Basketball and Negatives

The greatest sporting tournament next to the world cup started this past Thursday. Over four days, 48 wonderful games (the play-in game does not count, be quiet ESPN) of college basketball were played. Having played basketball since my youth and growing up in the unseasonably warm state of NC, a hotbed for college basketball, you could say I am somewhat of a basketball fan.I am not a fanatic, but I do truly love a good game and in the last four days there were some great ones. Western Kentucky over Drake and both of Davidson's games particularly the win over Georgetown were the best in my mind.

Through a brilliant twist of March magic all of last week I was on spring break, giving me an amazing amount of free time which I wisely spent watching basketball games. (I doubt I will ever be in such a circumstance again. :p ) The four days were not all spent in mindless watching of basketball however, I also spent the last four days bringing back memories from my childhood.

I recently discovered that our scanner can scan and convert negatives into high res jpegs. In the days before digital cameras ruled the world, whenever you had your film developed you came away with a nice stack of shiny prints and a little stack of negatives that made everyone look like Martians. I am sure everyone has a stacks of these negatives lying around. The great thing about negatives is they are the original source for the image which means when you scan it you get a crystal clear image from the past. Granted over time negatives lose some of their original color and can have some minor flaws but over all, it is much better than scanning prints of the same images.

So while I did spend an average of 10 hours a day watching basketball over the last four days, at the same time I was watching the games I also scanned close to 300 negatives into wonderful high res images which had been lost to the sands of time, or at least not seen by human eyes for a good long time! A few samples:

That is me with the hose ...

Sarah and I

This one needs a little fix up but it turned out ok considering it is over 30 years old. I just had to show it because of the jacket :p

Basketball !!! :)

This last week Nick and My Dad plus the whole Varsity, JV, and MS, basketball teams have all been at the East Coast Home school Basketball Championship. Friday night was the finals. JV, lost by 11 points and came in second. MS, lost also and came in 4th. Varsity, won first place in overtime by two points!!!!!!!!!!!! I am SO happy for them! The whole team played awesome together! Nick called Friday night and they were jumping around and screaming all over the place, they were SO happy !!!!:) Great job guys! What a great way to end the 2007 - 2008 basketball season!

~Anna~

Thanks to Sarah for the pictures!

Nothing

is more valuable, not your dvds, your cds, your TV,
not your computer, your vehicle, your pets,
not your house, your job, your friends,
not power, position, fame, money,
not your reputation not your
family, kids, husband/wife,
not even your very life,
is more important
than the God
who gave
his life
for it
all.

People being stupid news item of the week

RIALTO, Calif., March 18 (UPI) -- Police in Rialto, Calif., have arrested three men who appeared in a YouTube video that showed viewers how to "scam" free food from a fast-food restaurant.

Robert Echeverria, 32, Ian Anthony Roman, 18, and Brian Fawcett, 18, were charged with felony second-degree commercial burglary after they videotaped themselves lying to employees at a Rialto Del Taco to get free food in a YouTube video entitled "How to Scam Del Taco," the Riverside (Calif.) Press-Enterprise reported Tuesday.

Police said the video depicts Echeverria calling the fast-food restaurant and claiming to be a local business leader whose previous order was filled incorrectly. He convinced the manager to give him seven tacos, a large order of fries, two sodas and two quesadillas with extra chicken -- a $15 haul. Authorities said Roman picked the food up under the guise of being the fictional businessman's son.

The suspects, who police identified as gang members, could each face seven years in prison if convicted.

Want a CD?

Even though we get around 60 visitors a day to the blog I have noticed there usually are only a few people who comment. So either visitors don't have anything to add or they just like to lurk. I don't really care if people comment or not, I am still somewhat surprised we get even 60 visitors a day! I think I know maybe 10 or 15 people personally who visit the blog and the rest..... I have no idea who you are. :p I was thinking about comments and magic cookie points and then the thought occurred to me there is a bit of a gender slant going on for comments. Except for occasional comments by Jeremy, Enil, my cousins and some guy named Uncle Jim, all the comments seem to come from people of the female gender.

I have no idea why that is, maybe my blogging does not appeal to male readership, which would be strange as I am myself a guy. Maybe guys just don't comment on blogs often unless they really have something to say, that whole "woman use twice as many words as men" idea. Anyway, I have to think that out of 60 people a day more than 3 or 4 of you are guys. So in order to find out, I am going to give away a cd.

For every guy that comments I will stick your name in a hat and next week I will pick someone to get a cd of their choice. So if you are a guy reading this, comment! If only one guy comments then hey, you have a 1:1 chance of getting a CD! :D If no guys comment.... I guess everyone who reads the blog is a female. :p Oh and the honor system is being used here people, if you don't have a blogger account and comment I have no way of knowing if you are a real guy or a female pretending. If you are reading this Sarah G. this means no comments from "Joe" ;)

Early Easter

I am sure everyone knows this Sunday is Easter, which is the earliest it has been since 1913. I was wondering around online and came across this article that does a good job explaining why Easter is so early this year in case anyone else was wondering.....

Ah I missed one o' me favorite holidays!

A belated St Patricks day greetin' to everyone!

Since heading north was not going to happen I decided to head south to Florida, since as everyone knows it is the place to go on "Spring Break" So early Saturday morning I departed for palm trees and warm sand for a few days. That is the reason the blog was pretty much silent. I mean, why get on the computer when you can be on the beach!!

