I'm an eclectic music listener. On my Ipod I have something from almost every genre available, and always look to add others as I discover something new and fun.
Country? Yep.
Christian? Yep.
Rap? Yep.
Classical? Rock? Oldie? German? Yep all around!
Now is the time of year that I get to pull out the Holiday playlist, and it makes me smile. I have my Ipod on in the office everyday from about 10 until I leave at 4. This week I have been playing the holiday playlist almost non-stop. It all comes back to being eclectic in what I have.
Country Christmas? Yep. (Reba McIntire)
Christian Christman? Yep. (Reliant K)
Christmas Rap? Yep. (Run-DMC!)
Classical? Rock? Oldie? German? Yep, Christmas all around!
One of my favorites is Bing Crosby singing White Christmas. Simple and classic. Anny's is by far "Hippopotomous for Christmas" which is a bit rare and random, but cute.
What is your favorite Christmas song? Do you listen to you local all-christmas-all-the-time radio station this time of year?
November 30, 2006
November 24, 2006
Black Friday is FINALLY here!
I love this season! I miss working retail on Black Friday - the day after Thanksgiving for those that don't know. I used to work at a sporting goods/athletic shoe store and loved every minute of the Thanksgiving shopping weekend!
There's something about the people shopping. Everyone is hopeful and usually happy. Employees take longer shifts, but are usually in better moods as well. Sales have just started in some stores, though others have realized that they can get some sales started a little earlier now.
When I first started at Champs Sports the holiday sale season was the "Big Six." Everyone was focused on getting the sale started exactly six weeks prior to Christmas.
My third year at Champs, we moved up to the Super Seven! I guess they figured they could get even more money with an extra week.
I left before they got to eight. We used to joke that it would be the "Elite Eight" and would have a college basketball theme. I don't know if they have ever gotten to that, but I know they thought about it!
I miss the working, but will do my part of shopping. Anny and I will head out to Rehoboth, Delaware, when she gets out of bed. I'm actually thinking about going to Target now.
Yeah, I think I'll go.
HAPPY SHOPPING!
There's something about the people shopping. Everyone is hopeful and usually happy. Employees take longer shifts, but are usually in better moods as well. Sales have just started in some stores, though others have realized that they can get some sales started a little earlier now.
When I first started at Champs Sports the holiday sale season was the "Big Six." Everyone was focused on getting the sale started exactly six weeks prior to Christmas.
My third year at Champs, we moved up to the Super Seven! I guess they figured they could get even more money with an extra week.
I left before they got to eight. We used to joke that it would be the "Elite Eight" and would have a college basketball theme. I don't know if they have ever gotten to that, but I know they thought about it!
I miss the working, but will do my part of shopping. Anny and I will head out to Rehoboth, Delaware, when she gets out of bed. I'm actually thinking about going to Target now.
Yeah, I think I'll go.
HAPPY SHOPPING!
November 17, 2006
Stanger Than Fiction
I began writing this days ago, so if it is choppy, please forgive me!
If you're going to see the movie Stanger Than Fiction please either a: don't read this or b: don't be mad at me for ruining the movie for you!
Now that that's out of the way...
Stanger Than Fiction was a GREAT movie! It's not Will Farrell the traditional sense, but that is not to say that he was not funny. The cast around him was great, which I don't think that the commercials or interviews are getting enough of. I won't take time to ruin the movie, just put down a couple of parts that stirred my thinking.
The premise is unique, but simple. Will Farrell character is hearing the voice of the person narrating the story. The key is that he does not know he is in a novel up until this point in his life. He sees a shrink who tells him to go see a literature professor at the nearby college. Immediately they begin to rule out what kind of story he is in. They narrow it down to tragedy or comedy.
I don't know that I could narrow my life story down to comedy or tragedy, but it's a movie, so this was an easy process!
When it's established that the author always writes tragedies, and ALWAYS kills off the hero of the story, he begins to freak out. His solution is to go directly to the source, so he hunts down the author and shows her that she's not just writing fiction, she's writing about his life, as he is living it.
Farrell gets an advanced copy of the end of the book - therefore discovering how he will die. He reads it and realizes that in order for the story to be complete, he must die. He just has to.
She ends up changing her time-tested method of killing off the hero, because she now knows that he's a real person. She instead writes into her book, a deadly accident with a commuter bus, but he lives. In the next scene you see him in a hospital room all casted up. Not fun, but cetrainly better than death.
So - what it got my brain to getting at - If I had a chance to meet my Author would I try to change anything that has happened? Would I ask that my future be re-written for my sake, or realize that my particular story is written for the greater good, no matter what it may seem like to me?
I haven't had the hardest of lives. I lived in a nice area growing up. I have never needed anything that I could not get in some way. (Not that I haven't wanted something else, though!)
