Stumble love

I recently signed up for and installed StumbleUpon and have enjoyed stumbling around the net. For instance, check out this insanely cute giraffe photo. Just too much.

Also, I like jazz and blues and country and rock. Well, music in general. However, I discovered that the only version of jazz that isn’t American invented is called gypsy jazz. It features guitar and was formed in the 1930’s and 40’s by a Frenchman. I found that out by a delightful trio called the Cook Trio. Too bad they are only playing in Florida. This would be a wonderful group to see!

Some absolutely gorgeous scenery photos to be found. You can even vote on the photos. Makes me want to head out with my camera!

Well, off to go do something productive. Have a great day!

Hi!

So how has this year been for y’all? Well, it’s been okay here. My grandmother is in town to visit so it’s been nice to see her. She’ll be 75 in April! Didn’t realize how the time was slipping away.

I haven’t been doing much worth writing about. It’s been lots of sleeping and lots of reading. I have been working on putting album art into iTunes. That has been a job and a half. It’s neat to flip through on album view and see them fly through. Yes, I am easily entertained

Speaking musically, Shelby Lynne (I Am Shelby Lynne was just phenomenal) will release a CD  tribute to her hero Dusty Springfield. The album drops late January. Definitely something I will be checking out.

Well, enjoy the weekend!

Almost 2008

I wanted to update before 2008 becomes a reality. The Christmas blues hit early and hard this year and all I did for two weeks was bawl. Poor Chris didn’t know what to do with me. Mom decided on no Christmas day activity and that made things worse. Add to that worries about bills and buying something for Christmas. Yes, it’s not about the presents but it’s nice to get something for the someone you love. We did get a couple of gift cards from our jobs and was able to buy for each other. I did wake up on Christmas day and say to myself, “It’s all downhill from here. We’re almost done.”

Not much in plans for New Years as hubby has to work. We’ll toast with soda at midnight as he changes tapes at work and then try to make it home in one piece. Woo-hoo.

My parents owned an album when I was growing up that I was trying to recall the name of the band or the album. Final I went to Amazon and put in “music” the title “Telluride”. Telluride, Colorado is the site of a bluegrass festival every year that I would love to attend. The Amazon results turned up several but finally the right album cover came into view. The band? New Grass Revival. The Album? Too Late To Turn Back Now. The one song-all right all of them I love-isn’t on Youtube and a Google search hasn’t turned up anything-darn the luck. Oh-and the Telluride thing comes from a stick on the LP that stated is was recorded live there. By the way-Bela Fleck and Sam Bush was in the group and Leon Russell used them as a back up band from 79-81. Cool stuff. Anyhoo-I can by the LP for about 4 bucks off of eBay or the CD for about 17 dollars off of Amazon. Or I can drive five hours home and see if it’s in the LP’s my dad gave to my uncle to safekeep. If we do go to Missouri in February like we’re talking then I may have to meet up with them.

And speaking of Mizzou-my Tigers are taking on Arkansas in the Cottonbowl on January 1 at 1000 AM on Fox, for those of you in the states. Go Mizzou!

So-20 minutes till minute here. Here’s to a happy 2008!

Playing Catch Up

I’ve been starring items in Google Reader to go back and reread, check out the links, or whatever. I am up to 182 items. So now it’s time go back through that. Lots of links, news, and snarky comments so I’m going with bullets today