Ok well actually I was not going on vacation, I was working with my dad and we never quite made it to Florida, stopping about 30 minutes away in Georgia. Rather than have crowds of people around me on a warm beach I had clouds of nasty little gnat type flying insects. These of course decided I, as well as everyone else on the job were perfect candidates for the menu special of the week, Bonhumancarni - 10 magic cookie points if you figure out what that means. :p

I am not kidding about the bugs, there literally were these grayish clouds floating around people's heads. I look almost like I have chicken pox on my neck, arms and hands. Next to the hot weather in the south, which I have discussed numerous times, I dislike the bugs. The amount of bugs actually has something to do with the weather never getting all that cold enough to kill the suckers but I like to look at them as two separate irritants....And yes I know about bug spray, it never seems to really help me all that much, I guess you can say the juice is worth the squeeze, or maybe it should be, the blood is worth the bite, for bugs when it comes to me. Anyway, except for the little flying demons the trip was good, and I have some pretty funny stories which I would post but they are of the type that unless you have been on a job they probably would make no sense so I will just post some pictures, since everyone knows a picture can tell a thousand words..... oh and that is not me on the swing :p

A Totally Random Post. :)

For the past couple of minutes I have been looking at shoes online.

I kinda have a shoes fetish :)

But I do need to get some more tennis shoes, the pair that I have are falling apart. I mean they are literately falling apart. There are holes in the soles on both shoes.... the shoelaces are in pieces..... ummmm you get the point.
I really want to get a pair of Converse after William showed me how cool they were. (William has 5 pairs...I think) The funny thing is.... Converse were around when I was little and my Grandmother always wanted me to get a pair. Once a year for my Birthday, she would take me shoe shopping. I'm not sure why I didn't like them. Maybe my Grandmother wanted me to get a color I didn't like.

Sooo, while I was looking at tennis shoes online....I had to go look at the sandals especially when there is a category called Bright Colors. I told you.... I have a shoe fetish. :)
I found the coolest shoes. I would never buy them because I'm not sure that I have anything that matches, and oh I don't spend 100.00 on a pair of shoes. :) Here is a picture.

And while I'm at it here are some converse that I like. Ummm well... here is one pair that I like.... American Idol is on.....so I'm off to watch that.

~Sarah~

Notes From Anna......

Thank you for my happy birthday wishes! I had a great birthday except for the fact that I could not talk, I had a fever, and I felt like I was part of the couch! I did not realize how much I love to talk until Wednesday when I was in bed and needed water. I did not feel like walking all the way down stairs, so I opened my mouth to call my Mother and all that came out was a whisper! After whispering for five minute and no one coming, I started banging on the wall! That worked, I got my water and learned that if you can't talk, bang on the wall! I have felt fine for the past two days, but my pore little brother has it now! He has had a fever between 100 - 103 all day!Pore little bunny!:) Please pray he will be better and no one else will come down with it!

On a happer note, Will, Sarah, and Nick got me my favorite movie for my birthday!

And an itunes gift card!

My great friend Emily got me these really cool bangles for my birthday!! Aren't they awesome? Thanks Emily I love them!!:)

Got to go watch the Duke game!:)

People being stupid news item of the week

A fence too far for burglar

A burglar in Hungary climbed over a fence to rob a house only to be confronted by a sword-wielding Olympic fencing ace.

Virgine Ujlaky, 23, was practicing her swordplay when she saw Pal Nagy, 43, clambering in through a window of her house in a posh suburb of Budapest.

But within seconds and a few swift slashes of the sword the crook was pinned against the wall, with the blade against his throat as the swordswoman reached for the phone and called police.

They arrested the villan 20 minutes later, who had to be treated by paramedics for shock.

Ujlaky said: "I wasn't scared when I saw him. It was good practice as I have a competition coming up this week."

Notebook Blogging #7

Sorry "notebook blogging" is getting out late today, after class I decided I wanted to have some fun with drywall so I went to my apartment and fixed some holes in the walls and ceiling. This could be a whole topic in itself, but the quick version is, the apartment above me had some pipe issues and they had to go through my apartment's ceiling to get them, which of course left holes that I figured should be fixed. In case you have not experienced fixing holes in walls I recommend you "accidentally" slam a door open and fix the resulting hole, it is great fun. Or you could just use duct tape like a good friend of my does ;)

Because of the weather our house has been moving right along, no one has gotten injured except a guy named Steve who hit his pinkie with a hammer...everyone kids him about that. I was in charge of cutting all the joists for one side of the house and I have to say good tools really do make a difference. The circular saws we have in class are simply amazing. Even though we have a circular saw as soon as I can, I am buying the one we use in class.

When we finished the sub-floor Mr. T. got up on it and did a little dance number, oh the times I wish I had a video camera! This past week we actually had this thing called the "cultural fair" which I guess is supposed to introduce us to different cultures....All I did was eat great food :p Oh and watched Mr. T. dance. Turns out his little dance move he did on the sub-floor was just a warm up for the dancing he did with his group, "The Crazy eights".

Next week I have spring break, which means I will have an amazing amount of time on my hands. Back in December when I was looking at the schedule the thought crossed my mind that I would go on a road trip up north on spring break but that is not an option at the moment. My grandmother actually has been wanting to go to Boston to visit her sister but she is going to be flying up. Stuck in a car with me did not interest her too much, besides she got her plane ticket free. I have a feeling my mother has plans to use my "skills" around the house, if that is the case, just a heads up, there may or may not be any blog posts next week. :p

Three years of being sick....

Today is my sister Anna's birthday, unfortunately for Anna, for the third year in a row she happens to be sick on her birthday! How sad is that? Anna is the resident "paparazzi" and always is in need of fresh batteries. So if anyone wants to send her a gift, those are a good idea, just remember to make sure they are of the AA variety. ;) Because Anna is always taking pictures I could not find a good one that actually included her so I will just post one I took of her and her current "love" :D

In one of the concerts on Saturday she had a duet. I was going to post the whole thing but it is rather long so I am just posting the last 3 minutes.

