Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Trick Or Treat

Carolynn


Catherine


David's Pumpkin

School Pictures


Catherine's School Picture
Our Little 3rd Grader


Carolynn's have not come yet. As a matter of fact, the check I wrote for it has yet to cash and that was mid-September. We may have to have her picture done ourselves. I think I may know some one who works at the Kiddie Kandids.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Fun Times

Halloween Game

Halloween Hangman created by The Dimension's Edge, Inc.

Halloween Eve

The girls are looking forward to the big night of Trick-or-Treating tomorrow. They went back to school today. Carolynn has opted to skip the Halloween party. She was going to have it on Saturday, but the fires kept that from happening. She was going to have it this weekend, but she decided to skip it in favor of getting her nails done for Wicked. My mom got her some fancy dress shoes and she already had the dress. She is very excited. Catherine is also excited for having an adventure with Grandpa. I do not know what they plan on doing and I doubt Catherine cares.

As for the painted pumpkins, everyone got it right. The first pumpkin was Catherine’s. It featured the Halloween Theme. It had a bat, a devil, and a vampire on it. The second one was mine. I just painted a face on mine. The third one was Carolynn’s. It featured an Ocean Theme with dolphins, fish and a big turtle. David will be carving his pumpkin tomorrow. I will be sure and post pictures.

Carolynn re-decorated her website yesterday. She did not write anything new because she was busy playing Zoo Tycoon, watching TV, and helping me make the beef stroganoff. Perhaps she will have something new to write today. With all the comments we get around here, the girls are more interested in updating. Carolynn has a My Space, but she did not care for it. However, now she can say Ashley Tisdale, Kelly Clarkson, and Ally and AJ are her “friends”.

Look for a video of our weekend of fun later today. I was almost finished last night, but I chose a short song so I need to edit it a bit still.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Until The Spring...

Well, the Red Sox are the World Champions. They won tonight to take the series. We watched in our Red Sox shirts, eating our baseball foods. We had a pretty good weekend. Before the game, we watched A League of Their Own. Carolynn enjoyed it. The hot dogs were good. Everything was good. In the end, a pretty nice day considering how the week began. School resumes on Tuesday. They said they needed some time to clean up the ash and such. I get back to work in the morning.

Halloween is only a few days away. In Wisconsin, they have Trick or Treat on the weekend before Halloween in the day. I think that is so dumb. Anyways, my friend Heather sent me some pictures of her kids Trick or Treating. Her kids are the Spiderman and the pink pirate on the left.

Pumpkin Time

Try and guess who's is who's. Which one is your favorite?

Pumpkin #1







Pumpkin #2



Pumpkin #3





Saturday, October 27, 2007

Weekend O’ Fun Part 1

Well, we are getting started on our super weekend. We got up and did a bit of cleaning up. No sense starting our weekend of fun in a messy house. Then we went over to the Wal-Mart and got what David calls “fat loot”. Carolynn got a color by numbers set. Catherine got a craft kit to make stick puppets. I got a movie (The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh), a new deck of cards, and a word find book. David got a movie (Heat), a new sketchpad and new pencils.

We painted pumpkins after we went to the Wal-Mart. Well, Carolynn, Catherine and I did. David got a pumpkin to carve. He does not want to carve it yet because then it will be all wilted by Halloween. Our painted pumpkins are still drying. I will post some pictures later.

After the pumpkin painting, we baked a nice fall spice cake. We played a game of Disney Scene It. We need to get some new cards or a new DVD for that one. We play that one a lot. Then we made our caramel apples. They were good. Now we are watching our Pooh movie. I like the original Pooh. It is a nice fall movie, with it being Winds Day and all blustery out in the Hundred Acre Wood. Here it is cloudy and a little rainy. That should be helpful to the firefighters.

Later we are going to work on the new craft kits and eat pizza. We are having a debate about which is better pizza, Pizza Hut or Papa John’s. I like Pizza Hut, but David loves Papa John’s.

After pizza, we will play some more games and have a super fun time.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Hello?

The other day I happened to mention that my cell phone played Redneck Woman when my mom calls. This sparked many questions from my loyal readers. Questions about what ring tones I have for other people and such. So here is the low down on my ring tones. Yes, I have quite a few, but what is the point of the really cool phone if you don’t do stuff with it.

These are all the people I have in my cell phone and their respective ring tones.

Alyssa- Some loud screaming song called Ambrosia. I have no idea what the band is. Alyssa picked it. If she calls I can guarantee I will answer quickly.

Carolynn- The theme from Charlie’s Angels

Catherine- Hey Hey We’re The Monkees

Dad- Take Me Out To The Ball Game

David- Monty Python

Grandma- Default (My default ringer is the theme song from The Muppet Show.)

Grandpa- Take Me Out To The Ball Game

Heather- One (From A Chorus Line)

Home- The theme from The Addam’s Family

Jenna Baskets- The theme from Batman

Jessica- The theme from Charlie’s Angels (That’s Carolynn’s friend. There used to be three of them, hence the Charlie’s Angles theme.)

Joe- The theme from Knight Rider

Mark- Take Me Out To The Ball Game

Mom- Redneck Woman (I forget who sings that one.)

Phillip- Cell Block Tango (From Chicago)

Sarah- Hey There Delilah by The Plain White T’s

Trish- One (From A Chorus Line)

That’s all of them. I know some of them repeat. I have a few I am not using.

Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead from the Wizard Of Oz
The theme from the Three Stooges
All those boring ones that came with the phone

Comments? Suggestions? Requests? I love messing with my phone. I have a Chocolate phone. (Cherry) It plays music and does cool stuff and looks cool.

A Fountain Of Ideas

We finally decided what we are going to do for our weekend o’ fun. We could not all agree on one thing though. David was all for my moms idea of baseball foods and baseball. Catherine was all about painting pumpkins. She did that at my mom’s house. Carolynn wanted to watch movies and eat popcorn. Therefore, we are doing all of that. Tonight we went and got all the groceries. Tomorrow we are painting pumpkins and we will have a vote. Instead of popcorn balls, we are making caramel apples. Then we are ordering pizza, watching movies, and playing board games. Sunday, we are having our baseball food. We got hot dogs, rootbeer, nachos, peanuts and Cracker Jack. We will watch what could be the final game in the World Series. We will also be watching A League of Their Own.

Get ready for some super fun times

Thursday, October 25, 2007

HELP!!!!

We need help. This Saturday, Carolynn was going to have a Halloween party. Unfortunately, because of the fires, school was closed and she was unable to pass out invitations. We promised we could do something fun on Saturday instead. However, because of the fires, we are limited on things to do. We have already decided the movies playing all suck. Outdoor activities are a no because of the smoke and ash. Traveling is probably not a good idea either. So that has left us to think of something at home. So far this is what we have come up with;

1. Getting some supplies for arts and crafts
2. Buying a new DVD and popcorn.

That's it. So we need you all to help us think of some super fun activities we can do this weekend. Think fast.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Safe So Far

Home again today, working from my laptop. We plan to re-open tomorrow. Jessica is here hanging with Carolynn. We are making chicken fried steak for dinner. The smoke is clearing, but you can still smell it and there are still ashes in the air. Nevertheless, we are still safe so no need to worry.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Just A Normal Day

I am trying to keep it as regular as possible around here. We still seem to be in a pretty safe spot. I am trying to use the extra time off as best as possible. We are getting the house cleaned really well. The TV is not helping. It is hard to be like normal when all the channels are showing fires. We are watching DVD’s.

In keeping with regular, it is Halloween Week here. My plan was to have different activities for everyone to participate in. Why should I cancel it because of a little fire?

Therefore, here is our first question… You can e-mail me answers or you can add it as a comment. Do not forget… No Name, No Post!

What is you scariest Halloween memory?

Here is mine.

When I was maybe five or six, I was sleeping over with my Aunt Christine. I was sitting at her kitchen table eating when the scariest monster ever came rushing in. Okay, it was only my Aunt in a fur coat and mask with a knife. Nevertheless, it scarred me for life.

Bad Week

The Towering Inferno

I am home again from work today. I am working from home. It is smoky and there is ash raining down. Luckily, there are no fires heading for us, just above and below us. The one closest to us was a smaller one and they have it 100% contained. There are no evacuations for our area. The evacuation boundaries came very close last night, but have since been scaled back. It is a mess.

Carolynn is very upset about this whole thing. She has asked me a million times if anyone we know is in the fire. So far, no one we know has had to be evacuated except my boss and his family who live in the voluntary evacuation zones. They are safely out of town. Carolynn is also concerned about her turtle and the cats. She does not need to worry because we would not leave them. Poor Carolynn gets so upset over stuff. I am trying to keep her busy. We are going to watch Dreamgirls and have hot dogs. Last night we had egg rolls and fried rice.

Carolynn still wants to have her Halloween party on Saturday, but with the schools being closed until Monday, it makes it very difficult to invite friends. Who knows what will happen by Saturday anyway. She is trying to call around and ask people, but she only knows like two or three kids phone numbers. I have a feeling it is going to be canceled. Maybe only Jessica will come. We will have to see.

With school being canceled, I imagine the cross country championship will be canceled too.

Carolynn is having a rough week.

Monday, October 22, 2007

A Burning Ring Of Fire

The county of San Diego is under emergency conditions. There are nine fires (I think) in the area. None of them is near us, thank goodness. However, the kids’ schools are closed and I am home from work. My boss closed our business today. We are supposed to be keeping the roads clear and the phone lines clear. I did run over to the Albertsons’s for garbage bags. It was packed of people.

I am taking advantage of the day to get the house clean. I didn’t get much done over the weekend.

Nevertheless, there is no need to worry. Our skies are still blue. I will keep you posted.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Alyssa Ashley

This weekend I spent time with my cousin Alyssa. We never hung out, just us, before. It was fun. On Saturday morning, the girls and I packed the car with the goodies we made for Grandpa and headed on our way to visit him. Alyssa was meeting us there. It took longer than we anticipated because there were no less than four accidents between my house and Grandpa’s house. I do not think I went more that 30 miles an hour the whole way. We finally got there and then Grandpa went to get some pizza. He said kids like pizza. (He was right.) He said there was a “hole in the wall” place with good pizza. It was good too. He gave the girls the leftovers to bring home. He told me all about his adventures… All the fun things he did for his birthday, golfing with Joe, and about his upcoming trip to Nevada.

Then we headed home. We stopped at the Starbucks because it gets hot on the road. Carolynn was jazzed because she ordered a medium strawberry drink and they accidentally made her a large. Alyssa got passion tea and I got plain tea. Catherine just wanted water. Then we were off. The traffic on the way home was just as terrible. Where do people learn to drive? Unfortunately, Carolynn does not do too well in the car for long periods, especially after all that strawberry goo and pizza… At least she made it out the window. (We had to get the car washed because of it.)