But maybe there are things I would have passed up, particularly my kidney disease. I keep in mind, though, that I'm not as sick as other people are. (read - it could be worse) I think that my kidney disease has been almost a blessing. My priorities changed, and they needed to.
Would I change anything that I could know would happen in the future? I just don't know. I don't think any of us can know, and that's a good thing.
So, this my questions for you:
What would have changed, in retrospect?
What do you know about the future that you would change, if you could?
What would you ask your Author, if you had one question to ask?
If you're going to see the movie Stanger Than Fiction please either a: don't read this or b: don't be mad at me for ruining the movie for you!
Now that that's out of the way...
Stanger Than Fiction was a GREAT movie! It's not Will Farrell the traditional sense, but that is not to say that he was not funny. The cast around him was great, which I don't think that the commercials or interviews are getting enough of. I won't take time to ruin the movie, just put down a couple of parts that stirred my thinking.
The premise is unique, but simple. Will Farrell character is hearing the voice of the person narrating the story. The key is that he does not know he is in a novel up until this point in his life. He sees a shrink who tells him to go see a literature professor at the nearby college. Immediately they begin to rule out what kind of story he is in. They narrow it down to tragedy or comedy.
I don't know that I could narrow my life story down to comedy or tragedy, but it's a movie, so this was an easy process!
When it's established that the author always writes tragedies, and ALWAYS kills off the hero of the story, he begins to freak out. His solution is to go directly to the source, so he hunts down the author and shows her that she's not just writing fiction, she's writing about his life, as he is living it.
Farrell gets an advanced copy of the end of the book - therefore discovering how he will die. He reads it and realizes that in order for the story to be complete, he must die. He just has to.
She ends up changing her time-tested method of killing off the hero, because she now knows that he's a real person. She instead writes into her book, a deadly accident with a commuter bus, but he lives. In the next scene you see him in a hospital room all casted up. Not fun, but cetrainly better than death.
So - what it got my brain to getting at - If I had a chance to meet my Author would I try to change anything that has happened? Would I ask that my future be re-written for my sake, or realize that my particular story is written for the greater good, no matter what it may seem like to me?
I haven't had the hardest of lives. I lived in a nice area growing up. I have never needed anything that I could not get in some way. (Not that I haven't wanted something else, though!)
But maybe there are things I would have passed up, particularly my kidney disease. I keep in mind, though, that I'm not as sick as other people are. (read - it could be worse) I think that my kidney disease has been almost a blessing. My priorities changed, and they needed to.
Would I change anything that I could know would happen in the future? I just don't know. I don't think any of us can know, and that's a good thing.
So, this my questions for you:
What would have changed, in retrospect?
What do you know about the future that you would change, if you could?
What would you ask your Author, if you had one question to ask?
November 07, 2006
Wax Advice
Our little miss Maggie (the beagle puppy) last week pulled a stunt that I could never have even imagined. She managed to knock over a candle.
Not a big deal, right? Just clean it up and get over it, Rob. It's just wax!
Well, we have prefered wickless candles for several years, because if we forget to blow it out, we don't worry about burning the house down. There is an independent candle maker out in Deleware that sells wonderful candles. (See the website HERE!) We really love to go into her shop when we are out there. She always has a smile on her face, and something new for us to try out.
Anyway - she sells very scenty and wonderful wickless candles. You put your jar of scented wax on a ceramic pot with a light bulb. Very nice.
Maggie knocked ours over last week at the worst point. It had been warming for about two hours, so it was completely melted. When she knocked it over, it did some major damage:
1/4 on the floor
1/4 on the WALL!!!
1/3 on the dog (very weird to have sticky hair on the dog)
1/2 on the couch.
The couch is the issue. We've cleaned the dog. We need to paint this room anyway, so the wall is not a big deal. The floor wax came right up off of the hardwood. The couch, though, is ruined.
One arm is completely waxed. We have thought about just getting a couch cover, but the scent is just too overpowering. I tried to sleep on it Saturday morning and realized that it is hopeless. We really like the scent in a candle, but when it's concentrated onto the couch, it's a bit too much.
Hopeless, that is, unless someone out there in internet-land has an idea. ANYONE???
We've got a replacement couch in it's place from the basement, but don't like the look of it. Does anyone know how to get both wax and scent out of a couch?
Let me know, after you vote today, if you have any ideas! Thanks!
Not a big deal, right? Just clean it up and get over it, Rob. It's just wax!
Well, we have prefered wickless candles for several years, because if we forget to blow it out, we don't worry about burning the house down. There is an independent candle maker out in Deleware that sells wonderful candles. (See the website HERE!) We really love to go into her shop when we are out there. She always has a smile on her face, and something new for us to try out.
Anyway - she sells very scenty and wonderful wickless candles. You put your jar of scented wax on a ceramic pot with a light bulb. Very nice.