• Wantzit is designed for Christmas but I’m thinking this will be good all year long. If you have del.icio.us simply bookmark that book, sweater, or electronic with “dowant” and it will appear in your own wantzit site-providing you sign up. Check mine out here-it’s rather slim though.
• A question on one of the blogs I read from a while back asks when we start celebrating the holidays. First Saturday in December is the answer. Used to be when we lived in Missouri that the Christmas parade was held on that Saturday morning. The day would be spent getting and putting up a tree and decorations. Oh, and we never had a fake tree growing up. Perhaps that’s why I want a really one really bad.
• Fast Food Restaurant Gift Cards. If you’re giving this someone for Christmas-man you must really be desperate. Is there no other restaurant to give them a gift card to? This is as bad, IMO, as a gas station card. Unless it was like a hundred dollars of gas. That would call for a road trip!
• Went through my 400+ recipe links on del.icio.us and got them sorted even more. I’ve put pie, cake, candy, hamburger etc on the tags so if I am looking for something specifically then I know where to look. Now, I just need to go through the rest of my delicious and delete what isn’t a viable link but sort my tags into the bigger bundles. May have that done by the end of the week Done with getting everything into bundles-I’m on fire with getting things done!
• Country comic Jim Nesbitt passed away recently. Also passing away recently was Shenandoah’s bass guitarist Ralph Ezell at age 54 from a heart attack.
• Evel Knievel also passed this year. Ike Turner has also passed away-he was Tina Turner’s ex-husband.
• Interestingblog entry about leading a mysterious life. Basically-break up your routine and try something new. Great idea! Now how about implementing this instead of just passing it by?
• I am at the hubby’s work and he’s listening to Pandora. Love me Pandora. He was listening to country but all that twang was getting to me. He flipped to a “decent rock station.” It’s loud crap that makes my head throb and my ears bleed. Ain’t marriage grand?
• Tulsa and Oklahoma in general is slowing powering back up after the ice storm of last weekend. Early Saturday morning saw a convoy of at least eight utility trucks headed into Broken Arrow, another 20+ at the IHOP, and at least 5 turning onto the highway. Slowly but surely things are becoming normal.
• The great big snowstorm missed us-yeah! Did get a dusting of snow but the streets are for the most part clear. It’s gonna get cold tonight so any water on them will freeze. Thank God we didn’t get like 6 inches or something.
• There was only a handful of libraries open on Wednesday and there was a camera crew from a local news crew in filming people at the library. I was shelving some juvenile fiction when the came through but quickly moved to another section. I don’t want my big butt and blue undies on the TV!!
• Really neat article at Tulsa World about the ice storm.

I think that’s about it for now. I may have more today/tonight/Tuesday. Have a great day!

Film Meme!

I found this over at Planetshannon and thought I would answer. Movies, beside music and my hubby, are a big love of my life. 

1.  Name a movie you have seen more than 10 times. Field of Dreams, Smokey and the Bandit
2. Name a movie you’ve seen multiple times in the theater. I saw ConAir like three times-but that’s only one!
3. Name an actor who would make you more inclined to see a movie. Mel Gibson and Chris Cooper.
4.  Name an actor who would make you less likely to see a movie. Johnny Depp-he’s just too over-the-top for me.
5. Name a movie you can and do quote from. Steel Magnolias, Field of Dreams, Smokey and the Bandit
6. Name a movie musical in which you know all of the lyrics to all of the songs. Uh-just recently got into musicals so no answer. Unless soundtracks count. 
7.  Name a movie you have been known to sing along with. See above.
8.  Name a movie you would recommend everyone see. Jack Bull
9. Name a movie you own. Lots of John Wayne, original Manchurian Candidate
10. Name an actor who launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops. Uh, uh, hmmm. How about Dolly Parton-she’s at least believable in what she does.
11. Have you ever seen a movie in a drive-in? If so, what? Yes-saw Cars at the Drive-In!!
12. Name a movie you keep meaning to see but you just haven’t gotten around to yet. Lots and lots of movies. Recently have seen several but still working on that list.
13. Ever walked out of a movie? That long epic boring movie about John Smith and Pocahontas with that Irish pretty boy. What was the name of that movie???
14. Name a movie that made you cry in the theater. Perfect Mind, Horse Whisperer (actually like the movie better than the book!)
15. Popcorn? Yes, but not always. Yep-especially when I am with the hubs.
16. How often do you go to the movies (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)? Use to go every two weeks but the budget doesn’t allow. Once every couple of months now.
17. What’s the last movie you saw in the theater? American Gangster
18. What’s your favorite/preferred genre of movie? Hmm, anything goes-been on a classic movie kick, a documentary kick, and a musical kick. But really, give a good story with decent acting and I’ll give you two hours.
19. What’s the first movie you remember seeing in the theater? My grandma took us to see an animated movie with mice based on Sherlock Holmes. Again-the name?
20. What movie do you wish you had never seen? Haven’t seen one I wish I hadn’t-even movies that make you uncomfortable can show you the limits of your personal self.
21. What is the weirdest movie you enjoyed? I’m too darn analytical about this. This one that hit my head was the one with Robin Williams as the DJ and the mystery boy. But I didn’t like it necessarily-just thought it raised interesting question.

So-interesting no? I’ve got some movies I wish to talk about-perhaps tomorrow

Oklahoma Weather

Well, the storm, of sorts, has hit the Tulsa metro area. It’s been a strange storm truth be told. There’s been lightening and thunder with the storm. The roads are free of ice but the overpasses and bridges are something to watch out for. The trees, buildings, and electrical lines are filled with ice though.

