12 Lords a Leaping!

One of my favorite holiday traditions is exchanging gifts with Richard. For the past few years I have sent him giftsto open each night of Hanukkah and he has sent me gifts to open for the 12 days of Christmas. The 12 days of Christmas usually begin AFTER Christmas but seeing as that is way too long to wait to open presents, I get to open one each day for 11 days prior to Christmas and end the last gift on Christmas day.

This year he outdid himself on the fun and creativity scale.

Here are the 12 days received:

Day 1: a partridge and pear ornament

Day 2: Turtle candies and Dove raspberry chocolates

Day 3: a flock of chicks from Heifer.org

Day 4: a cd of calling birds

Day 5: 5 golden napkin rings

Day 6: down filled slippers

Day 7: a giant inflatable swan for riding on the river and 3 baby swans

Day 8: chocolate milk powder from Max Brenner

Day 9: a drum from Indonesia

Day 10: 10 frosting tips and piping bags

Day 11: a cd of 11 dance songs from divas

Day 12: 12 Lords (frogs) a leapin! (as seen above)

Thanks Richard! I am already looking forward to next year :-)

Merry, Merry Christmas!

Five fun facts for the holidays!

1. Who was the first president to decorate the White House Christmas tree?

2. In Mexico, what should you wear on New Year's Eve to bring new love in the upcoming year?

3. What was the first state to officially recognize the Christmas holiday?

4. What Christmas plant is poisonous?

5. What do you have in December that you don't have in any other month?

scroll down to the bottom of the page for the answers....

Snowflakes

It's that time of year again!

How creative can you be?

Try your hand at making some virtual snowflakes.

Click here to make a snowflake

Optical Illusion?

Yesterday I took some photos of a christmas spider ornament hanging on our tree. This morning, as I am looking through my photos to find a photo for my photoblog, I see this.

Two shots of the spider, next to the moon ornament. But look at the moon ornament. In one shot the moon appears to be awake, in the other shot the moon appears to be sleeping.

I think it's a little freaky.

Manic Monday Ornament

These little critters came to mind when I saw the Manic Monday word for today - ornament.



The Legend of the Christmas Spiders

Many years ago, on the night before Christmas, a woman prepared for the next day's celebration. She cleaned and scrubbed her home, making sure every nook and cranny sparkled. To escape her broom, the household spiders fled to the attic. They listened to the excitement below as the family decorated the Christmas tree. After everyone went to sleep, and the house grew quiet, the spiders crept back downstairs and saw the beautiful tree. They were amazed and crawled along every branch admiring each ornament. Soon the whole tree was covered with their webs. Father Christmas arrived that night and he smiled as he looked at the webs the spiders had spun. He knew, however, the woman would be upset when she saw the mess completely covering her tree. With one touch, he turned the webs into strands of silver and gold. Now the Christmas tree sparkled and shimmered even more beautifully than before. Thus began the tradition of hanging tinsel, and a spider ornament, while trimming the tree.

You can get your very own Christmas Spider made to order. Just email Bev or Bren at lil_somethin_or_others@yahoo.com
Send them the colors you like and away they go! They make awesome gifts!

check out the other ornament posts at Mo's It's blog eat blog world

5 Fun (Snowy) Facts for Friday

Make your best guess!

1. How many cars would equal the weight of one loaded snowplow?

2. What was the coldest temperature ever recorded in North America?

3. What's a snowblink?

4. What's a musher?

5. What do these three things have in common? Champagne Powder, Mashed Potatoes, and Corduroy.


Scroll down to the bottom of the page for answers.

The dentist

I love my dentist. well, not really my dentist (although he is kinda cute) but my dentist's office and they way they do things there. Here are the top 10 reasons I now enjoy going to the dentist.

1. They greet you when you walk in the door "HEY, Lisa's here!" Just like in Cheers, everyone knows your name.

2. They serve coffee, tea, and hot cocoa. This is especially nice at 7:30 am on a cold, snowy morning.

3. They show funny dentist related movies on a flat screen tv while you're waiting. Yes, funny and dentist in the same sentence and without laughing gas! WC Fields and Three Stooges funny.