Maggie knocked ours over last week at the worst point. It had been warming for about two hours, so it was completely melted. When she knocked it over, it did some major damage:
1/4 on the floor
1/4 on the WALL!!!
1/3 on the dog (very weird to have sticky hair on the dog)
1/2 on the couch.
The couch is the issue. We've cleaned the dog. We need to paint this room anyway, so the wall is not a big deal. The floor wax came right up off of the hardwood. The couch, though, is ruined.
One arm is completely waxed. We have thought about just getting a couch cover, but the scent is just too overpowering. I tried to sleep on it Saturday morning and realized that it is hopeless. We really like the scent in a candle, but when it's concentrated onto the couch, it's a bit too much.
Hopeless, that is, unless someone out there in internet-land has an idea. ANYONE???
We've got a replacement couch in it's place from the basement, but don't like the look of it. Does anyone know how to get both wax and scent out of a couch?
Let me know, after you vote today, if you have any ideas! Thanks!
November 03, 2006
A Wonderful Story I MUST Share
This post was written by a minister member of our Presbytery. He never ceases to amaze me!
http://web.mac.com/royhoward/iWeb/SayingGrace/Blog/DCE7EEC0-52D3-4A9E-B580-6A50A97EE0DD.html
(I also suggest reading some of his other posts! He wrote amazingly about the Amish community a few weeks back.)
http://web.mac.com/royhoward/iWeb/SayingGrace/Blog/DCE7EEC0-52D3-4A9E-B580-6A50A97EE0DD.html
(I also suggest reading some of his other posts! He wrote amazingly about the Amish community a few weeks back.)
November 02, 2006
Looking forward to November 8th!
I'm altogether sick of the political season. I hear that it's as bad in several states as it is here, and that's just not good. One of our candidates keeps talking about how he, single-handedly, will go in and change the Senate.
What?
Yep. He thinks that he will go in and change the world. I appreciate that he has such high expectations of himself, but I am much more of a realist. His promise should be to begin the process of change.
I keep joking that when I am Governor of the state of Maryland, transportation is first on my agenda. Not making new roads, or improving public transportation, but simply put: get tractor trailers off of the highways during rush hour! I'm so sick of sitting behind a tractor trailer that cannot make it up a hill, when I can see that the space he has left empty would fit at least seven cars - not one ssllooww truck.
My other idea is that we need to eliminate a lot of the stupid political ads paid for by outside groups. Both parties, and almost all candidates, have picked up the pace of those in the last few years. The change I would make:
Any ad on TV or radio need to be the candidate speaking.
Simple as that. Don't run scary pictures that you got from Google Images with scary music. If you think that Joe Schmoe has run his city's school system into the ground, YOU get on the TV and tell me that. If you support stem-cell research, YOU get on up and say it!
It blows my mind how much money is being spent on advertising. How many houses in Mississippi or Louisiana could have been built with the contributions to just ONE of the candidates in ANY of our states? How much more money could be put into improving the schools in Baltimore is our current Governor had not spent so much money on his campaign?
Anny's sick of me watching TV right about now. I get mad at just about every advertisement.
Oh yeah - if you ever run for office, please please please, when you run TV advertisements on stations that support more than one state, please identify WHERE you are running! We have two people who are missing that on their commercials, and you actually have to hunt for it on their websites.
Sorry for the rant. It will be better on November 8th. Until next season anyway!
What?
Yep. He thinks that he will go in and change the world. I appreciate that he has such high expectations of himself, but I am much more of a realist. His promise should be to begin the process of change.
I keep joking that when I am Governor of the state of Maryland, transportation is first on my agenda. Not making new roads, or improving public transportation, but simply put: get tractor trailers off of the highways during rush hour! I'm so sick of sitting behind a tractor trailer that cannot make it up a hill, when I can see that the space he has left empty would fit at least seven cars - not one ssllooww truck.
My other idea is that we need to eliminate a lot of the stupid political ads paid for by outside groups. Both parties, and almost all candidates, have picked up the pace of those in the last few years. The change I would make:
Any ad on TV or radio need to be the candidate speaking.
Simple as that. Don't run scary pictures that you got from Google Images with scary music. If you think that Joe Schmoe has run his city's school system into the ground, YOU get on the TV and tell me that. If you support stem-cell research, YOU get on up and say it!
It blows my mind how much money is being spent on advertising. How many houses in Mississippi or Louisiana could have been built with the contributions to just ONE of the candidates in ANY of our states? How much more money could be put into improving the schools in Baltimore is our current Governor had not spent so much money on his campaign?
Anny's sick of me watching TV right about now. I get mad at just about every advertisement.
Oh yeah - if you ever run for office, please please please, when you run TV advertisements on stations that support more than one state, please identify WHERE you are running! We have two people who are missing that on their commercials, and you actually have to hunt for it on their websites.
Sorry for the rant. It will be better on November 8th. Until next season anyway!
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