Butter Dish Dilemma

Hubby has butter fingers. Literally. He broke our charming porcelain white butter dish.

So I ordered a new one from amazon. I wanted something a little jazzier than plain white and I found a beautiful Fiesta scarlet butter dish. It arrived today. Along with three others exactly like it. Now I have four Fiesta scarlet butter dishes.

Moral dilemma: amazon did not charge me for the extra butter dishes. So do I send them back? If I do, do I have to pay for shipping? Do I keep them and give them to needy persons? Another factor to consider is that these are fairly expensive butter dishes...about $21.00 each. So, what do I do?

Attack of the Killer Mosquitos

Okay. So I go for a walk the other night wearing shorts and a t-shirt. It's summer in Wyoming and the weather is fabulous. I get to the end of the our block which leads to a semi-rural road in a quiet neighborhood. As always, when I'm walking I daydream. On that day I was was thinking about baking cupcakes, mentally going over my lines for an upcoming play, and wondering if I have the stamina to train a puppy.

All of a sudden I find myself in the middle of a mosquito ambush. I panic. I have two choices. Go home and spray myself with toxic pesticide OR forget the walk all together and watch Hell's Kitchen. I choose the latter.

The next day I'm ready for them. I refuse to wear long pants, despite hubby's insistence. It's summer! I'm not wearing long pants, okay! I have no choice but to use the bug spray. I'm careful to spray my legs and arms and keep it away from my face and neck. I go for my walk, rejoicing that I have outsmarted the mosquito hordes.

I enjoy my walk, singing "One" from "A Chorus Line" and basking in the beauty of neighborhood irises, the coo of doves and silent bunnies lurking beneath sidewalk shrubs. I'm almost home when I feel something on my leg. I look down and the little "buggers" have been sucking the blood just above my sock line. The bug spray must have worn off. YIKES! I smash the mosquito squadron, smearing my leg with blood. I'm in full retreat, running the rest of the way home.

The mosquitoes may have won the battle, but they haven't won the war. I have not yet begun to fight!

Killers

It's Father's Day and hubby and I decided we'd go bowling this afternoon. But alas. His knee is still bothering him and he can't bowl! No fun for him just watching ME bowl, so we went to the movies. Of course, nothing was playing that we wanted to see except "Robin Hood" (the Russell Crowe version). Unfortunately, there was no matinee for "Robin Hood" and we never pay full price at the cinema. So it was either "Karate Kid" or "Killers." I wanted to see "Karate Kid" but hubby didn't think it would be that great. Nothing compares with the Ralph Macchio version. Absolutely NOTHING!!!

So we went to see "Killers." I'd have to say it's one of the worst films I've seen in a long time. Yes, Ashton Kutcher was adorable. In fact, he was the only thing that made it possible to sit through (especially the scene where he meets Katherine Heigl for the first time...in the elevator... shirtless...in Nice, France... "Bon jour"...sigh!)

The best way I can describe the movie is "disconnected." Nothing made sense. The characters' motivations were inconsistent, to say the least. Mom was a cliche drunk, the neighborhood assassins were ludicrous, the car chases and explosions were pointless.

To give credit where credit is due, Tom Selleck was superb. His character had a little bit more depth than then others, and he was funny as the overprotective father/spy.

Take my advice:

If you're going to watch this movie, drink a lot of wine coolers first.

Sex and the City Revisited

Finally saw the movie. Definitely Style over Substance, but it was -- in Samantha's words -- "Fabulous"! I got a kick out of Big watching "Deadliest Catch" because hubby and I watch that show, too, as we snuggle together on the couch in lazy-evening mode.

Carrie didn't listen when I told her NOT to tell Big that she'd kissed Aidan. "Big" mistake. HOWEVER, the fact that she told him turned out for the best. Of course.

Fave scenes:

Carrie running into Aidan at the market

The ladies hurrying to pack up their stuff to leave the hotel

Carrie's "newspaper" dress

In fact, all the dresses!

Boston Performance

I've been practicing piano to prepare for a Boston gig. The audience is my family and the concert will be performed at our son's beach home in July. Happy Happy Joy Joy!

My repertoire includes:

Beethoven's "Moonlight" sonata, first movement: Coming along nicely, just need to work on keeping the rhythm smooth. The ending also needs work.

Bach's A-minor Invention: Like all Bach pieces, this is very difficult. I've been working on it off and on for YEARS! I have the middle section memorized. Eventually I want to memorize the entire piece. But that won't happen before this performance.

Joplin's "Pineapple" Rag: I'm learning only the first two sections. All memorized! I used to know it but had to re-learn it. My favorite Joplin rag. The composer's notes say "slow march" which sounds so much better than blasting through at 90 miles an hour.

Linus and Lucy: Yep, the "Peanuts" theme song. I have an easy version which I've memorized. So much fun!

I can also play the opening bars to "One" from "A Chorus Line"!