Oh and I forgot to mention when I posted on Sunday that is was my brother Sam's birthday! So in late honor of that, here is a picture that is few years old of him being cool B)

No I am not in the military.....or turkey hunting!!!

Today I decided I would wear camo pants....

Notice the brilliant woodland pattern!

I left for class before anyone else was up and when I arrived home was immediately questioned on my attire. It was actually very funny, it went something like this:

I walk in the door....
My mother asks why I look like I am in the military
I get a drink of water...
Sarah comes in the room and asks if I really wore "that" today
I get something to eat...
Samuel comes in and asks why I am dressed as a soldier
I continue eating...
Anna asks some variation of the "why are you in camo" question
I finish eating and head to my room,
when I am coming back down the stairs....
Molly sees me and right off asks why I am dressed like someone from the military!!!

Have I missed something? Is wearing camo now frowned upon in my family? I was in class and walking among crowds of people and the only question I got was "Are you fixing to go turkey hunting?" :p I get home and in 15 minutes get five questions as to why I am wearing camo!! Such is life with my wonderful family.... :D

Daylight savings yet again steals my sleep

People who know me may or may not have heard me give my little rant on springing forward or falling back with our clocks. I will save everyone's ears from hearing the whole thing but the point of it is, DST has really no purpose and should be done away with. The popular reasoning for it lately has been to save on energy but a recent study done by a professor of environmental economics at U.C. Santa Barbara has said it might actually cost us more when we reset our clocks... Sorry it is just one of those things that make me tick. :p

It is also slightly irritating because since we had concerts until late last night and also had some friends spend the night we did not get to bed exactly early if you know what I mean. :D That extra hour comes in handy....Nevertheless, I fought off Sleepy Rufus in time to get ready and arrive on time at church where we sang a song that I love, "There Is A Higher Throne"

There is a higher throne
Than all this world has known
Where faithful ones from every tongue
Will one day come
Before the Son we'll stand
Made faultless through the Lamb
Believing hearts find promised grace
Salvation comes

Hear heaven's voices sing
Their thunderous anthem rings
Through emerald courts and sapphire skies
Their praises rise
All glory, wisdom, power
Strength, thanks and honor are
To God our King who reigns on high
Forevermore

And there we'll find our home
Our life before the throne
We'll honour Him in perfect song
Where we belong
He'll wipe each tear-stained eye
As thirst and hunger die
The Lamb becomes our Shepherd King
We'll reign with him.

Hear heaven's voices sing
Their thunderous anthem rings
Through emerald courts and sapphire skies
Their praises rise
All glory, wisdom, power
Strength, thanks and honor are
To God our King who reigns on high
For evermore

The song is based on Revelation 7 and standing there singing made me think of Revelation, which is split into two parts, earthly scenes and heavenly scenes. There is somewhat of a debate on the earthly scenes and how they are going to happen, if they have already happened...etc which when you think about it is slightly silly. Yes the earthly scenes are worth reading and studying but they are not really important in comparison to the heavenly scenes of the exalted Christ on the throne! The throne, where all worship, all adoration, all praise goes in honor of The King.

If you have read the blog you probably know music is something I really enjoy. Those who know me personally know I play around on the piano and the guitar, neither of which sounds too hot and as for singing, an American Idol I am not. But you don't need to be a concert master or Pavarotti to worship God, no matter our talents, we are all made to praise The King and bring honor to the Lord. Isn't that wonderful? Even though my gift of worship is small, He finds it acceptable. Ah, it is hard for me to put words to my emotions and I know this blog post can never adequately convey my feelings on the subject. I will just say, for me, it is a feeling unlike any other worshiping our Creator. I hope everyone has a good week. Anna wants me to get a video up of her part in one of the concerts last night so be on a lookout for it sometime this week.

Stuck in the Mud...... or how my week was. :)

I have decided (ok been told) that I have not been posting enough on the blog. To make up for it, here is an extremely loooong post about my week. -Edit by Will- Well, in Sarah standards :fun:


Monday:
The weather was quite nice. I went outside with Matthew and Sam. Ok... Anna and Molly were outside too. We couldn't think of anything to play, so, we just stood around like trees. The Matthew had the brilliant idea to play Hide-in-go-seek.
It did not end well......Anna is still limping.


Tuesday:
It was a gloomy day. My bible study was cancelled due the high probability of Tornadoes. (Did you know that Tornadoes does not have the small word Toes at the end unlike the word Potatoes which does have the small word toes at the end of the word.) Any who.... I thought everybody was just afraid of a little rain, until I spent an hour with my family huddled in the bathroom, afraid that the roof was going to blow off. (We had a Tornado watch and a Tornado warning at the same time!)


Wednesday:
There was beautiful weather again. Taught six piano lessons.....had to remind some of my students how to count.

Thursday :
Getting bored yet?? More Beautiful weather..... I managed to have hysterics while playing one of the saddest Chopin Nocturnes at my piano lesson. I had to leave out a three measure trill, I was laughing so hard. :)

Today, Friday:
Woke up at 6:30. Helped Sam with violin for an hour. Then it was Matthew's turn. After that I managed to practice the violin for two hours before I had to leave the house to teach violin. Taught violin lessons from 12-4. As I was leaving the last students house, it was raining so badly that the mom said that I could back out on the little muddy spot on her lawn. So I did..... the only thing is... I was backing down a hill, that was fine. Going back up the hill was another story......I didn't want to leave a giant hole but my wheels were spinning. So, I did what anyone else would have done. I burst into tears and called my Dad. Just Kidding!! :) I turned on the 4 wheel drive on my truck and made it up the hill. I think all their mud was still in the same place. See it does pay to drive a truck. :)

Now I have to go and make sure my concert clothes are clean. Tomorrow I have three dress rehearsals and two orchestra concerts.