We finally got home. We were just hanging out around the house. We watched Mr. And Mrs. Smith. I made potato cheese soup, Carolynn made fried zucchini, and Catherine made brownies. I learned about Alyssa music. Most of it is scary, but some of it is okay. I found out that Alyssa watches the same TV shows as I do. CSI, Law and Order, Cold Case, and other shows like that. She told me about her friends. We had a good time.

Today, Carolynn made pancakes. Then we went to the Wal-Mart to print some pictures for a homework project that I was helping Alyssa with. Then we went to the beach. After that, we just hung around some more. We ordered pizza from Pizza Hut. Alyssa likes pizza. Then I drove her home. We took some pumpkin bread to Aunt Paveena too. She said it is good we can spend time together. It always better when family comes together. I made a little movie about it. Be careful when you play it. I let Alyssa pick out the music.

Friday, October 19, 2007

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

That title is a song from Wicked. I have been listening to the soundtrack while I have been doing my cooking. We had Hamburger Helper for dinner. We made a nice casserole for Grandpa and we are making pumpkin bread and zucchini bread too. It smells delicious. I heard my Aunt Chris makes the best pumpkin bread. Mine is not bad if I do say so myself. I got it from Paula Dean. The casserole was a Paula Dean recipe too, and it was Turkey Noodle. It looks so good; I could eat it right now. Too bad, I already have in the freezer.

I take it from the fact that no one countered my previous post that I must be right. Good. I like to be right.

Tomorrow I begin my weekend of cousin adventure. It will be fun. I am picking Alyssa up tomorrow. My Aunt Paveena is bringing her over to my Grandpa’s house in the morning. We are going to hang with him for a while. Then we are coming back to my house for a sleepover. Alyssa will be our first houseguest that is not one of the kids’ friends from school. I got us a bunch of sleepover junk food; nachos, pretzels, Gardetto’s Mix, brownies and cookies just to name a little. We can watch movies and junk. Then on Sunday, we are going to the beach. We will have a picnic or something and the kids can build sand castles or whatever. I think it will be too cold to swim. I can take my book with me and read. I am still reading Wicked. I have not had too much time to read so I have not gotten far. Once I get started though, I will finish it quickly. After the beach, I will be driving Alyssa home. It should be fun. We had fun in Hollywood, but she was more familiar with my mom and sister. This time it will be just us. Look for a movie of our adventure coming soon.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Manners

Do people have them? Is it irrational to expect other people to have them? What about common courtesy or respect? Where are those things?

Example A- If you invite someone somewhere, would you expect them to pay you for it? If I invite you to my house for the weekend, would it be fair of me to expect you to pay for the room and board? If I invite you to dinner, should I expect you to pay for it?

In my opinion, the answer to all of those questions is NO! If I call up Trish and ask her to come try a new Thai place with me, I would obviously pay. In return, of she asked me to go with her to some fondue place, she would pay up. That is how friends work. We would not keep score of how many times I paid and how many times she paid either. On the other hand, if, like my mom, you go out to lunch with a friend everyday, then separate checks would be appropriate, unless it was like her birthday or something. Now if I were going somewhere a bit more pricy, say I was taking the kids to Disneyland, I might say to Trish, “Hey we are going to Disneyland next week and it would be fun to go together. I can’t afford to pay for all of us, but if you get tickets for you guys, I’ll drive.” Or something to that effect. (Of course, all this only applies if Trish lived here rather than the opposite coast.) That is just how it should work in my opinion.

If I invite my cousin to stay for the weekend, should I ask my Aunt for money for gas and food? Of course not, I offered to have her for the weekend. She is a guest in my home. You do not pay for that. On the other hand, David would like to invite his sister to come and stay with us, but he cannot afford to pay to fly her here. But if someone else does pay for that, we certainly would not ask for the money for the food and gas. She would be our guest. She is invited. However, if someone were to call us up and ask us, hey, I need a place to stay for a week, can I stay with you? Then maybe it might be okay to ask them to pitch in a bit.

This to me seems like it should be common courtesy. Especially among close friends and relatives.

Example B- If you give someone something or do something for someone, should you expect something in return? When you give someone something or do something nice for someone, does that give you the right to lord it over them after that?

Unless you are doing a job for someone who should pay you or giving someone something you are selling, NO! Friends and family should not work that way. Maybe if you do nice things for someone or give them things and they are rude and do not say thanks or anything, then, in my opinion, you let that go, and you will know better in the future. You do not get to forever remind them what you did for them and lord it over them. If I buy Trish something for her birthday, does that mean I expect her to buy me something for mine? Nope. I do it because she is my friend. (Just FYI, Trish did buy me a very cool candle for my birthday. I bought her some neat handmade soap.) I once gave my friend Samantha a refrigerator. I had one, it was not even a year old, and I did not have room for it when we were moving. Her fridge was old and duck tape held part of the door on. She could not afford to pay me for it, so I just gave it to her. I never mentioned it again. She was appreciative and a few years later when she and her husband bought a house of their own, she sent me a letter about how it was great with all the expense of owning her new home, she didn’t have to worry about a new fridge and that she even bought her dishwasher to match it. I did not then ask for payback now that she was obviously more financially stable. I sent her a housewarming gift. (I think it was a matching blender.)

That is just how I feel on the subject. Maybe I am right, maybe I am wrong. What do you think? Maybe we should write to Dear Abby, Emily Post, Miss Manners, or Ann Landers.