4. They give you headphones and music so you don't have to hear those big ol nasty drill sounds.

5. They let you hold their hand when the foot long needle makes an appearance and let you squeeze the hand until their fingers go numb.

6. They never tell you "oh it's fine you big baby"

7. They accept a payment plan. Hey 4 kids had braces, there better be a payment plan.

8. They don't say "tsk tsk" when your 15 year old loses his retainer for the 3rd time. They call him into the office and say "do you think your mom and dad's money grows on trees? do NOT lose this retainer again or we will install it permanently in your mouth"

9. They do pro bono work when you ask if they could provide a Bosnian refuge with dental work.

10. Bottom line? They give great customer service.

and it's worth every penny of the beautiful corvette convertible my dentist now drives.

The 12 Days of Christmas

My friend Roby sent this over. Enjoy!

Manic Monday - Ship

Manic Monday word for today is ship.

One thing and one thing only comes to mind when I see the word ship. All the ships we see on the St. Lawrence River each summer. The 1000 Island region is an amazing place. We can see the shipping channel from our cottage. It's fun to spot a ship and get close enough to find out where it's coming from.

This one is from Amsterdam:

This one is from Lake Michigan:

and this one?

This one is from Chippewa Bay:

Named "Ship of Fools", it's a 1973 pontoon boat that came with our cottage. It is the oldest pontoon boat in the bay, virtually indestructable, great for carting stuff to and from the island, and on many occasions lives up to it's name.

Go visit Mo at It's a Blog Eat Blog World to see more Manic Monday posts.

What was this?

When we were in Cancun we got the tail end of Hurricane Noel. No major storm or bad weather, just huge waves that crashed onto shore and caused the red flag to fly. Those waves brought in some wood pieces as shown above. The question is, what was this? What were these pieces used for? Was it handmade fencing from a home, grabbed by the storm? or was it, sadly, a raft being used by illegal immigrants coming over from Cuba? Our Mexican compadres thought so. There are times I wish I knew the whole story and this is one of them.

Destiny USA

Over the weekend, these bright balloons called me up to the top floor of our local Carousel Mall. On the 6th floor I found great views of the city, but I also found plans and drawings for the mall expansion. Destiny USA

Here's what I already knew:

Plans began in 1997 and were released to the public in 2000.

After many stalled starts, legal issues, controversy and debate, ground breaking took place in April and phase one (an 850 sq ft expansion) is under construction.

Our current mall has already converted to green energy.

Here's what I learned:

Destiny will showcase sustainability. The complex will have its own renewable-energy power plant, enabling it to operate independently of fossil fuels.

A horizontal elevator system will transport people around the car-free mini-city, and a monorail will connect it to Syracuse's airport and downtown.

Phase two and phase three plans for the 75 million square foot Destiny USA are to include:
80,000 hotel rooms, an indoor aquarium, a water park, convention center, an indoor re-creation of the Erie Canal, a stadium and performing arts center, a research and development park, a putt and chip golf course, a 150 acre glass-enclosed indoor park and a 20 acre artificial lake.

(click on photo for closer look)

Manic Monday Rank

Manic Monday word for today is rank.

I hope this Thanksgiving had special meaning for you and ranked high. After two very hectic weeks I was grateful for time to relax.

By Thursday afternoon our table looked like this (sans food)

a few hours later the turkey looked like this

not this

(2005 turkey)

and family and friends were together under one roof.

This year, Thanksgiving ranked high on my list of special Thanksgivings.

Happy MM and a very happy start to the holiday season.

Visit Mo at It's a Blog Eat Blog World to see more Manic Monday postings.

An unintended hiatus.

This week got away from me in a big way.
Without boring you with the details, it's been one thing after another. Still one more day of busy day hell to go through and then aaaaaahhhh, it will be the weekend.

I would like to go back in time to two weeks ago.
This was taken from the hotel room in Cancun.
See those little lounge chairs in front of the tiki hut?
You can lay on them in the water.