~Sarah~

The Man Cold!

I think the title says it all...... :)

People being stupid news item of the week

Police needled at emergency call to help with sewing

A woman in a rush to get to a garden party in New Zealand called 111 to ask for help with her sewing. The woman, who has not been identified, called police in Rotorua yesterday pleading for help to thread her needle.

Police northern communications told the Herald the woman claimed she needed urgent assistance so she could get to a garden party. No one was sent as the local police lacked the necessary skill, the spokesman said.

Police and other emergency services receive thousands of nuisance and hoax calls each year including heavy breathers, people wanting taxis and those upset that their takeaway meals were bad.

Last year, a bride in Christchurch, panicked by a large oil stain on her wedding dress, dialed 111 in a desperate plea for help.

Other calls have included:
* A man rang to say there were two hedgehogs fighting on his lawn.
* A woman called to get police to make her boyfriend ask for her hand in marriage.
* A man rang to say there was a cow at his letterbox - and he was scared.

This made me think of that lady who called the police because her burger was not made correctly.

Playing it safe can be risky part two....

No notebook blogger today, the weather has been great this week so class has mainly been outside so we have not had breaks like we do while inside which means I have not had the time to write anything in my notebook. Besides I have more I want to say on risk anyway... if you have not read the first part just scroll down a bit. Like I said at the end of part one, our slowness to act when an opportunity presents itself comes from our uncertainty of a situation and the fact that we like to be in control. We say we trust God, but then an opportunity comes along which may change our whole life and all of a sudden it is like "Whoa! God what is going on here?" We have a choice, either grab that bucking bull of an opportunity and trust God to protect you from getting gored, ( sorry I just had to use that) or wait and say "Lord, riding that bull is going to hurt, I think I am going to wait for a calmer bull". Have you ever caught yourself praying for things to be easier, for everything to just fall into place so you don't have to worry? I know I have, life would be so much simpler.

Except well, life is not supposed to be a cakewalk, it is supposed to be filled with trials, it is how we grow as Christians and human beings. That bull of an opportunity may very well have been placed in front of us for the specific purpose of helping us grow spiritually. God wants us to trust Him, and how better to help that trust grow than to put opportunities in front of us that will enable us to grow in Him. Sure, we still grow as Christians by just reading our Bible and learning more about who our Creator is and everything He has done for us. But until we are faced with an opportunity or a situation that will allow us to whole heartedly surrender all trust to God we can never reach our full potential and bring God the glory He deserves.

Take Gideon, he has his army camped out ready to attack the Midianites. The Lord knowing us humans are quick to puff ourselves up decides he is going to present an opportunity for Gideon's trust in the Him to grow. God tells Gideon to send home troops and 31,700 of his 32,000 troops head back. Now if that had been me and I was about to attack enemy forces who were as "numerous as locusts" I would have wanted every man who could hold a spear with me. If I was standing out there in Gideon's sandals as I watched 99% of my army march away I would be thinking to myself, "Hey Lord, I know you are sovereign over all , but I don't feel so good with only 300 men!". We are never probably going be in that sort of dramatic position but that does not mean God does not put opportunities in our path that will involve a similar choice of trusting God. We climb on that bull and ride for all it's worth or we don't, maybe regret it for the rest of our life, and possibly miss seeing God perform something miraculous. BTW if you don't know the story of Gideon, him and his 300 men destroyed the Midianite army killing over 100,000.

Every opportunity is a gift from God, what we do with them is our gift to God. Ephesians 5:16 says "Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days". There is a saying "Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die", you want the reward but not the pain. When I am presented an opportunity, I want to make the most of it, as I am sure everyone reading this does. But I also tend to want my opportunity wrapped up with a nice bow and all I have to do is unwrap it and say "Thank you, God" Most opportunities typically don't present themselves to us that way and they sometimes come at the most inopportune times at least to our thinking.

But God is in control, He is sovereign over everything. He has plans for us, plans for good not disaster if we only trust Him. Being a Christian does not necessarily reduce our circumstantial uncertainty; spiritual uncertainty yes, unlike non-believers we know where we are headed after this life, but for our circumstances, we need to trust Him. When an opportunity comes along we don't want to be like the man with the one talent in Matthew who decides to play it safe and not become involved in a risk/reward situation. Circumstantial opportunities have risk, but they also have a reward if we only trust the Lord.

Personally, jumping on that opportunity "bull" is something that has always been hard for me, some of that is me just me being human but some of that is just because of the way I am wired. Or maybe I should say was wired, there are so many little decisions as well as some major ones that have occurred in my life in the last year or so. Some have turned out better than I thought they ever could, others not quite so much...But every single one has involved trusting God a little more, getting me more out of my comfort zone to where He wants me to be.

Ok I think I will stop typing now.... sorry this one topic turned into two rather long posts, all I started out to do was comment on a quote I read but somehow as I typed my brain went into overdrive somewhat. :o Hopefully nobody's brain exploded. I also don't want anyone to read this and go out and do something risky for the sake of randomly going after an opportunity! We have to remember there are good and bad opportunities but with the Holy Spirit's help we can have the discernment to see the difference between good and bad opportunities and to get on that potentially risky bull when it is the right thing to do.

Playing it safe can be risky....

I was reading the other day and I came across this quote by Mark Twain that I thought was pretty good....