Thank you. Thank you very much.
(Elvis impersonation)

The Tooth, the Whole Tooth, and Nothing But the Tooth

Granddaughter Lily's tooth came out!

Sex and the City 2

No, I haven't seen it yet. Just the movie trailers. Carrie and the gang in Abu Dhabi. Okee dokee.

There were some bad reviews. Okay, fine. It's not "Citizen Kane" but who cares? You've got beautiful, smart women, fabulous clothes, exotic locations and handsome hunks. What else can you ask for?

Personally, I'm a fan of John Corbett (Northern Exposure, Serendipity, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Raising Helen). So even if the movie is as bad as they say, watching John in a few scenes will be totally worth it. So there.

Stay tuned...

Iron Sharpens Iron

I've always been a fan of Robert Downey Jr. His screen presence is incredibly dynamic, even if he has a small part in a scene, there is something compelling about him that draws you in.

Iron Man 2 is your classic super hero film with lots of action, explosions and clashing metal. I really enjoyed Don Cheadle's performance as Iron Man's sidekick.

I think the first film was better. I'm not much for sequels. Only two exceptions: Rocky III and The Empire Strikes Back.

Best lines:

TONY STARK: I have successfully privatized world peace.

And let's not forget Hammer Time:

JUSTIN HAMMER: I'd love to leave my door unlocked at night, but this ain't Canada.

Day of the Living Dead

You may have noticed I've been absent from my blog lately. The reason? Total and complete exhaustion!

I've increased my work load which means more money, but less time. Also, my avocations have taken on a life of their own. Art, music, drama, event planning, baking, gardening, renovating the house, reading, Bible study, blogging, making movies, writing. Not enough hours in the day.

Not to mention the weather is beautiful and and I don't like being indoors working when I can be outside in the sunshine and fresh air.

The first step in handling the chaos is to set priorities. Which is what I'm doing. I make a list. I check it off. It's exhilarating to check things off a list. I don't if there are any other list-makers out there, but if you're one, you know what I'm talking about.

Future events?
May 21 -- working front-of-house for community theatre production of "Private Eyes"
May 22 -- church garage sale
May 30 -- VBS planning meeting: I'm the director this year so I'm "in charge"
June 6 -- church drama performance of sketch "The Finest Church in America"

Goals?
Take some classes in web design, photoshop and video editing.
Create a painting of poppies for my bedroom.
Re-learn Joplin's "Pineapple Rag"
Run three days a week.
Get video editing software and make a movie.

That's all. For now.

Ron Howard Films

I'm a fan of Ron Howard's films. I haven't seen them all, but the ones I've seen I've really enjoyed. My favorites are: Frost/Nixon, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind and Gung Ho.

I've noticed he doesn't do romantic comedies. In fact, he's not much into comedy at all. Or action films. Most are straight dramas. He also seems to like historical themes.
 Here's the filmography:

 Angels and Demons (2009)

 Frost/Nixon (2008)

 The DaVinci Code (2006)

 Cinderella Man (2005)

 The Missing (2003)

  A Beautiful Mind (2001)

  Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

  Edtv (1999)

  Ransom (1996)

  Apollo 13 (1995)

  The Paper (1994)

  Far and Away (1992)

  Backdraft (1991)

  Parenthood (1989)

  Willow (1988)

  Gung Ho (1986)

  Cocoon (1985)

  Splash (1984)

  Night Shift (1982)

  Grand Theft Auto (1977)

A Day in the Life

Got a lot done today. Sewed curtains for the bathrooms (dark green with leaf print). Finished chapter 8 in my XHTML book. Updated Carly's blog and website. Studied Windows Movie Maker tutorial so I can learn the program; want to make a real movie. Watch out, Spielberg!

House work was a top priority. It's the only day of the week I can get it done (vacuumed, swept floors, etc.) I made meatloaf and asparagus for dinner.

Worked out on the elliptical while watching "Supersize Me," the documentary about the guy who ate McDonalds three meals a day for a month. Great movie! You'll never eat fast food again.

This afternoon I went for a walk and encountered a mean dog. Thanks to the Dog Whisperer I knew how to react: calm, assertive energy, no talk, no eye contact, no touch (as if!)  The creature backed off. Thank God!

I watched a little TV. Frost/Nixon again (recorded on DVR) and tonight saw Gabriel Iglesias on Comedy Central. Looking forward to Last Comic Standing this summer.

I didn't check off every item on my list. I still need to update my business blog and write the bio for my website. I had planned to go for a run, but I woke up to a blizzard. Spring in Wyoming.

I'm really missing my runs. I used to run about 15 miles a week. Then in 07 I hurt my knee, which cut down on my running for at least six months. Not long after I started up again, I hurt my foot. Plantar fasciitis. Again no running for several months. 

During that time off, I started to wimp out. I used to run at 6:00 a.m. in the dark, in freezing temperatures. It never bothered me. But now the cold is a problem and I don't like to run in the dark. The elliptical machine is a life saver. I use it almost every day but it's not like running.