P.S. I used Trish in all my examples because she is an easy target, not because she would ever do any of those things. Also, this post is not directed toward anyone specific, just a general topic based on a variety of things I have been a party to recently. It is not a personal attack on people and if you take it that way, well you're an idiot. (That was a personal attack on idiots in case you missed it.)

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

301

David's late night post of the video game dancers last night was the 300th post on this website. Just FYI.

This is the Garfield from today's paper. I thought it was relevant for our Fall Festivities.

dances of wow. lol.

i kinda want Saturday night fervor now.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Holiday Treasure

Last weekend the girls and I got our Halloween decorations up. I have many Halloween decorations, about five good-sized plastic containers. I have two containers of Thanksgiving stuff, some of my Halloween stuff carries into the Thanksgiving season. It is sort of like fall stuff or harvest stuff. Plain pumpkins, leaves, stuff like that. I have six or seven containers of Christmas stuff too. I usually get up the Halloween stuff right after Catherine’s birthday. I was a little late this year because I was busy. I will put up the Thanksgiving stuff right after Halloween and the Christmas stuff up over Thanksgiving weekend.

I don’t know why I have all this holiday junk. I guess it started when I was living in Lakeside. There was a woman in our building who I hated who was always trying to have better stuff than me. I could not let that happen. Back then, I had decorations for every holiday. I had St. Patrick’s stuff. I had Easter stuff. I had red, white, and blue stuff that I would put out for Flag Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. I had Valentine’s stuff too. I still have some of it. I just do not always have time. After we moved to Wisconsin, I got a lot of my harvest stuff. They are really big on that. They have corn mazes and pumpkin picking. It is neat. It is one of the few things I miss about Wisconsin. (I do not miss anything enough to move back there.)

Now I just do Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. I was reminded this morning about how my Grandma would have had the Halloween decorations up by Labor Day. You know if you went to her house by Halloween, the Thanksgiving stuff would be up. Moreover, I can guarantee you, if you were at her house on Thanksgiving Day; there would be a Christmas tree up. She sure did love those decorations. She even put up a fake cardboard fireplace one time. And you better believe those decorations were taken down and put away by noon on December 26. I however, will probably leave mine up until New Years.

Speaking of Grandma’s house, I will probably be heading off to visit my Grandpa this weekend. Carolynn and I are going to take him some frozen homemade casseroles and cook him some dinner. We have more fall recipes to try out on unsuspecting family members. I think I want to try to make bread pudding, so if anyone has a good recipe, let me know. Someone voted for it in the poll, so maybe that person has a good recipe.

On a final note, I started my class this week, Creative Writing for TV and Cinema. It seems pretty easy, for me anyway. However, we are just getting started. I love it though. Carolynn was sick today. She stayed home reading all day. Look for a new Carolynn book review soon. The book she is reading now I bought her for a Halloween story. It is called The Ghost’s Grave. Look for the review soon. Catherine is getting a new shorter hair-do this weekend, so look for pictures of that coming soon. Until then, enjoy this lovely fall painting.

Poplars (Autumn) 1891
Claude Monet

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Lazy Sundays


I finished my book yesterday. It was pretty good, not exactly a heart-racing thriller, like James Patterson’s books, but good still. There are quite a few more books in the series and I may pick up a few more. I love James Patterson’s books. I have read nearly all of his books. My favorite one is called The Jester and is about the crusades. I have read all the Alex Cross series and most of the Women’s Murder Club series. They made a TV show out of the Woman’s’ Murder Club books that premiered on Friday. It was not bad.

Since I finished One For The Money, I got started last night on Wicked. It is written in the old fashion style of the original Wizard of Oz. So far, it is good though.

We finished our Halloween decorating. It is cloudy and sort of Halloweenish outside. Carolynn went to Jessica’s last night and they watched scary movies.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

A Saturday Evening Post

Homecoming Marine
by Norman Rockwell


Today we are doing our cleaning and Halloween decorating. Today is also my Grandpa’s birthday, as you could probably tell from my earlier post. I hope he does something cool. We would not want him sitting around twiddling his thumbs on his birthday. I am sure he will do something.

We will be continuing with our Fall Festival here on the website through next Saturday. Then on the 21st, we will start our Halloween extravaganza. We will have a bunch of other fun surprises as we go too. In addition, I am taking a writing sort of class starting this week, so I may share some of that stuff with you people as well.

Well, that is all. Carolynn is playing Poppit. Catherine is cleaning the bathroom. I have to finish my decorating.

Grandpa


Once small, now tall
Once young, now not so much


A fountain of cool information
Like my computer, you just have to know what file it's in and extract it.


Seriously cool,you should see him in his letterman's sweater.
He still has it you know.


Sports, he knows it.
Cool slots, he knows that too.


Best Grandpa, he's the one.
Happy Birthday, he better have one!

Friday, October 12, 2007

A Good Book

Today I finished “otherwise known as Sheila the great” it was great. It is about a girl named Sheila who moves from the city to Tarrytown in the country. She meets a dog-named Jenifer who lives in her house and she hates dogs. She also meets a girl named mouse and she has a sister who is elegiac to dogs so Sheila lies and says she is elegiac to dogs too. In addition, her mom makes her take swimming lessens because she does not known how to swim because she thinks she is going to drown. Plus Jenifer was Pregnant.
The end was great Sheila had her swimming test and she was thinking in her head I’m going to drown but she swam a across the pool and pasted. Then she had a going away party and she ran from the dogs and ran into the house but she said what ever and she wanted that puppy.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Another Boring Thursday

Carolynn’s cross-country meet was canceled today. Well, not exactly. Only me and the coach showed up to drive. We could have taken eight kids. However, there are 17 kids and it would not be fair if not everyone can go. One other mom showed up to drive her son, but she refused to drive any more kids. She had a freakin SUV! That would have been everyone.