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

Opportunities are around us everyday but so often we (we being the human population) miss that opportunity because it might change something in our lives. Chasing that opportunity, making it a reality usually takes us out of our comfort zone and more often than not will involve some risk. Humans for the most part don't like risk, we like to know what is around the bend on the tracks we ride on. We like to be in control of our lives, we don't like being in a position where things spring at us unexpectedly that may mess up our carefully calculated plans.

Obviously unexpected things are going to happen even when you plan, aka an alternator turning to slag or running out of gas, or me missing my exit and spending 20 minutes driving around NJ trying to get back to where I can get to my hotel or even having issues with appliances, that is just part of life. Sure you try to avoid issues like those but there is not much more you can do, besides they make life exciting. :p

Going after an opportunity on the other hand, one that possibly might involve taking a risk with a potential negative impact in some aspect of our lives is an opportunity we might not jump at right away. We don't like that potential negative, we would rather stick with the status quo rather than doing something that could hurt us, even though the opportunity could benefit us in the long run. There is a balance of course, some people take risks because they like the rush they get from unknown. They take needless risks at the sake of themselves and the detriment of their families. For most people though, jumping at opportunities that might mean risk or a change in our lives is something even Christians try to avoid. Why is this?

This is something I know I do, when an opportunity presents itself, I like to sit back and run through scenarios in my head. I am somewhat analytical and when something important is involved I can sit there and analyze for so long that the opportunity is long gone by the time I make a decision, besides the fact that I can give myself a major headache! This slowness to act comes from our fear of uncertainty which is a result of us relying on our own judgment, rather than trusting God's...... I have more to say but brother has told me in the past that I knock people over the head with my "walls of text" So I will cut this post into two parts so as to save at least one person's head. :p

Tuesday's thoughts....From Anna

So on Valentine's day my Father brought home the movie Becoming Jane. Since my Mother had no wish to watch it, (she had heard it was very sad) we did not watch it until yesterday!
In case you did not know Becoming Jane is about Jane Austen's life. It is a movie I am NEVER watching again for this one reason:

SHE DID NOT MARRY TOM!!!!!!:(

Oh, I am getting sad just thinking about it ! Both Sarah, Molly and I hated the end of the movie.I felt like sobbing! Two days later I am still sad about it! If you have not watched the movie don't, unless you like really really sad movies!

On a happier note my 15^th birthday is 8 days away!! YAY! Also, yesterday I realized that someone wrote my birthday on the wrong day of the week! I was rather unhappy until I realized it was me!! What was I thinking?

Before I forget, please visit this very cool apron website Apronista. They are giving away one of the cutest aprons I have ever seen!!

Hope y'all have a great day!

February 29th

Even though it is almost over, I just wanted to post how much I love February 29th. I have always thought it would be awesome to have been born on a day that only comes around once every four years. To have the day you were born on not exist for 75% of your life is just one of those little things that I find interesting. Anyone else feel the same?

People being stupid news item of the week

VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) - A man led police on a very slow-speed chase, refusing to stop while riding a lawn mower at about 3 mph across a busy street and steering it toward an officer before he was grabbed and arrested, a police report says.

Now, authorities say, the question is whether Stephen Ray Castor, 53, already under investigation in the breaking of a window of a man's house and the episode with the officer, can also be charged with drunken driving. State law is silent on whether riding mowers are covered by the law against driving under the influence.

Castor remained in the Clark County Jail with bail set at $40,000 pending a court appearance Friday.

Police said the chase began late Monday afternoon after Jason Taylor reported that Castor - a stranger to him - cursed at him, rode the mower through his fence gate and smashed a window with a lawn chair.

Castor drove the mower across a boulevard and down a city street, the police report said. Officer Gregory J. Hibbard got out of his patrol car and told Castor to stop, then had to sidestep to avoid being hit, the report said.

Shortly afterward, several officers pulled Castor off the mower and arrested him.

What is it with drunk people and riding mowers? On the subject of riding mowers, has anyone else ever seen this film called "The Straight Story"? It is the true story of a guy who goes on a road trip across several states on a riding mower, it is interesting to say the least. :p

Watch this!

I have been meaning to post this video for a few days. I think it is hilarious!!
I got the movie from Natalie's blog. The first time I watched it, I could not stop laughing. I was just sitting at the computer laughing my head off!

Notebook Blogging #6

I have a feeling this is going to be short. :p Because of the weather we have not been able to put our floor system in the house. It will be too cold one day and the next day it will rain! Crazy weather. Anyway the only blog worthy thing to occur in class was building a playhouse for a guy in class named Joy. Yes, that is his real name, my sisters did not believe me at first. Joy wanted a playhouse for his son so Mr. T. decided it would be a good chance for everyone to practice swinging a hammer or something like that.

We built the playhouse in the shop just like you would a real house, framed up the walls, floor, roof all following code as if it was a real house. Then we covered the whole thing with OSB and tar papered and shingled the roof! It has got to be the nicest playhouse I have ever seen and it weighs over a ton, literally! The only trouble is now Joy has to figure out how to get the monstrosity home.

Our teacher Mr. T. is a very funny guy, he went through the class 30 some years ago and then ended up back teaching the class. He also has a great sense of humor, a few days ago a phone went off in class and the ring tone was the William Tell Overture. Mr. T. looked up from what he was doing and started prancing in place like he was riding a horse with this cheesy grin on his face, oh the times I wish I had a video camera. :D He also has a habit of making some pretty funny quotes, three of the best have been:

"Doing a song and dance number with a truss in your hand is no fun"

"Treat that level like a woman, gentle like"

"Believe you me, when you finish with this class, you will be tight with your ruler"

The third one was in response to a guy who when asked, said he could read a ruler but he was not that "tight" with it. Most importantly Mr. T. is a wealth of information when it comes to building anything you can imagine, including furniture, (which is what he wants to do someday, build custom furniture) When I learn something new I am the type of person who wants to get out and put that knowledge to practice or tell people about what I learned, I have learned so much I did not know before that it sometimes bugs me that it is winter, (and I love winter) because I can't get out and work on things like I will be able to do once it warms a bit. I actually can't wait for summer which I think is really funny since as those who know me can attest to, I have never been a great fan of summer. :p

Penelope: A Movie Review

Once upon a time there lived a girl named Penelope.
The only thing she ever wanted was to be free.......from her family curse.
The curse.......she was born with the face of a pig.
To break the curse....the only thing she must do is to find someone of her own kind to love her.
A task that is easier said than done.


