Rain

I was looking up pictures of rain for my other blog, and found this one under "freezing rain." It looked so wild, crazy, cool, and horrible, that I had to put it in its own post!

Can you imagine trying to get into your car? Or even going anywhere? Not likely! Gives a whole new meaning to freezing rain doesn't it?

Why I have a difficult time with this...

So, I would have to say that I am a very pro-life, anti-abortion person. I don't agree with abortion at all. Enough to the point that I have already had multiple discussions with my hubby on how if I got pregnant with a child and it was either...save my life or the child's life, the child's life would be saved and not mine.

I took an anatomy class once where we were learning about the development that takes place when a human egg has been fertilized. By seven weeks...SEVEN WEEKS of development, brain waves can be detected. BRAIN WAVES! I can still remember him asking us that if someone is considered clinically dead when brain waves cease, shouldn't they be considered alive when they start?

Of course, then I have the friends, and while I respect their opinions, I totally disagree with them. They have the opinion that while they believe abortion is WRONG, that it is the person's choice. "No one is making them get an abortion." This is their reasoning for why the government should not be involved.

Well, here's my little analogy. It may be something you don't agree with, but here it is. The way I look at it, slavery is wrong....and yet, it was only 100 or so years ago, when this horrid practice was considered "their choice." No one was forcing them to buy a slave. People were arguing for their right to choose to own slaves or not own slaves. There were people who felt that anyone owning slaves was wrong and terrible, and shouldn't be allowed. Then there were those that felt the government shouldn't be involved, and should just let them do what they want. Hmm...sounds eerily familiar.

I know, some of you are thinking, that these have nothing in common. I disagree. They both involve lives. They both involve the rights that those lives should have. When someone chooses to have sex they are taking on the responsibility that a pregnancy may result of it. If a pregnancy does result, why should murder be one of the "allowable" choices?

My other reasoning, and this comes from learning how much people really DO NOT know about abortion, is that if someone is considering abortion, they should be required to be educated about what they are actually doing, what will be happening to the baby that they are killing, and what will be taking place before they sign anything. NO sugar coating it. Probably the one thing I actually liked about the movie Juno (which wasn't my favorite show on the planet) was how she changed her mind once she really thought about what she was doing, especially after her classmate told her that her baby already had fingernails.

So, take it or leave it. That's my opinion.

HSM3...C'mon, Really?

Never have I been more grateful that our tv capabilities do NOT include Disney. I admit that when I watched "High School Musical" (the first one), it wasn't too terrible. The songs were cheesy but not too bad, (minus the basketball one...I'm sorry that one was just tooo stupid, even for me), and the dance scenes were typical, as was the plot and all of that. The moral was good.

Well, now it is "Senior Year!", and unless I'm mistaken (which I totally could be, because I don't choose to use my short term memory to remember things like this all that often), I think that "High School Musical 3" is the first one to actually have previews and be on the big screen.

I had the misfortune to see the preview for this when I went and saw "City of Ember" on Saturday. The clips for songs were just beyond cheesy. Then they had a spot where it shows the guy playing basketball, and his girlfriend stands up in the crowd and sings to him. (Can we just say GLURGE!) I about gagged. My hubby got a kick out of it though, and started laughing hsyterically. (Imagine deep throated belly chuckles in a silent theatre...)

I can pretty much guarantee we will NOT being seeing this movie....EVER... if I have my way. Course, I guess there are worse things my kids could want to see...

Midnight Sun bummer...

I found out some very...disappointing news. At least for me. I was looking forward to reading Midnight Sun whenever it got published...well, now I guess I will have to be content with just the first 264 pages of a rough draft.

Apparently the rough draft of what was written was leaked onto the internet and passed around without Stephenie Meyer's permission, which made her very upset, so she decided not to finish the book. :(

You can read her statement HERE and also read the rough draft.

I was just blithely going along, patiently waiting for the end of November when I would get to see Twilight on the big screen and see if it was a good show or not, and then BAM!

*sigh*

Definitely disappointed.

Daydream Believer

1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, MP3 player, etc. On shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. You must write that song name down no matter how silly it makes you look.
4. Title this blog/email what the answer to your last question is.
5. Good luck and have fun!