Anyways, after that Jessica came over for dinner. We had egg rolls and fried rice. Jessica loved it. We had some oolong tea in the tea set my aunt gave me. It was good. Jessica asked me when we were going to eat that again. I guess she is planning on joining us.

This weekend we are doing our Halloween decorating. We have to get it looking all spooky for the big party. In case you did not know, Carolynn is throwing a Halloween bash on the Saturday before Halloween. She is getting a bit old for trick or treat I guess. If anyone is interested in joining us, let me know.

Carolynn finally wrote something on her site. The one C she got was for Language Arts. That is spelling, sentence structure, writing and wording. I suggested she try writing more for her website to work on it. Therefore, she wrote something and she started a couple of other things. I did not correct her spelling or anything either. She started herself a MySpace, but that is so she could be like Jessica and have “friends” like Kelly Clarkson and Ashley Tisdale.

Mothers

You know how when your little you think, “When I grow up, I don’t want to be anything like my mother.” Then one day you are 30, driving along and BAM! It hits you. The similarities between you are your mother are many and you sit and wonder, just how did this happen?

Exhibit A-

My mom’s first marriage was a dud. My first marriage was a dud. But you can't change the past and you can't take it back. All you can do is move on. It's a good thing learned that from her, or else the bodies would be piling up...

Exhibit B-


At least we each got two kids out of the whole debacle. And aren't we cute too? Look, I think that was the last time ever that my hair laid flat.

Exhibit C-


If I one day married a guy like my dad, that wouldn’t be so bad. He and my mom don't like everything the same. My mom is a little bit country and my dad is way more than a little bit rock and roll. My dad likes sports and my mom likes sports foods. Whatever, they've been together for about 20 years so I guess it's working out for them.

Throw these terrible coincidences in with the fact that sometimes I say things I have heard her say, and there you have it. Mini-Mom. Really mini, because I think my mom is like a million feet tall and I am barely 5 feet. Okay, so I do not look like her at all. Nevertheless, trust me; I am slowly turning into my own mother. I am still debating whether I am going to accept that. Of course we are not exactly alike, which is good, because who wants everyone to be the same? However, I guess it is not so bad. Maybe it is just because I am getting old. At least I never had a hair-do like my moms in that first picture. HAHAHA!

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Progress Report

IDK MY BFF JILL?

Carolynn got her first middle school progress report today. She got 4 A's, 2 B's and 1 C+. So far, pretty good.

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Weird Weird Sunday

Starting this week Jessica would come over in the morning and we would walk together to school, its much more fun then going without someone to talk too. Cross-country has being going great Jessica joined the team too but the hill we trained on was a private hill and someone complained about us running up it so we cannot run up it and that that sucks because we just run the track witch has no hill in it.
This weekend mom, Catherine and I went to my grandma and grandpa’s house it was lots of fun. First mom, Sarah and I went to the grocery store and bought some ingredients for the stew we were going to make. After we got back, my mom started making the dinner well I was playing with the dogs. After a long time I came in and help, mom cooks the dinner. The dinner was so good so, so good I loved it. Then me grandma and mom went to wall-mart and printed pictures. When we got home, I played more chasing with Elvis, Brett and Aaron. Then we toasted marshmallows around the fire outside, played hide, and go seek. Then at night, we watched The Notebook and it was great. Then Sarah turned on High School Musical and I left to bed.
The next day when I woke up, grandma was making donuts, and I helped grandma make then and they where good. Then we played and watched the New York Minute. Then when Sarah got home from work she took me to wall – mart and she bout me a magazine. When I got back, we had to go home.

Some Days Are Just Not Good

Today started out crappy. I got to work and the e-mail server was down. Next a guy called about some broken baskets, but he refused to talk to me, he only wanted to talk to my boss. I hate that. Next, a load of baskets we purchased was mostly a bunch of junk. Oh well. Then a customer called and insisted he faxed an order and a girl called and told him that we would send them later. I am the only girl and I never got an order. Then when I talked to him again, he insisted he ordered over the internet. We do not have internet ordering. I found out later that the poor guy had recently had a stroke. We eventually got his order but it was very frustrating. Then someone ran into our mailbox. They knocked it down and mangled the box up. I had outgoing mail out there too. I went out, collected the mail off the ground, and ran over to the Home Depot to get a new one. Then after all that, the computer system was acting stupid and my boss, who is a great guy, but not exactly technologically advanced, started flipping out. Then while trying to get all that taken care of we discovered a mistake I made. However, I make few mistakes so it was not the end of the world, and besides, it is good we caught it. I accidentally entered an order twice. After all that, I just wanted to come home and go to bed.

Carolynn is making pork chops. She uses Shake `N Bake. After dinner, I am making some tea and reading quietly. I hope that tomorrow will go better.

LAWGIVAAAA

Monday, October 08, 2007

Sunday, October 07, 2007

Fall Sundays

Since yesterday I made some beef stew for a fall food, my mom showed me today how to make chicken and homemade noodles. I never made homemade noodles before. It was so good. We ate it with biscuits and honey or jelly. My mom said way back in the olden days, my grandma used to make noodles like that. It was easy. My sister took some of the chicken noodle soup and pumpkin bread to her friend. It's nice to spread a little fall cheer. The evenings are getting cooler. The Halloween decorations are going up. I love the fall.