William and I went to a movie screening Monday night.
The movie we watched was called Penelope.
It is a modern fairy tale. I happen to love Fairy tales.
The movie is now one of my favorites, along with Ever After and Enchanted. :)
There was not really any objectionable content other than a few comments here and there.
The movie opens this Friday. Go watch it !! That is all....

~Sarah~


Btw... Here is the trailer:

Sermon Jams

Sorry the blog has once again been slightly dead, I have wanted to post the following post for the past couple of days but my computer has been off line since Saturday. In our house I have a wireless network set up so you can view the shared files and access the internet anywhere in the house. Unfortunately my section of the network was down since one of the routers died so today was the first day since Saturday that I finally was able to patch myself back in.

I have mentioned this before but I am always on the lookout for new music, recently as I was wondering around online I came across this site called 10:31 Sermon Jams. The music on the site is composed of little mini clips from Christian leaders (mainly John Piper and Joshua Harris) that has been set to a beat. All the mixes are very well done but I think volume 4 is the best. You can check them out at their site here and you can actually listen to and download all their songs for free from their site. Just a warning the music the sermons are set to is mainly hip hop type beats so if you are not into that you may not find them as interesting to listen to as I did. Though I still encourage you to check them out.

Speaking of John Piper and Joshua Harris (well, in a round about way) Sarah and I are going to the New Attitude 2008 conference that is in May. Both John Piper and Joshua Harris are going to be there as well as Al Mohler, Mark Dever, Eric Simmons and C.J. Mahaney. All these men are great teachers and I am looking forward to it. If you are reading this and have no idea who any of these guys are, I would strongly urge you to get on google and check them out, especially Piper and Harris. If you want to read more about the conference you can go here. BTW if anyone reading this is already planning on going and you live around us, leave a comment or let me know personally, maybe we could work out a carpool situation to save everyone some gas. :)

People being stupid news item of the week

Man parked stolen car at Sheriff's Office

ANDERSON, S.C., Feb. 21 (UPI) -- Anderson County, S.C., authorities said a man was arrested after he parked a stolen convertible outside the County Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Susann Griffin said Charles Noah Chambers came into the building to demand the return of $1,991 that was seized from him in June following his arrest on methamphetamine trafficking charges, the Anderson (S.C.) Independent Mail reported Thursday.

Griffin said she noticed Chambers driving away in a 1996 Saab after his demands were rejected. She said the vehicle was reported stolen from Cartee's Used Cars between 5 p.m. Monday and 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Sheriff's Lt. W. F. Looper said the suspect put "a screwdriver into the ignition switch" when deputies caught up to the car and told him to turn off the engine.

Chambers and a woman who was riding in the car with him were taken into custody. Chambers was charged with possessing/receiving stolen goods, driving with a suspended license and a vehicle tag violation.

So I am back

As you have probably noticed, no notebook blogger today. I was out of town and not in class the first three days of the week so that is why. The weather was spectacular but not too much more happened that is worth blogging about, well except for the Cormorants that were everywhere. A Cormorant is this funny little bird that looks somewhat like duck in size and it has webbed feet. Unlike a duck though it dives completely underwater and catches little fish and or bugs. Half the time they were swimming around with just their heads out of the water it was rather funny looking, just seeing this long neck and head moving through on the water's surface. That was not the best part about them though, the best part was they like to sleep in trees!

As dusk approached, in pairs and one by one, they flew into this larger tree on it's own little island. Did I mention they have webbed feet? They literally did fly into the tree accompanied with much crashing and shaking of branches. I tried to take a picture but I could never quite get them caught in the act of crash landing. I did get a picture of some of them in the tree though:

See how the foliage is lacking somewhat where the Cormorants are perched? That is from the Cormorants. Of course the golf course where we were did not really like them messing up the foliage, so every night around dusk they had a guy come out and shoot a flare gun at the tree to scare them out. I am serious! He did it three times just while we were standing there. It sure scared them out of the tree. :D

Probably the highlight of the trip was getting to drive this beautiful thing:

Boy was it fun to drive, zipping around cart paths, you would not believe the speed of that thing! Ok, that last line had no truth at all. You could walk faster than that lift! Plus it was very wide so as you can see in the picture I drove it mainly looking down to make sure I was as close to staying on the cart path as possible so as not to mess up the grass. :p

Thoughts...

Rain drops on the window pane

are like the thoughts in my brain

constantly dripping, always moving

sometimes I wish for wiper blades

to help rid my mind of the thoughts that weigh

have you ever been somewhere with so much to say

but you don't say a thing at least not like you wanted

the mind replays the event somehow you're haunted

or there is deafening silence the type that makes you want to shout

you open your mouth yet no words come out

drowning in our thoughts sounds impossible

there is no way that is remotely logical

yet the thoughts fall through your head as in a downpour

slipping and sliding they keep on coming

thoughts without voice there is always a choice

If you keep them inside will they just roll up and die

hardly, you will probably just end up feeling sorry

that you did not express what was burning on your chest

sometimes the greatest risk is the one not taken

we're too scared of a fall, not trusting the One above all

that opportunity before you has a purpose behind it

but maybe you will never see it unless you deny yourself

and take a leap and remember that you are one of His sheep

the Lord will protect you through every decision

and everything that ever happens has a reason

with that knowledge in your head the need for wiper blades is dead

so your brain may feel like a storm now and then

just remember to place your trust in Him

How To Wash a dog....part 2

Scroll down to see part one.


