture Club
83. Think Of Laura, Christopher Cross
84. Time Will Reveal, Debarge
85. Wrapped Arpound Your Finger, Police
86. Pink Houses, John Cougar Mellencamp
87. Round and Round Ratt
88. Head Over Heels, Go-Go's
89. The Longest Time, Billy Joel
90. Tonight, Kool and The Gang
91. Got A Hold On Me, Christine McVie
92. Dancing In The Sheets, Shalamar
93. Undercover Of The Night, Rolling Stones
94. On The Dark Side, John Cafferty and The Beaver Brown Band
95. New Moon on Monday, Duran Duran
96. Major Tom (Coming Home), Peter Schilling
97. Magic Cars
98. When You Close Your Eyes, Night Ranger
99. Rock Me Tonite, Billy Squier
100. Yah Mo B There, James Ingram and Michael McDonald

I am Football!

You Are Football

So crazy and fun no one realizes they're freezing their butts off!

What Part of Fall Are You?

I mailed my squares!!

My 5" squares. There are 26 of them. I switched to the 5" for 2 reasons. First,I had some small rolls of assorted color yarn. Second, with everything going on recently, I just din't have the attention span for a 10" square this weekend.
My 10" squares, there are a total of 15 of them, the last bunch finished while curt was in the ER.

Here's an update on Curt. He's feeling a lot better. I'm sure the rain that came through Saturday night washed a lot of junk out of the air. And the weather has been nice and cool and dry, which helps his breathing on a normal day. That antibiotics also helped a bunch (turns out he had the same infection that killed my sinuses in his bronchial tubes) He's a bit mad at me, because he didn't tell his dad about it - not because his dad would worry, but he didn't want to get yelled at - how sad. but I know how he gets around bowling, especially since this past Saturday was the first week of the new season. So I just asked his dad to keep an eye on him.. Holy SH**! You would have thought I betrayed State Secrets to Bin Laden or something. Geez.

Saturday night while Curt was bowling, Angel and I ordered in sushi. Angel originally wanted to go to the movies, I just didn't want to drive unnecessarily in that storm. It would be just rain for awhile then it got crazy for a while etc etc. We were kind of bummed, because we were going to try a place by Salem st, that we never went to before. Their menu said they delivered so we figured perfect! Well, the phone was disconnected. sigh. So we went with the place in the Boro that delivers. Apparantly we don't order delivery from them enough, because they have a new menu and have assigned different numbers to the various items. I told Angel to get the lady to tell her what everything was as she gives the order, but does a 16 year old listen? NOOOOOOOO! So we got the most bizarre dinner ever. it turned out well though, as except for 1 item, we never ordered any of the stuff we got. So it was like an adventure. We actually liked a few items enough to start ordering them, and hate to say it but will never order anything with salmon skin again.. then again I'm against all skin on food anyway so I guess that was inevitable.

On the sports side... bad bad bad weekend. my 9er's gave away a game they should have won. The Mets lost to Philly friday nite. Tony came in second to Jimmie Johnson. And if West Virginia had won ( I mean East Carolina? Really? They're ranked like 100something) I would have won 1000 on a $5 ticket. I guess that's how those guys make a buck. Oh well. also Dallas won - hate being around Moe when that happens. The Giants did well, sigh. I can only hope Denver wipes the field with the Raiders or I may have to take the rest of the week off!

Weaving in Ends

weaving ends, weaving ends, weaving ends. i have to mail out the squares i don't want to seam into an actual afghan by tomorrow. I have a stack. Sigh. so i'm weaving ends, weaving ends, weaving ends..... pic's later.

Updates

I started posting this yesterday, but right after I put the pic in, I had to drive my Husband to the hospital. He couldn't breathe, was sweating a lot. Having the biggest asthma attack of his life. Thank God he is ok. What I really thank God for is that in order to take the above picture I had brought my bag inside the house. So after I took out all the finished squares, I hung the bag with yarn and the hook from the newell post under my purse. So I grabbed it on my way out the door. I drove his car, because it was already cool from his ride home from work, otherwise the 4 knitting bags in my backseat would have been no good to me in the ER. We were actually in the ER from 4:30 until 9pm last night. I would have gone nuts if I didn't have any yarn to play with. I must say, the Dr and the 2 nurses were fantastic. The respiratory therapist they sent down had the personality of a dead flounder. They gave him 3 shots of steroids in his drip tube, and gave him the pipe looking steamy thing twice and the mask steamy thing 3 times. He wasn't even blowing 125 when we first got there (don't know exactly what that means, but apparantly it was bad.) They kept making him blow the thing and weren't letting him go until he was over 300 (which apparantly is still bad, but not life threatening.)

Oh, the squares are the ones I made over the weekend at the "dustbowl" NJ Motorsports Park at the Gran Am / Rolex race. I'll post on that tomorrow. The squares are for the Victory Junction Gang camp afghan competition I've mentioned before. Speaking of my plan to use my yarn I'm not really into anymore for the afghans... I just mailed out 3 sets of ball bands for Sonny and Shears Bust your Stash Coupons.. For any knitters out there who don't know, If you send 2 pounds (32 ounces) of ball bands, of any brand yarn purchased anywhere, Sonny and shear will give you 10% off your next purchase. There is no limit on how many of these 10% off's you get. You can even be a new customer. I've only bought sock yarn from them, but they have really nice stuff.


I got my new couch today. it is smaller than my old one, but hey, dual recliners on the ends YAY!. The deliver guys called and asked if they could come early, which worked out great, 'cause I got to take curt to his follow up appt with his regular Dr. Apparantly he had the same sinus infection I got. And it triggered the attack. So he's on antibiotics and the dr gave him milder steroids to take after he takes all the predi something the hospital gave him. We then went out and had lunch at the Townsquare diner. we were going to go to travellers but apparantly they are closed.

Ten People I would love to meet

Ok, I stole this idea from Grace's Blog.

10 people you would like to meet , living or dead. So from left to right, top to bottom, not necessarily in that order:

Leonardo DaVinci
Tony Stewart
Bill Walsh
Joan of Arc
Chuck Yeager
Ronald Reagan
Mary of Scots
Joe Montana
Alexander the Great
Atilla the Hun


If you let me have 12 I would add, Albert Einstein and Richard Feynman