Here's some more exciting news. On November 11, my mom, Carolynn and I are going to see Wicked. I am so excited. I downloaded the soundtrack for my mom and I made a copy for me too. I got the book on Friday. I will read it next. Tonight I had some nice hot tea and and did a little reading. That is a great way to spend a fall evening.

__________________________________________________


What Part Of Fall Are You?



You Are Changing Leaves



Pretty, but soon dead.


Autumn Comfort

Yesterday I made a beef stew. I never made stew before. It came out pretty good too. No one was poisoned, I did not get any complaints, and some people went back for seconds. There was none left. I got the recipe from foodtv.com. It was a Paula Dean recipe. Later, I made pumpkin bread. It was delicious. Carolynn and Catherine made homemade donuts this morning. They were good too. All this tasty fall food is going to fatten me up.

I finished baseball week with a video of baseball pictures I gathered. For today, I put up my new fall design. It looks like we got a lot of votes in the poll this week. I will get up a new question later today.

Friday, October 05, 2007

Buy Me Some Peanuts and Cracker Jack

I just got back from the grocery store. I am in the mood for some fall foods. Tomorrow I am going to try out a couple of new recipes on my unsuspecting family. I am going to make some beef stew and Carolynn wants to bake up some pumpkin bread or maybe some apple pie with vanilla ice cream. We shall see. I will let you know how it turns out. Tomorrow I am also going to finish up with my baseball video and get it on here. Thanks to those of you who donated pictures for my video. Also, thanks to those of you who shared your baseball memories.

Before I hit the Albertson’s, I went over to the Barnes and Noble to pick up the book I ordered last week. I got two new books last weekend. I got One For The Money by Janet Evanovich and Night Sins by Tami Hoag. I am currently reading One For The Money. So far, it is good. I just have not had a lot of time to read this week. When I was there last weekend, I ordered Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz on the recommendation of my friend Trish. While I was there today, I also picked up a copy of Wicked by Gregory Maguire, also recommended by Trish. My friend Angela recommends I see the Broadway show and get the soundtrack on CD. I intend to take her advice as well.


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Baseball Lingo
I got this from the Official Major League Baseball Website

ace -- A team's best starting pitcher.
alley-- The section of the outfield between the outfielders. Also "gap."
around the horn-- A double play going from third base to second to first.
backdoor slider -- A pitch that appears to be out of the strike zone, but then breaks back over the plate.
bag -- A base.
Baltimore chop -- A ground ball that hits in front of home plate (or off of it) and takes a large hop over the infielder's head.
bandbox-- A small ballpark that favors hitters.
bang-bang play -- A play in which the baserunner hits the bag a split-second before the ball arrives or vice versa.
basket catch -- When a fielder catches a ball with his glove near belt level.
Bronx cheer -- When the crowd boos.
brushback -- A pitch that nearly hits a batter.
bush -- Also "bush league." An amateur play or behavior.
can of corn -- An easy catch by a fielder.
caught looking -- When a batter is called out on strikes.
cellar -- Last place. Also "basement."
cheese -- Also "good cheese." Refers to a good fastball.
chin music -- A pitch that is high and inside.
circus catch -- An outstanding catch by a fielder.
closer -- A team's relief pitcher who finishes the game.
cutter -- A cut fastball (one with a late break to it).
cycle -- When a batter hits a single, double, triple and home run in the same game.
dinger -- A home run.
dish -- Home plate.
fireman -- A team's closer or late-inning relief pitcher.
fungo -- A ball hit to a fielder during practice. It's usually hit by a coach using a "fungo bat," which is longer and thinner than a normal bat.
gap -- See "alley." A ball hit here is a "gapper."
gopher ball -- A pitch hit for a home run, as in "go for."
heat -- A good fastball. Also "heater."
high and tight -- Referring to a pitch that's up in the strike zone and inside on a hitter. Also known as "up and in."
hill -- Pitcher's mound.
homer -- A home run. Other terms include: blast, dinger, dong, four-bagger, four-base knock, moon shot, tape-measure blast and tater.
hot corner -- Third base.
in the hole -- The batter after the on-deck hitter.
jam -- When a hitter gets a pitch near his hands, he is "jammed." Also when a pitcher gets himself in trouble, he is in a "jam."
leather -- Refers to how good a player plays defensively or handles the glove. Ex: "He flashed some leather on that play."
meatball -- An easy pitch to hit, usually right down the middle of the plate.
Mendoza line -- A batting average of around .200.
moon shot -- A very long, high home run.
nail down -- As in "nail down a victory." Refers to a relief pitcher finishing off the game.
on the screws -- When a batter hits the ball hard. Also "on the button."
painting the black -- When a pitcher throws the ball over the edge of the plate.
pea -- A ball traveling at high speed, either batted or thrown.
pepper -- Pepper is a common pre-game exercise where one player bunts brisk grounders and line drives to a group of fielders who are standing about 20 feet away. The fielders try to throw it back as quickly as possible. The batter hits the return throw. (Some ballparks ban pepper games because wild pitches could land in the stands and injure spectators).
pick -- A good defensive play by an infielder on a ground ball. Also a shortened version of "pick-off."
pickle -- A rundown.
punchout -- A strikeout.
rhubarb -- A fight or scuffle.
ribbie -- Another way of saying RBI. Also "ribeye."
rope -- A hard line drive hit by a batter. Also "frozen rope."
rubber game-- The deciding game of a series.
run-down -- When a baserunner gets caught between bases by the fielders.
Ruthian -- With great power.
seeing-eye single -- A soft ground ball that finds its way between infielders for a base hit.
set-up man -- A relief pitcher who usually enters the game in the 7th or 8th inning.
shoestring catch -- A running catch made just above the fielder's shoetops.
southpaw -- A left-handed pitcher.
sweet spot -- The part of the bat just a few inches from the barrel.
table setter -- Batter whose job is to get on base for other hitters to drive him in. Usually a leadoff or No. 2 hitter.
tape-measure blast -- An extremely long home run.
tater -- A home run.
Texas Leaguer -- A bloop hit that drops between an infielder and outfielder.
tools of ignorance -- Catcher's equipment.
touch 'em all -- Hitting a home run (touching all the bases).
twin killing -- A double play.
Uncle Charlie -- Curve ball.
utility player -- A player who fills in at many positions.
wheelhouse -- A hitter's power zone. Usually a pitch waist-high and over the heart of the plate.
wheels -- A ballplayer's legs.
whiff -- Strikeout.
yakker -- Curve ball.