IF SOMEONE ASKS 'ARE YOU OKAY' ?YOU SAY... "Then he kissed me"

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY? "Hold on"

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY? "I'm into something good"

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE? "100 years"

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU? "Hey Jude"

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU? "What If"

WHAT DO YOU OFTEN THINK ABOUT? "Falling Star"

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE? "To Be Surprised"

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP? "Flower Duet"

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE? "Shine On"

WHAT DID YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING? "All I Have to Do is Dream"

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL? "To Know Him is to Love Him"

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR? "Time In A Bottle"

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET? "Unchained Melody"

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS? "I'll Be OK"

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO NAME THIS POST? "Daydream Believer"

Teehee, stupid, but funny too. :)

Ugly Houses

I admit it...I watch houses. No, I'm not a peeping tom or anything, but I like to look at houses as were are driving by and notice color schemes, architecture, etc... There are some absolutely gorgeous 100+ year old houses where we live, and the design is just amazing.

So, of course, along with the beautiful houses, there are also those houses with...ahem...more creative color schemes. I noticed one the other day. HOW COULD I MISS IT! WOW! It was a...flourescent peach with yellow trim. My hubby said it looked like a dreamsicle bar. I was sitting there thinking, well, at least they won't have to worry about anyone running into their house and saying that they couldn't see it...more like, someone would run into their house because they were BLINDED!

There was a house that we almost bought a few years ago because it was old and had classic architecture. One of the things we knew we'd have to change was the paint on the house. It was made of brick, and the people I guess decided to "match" the paint with the brick, maybe thinking that they could fool everyone or something. Well, the brick was that old traditional orange type color, and the paint on the house?? Well, it ended up being a bright salmon color. Then they accented it with mustard yellow and jungle green. Pretty eh?

The next house I have noticed is a brand new house. I thought it was going to be so pretty. It had a nice porch, rock work, and I was just waiting for them to put the color in the stucco...suffice to say it was NOT a color I would have chosen. I guess they wanted people to be able to see it from the freeway, even though it is about 3 miles away from the freeway. Personally, I think it looks like egg salad. What do I know? Maybe that was what they wanted their house to look like. "Hey honey, I have always wanted an egg salad house, what do you think??" I have to admit though that the color has toned down a little bit...maybe they just added more mayo...

Don't Talk to the Police!

My hubby was surfing the web the other day and came across a video recorded by a law professor where he talks to his students about why they should NEVER talk to police if the police ask them questions. He even invited a police officer to the lecture and gave him almost half of the time to talk to the students as well.

I wondered how his comments would go, and one of the first statements out of his mouth was "I want you to know that what your professor has told you tonight, IS ALL TRUE."

Curious now? Want to watch the videos for yourself? You can watch them HERE.

Ace of Cakes....well, maybe on another planet...

So, yesterday my hubby showed me a blog that is dedicated to professionally decorated cakes that...well...look like cake wrecks. You can see their blog at Cake Wrecks. While somewhat funny to see, the thing that kept going through my mind was... Somebody actually paid for that??

Of course, the funniest/saddest one for me was this wedding cake. Here's what the cake was "supposed" to look like:

Here's what the cake, that was made by a PAID cake decorator, looked like:


Oh yeah, they totally look the same, don't ya think? I mean...WOW. I seriously think a 2nd grader could decorate a cake better.

So, anyway, I do enjoy decorating cakes. I don't do it that often, since I am one of the weird people who actually think that buttercream frosting tastes good, and I eat too much of it in the process...but anyhoo...

I also put this on for my good friend, who HAS her own cake decorating business, and I thought she'd get a kick out of it. (No, Heather, none of your cakes look anywhere close to as horrible as these cakes. You're cakes look like cakes I would expect to pay money for. As I would tell my hubby, they're not even in the same ballpark!)

Oh where oh where did the Postum all go?

Postum...mmm, that lovely hot drink that tastes like "burnt toast." My husband's words, not mine. I was introduced to postum when I was probably 4 or 5. My mom and dad always drank it when we were camping, and occasionally at home too. My mom's side of the family ALWAYS had Postum up camping. They would even share funny postum stories around the campfire. I liked it when I was younger, but when I got older I didn't like it so much. Of course, to like it in the first place I had to put about a fourth of a cup of sugar and half a can of condensed milk in it to even make it palatable. By then it resembled carmel more then anything.

