Listen, While I Whisper in Your Ear

Our granddaughter, Toots, came over the other night for a short visit. She loves our cat, but the feelings are not mutual. The only time he pays attention to her is when she gets to feed him. She doesn't get that connection, but she does love to feed him. Well, that night was no exception. She ran into the kitchen, looked over her shoulder, and beckoned the cat to follow. When he didn't budge from my lap, she returned to the living room and announced that she would "whicker" in his ear that she was feeding him. The cat didn't recoil, but seemed surprised that she would be so near him without food in hand. It wasn't till the cat heard the food rattle in his dish that he moved. I sure if Toots were at my house more often, the cat would weigh much more than he does now. And perhaps he would learn to "whicker" in her ear that it's time to eat.

Winter Storm Advisory

I just listened to the weather forecast for today and tomorrow. Can you believe another storm is coming? We may be hit with more freezing rain, ice, and snow. Did I ever say that I am sick of winter?

You Ought to Be in Pictures!

As I am sorting through family pictures that span about 100 years, I marvel at the quality and frequency of some of the photo shots. Today it is nothing to snap a picture on our digital camera or even our cell phones, view it, send it, email it, print it, or even post it for the world to see. To get those family pictures of the 1890s through 1930s, the subjects had to go to great effort to be dressed appropriately, attend a professional photo gallery, and probably wait weeks for the finished pictures. Another item of note is that not one of the subjects is smiling in those photo gallery/professional photographed pictures. They all look so sad as if it pains them to be photographed. How refreshing it is to view the photos that were taken by family or friends. The smiles add so much to the face value as well as photo value. And the authentic clothes, be they poor or dramatically out of fashion, tell us more about the lives of those in the photo. The rat's-nest-hair of a pre-teen (me) allows us to know there is hope for the future.

Copy the Pictures, Please

We bought a photo scanner after Christmas to copy the many pictures that my mom and dad had in a hugh box. It is simple to use, but still, I have to scan each picture one at a time. Most of the pictures do not have anything written on the back of them so I have become a detective to find who is who. The program allows me to print information on the copied picture, so I want to be correct in my work. When it is all said and done, I will probably be the only one in the family who really gives a hoot about all of this. But that is okay, I will be satisfied with my work.

Socks with Sandals

To all of you who have cringed at the site of my socks with sandals, and especially to my daughters who are so fashion-conscience, the latest fashion trend is***socks with sandals. Yes, your mother was ahead of the fashion trend. Perhaps someone had seen the new-innovative look and passed it along to those who decide what women can and will wear. Little did people know that my reason for wearing socks with sandals was that my feet are always freezing. I commend those fashion dictators who know best for us, at least when it comes to keeping our feet warm this season.

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines

Are you ready for NASCAR season to start? I've always been a Jeff Gordon fan so I am adding Dale Jr. to that. I hope he does very well this year and proves that having a great race car that will finish the race is the key to winning.

Smile and Say Cheese

I've owned my cell phone for more than a year, but not long enough to trade up without penalty. I can capture pictures with the cell, but have not been able to do anything with them until last night. My husband and I stopped at the AT&T store, where we had gone before with the same problem, and pleaded for help. I showed the young clerk the picture of my granddaughter kissing my father and explained that my father has passed away and I desperately wanted to print that picture. At first, she said we could go to any CVS and they would use their picture equipment to copy it. When she saw I was not satisfied nor convienced of that, she also said we could email the pictures to ourselves. After I told her that we tried that and it didn't work, she proceeded to work for the next 30 minutes on emailing one picture. Finally, she deteremined that the sim (sp) card was not functioning properly and put in a new one. Then she was able to email the picture to us. Yeah! It will cost 25 cents per picture, but that is nothing considering I can never take a picture of my father again. We walked out of the store as very happy customers, ones who will do business with AT&T again by choice.

Just Sign Your Name to the Card

Yesterday was Valentine's Day, and of course we had our party at school. The children were so excited about passing out their Valentines. One girl had forgotten a person, so I gave her one of my extra cards to use. She didn't quite understand what I meant when I said the name of the person to copy on her card was on the board. I was distracted with other things when I finally noticed that she was up at the board, writing her name in large cursive, under the other name. I looked at another adult in the room, we shrugged our shoulders, then I quietly walked up to the student to tell her she was to sign the CARD with her name, not the board. She didn't react with embarassment, nor did she ask me to send the chalkboard as the card.