Apparently, the atmosphere at almost a mile above the earth is roughly 50 degrees and the surface air is like 30 degrees roughly. So as the stuff falls it melts, but doesn’t have time to totally refreeze into snow. Thus we have sleet and freezing rain. Add to that the soil temp is just warm enough to keep things from getting too icy. However, the power lines are falling due to the build up. Also trees are coming down due to the ice and sometimes they fall right on the power lines. What a fun situation. I’ve put up a few pictures at 1001 Pics.

The funeral was held today. It was a private service and the family was able to show. The graveside service was cold as the wind was picking up and it is was raining frozen precipitation. Then over to Charleston’s restaurant for a meal together. In the next couple of days, I hope to have a post about the service. But for now, it’s done and over with.

Please be safe out there. It’s messy!

Finality

I have a question-what are the family protocols for losing a family member in your family?  Is there one specific person who calls around, perhaps an older aunt or cousin? My family is pretty cut and dried-nine times out of ten grandma will be the one to call her kids-my mom and her three sisters. They are responsible for telling their children about the passing. When my grandpa passed, one of my aunts made the phone call. One of my sisters took the call and started gathering the family around mom.

I just don’t know how to quite handle this situation though. Chris and I slept through most of the day, then had a good afternoon with me running to get spaghetti fixings. We ate supper and lazed around watching TV this evening. Chris got ready for work and I put a movie in. At 1015 pm the computer pinged with an IM-it was my hubby. Seems his Uncle Frank passed away sometime late last night/early this morning. No one contacted him till he got to work. There was an email sent to security that Chris’ uncle who worked in another department had a brother passed away and that there was a card available if anyone wanted to sign. That’s how Chris found out about his Uncle passing away.

Chris called his folks and was understandable upset with them. To the degree that he ignored their repeated phone calls back. I got up here and Chris was just a wreck. How is he suppose to work in this condition? Why didn’t someone somewhere call?

His dad called while I was sitting up here and talked to me some. He gave me the time and place of the rosary and service. His dad (R) said that the nursing home that the Uncle was at called R and his mom (E) to let them know and to tell E’s parents. The Uncle had a child that R and E has been raising so there was her to deal with in addition to dealing with funeral arrangements and her parents.

Understandably things were busy and chaotic and emotional. Still. Don’t put off for tomorrow what can be done today. It was said that when they got the call they were sure that Chris was already asleep for the day. Well, there are just somethings you just wake us day-sleepers up for. Like deaths in the family. At least Chris would have the day to grieve and prepare mentally for work.

In many ways this has hit Chris hard because of the finality of it. While the Uncle wasn’t doing well I don’t think anyone is ever expected to pass on. We’ve got a live forever mentality. And we don’t live forever. So my question is: Is there anything you need to say, do, feel, or deal with? If this was your last day, last minute, last breath is there anything you would fix, love, communicate, or just express? And more importantly, why are you waiting. Life and death, as my hubby has been saying, is final.

And from a Christian standpoint let me just say that there is a heaven and there is a hell. Are you comfortable with the direction your going?

Hi there!

For those in America-how was your Thanksgiving. Mine was good-ate at mom’s then headed over to Chris’ family for dessert. Then home to nap That was the best part of the day.

I’ve fallen behind in my movie watching-I’ve got several from the library that has to be watched tomorrow. Lazy day alert Did get Treasure of the Sierra Madre and Good Company watched. Wasn’t thrilled with Company and Bogie wasn’t too nice in Madre. But then again, Madre has the “We don’t need no stinkin’ badges” line in it.

I feel like I’m starting to come down with something-no good man. I want to get some of the Christmas out. We no sooner get moved and we’re putting out Christmas stuff.

Anyhoo-hope y’all have a great day!

Has it been two weeks?

Well lets see-we moved, I got hired, and I got fired. That about sums up the past two weeks

My sister moved on Saturday (last week) and transferred her kids to that school district and was able to get Gabby into pre-k school which is an all day program. It’ll be good for Gabby and us-but I will miss the money.

I got the library job and have worked the past couple of weeks. One of the new-hire papers said that we couldn’t post information in cyberspace. So it’s the no-name library The job isn’t difficult but yet it is-we put carts in order and then shelve items. So I sit and sing the ABC song a good dozen times in my five hour shift. It’s also physical work and sometimes i get home with shoulders sore and my knees aching. But, hey, it’s a job!

The move was interesting. I love the layout of our new apartment-it’s a townhouse with the bedroom and bath upstairs and the living room, dining room, and kitchen downstairs. The neighbors have a dog that’s almost too big for an apartment and they are rather young. Tonight we were hearing lots of thumps and voices but that’s apartment life for you.