So, we went camping last week, and my parents informed us that Postum, was no more. Kraft had opted to STOP making it. My dad really wanted another bottle of postum, but now it is on Ebay going for extorbitant prices. He may like it, but not enough to pay $30.00 for one jar. Can't say that I blame him.

Still, it is somewhat saddening to know that something I grew up with has been discontinued. However, researching it on the internet, I've discovered I'm not the only one who feels this way. It will be interesting to observe if there is a Postum "uprising." Bring back Postum! :) We shall see...

The mini minivan

In my continued quest for cheaper transportation, I decided to look up compact minivans. My s-i-l has a Mazda5, and she really likes it. It fits all her kids and gets great gas mileage. She got the Mazda5 after having a Ford Expediton for a few years, so for her it was an immediate savings in gas. Anyway, she likes the way it handles and calls it "Zippy." Compared to the behemoth Expediton, I can see why!


Anyway, while Mazda is fine, I figured there had to be another small minivan out there that wasn't almost 20 years old! (I know, it really dates me, when I remember the first minivans that came out and how much smaller they were compared to the ones made now.)

So, after some research, I discovered, to my...annoyance, that there ARE small compact minivans being produced and sold ALREADY! They just aren't being sold in the USA. No, they are being sold in China, Europe, Japan...basically everywhere but here.

Nissan already makes one called the Nissan Note. Does it get sold in the USA? NO!


Honda just barely released a new compact minivan called the Honda Freed. They released it in Japan. Will they in the USA? Who knows. I would much rather have a Honda than a Mazda though!


Citroen is getting ready to release one in France.


This one is going to be released in China.


And finally...another compact minivan...the Kia Rondo is released in the USA. I found rumors that Toyota would be making a model of Corolla with a "minivan" option...hmm...

Here is the other thing I think it interesting though...if I got a compact minivan I would want one with sliding doors! Who wants to be climbing over seats! Oh well...

Steam Punk Prom

The local news had an article about some local high school student who participated in the "Stuck at Prom" contest, which is sponsored by the company that makes "DUCK tape" duct tape. The participants make their prom ware out of duct tape. The pictures are pretty creative. I just can't imagine making something like that out of duct tape.

Anyway, one of my favorites is this one, because it has steam punk tones.


Course, it would be even more awesome if the girl's dress was completely modest, but anyway...

If you want to see all the contestant pictures click HERE.

My favorite in the top ten finalists is this one.


You can even vote for you favorite. Isn't that just wild?! I guess the winners get a couple thousand dollars to put towards college.
Anyway, I thought it was just amazing how much work some of these people put into their entry. It really just...wow.

Steampunk

My husband thinks that steampunk is really cool. I have to admit that I find it somewhat intriguing myself. To me it seems like a high-tech version of the victorian era. There have been a few movies that have showcased things that are steampunk. The ones that I can think of right now are "Stardust," which is a truly amazing movie, and the cartoon "Treasure Planet."


I didn't really know steampunk even existed until my hubby started getting interested in it. I have been amazed by all the things steampunk out there. The main favorite...at least the one that seems to have the most pictures, is the computer. I have been impressed by the detail and creativity that people will put into making their computer look...well, steampunk. Here are just a few examples...








I liked the steampunk vespa...






and the guitar...

the house is...interesting...

and of course the steampunk goggles, which my husband wants to get a pair of...(this didn't surprise me since he had a pair of welding goggles hanging from the rearview mirror of his car when we were in high school...remember better off dead?)

A bakfiets or a christiana...hmm...

With gas prices going up, I decided to look into "alternative" forms of transportation. Since I live in a fairly small town/city, normal mass transit really isn't an option. We have bus service, but it only goes on one-two roads, and not really that efficient for what I need. I could probably walk faster. We won't have a commuter train until probably 2012, would be my guess. So, what to do right now?




Well, a few months ago I had read an article in the paper about a family about an hour and a half away from us, who live in a much larger city, that goes around town in a bakfiets. They ordered theirs, I want to say from the Netherlands. So, I decided to shop around on the net and see what I could find in the area of bikes that could cart my little kids and myself.