Step 4: Do your best to ignore the sad and pitiful faces that your dog makes.
See below:
This is a classic "why are you giving me a bath I just went swimming in the creek face"

Ok....... so I lied...... the small person did not bathe the dog........ He had help.......We got molly the put the shampoo on because it contained dangerous pesticides. :) Really.... it did!

See? We didn't make her do all the work.

Step 5: Remember to hold on to your dog at all times during the washing.
Dogs do not care for baths and they will run away at the first oppertunity.

How To Wash A Dog.....Part 1

This afternoon it was so pretty outside. We decide to take advantage of this weather and give one of our stinky dogs a bath. :)


Step 1: Find a small person.
Step 2: Tell Him/Her that is would be really fun to give the dog a bath. :) Get small person very excited about bathing the dog.
Step 3: Decide not to give the dog a bath...... just kidding! Get previous mentioned small person to catch the dog and start washing.
The following pictures are included to illustrate step 3
Annabeth was kind enough to take pictures for us.


Matthew (small person) caught the dog Aka Taffy Aka Piggy.
(and no.... we don't call her piggy because she smells)

Matthew demonstrating step 3

Still demonstrating........

Ahhh every one step back......... she's going to blow...er.....shake.

Winter Jam 2008

Yesterday my uncle and cousins were heading over to Greensboro for Winter Jam 2008. Never one to miss a cheap concert I happily tagged along. We arrived in Greensboro, ate lunch and set ourselves up in line. Line? You may ask, yes line. See, the tickets were only $10 except it was open seating, which is code for: mad rush through the doors for good seats, so we of course wanted to position ourselves near the front of the line which meant we got in line about 4- 4.5 hours before the concert started...Yes, feel free to think I am nuts I hear it quite often. :)

Anyway we stood, leaned and sat in line for multiple hours then had a 10 minute rush of adrenalin as we fought 18,000+ to people find seats, then sat for about another 30 minutes before the pre-show started. As you can see, lots of siting, which in turn made my feet fall asleep, quite irritating! There were about 10 different acts/groups but the main five were, Mandisa, Newsong, Barlow Girl, Skillet, and Mercy Me which was pretty good for $10 if I do say so myself.

During the pre-show there was this group called "pureNRG" no offense to them but I am going to rant a bit here. (Just skip down to the next paragraph if you want to avoid it) First off, using the letters "NRG" does not spell energy (which was how it was pronounced) and does not give you coolness points. Second, dancing around the stage lip syncing is just ug, (yes I know that is not a word but that is how I felt) Finally the members of the group were 14, 11 and 12 and maybe it is just me but seeing a bunch of kids dance around a stage to popish Disney channel music is not exactly something I am into. One more thing, talking into the mic after dancing is not the best idea if all you can do is breathe very loudly and get out one or two words at a time while gasping for breath. The other smaller acts were ok nothing worth writing about, as for the larger acts....

I was probably the most impressed by Newsong, they have several songs I like but I had never seen them in concert and I thought they were very good live. They have this one song, "Arise my Love" readers may or may not have heard it but the harmonization in the song, to see them doing it live is worth seeing. If you have not heard the song you can hear it on youtube here though it does not really do it justice, it is one of those songs that is just better live. Barlow Girl was actually a bit of a disappointment, the only reason I could come up with as to why was their stage presence just seemed to be a bit off, it might have had something to do with them having to do a shorter set because of all the groups but for whatever reason they just did not seem up to par.

Mercy Me was their usual self, one thing I have always liked about Mercy Me is while they care about performing well they don't make themselves the focal point of the performance, but rather God. If they hear the crowd singing praises they will stop singing, even stop playing and it will just be the crowd worshiping a cappella. I can't really explain what it is like, unless you have been to a Christian concert where there is more emphasis on worshiping our Lord then performing you probably don't know what it is like, but eighteen thousand people all singing "I Love You Lord" a cappella is probably the closest I will ever get before I die to the type of worship we will experiance in heaven. I get chills thinking about how amazing it is going to be.....ok back to the concert.

I have to admit I am not a fan of Skillet, actually they sorta bug me, but I figured to hear Mercy Me I could handle Skillet. If you don't know who Skillet is they are a rock band and well, that is all there is to say. They also seemed to be somewhat full of themselves which is something that really bugs me with some Christian artists. I have no idea what their lead singer's name is but when he is telling people to "rock out" I just don't feel that is appropriate.

There was not really any mention of God in terms of "rocking out" it was just like, "I want you guys rocking out so hard that you will wake up tomorrow with a neck ache from head banging" I personally think there is something theologically wrong with suggesting you give your body, the temple of the Holy Spirit, a neck ache because you were "head banging" to Skillet...But that is just me :p I don't have a problem with folks jumping up and down and dancing, while praising the Lord but it has to be done in the right spirit... I also wonder at what kind of witness it was to folk who were there who were unsaved....

Anyway, I could go on and on, like I have mentioned before music is something that I could write quite a bit about, I actually have a huge post typed up about it but I think having to read it would probably scare away everyone who reads this blog. So how about some pictures, while I have issues with Skillet I have to admit their pyrotechnics during their show made for some pretty impressive photographs.
One of Newsong:

Newsong and their Cello/Guitar dual

Forget lighters, this is the 21st Century folks we have cell phones! :p

Skillet.... as you can see, the lead singer is taking his own advice and was banging his head something fierce. The other dude liked to jump around a lot, must have been too much coffee before the show...

