heading for the hill country

Don't count on a blog entry for a few days, I'm taking holiday in Wimberley, Texas. I'll be spending the weekend at Camp Young Judaea with Eric. We really love going there as "camp guests". If only the hill country rain would stop!!! Camp has an olympic size pool, designed by Schlitterbaum. You can only imagine how great it is, with 2 waterslides, a mushroom waterfall, and a shallow sitting area. So if you happen to watch the weather channel and see me floating down the Guadalupe River, I'll be waving.

clowning around

Last week, eddie and I went to clown for the camp at my school (Torah Day School). Eddie usually does the balloon animals, and this time, he only decided to make one animal. Since our house had been packed up for the move since November, our balloons had been in the garage. That's a big no no, the heat ruins the balloons. Well, every time he blew up the balloon, it would pop. The kids thought it was so funny, it looked like it was part of the act. Finally, he was able to make a little doggie with a leash. The kids loved it.

pictures plus

For the past several weeks, I have been working on a mosaic piece for an entrance to a friend's new store. (Pictures Plus). Finally yesterday, I was able to deliver it. My friend, Dennis, was very happy with it, and I was even happier that he liked it. It's hard to design something for someone else, especially someone with an eye for design and art. He just told me to do whatever I thought would look good. Now I know what all of you are thinking, no I will not do one for your house!!! This took over 40 hrs work. I wanted to do this for Dennis ( and Mike) because they both have been such a big help to me with my new house. Eddie and I could not have done this remodel without his imput and ideas. Dennis is an irreplaceable friend, one of my best friends, and he holds a very special place in my heart.

The crowd over 30

Subject: THE SPOILED UNDER-30 CROWD!!!

If you are over thirty you can appreciate this!

THE SPOILED UNDER-30 CROWD!!!

If you are 30 or older you will think this is hilarious!!!!

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning ... uphill BOTH ways ..

yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!

But now that... I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy!

I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!

And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't know how good you've got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!

There was no email! ! We had to actually write somebody a letter ... with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!

There were no MP3's or Napsters! You wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself!

Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up!

We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it!

And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like "Space Invaders" and "asteroids" and the graphics sucked ass! Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever! And you could never win. The game
just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! . Just like LIFE!

When you went to the movie theater there no such thing as stadium seating!

All the seats were the same height! If a tall guy or some old broad with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see, you were just screwed!

Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 15 channels and there was no onscreen menu and no remote control! You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on!

You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel and there was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-*******s!

And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up . we had to use the stove or go build a frigging fire ... imagine that! If we wanted popcorn, we had to use that stupid Jiffy Pop thing and shake it over the stove forever like an idiot.

That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy.

You're spoiled.

You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980!

Regards,

The over 30 Crowd

Dog-e-video

When we were little, we imagined that our dogs could talk to us. Now that dream is a reality.

Today's Dog-e-Video:
/www.spoilspot.com/player.aspx?ss=13

yoga

Is this yoga....I hope not!


Tonight I went to my first yoga class. I was surprised at how much I was able to do and to keep up with the instructor. Luckily, I have always stretched and stretched more. I'm also very fortunate to be very flexible. All that stretching paid off in the class tonight. So now, yoga is my exercise of choice. It was just so perfect for me. Now I understand why so many of my friends are "into yoga". I just loved it!

The Bride to be...

Today I went to the Bridal Extravaganza with Ileya and her mom, Ellen. What a beautiful show....the flower arrangements, the dresses, table settings, cakes, and of course, the beautiful bride to be. Her smile lights up the way, she is going to be one gorgeous bride, inside and out. I'm very blessed that Adam and Ileya have come together. The are truly each other's besheret (soulmate). All you have to do is watch the way they look at each other. They speak a language of their own, without even saying a word.

So back to the Extravaganza: we even got to sample a few goodies....the Bavarian Wedding Cake, yum! I even managed to buy something....lipstick that doesn't come off. Now how do I always get roped into these things! There must be a "S" (for sucker, not sharon) on my forehead. Oh well, the whole day, I looked pretty in pink lipstick, and it probably will not come off for 3 weeks. It's so exciting to be planning a wedding weekend, so many fun details and fun things to do.

Can I have your tabs?

For about a year now, I've been collecting soda can tabs for the Ronald McDonald House. http://www.ronaldmcdonaldhousehouston.org/home.htm For those of you who do not know what the Ronald McDonald House is, it is a home away from home for families of children with serious illnesses who are undergoing treatment at nearby medical facilities. Now I know you will say, "Wouldn't they make more money collecting the cans?" Yes, I'm sure they would, but the point of this is not just to help raise money for the Ronald McDonald House. This project also teaches others to be "greener" and to recycle.

How do the pull tabs help the Ronald McDonald House?