And The Answer Is........

1.What year was the first official World Series played and who won?
It was played in 1903 and the winners were the Boston Pilgrims.

2. What year did the Dodgers move to Los Angeles and where did they move from?
They played their first game in Los Angeles in 1958 and they moved there from Brooklyn.

3. How many players have hit home runs on the first pitch of their first at bat in the major league?
23

4. Name the player who played in the most consecutive games and how many games in a row did he play?
It was Cal Ripken Jr. and he played 2632 games in a row.

5. To which president did the first presidential lifetime pass from The National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues go to?
It was given to Theodore Roosevelt in 1907.

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Gibson Steps Up To The Plate...



Today is my dad's birthday. I won't tell you how old he is for fear that he may tell how old I am and we don't need to hear about that. Anyway, in honor of my dad's birthday and baseball week, here is one of my baseball memories with my dad.



Carolynn still thinks we are going to my parents house this weekend. Her theory is Grandma is my mom and you have to do what your mom says. She should listen to her own advice.

In case you haven't noticed, this website went through a bit of a recent transformation. I simplified the layout, I deleted some of the stuff in the sidebar, and I changed the banner. I made a bunch of new ones too, so it won't be so boring.

Also, I added more pictures to yesterdays post.

Crying Is Okay, Cheating Is Not

Baseball Trivia- Don't cheat and look up the answers on the internet!

1. What year was the first official World Series played and who won?
2. What year did the Dodgers move to Los Angeles and where did they move from?
3. How many players have hit home runs on the first pitch of their first at bat in the major league?
4. Name the player who played in the most consecutive games and how many games in a row did he play?
5. To which president did the first presidential lifetime pass from The National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues go to?

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No Baseball For You... Come Back 2 Years!
David-
David has no memories of baseball. He played t-ball when he was little. Babe Ruth is the only player he could think of. He has never been to a baseball game. He cannot remember ever seeing a baseball movie, except he might of saw Damn Yankees, but it was too girly so he may have blocked it from memory. David is from Texas where apparently baseball is not that important, despite the fact that Texas contains two major league teams, the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros. Football is apparently very important. How `bout them Cowboys?

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Triple Play

Three things I have learned since I last posted.

1. My Grandpa can sleep through anything.
2. Catherine can get jelly on the wall three feet away while making a sandwich.
3. If you leave your e-mail box open and go to the bathroom, your 11 year old will read your e-mail.

Last night I went to Pala to see Bryan Adams with my dad. I saw my Grandpa who showed me his photo album from his vacation. He has plenty of interesting stories to tell, but I will not tell them because it was his vacation and he likes to tell them himself. Anyway, Bryan Adams was good. Here are a few pictures from the adventure.


Pala put this up for Grandpa. They love him as much as he loves it there.


My dad talking to my mom. She had to work and wasn't there.


Bryan Adams


Grandpa

I sat here at my computer to do this and somehow got covered in jelly. There was jelly on the chair, jelly on the walls, and jelly on the table. Mysteriously enough, Catherine made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on the other side of the table from where I was sitting. No one knows how the jelly got all the way over here.

I sat here to download my pictures and check my e-mail. While the pictures were downloading, I left this computer unattended and went to the bathroom. When I came back, Carolynn was on the phone telling Jessica how she wouldn’t be able to sleep over at her house this weekend because we were going to spend the weekend at her Grandma’s house. I never said that. So I asked her what made her think we were going to Grandma’s. She said it was on my computer… Grandma said we could come over whenever we want and sleep over. How did she know that? Because when I was in the bathroom she looked at my computer to see what kind of pictures I was downloading.

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There’s No Crying In Baseball


Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Childhood Memories

Carolynn-
Whenever I think of baseball, I think of Grandma’s den. It is filled of baseball stuff. I think everything anyone ever wanted to know about baseball is in Grandma’s den.

Catherine-
Once I went to a Dodger game and ate 3 Dodger dogs. They were huge and the best hot dogs of my life. I think the Dodger’s won too.