Oh bartender, another margarita please.....

Merry Christmas! NO not yet.

For heaven's sake, it is November 8.
Why do I have to hear Christmas music when I turn on the radio?
I love the holidays, but this is overkill.

Back from Cancun and it was awesome.
Will be posting pics from the trip soon.

In the meantime, I am having serious fun playing scrabulous on facebook.



Love it!


for those on facebook, check it out.
and if you're not on facebook yet, you should be, it's fun.

A little business, a little pleasure...

It's been a busy non blogging few days.
Hope all is well with my buddies in bloggerland.
I will be away for the next 6 days and 5 nights.
Going to Cancun, Mexico.
Wanna come? Tequila on the beach!

5 fun facts for friday

1. if you combine wintergreen, vanilla, and cassia (a form of cinnamon) what well known flavor will you come up with?

2. which U.S. president stood only 5' 4" tall and weighed less than 100 pounds?

3. what story has been made into a movie more times than any other?

4. Director Alan Smithee has a claim to fame, what is it?

5. Can you tell the temperature by listening to the chirping of a cricket?

scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the answers.
how'd you do?

New Camera

Got it and love it!
I haven't learned all the features yet but I'm working on it.
I promise not to bore you with umpteen photos (except these) cause I have a photoblog for that. :-)

These were taken from the field across the road near where we live. There are big commercial "for sale" signs on the property. I'll be sad if they build here, it's such a beautiful sight to see every day, every season.

Child prodigy

When you have time, check out this story about 5 year old Kyle LoGrasso. It's a little long, but a good story.

5 fun facts for friday

1. Ben & Jerry's send the leftover waste from making icecream to local pig farmers. What is the only flavor the pigs won't eat?

2. What is samhainophobia?

3. Speaking of phobias. What did Sigmund Freud have a morbid fear of?

4. Who is the most recognized figure around the world? And who is the second most recognized?

5. Clint Eastwood and I are allergic to the same thing. What it is!?

make your guesses then scroll down to the bottom of the blog to see the answers. how many did you get right?

Freebies

It is a beautiful day here in upstate NY!

The fog was thick this morning but it quickly burned off to bright sunshine.

The day started at Panera having coffee with a friend.

That's always a good way to start the day.

Cause it's a great place to sit and chat, and they have free wifi and good caramel lattes.

The dishwasher and refrigerator (the icemaker to be exact) are getting fixed today.

For an unGodly, ridiculous amount of $$$$.

Things come in threes right? so.... dishwasher, refrigerator,

and ______? what's next?

Found this handy dandy little site for coupons.

It's not one of those lame "free coupon" sites that have worthless coupons, there are some pretty decent grocery store coupons here.
So for any coupon cutters, here you go.
Free Coupons

Enjoy your day.

I am lost....

without a camera.

Life just doesn't feel right.

Been doing the research and this will be the new camera:

the Nikon D40x wih the 55-200mm zoom lens.

It's a good starter digital SLR. Light and easy to handle.

and I've been saving my change for almost 11 months so tonight, I'm rolling it up. I also have a little hoard set aside from the new job.

Here's hoping it's enough!

Manic Monday

Mo's manic monday word for today is "bat".

Halloween is coming and Halloween makes me think of bats.

and bats make me think of Vampires.
and Vampires make me think of Vampire wine.
(yep, I can always draw a correlation to wine)

Vampire wine is very good,
if you haven't had some, give it a try.
They have merlot, cabernet sauvignon,
syrah, zinfandel and pinot noir for reds.



We served it at a "How to Host a Murder" party a couple years ago and now we buy some every year. How to Host a Murder parties are great fun! The games can be purchased online and their website gives you all the tools for your party. We went with a Halloween theme but there are lots of themes available. Check them out here .

"care for another glass of vampire wine, Count?"

so....party=wine=vampire=BAT

check out the other Manic Monday bat posts at Mo's place

Happy Birthday Punkin Head!