Unlike the urban legend states, pull tabs DO NOT support medical treatment of any kind including chemotherapy or dialysis; however, pull tabs DO support the operations of the Ronald McDonald House of Houston. This includes purchasing food for the family food pantry, cleaning supplies, and providing van transportation for the families to and from the Texas Medical Center.
Although a simple pull tab may appear to be insignificant, it is in fact the most valuable part of the can. Unlike the rest of the can, the tab is pure aluminum and therefore generates the most money from recycling

Some people don't recycle the whole can because it is messy, sticky, attracts bugs, and so on. When you ask others to recycle the tabs, everyone pitches in. At the beginning of my school year, I brought the little "tab houses" to school and distributed them around the school. My kindergarten class, along with the 1st and 2nd graders, have been faithful in collecting tabs and depositing them in our box. Over the year, we filled 1 and 1/2 boxes. I didn't count them all, but i did count the one full box. Holy Moly, 700 tabs. That's alot of soda!!! I'm going to hope that these tabs came from juice cans, but the reality is that they most likely came from soda. I actually thought that we'd collected alot of tabs, however, once i went to the website, I saw pictures of others who REALLY collected alot of tabs. See for yourself:

https://www.ronaldmcdonaldhousehouston.org/HowToHelp/PullTabProgram.htm

So to all of you who have donated their tabs to the cause, thank you very much! Keep them coming...

Lessons from the dog

Sometimes, Buddy has friends over to spend the night. I
just don't understand why they have to sleep in my bed...........................................................................

If you own a dog, this movie is sure to give you a smile: http://www.thedogmovie.com/
It teaches us lessons in life, which we all should follow.

Yesterday was my mother in law's 80th B-day!!! Doesn't she look fabulous! I think my mother (on the right) also looks great for 98! Just kidding, but my son, josh, asked me "Which gramma is turning 80?" You know, when I was his age, I too had no concept of age. To me, all parents and grandparents were "old". Now, being 50 something seems pretty young. I found out something, I thought a good diet, regular exercise, and a daily glass of red wine would do the trick. I was wrong...I now know that dancing with a 25 year old is what really does the trick. Take a look.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKRZv6NGjdc

You've got to watch this 84 year old lady!!!!! I want to be like her when i grow up.

Absolut

I'm not a big fan of drinking, especially Vodka! So if you are like me, and have bottles of vodka just sitting around for that once in a while drink, here's another use for it:

1. To remove a bandage painlessly, saturate the bandage with vodka. Thesolvent dissolves adhesive.

2. To clean the caulking around bathtubs and showers, fill a trigger-spraybottle with vodka, spray the caulking, let set five minutes and wash clean.The alcohol in the vodka kills mold and mildew.

3. To clean your eyeglasses, simply wipe the lenses with a soft, clean clothdampened with vodka. The alcohol in the vodka cleans the glass and killsgerms.

4. Prolong the life of razors by filling a cup with vodka and letting yoursafety razor blade soak in the alcohol after shaving. The vodka disinfectsthe blade and prevents rusting.

5. Spray vodka on vomit stains, scrub with a brush, and then blot dry.

6. Using a cotton ball, apply vodka to your face as an astringent to cleansethe skin and tighten pores.

7. Add a jigger of vodka to a 12-ounce bottle of shampoo. The alcoholcleanses the scalp, removes toxins from hair, and stimulates the growth ofhealthy hair.

8. Fill a sixteen-ounce trigger-spray bottle and spray bees or wasps to kill them. (I've just been informed by my son, Josh, that this does not work....saw it on Mythbusters)

9. Pour one-half cup vodka and one-half cup water in a Ziploc freezer bagand freeze for a slushy, refreshable ice pack for aches, pain or black eyes.

10. Fill a clean, used mayonnaise jar with freshly packed lavender flowers,fill the jar with vodka, seal the lid tightly and set in the sun for threedays. Strain liquid through a coffee filter, then apply the tincture to aches and pains.

11. To relieve a fever, use a washcloth to rub vodka on your chest and backas a liniment.

12. To cure foot odor, wash your feet with vodka.

13. Vodka will disinfect and alleviate a jellyfish sting.

14. Pour vodka over an area affected with poison ivy to remove the urushioloil from your skin.

15. Swish a shot of vodka over an aching tooth. Allow your gums to absorbsome of the alcohol to numb the pain.

Silly me. I've only been drinking the stuff!

happy birthday eddie

Every July 3, our subdivision has fireworks. Very convenient, since it's also eddie's bday. Due to all of the rain, the fireworks were cancelled. That didn't stop us, though, the party went on, and we made our own fireworks. First party at the new house. Same time, next year.

Stay

I would love to tell you that this is my well behaved dog, but no....just a funny picture that i found on another blog. I'm lucky if my dog goes outside to do his business! This dog actually sits with crackers on his head.