Baseball Memories

Jennifer-
Once, when I was younger, I was at an Angel’s game with my little brother. I don’t remember who else was playing or who won, but I remember the food was good. We ate hot dogs, we had sodas, and we had peanuts. Peanuts in shells. Shells that were very neatly put into the hood of the jacket of the guy sitting in front of us. We did it so silently and so sneakily and we thought it was so funny. The best part was after the game, it was a chilly night and the poor guy tried to put his hood on….

Uncle Steve-
TO BE PART OF THE 3RD GAME OF THE 1981 WORLD SERIES AT DODGER STADIUM WAS SO AWESOME. IT WAS THE DODGERS AND THE YANKEES. IT WAS THE GAME THAT WILL FOREVER BE REMEMBERED BY REAL BASEBALL FANS WHEN THE PENGUIN "RON CEY" GOT HIT WITH A BALL WHILE AT BAT. I HAVE SEEN THIS REPLAYED MORE THAN ANY OTHER MOMENT DURING WORLD SERIES GAMES SINCE THEN. ALSO FERNANDO VALENZUELA PITCHED THE ENTIRE GAME, WITH THE DODGERS WINNING 4-3. ONE OF TWO HIGHLIGHTS FOR US.

Uncle Dan- (Emailed by Uncle Steve)
THE FIRST TIME THE ANGELS WERE IN THE PLAYOFFS AGAINST BOSTON, YOUR UNCLE DAN, UNCLE AARON, AUNT CHRIS AND MYSELF WENT TO THE GAME THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING, THE ANGELS WERE READY TO BE THE DIVISION CHAMPS AND SAD AS IT IS PITCHER DONNIE MOORE CHANGED THAT GAMES OUTCOME, ALLOWING THE REDSOX TO COME BACK AND WIN THE GAME AND THEN GO ON TO BE THE DIVISION CHAMPS. WHAT A DAY TO BE AT ANGEL STADIUM AND ALSO BE A BOSTON REDSOX FAN AT THE TIME. ALL I CAN SAY IS ON THAT DAY YOUR UNCLE DAN DEFINATELY PROVED HE WAS AND WILL ALWAYS BE THE BOSTON REDSOX #1 FAN!!!!! NO JUMPING ON THE WAGON FOR HIM, HE IS ONE OF THERE TRUE FANS!!!

Mom-
We went to see the angels play the Orioles, back in the day when Cal Ripkin was still playing. Joe was so excited to see Cal he ran down there with his camera and started clicking off pictures. He wanted to be sure and get a good shot of " The Iron Man." He took about 24 pictures in the matter of a few minutes. When he got back the pictures(back before digital) it looked just like a flip book when you put the pictures in order and fliped the ends you could see Cal move his head.

This year Cal Ripkin went into the hall of fame, we sent Joe a post card of Cal's plaque and Mike took a picture, of Cal on his phone to use as his wallpaper.

Crushing Defeat

My boss has just informed me that the Padres suffered a terrible loss last night. Sorry all you Padres fans out there. I like the Yankees, but just for the historical value. I have no idea who any of their players are now or if they are a winning team. Sorry San Diego. I may live here, but I do not have to root, root, root for the home teams.

I have not received any baseball memories from anyone yet. I also noticed that I have no comments on my Family Time video. That is odd. I usually get a lot of Ebert and Roper on my movies. Not many votes in the poll either. Maybe something is the matter with the site. If anyone sees this and is having problems, e-mail me.

I will try to get some good baseball stories tonight. I am seeing my dad and grandpa at Pala this evening to see Bryan Adams. It should be very cool.

This Week In Baseball TV


COL @ PHI Wed Oct. 3 3 pm on TBS
LAA @ BOS Wed Oct. 3 6:30 pm on TBS
CHC @ ARI Wed Oct. 3 10 pm on TBS
COL @ PHI Thu Oct. 4 3 pm on TBS
NYY @ CLE Thu Oct. 4 6:30 pm on TBS
CHC @ ARI Thu Oct. 4 10 pm on TBS
NYY @ CLE Fri Oct. 5 5 pm on TBS
LAA @ BOS Fri Oct. 5 8:30 pm on TBS
ARI @ CHC Sat Oct. 6 6 pm on TBS
PHI @ COL Sat Oct. 6 9:30 pm on TBS

Monday, October 01, 2007

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

With my parents and Grandpa having just returned from a vacation to Cooperstown, and it being the final games of the baseball season, this week will be baseball week here at Tropical Fruit. We will have baseball trivia, baseball history and you can all share your favorite baseball stories. We will even try to find some baseball music for a baseball video. It will be a tribute to “America's Pastime”. So e-mail me your favorite baseball memory so I can post it.

This Week In Baseball History

September 30, 1927- Outfielder Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees hits his 60th home run of the season, breaking his own record and setting a mark that would last until 1961.

September 30, 1972- Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Roberto Clemente collects the 3,000th and final hit of his career, three months before dying in a plane crash while on an earthquake relief mission.

October 1, 1903- The American League's Boston Pilgrims play the National League's Pittsburgh Pirates in the first World Series game.

October 1, 1961- American baseball player Roger Maris breaks the record for the most home runs in one season.

October 3, 1974- Frank Robinson is named manager of the Cleveland Indians, becoming the first black American to take charge of a major league baseball team.

October 5, 1921- The WJZ radio station in Newark, New Jersey, broadcasts the first radio play-by-play coverage of the World Series, between the New York Giants and the New York Yankees.

October 5, 2001- Slugger Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants sets the single-season record for home runs with his 71st and 72nd. Bonds hits number 73 two days later in the season's final game.