My mom and sister helped some and then Chris’ Uncle Billy came over and helped. Then his dad showed for the last load or two. Once Chris and Billy got over in the truck with the king size mattress and two twin size box springs and Mormons showed up and offered to help. Helped getting the mattress upstairs since it didn’t almost fit. For once I appreciated the Mormons showing up!

We are almost unpacked and there’s nothing on the walls yet but we’re getting there. We will be having a garage sale after Thanksgiving sometime. Mostly crap but hey-someone may want my junk! If not, off to Salvation Army.

My hubby’s birthday was today and like a lousy wife I didn’t make his cake yet. He can have chocolate cake when he gets off of work in the morning. I’ll make it when I get home and before I settle in with a movie.

Oh-movies. Been trying to catch up on the AFI list and making progress. Saw Mr Smith Goes to Washington-thought the beginning was a bit simplistic but Chris really liked it. It was educational. The ending was good and I do like Jimmy Stewart. Apocalypse Now was this morning’s viewing. That is a hardcore movie with several actors in it-Marlin Brando, Martin Sheen, Harrison Ford. Okay-Ford is in like two scenes but he looks so young!

I did a google search for “AFI list” and stumbled across a Roger Ebert article that has a great point. I am about to watch It’s a Wonderful Life for the first time in my nearly 29 years and it’s all because of the List. Also, Citizen Kane, Hitchcock, On the Waterfront, and Jimmy Stewart have all been discoveries for me. This has made me grow in the movie area of my life. Thank you, AFI.

I think that’s enough for one day. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in this Hemisphere!

Forever and a Day :)

Yeah, I know-it’s been like forever. My bad. While things aren’t too horribly bad things haven’t gone as I’ve expected and I’ve been trying to beat a mild case of the blues. The recent influx of activity has meant that I don’t have time to sleep all day and contemplate how horrible things are so there has been improvements in my mental regions J.First off, we are moving! The apartment we have been living in hasn’t been that great. I was drawn to the single story type of dwelling and while the neighbors haven’t been a problem the age and maintaince haven’t been good. We had a couple of issues when we moved in and they were not dwelt with. I’m still standing in three inches of water when I shower (we were told to make sure the hair was off the drain before we showered). The fridge isn’t draining properly and is gathering on the floor underneath the fridge (we were told to call when we see it again, right middle of the night work for you?). Then the screen door they put on has a gap of two-three inches in some places between screen and doorway. The big window in front that was such a great feature sucks air like nobodies business. Our electric bill for the past three months have averaged 150.00$ on a 800 square foot apartment. I don’t think my mom’s house electric bill has been that much. And we keep the thermostat to 80°. The bugs are also outrages-no roaches recently but small spiders and creepy-crawlies. Now somebody has parked a junk car outside our back door in a parking spot and walked away. Nobody is doing anything about that. When we move, Chris is going to get a truck from work and we will pull up in the grass to move things out. The new place, now that I’ve complained enough, is in another complex but it’s a two story town home. We will have neighbors behind and around us but not above us. We have a fireplace, which I have never had. We have to wait till the 9^th to get in-the clean or replace carpets and paint walls!-but should be able to look at it around the 6^th. My mom and sister is going to help us move. Dad and perhaps Chris’ dad may help us out after they get off but I do want to be done before then. We may be able to sign papers and pay rent and get keys late on the 8^th. Then we could get the computers, TV, clothes, and a few things I don’t want broken moved. I spent six weeks, three applications, and two interviews trying to get on with the library. My last interview went very well and I couldn’t wait to hear about the job in a few days. The day I was told I would be notified came and went so I asked a friend that works for the library what was going on. She stated that Central library sent a few apps to be interviewed at the last minute and wait till the end of that week. I called and was told that they were promoting someone who was a shelver. But she did have a ten hour shelving position open if I was interested. So I went from hoping for a 20 hour, 10.67$ position to a 10 hour, 7.16 position. This really doesn’t help our financial situation. Although it does get my foot in the door so I can know whether this is something I do want to do. I am still holding out on this being a blessing in disguise. God has really spoken to me that this is a job that I can do as unto Him with praise and worship. Things are getting better with my niece which is a really good thing. She still wears me out-I usually nap after she leaves J. But it’s a learning curve.I got something from the library that I’m just ecstatic over-a 50^th Anniversary Celebration of Stax Records. Stax was the soul sound of the 60’s and 70’s coming out of Memphis. Stax had so many great acts signed to their roster: Otis Redding, Booker T and the MGs, Isaac Hayes to name just a few. This 2 disc set has 50 great hits on it and I have to say that this would be something I would buy if I had the money. Just great music that really makes my musical ears smile.

Well, I’m hungry and off to get something to eat. Have a great day and weekend!