The bakfiets has it's own website, and looks pretty functional. For most people the benefit would be that it has only two wheels. For me, not so much. I have a hard time riding a bike with just a backpack on my back, let alone a big cargo/seater on the front of my bike. I'd be scared of tipping over and hurting my kids. They do have a tricycle option too though. The price, however, is what gets me. Cost + shipping is over $2,000. A little steep in my mind.

The other options out there, that I could find, aren't much better in the price arena. They are all over $1,000, some going for as much as $4,000 when you include how much it would cost to send over here. They do look pretty cool though.

There are bike places in the US that sell the special bakfiets, etc, from the Netherlands and Denmark, but they again, are still over $1,000.

The most expensive seemed to be the triobike, but it looks really cool.

The winther kangaroo looks really sleek, and if I could afford it, I'd probably get it!

The christiana bike looked like I would be carting around a little mini amish buggy.

The nihola looks like something my husband could do...hmm, not a bad thought...

There are also a lot of sites that go over the pros and cons of different "trike" bikes. I learned a lot. Initially I thought I would want a trike that had the cargo basket on the back, but then read that Delta tricycles (which is what they are called when the two wheels are on the back and one wheel on the front), are difficult to ride fast and turn on. I guess one of the wheels has to drag a little to do the turn, and the trike is prone to tip over that way.

Trikes that have cargo on the front also have pros and cons. The pro being that you can go faster and still be in control, but the con being that if there is more weight in the cargo area than on the seat of the bike, then the bike tips up.

So, for now I am still undecided. The very frugal part of me says it's too expensive, but then I thought about how much it takes to fill up my vehicle, and realized that one of these trikes could be paid for in just a few months with the money I would save in gas.

Box Elder Bugs

There is a little insect that has got to be one of the most annoying insects ever...the box elder bug. It's interesting that they can be so irritating, since they don't really do anything. They don't sting, stink, bite, or any of the other bothersome things that other annoying insects do, but still, they are annoying because they are everywhere!...if given the chance that is.

I've decided it's time to do something about the box elder bug problem at our house. It shouldn't be too difficult since they are supposed to be easy to kill. We'll see. All I know is I am tired of debugging my bedroom every night before I go to sleep. It's gotten bad enough that I literally imagine these annoying little beetles crawling on me. BLECH!!!

So, I know this is going to sound morbid and cruel, but the box elder bugs at my house are going to die!

Eyeglasses

So, I went in to get new eyeglasses the other day. I had already gotten a new pair, but they were very heavy, and my face hurt at the end of a day of wearing them, so I decided to trade them for a different pair.

So, I go in, find a pair of frames that I like, and we get it all arranged, I give them my other glasses, and leave. I come back later, and the lady that had helped me before wasn't there anymore. So, a different lady helps me...this is after standing and waiting what seemed like 5 minutes for someone to notice that I needed help. That didn't really bother me, because it was kind of busy, so I cut them some slack there.

So, I go sit down, the lady takes my receipt and gets my glasses. She then has me try them on so she could see how to adjust them. I don't know if it was because they were busy, or because there were distractions, but she didn't seem to be really "with it." She adjusts the frames and has me try them on again. The ear piece on one side was too tight, and I knew it would annoy me, so I told her it was too tight, right? She looked at me like I was an alien...
"Really?" Gasp, apalled.
"Really, I think it's too tight."
She raised her eyebrows and minutely shook her head. Then she slightly moved her fingers over the ear piece. I don't think she even put any pressure on them.
"Try that."
Uh huh. Yeah, they are totally going to fit now, because you didn't BELIEVE me, and are trying to trick me into thinking that they are magically fixed now. Yeah, RIGHT. But, trying to be a nice customer, and not an ornery one, I try them on again.
"Yeah, I think they're still too tight." Amazing, since they felt exactly the same! She looked at me in disbelief again.
"Oh, well, okay."
I just sit there, thinking, man... So, she adjusts them again, and then I try them on, good enough, it will work, and I get ready to go. She looks at me...
"So, your receipt says that you had an exchange? Do you have them with you?"
You've got to be kidding me?
"Uh no, I already gave them to your store when I came in earlier." Seriously felt like my words were going into a bowl of jello. Glub, tink tink tink, glub, tink tink tink.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure."
"Oh, well, okay."
Granted, I realize that this must partly be miscommunication on the previous salesperson, but wow.
Can I just say that getting out of that store didn't happen soon enough??