Our #1 Ryan child turns 23 today.
BIG birthday wishes for Jenna!
Hope your birthday is wonderful and the upcoming year exceeds your expectations.

and may the luck of the blarney stone always be with you....

Tell ten people....

to tell ten more.





It doesn't cost a thing.

Just click on the "tell ten people" link above and help women in need get a free mammogram.

Then tell 10 more to do the same and have them pass it on to ten more and so on.

Click daily.

If the breast cancer site gets 500 clicks in October their sponsor will fund 150 additional mammograms.

Then do it in the rest of the year too.

and next year...

thanks :-)

No five fun facts for friday

more anagrams instead!

GEORGE BUSH becomes HE BUGS GORE
THE EYES becomes THEY SEE
PRESBYTERIAN becomes BEST IN PRAYER
ELECTION RESULTS becomes LIES - LET'S RECOUNT
DESPERATION becomes A ROPE ENDS IT

want to see what anagrams you can make of your name? click here

(original "no five fun facts for friday" post here)

So what's the deal here?

Forgive the length of this post but I thought this might be of interest.

One of the boys came home last week and told me about a new drug going around school. Not your typical snort it, smoke it, swallow it kind of drug. Instead, a digital drug.

What are those you ask? I asked the same and he wasn't quite sure. "Some kind of sound thing you listen to and it makes you feel like you're on drugs"

Hmmm, so I did a little research and here is what I found -

Mind alteration through combinations of binaural beats and tones.
Based on a scientifc theory that's been around since 1839 and has been used for meditation, relaxation, or self-hypnosis.

There are many articles about binaural beats and you can get the basics here but what it boils down to is this - when two different tones are played in opposite ears, a beating sensation is created in the brain. This beating sensation is the effect of the conflicting electrical signals in your brain’s wiring. Stereo headphones are a necessity when trying to experience binaural beats because they allow a different frequency to be played in each ear. In experiments over the last century, binaural beats have been shown to create different states of consciousness within an individual. These states of consciousness are the result of different brain waves that can be induced in a person’s psyche through the beats.

I've gathered, through brief research on the net, there are those that support this theory and those that say it is bunk and has just a "placebo" effect.

I found a few websites who offer CDs of binaural beats as sleep aids, stress relief, and smoking cessation aids.

and then there is I-Doser

I-Doser markets these binaural beats and tones as "drugs"

To name a few-
Anesthesia
Cocaine
Crystal Meth
Ecstasy
Heroin
Marijuana

And there are other, non drug related, beats available-
lucid dreaming
french roast
orgasm

You purchase and download your "high" of choice from I-Doser.
You can also purchase CDs of multiple doses.
Grab your MP3 or CD player, plug in your headphones and listen to the binaural beats/tones, supposedly getting "high" from whatever "drug" you are listening to.

I-Doser lets their users know (on their FAQ page) that "I-Doser has received many emails from users who have had great experiences enhancing their recreational drug taking with doses supplied with I-Doser"

GREAT.

they also tell you how to make your "high" last longer and how to intensify the effects.

AND they provide testimonials:

"play the demerol just before bed, it writes you off!! fire alarm went off for about a hour and i couldnt move amazin experience, just paralyses me to the bed! word of warning to everyone else be careful when your on it"

YIKES! not what I'd want my teenager experiencing.

So does anyone have any thoughts, feedback or insight into this?

Is this just hype or is it something parents should be concerned about?

I'm still digging.

Manic Monday

The manic monday word for today is "Orange"
This was an easy one for me as I grew up near Syracuse, NY and worked at Syracuse University for 9 years. SU's team colors are blue and orange and our school mascot is "the orange"

But I thought, that's too easy.

So I chose something else to post about today.
What I visulize when I think of orange.

The Gates at Central Park.
An installation by Christo and Jean Claude.

It was February of 2005 and I tooke our 3 boys to NYC for the first time. It was a wonderful weekend and a great visual experience. Here are two photos from that weekend.

click on the photos for a closer look.

For more manic monday posts visit Mo at It's a Blog Eat Blog World