This past Wednesday (April 21), I ran for the first time in MONTHS. It felt wonderful. My goal was to run for 30 minutes and I made it. Just barely. I want to work up to running three days a week for 45 minutes, and do the elliptical the other days.

Speaking of goals, I'm looking forward to taking classes at the college this fall. It will be so exciting learning website design/development. I'm getting my feet wet with the XHTML book and photoshop.

Life is an adventure. But it's also very frightening. I trust God to lead me and guide me. He never lets me down.

Male Prima Donna

Yeah. I like it. I like it a lot.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/video/video.php?v=249131969764&oid=2204598188

Home Improvements

Okay, so we decided instead of buying a house, we are going to stay in our fabulous mobile home for another year. We've also decided to do some much-needed renovations. We started with new windows.

This is the new window above the kitchen sink.

Hallway.

My office.

Detail of window and trim in bathroom.

We are also building a new garden shed, which is still in progress.

As for other improvements, I will be painting every room in the house.We are also getting new kitchen flooring and carpet for all the bedrooms and the living room. We're having a back porch built, rennovating our deck and putting up a back fence. Whew!

Kindle

Loving the Kindle ads on TV:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PERiTMZ626M&feature=related

The Cheese Situation

For years, our family cheese of choice for sandwiches has been Kraft Deli Deluxe American Cheese Slices. Delicious flavor, thick slices and perfect for grilled cheese sandwiches.

Well, hubby's been doing the grocery shopping lately and when he saw the price of our favorite cheese slices compared with the cheaper brands, he sort of freaked out. So he bought the cheap stuff --  individually wrapped slices that taste like thin sheets of salted plastic.

Now it was MY turn to freak out!

ME: What is this?

HUBBY: Cheese slices.

ME: Why didn't you buy the good stuff?

HUBBY: Too expensive.

ME: I'm not eating this. It's gross.

HUBBY: But it's cheaper. The other cheese costs almost five dollars? This was only two-fifty.

This "discussion" continued, but in the end, quality won out. The taste test put an end to the argument. I guess it's not a total waste. Maybe he can use the plastic cheese for fish bait.

Casey James!

Okay, so I'm totally loving Casey! He's always been in my top three along with Crystal and Andrew, but I have a feeling he will make it to the end. I'm predicting a head-to-head with Crystal.

My dad is a fan of the show. This is the first season he's been watching. All along he thought Casey was the best. We have a lot to discuss.

Loved Lennon/McCartney week. As a die-hard Beatles fan, I had a blast watching the performances:

The Long and Winding Road (Aaron: no change in arrangement, pretty dull)

Let It Be (Katie: her best performance to date; relaxed, confident, connected w/audience)

Can't Buy Me Love (Andrew Garcia: not that great, but he had a lot of energy)

Eleanor Rigby (Big Mike: fabulous)

Come Together (Crystal: found the soul and totally rocked it)

All My Loving (Tim: his best performance to date; and with that hair, he even looked like a Beatle)

Jealous Guy (Casey: BEST OF NIGHT! I'd never heard that song before. He played acoustic guitar accompanied by cello...wonderful)

Across the Universe (Siobhan: not good; rather boring)

Hey Jude (Lee: FANTASTIC...brought in a bag pipe player at the end...very strange but cool)

So who will go home? Hard to say, but I think Tim, Andrew and Siobahn will be in bottom three.

HTML Report

I'm starting chapter five of my HTML book. I can't believe I'm actually learning this stuff. Can't wait to get the basics down so I can create with color, fonts and design. But like Forest Whitaker said in "The Great Debaters," you do what you HAVE to do so you can do what you Want to do.

I finished chapter four last night and learned about domain names, root folders, relative and absolute paths, HTTP (hyper text transfer protocol), URLs, linking to web pages, destination anchors, and the target attribute.

So much to learn! And I'm just at the tip of the iceberg.

Dwight says:

I hitched my wagon to a horse with no legs.

Everybody Dance Now...

"You all took a life here today. The life of a party."

-- Michael Scott

O What a Tangled Web We Weave

So I'm planning on taking some courses this fall in website design. Some people have learned this on their own, but I need STRUCTURE: a real live teacher, books, lecture, labs, etc. That's just how I am. I do not have the "computer" gene. But that won't stop me. I'm an eternal optimist. I CAN AND WILL LEARN CODE!!!

My goal is to be able to create websites for myself and others, and possibly work for a company or become a consultant. As an artist, I understand the aesthetic element in website design, but I'm really lacking in the technical aspects. Hence, the course work.

In preparation, I'm getting a head start studying on my own with a book called "Head First HTML with CSS and XHTML." I finished chapter three yesterday. Unfortunately, the copyright for this book is 2006 so it's outdated. However, hubby is a computer genius and plays around with computers pretty much all the time except when he's eating or sleeping.