And So It Begins

We did some "window" shopping for suv vehicles yesterday. Actually, we sat in a few. It is interesting to hear the sales pitches of the two men from the two places we visited. We went to Saturn first. After my husband told Bob what we were looking for in a used vehicle for me, he showed us the correct ones. He unlocked the suv and invited me to sit. At one point, he even said he prefers the 2007s over the 2008s because of the non-dent (or whatever it is called) side panels. Bob was not pushy or demanding like some in the past. Next place was the Chevy lot. We drove across the huge place until we found the vehicles we wanted to look at. After a bit, Bill showed up to give us his sales pitch. I sat is several different makes and models. Bill was a bit more pushy, pushing his agenda and not ours. He talked only to hubby, even though the suv was for me. He took us to the 2008s and pushed those. He was oblivious or deaf to my husband's comments that his head touched the top of the car while in the back seat of the Santa Fe. And before we were completely done, he hands me his card and walks off. Guess our actions did not make him think he was going to make a sale. And he was right for once.

Pre-own a Used Vehicle

Hubby and I decided it is time to look for a new (to us), but used suv, so the search has begun. With the aid of the internet the search is far and wide. Now they just need to come up with a way to kick the tires while online. Speaking of used, don't you just love how the terminology has changed from used cars to preowned? Does preowned also refer to previously married? Dropouts can now be called preschooled. The dead can be known as the preliving. The gravely ill patient is now the predeceased. Pre- is a prefix which means before. Preheat means to heat it before you bake the cookies. Preview means to view it before you see the movie. Prewash means to wash the stain before you wash the item. You get the picture. So a preowned vehicle can only be a vehicle that has been owned by one person. If I buy the suv, then preowned means I owned it before the owner. A used vehicle should be called post-owned, or better yet, recycled!

Where's the Chicken Soup?

Well, I am taking a sick day from work to go to the doctor. I have a sore throat, aching muscles, and sinus pain. Several adults in our school building have started out this same way and have become very ill. I am hoping the doctor visit will catch it early enough to avoid becoming very ill. Anyway, with the day off, I have opportunity to accomplish much here at home, but I don't feel like doing any of it. Guess you could say I am using my day off for exactly what it is--a sick day.

Ohhh, I Don't Feel Well

Have you ever gotten out of bed and just didn't feel well? Was it a work-day? Have you ever gotten out of bed and didn't feel well until you found out it was a weekend or day off? Yea, me too. Makes me feel like Spanky from the original Little Rascles. I can remember him complaining of not feeling well when his momma tried to get him up. When he learned it was Saturday, he jumped out of bed, pulled on his pants, and began singing, "Oh, it's Saturday, it's Saturday, with a honny, honny, honny and a ha cha cha." (The spelling may not be correct, but you get the picture.) This morning I didn't feel well upon arising, but feel much better now that our school has a two-hour delay. Now I wonder what other adventure from Spanky's past that I might enact today!

Did You Have a Bad Day?

Have you had a bad day recently? Look at what happened to this bull terrier. Hard to imagine that the dog survived. In the picture emailed to me from my neighbor, it says that the vet took out over 1,300 quills. Yikes. I would venture to guess that this fiesty dog didn't give up after the first release of quills, and/or he took on more than one porcupine. Wonder if s/he learned a lesson?

How Many Men Does It Take to Deliver the Copier?

We had two new copiers delivered to our school this week. Two other ladies and I were watching from my classroom window as the huge box truck drove down the hill of our playground and headed toward our building. The men needed to deliver the second copier to the library, which is eleven steps down from the first floor, ten steps up from the lower floor, or seven steps up from the outside door that leads to the library. (Our school is actually a tri-level, with no elevator.) There were four men walking along with the truck and one driver. As the truck neared the end of the building, the driver got out, walked to the passenger side of the truck and tried to collapse the mirror so that he could drive closer to the building. All three of us in my room were saying that he should be BACKING the truck to the steps. Somehow the five of the men figured that out and decided to drive on the playground to turn the truck around. We women thought it would have been easier and safer to turn the truck around on the blacktopped play area, but what do we know. Finally, the driver was in position to back the truck down the sidewalk and to the steps to unload.