Flames

and more flames

Yeah the flames were rather impressive.

One blog note, I am heading out of town with my dad, so unless my sisters post the blog probably will be a little dead for a few days. Everyone have a good week. :)

People being stupid news item of the week

Anti-vandalism protester arrested

A Polish man who pasted a notice on a bus stop asking vandals to stop vandalizing it was arrested - for vandalism.

Janusz Nowak, 61, was arrested as he pasted the message on a pavement in the southern Polish town of Sosnowiec.

His notice read: "Dear Vandals - please stop destroying the bus-stop."

A police spokesman said: "Although the man had good intentions and wanted to express his indignation towards hooligans' behavior in the neighborhood he unfortunately broke the law himself."

Poor guy, trying to stop something and ends up getting hit for the charge he was trying to prevent!

Notebook Blogging #5

I woke up this morning to a lovely Valentine's day surprise of about 3 inches of snow. Yes 3 inches is barely more than a dusting and most of it has already melted as I type this but hey, it is snow. I love snow, plus on the way to class I got to yell at people driving like we were in a blizzard or something that is always fun.

Something rather funny happened in class this week, or maybe I should say before class. Like I have said in past posts, even though I usually wake up when I need to, as a precaution when I need to be somewhere on time in the early morning I set my alarm. Sometimes because of Sleepy Rufus even that does not work. :p Well one day this week I woke up and rolled over to see what time it was. My brain, still in it's somewhat foggy state from the adventure I was having in one of the seven levels of the candy cane forest, only noticed the minute hands were at :49 and my alarm was set for :50. Choosing to avoid some needless noise I turned off the alarm and went about getting ready to leave.

I ate breakfast, looked at the temperature outside (26) grabbed a warm hat and headed out the door. When I arrived at class I noticed the parking lot was not as full as it usually is but I did not give it a second thought that was until I noticed that Mr. T.'s truck was also not parked near the shop. "Hmmm" I thought to myself, I hope we have class today. It was at that moment that I thought to check my phone to see if I had somehow set a new land speed record getting to class, to my surprise I was early. An hour early! I had to look at my phone twice just to make sure I was getting the correct time.

When I thought about it I realized I looked at clocks in the house as well as the clock in my car, all of which were displaying the correct time but my brain just did not process it. What made it worse was the fact that I had taken my Bible and the book I was reading out of my backpack so I had nothing to read. Fortunately I still had my notebook and pens so I just sat there and wrote this post up. Then, since I still had quite a bit more to wait, I decided to stick it to verse...The things we do when we have time on our hands....

The alarm did not sound
still my feet hit the ground
when I jumped out of bed
thoughts of getting ready in my head.
I had a bite to eat
I brushed my teeth
put on my socks then shoes
I was on the move.
Though I did not drive fast
I arrived early to class
with nothing much to occupy my time
except composing this cheesy rhyme.

Oh yeah pretty awful I have to admit. That may be due to the subject matter or maybe just because I stink at creating verse. Anyway even after writing the above in my notebook I still had some time on my hands which was spent praying about the day. Finally it got close enough to the time when class was to start that I headed that way. When I arrived at the shop, to my dismay I discovered that class had been canceled!!!! Mr. T. had hurt his back and was unable to get to class! I spend an hour waiting for class to start and then I discover it has been canceled, what fun!

Heh, the time was not all a waste, it gave me something to write about and I actually did not leave the campus for another hour because I somehow got involved in a conversation regarding the state of our country which I am always up for. :D Since today is Valentine's Day I do have one thing to say about it. Just because you don't have a "sweetheart" does not mean you don't have people around you who you can show your love for aka, parents, brothers and sisters. Don't let commercialization of the holiday and the heavy emphasis on "doing something for that special someone" make you feel like you can't celebrate it if you happen to not have a "special someone" ;)

When it rains.... it Pours!!!!

Last night I set my alarm for 7:00 this morning. Some time during last night the power crashed. So I woke up to my clock flashing 2:00! (It was really 8:30) This was only the the beginning.
Once I finally got dressed and ate breakfast, checked email ect it was almost 9:30. I looked at the clock and thought great, I might be able to get in an hour and a half of violin practice and an hour of piano. I had to leave at 12:00 to go teach piano.
Normally, I have to leave at 9:00 because I have violin lessons on Wednesday.
This week my teacher just didn't want to see me..... something about I smile too much..... :)
At 9:35 My mom comes in my room interrupting my violin scales to tell me that my orthodontist had called while she was on the other line. (I had an appointment Feb 18)
Off I rush to call them back......
***Just a little side note: All my friends know about my braces trauma but we have a lot of lurkers that read this blog. To make a very very long story short.....I have had some form of braces on since I was 13. (I will be 21 this summer) And no..... it wasn't my fault..... I wore my retainer and my rubber bands....I didn't eat popcorn or chew gum. I just had a weird jaw. So I will do anything to get my braces off as soon a possible.
The receptionist at the orthodontist informed me that they had scheduled me on a day when my Orthodontist wasn't working ....... because of my jaw I have to see a certain orthodontist every time. :) The next appointment was in two weeks or 11:00 today! I didn't want to wait two weeks......so..after rescheduling half of my piano students, I hopped in my car for a 45 minute drive into Raleigh. Every thing went fine...well...as fine as it can possibly go when it involves two plastic things cut off your very back molars and having to keep your mouth open two hours. (Well... maybe it was only an hour and a half.)
After 30 minutes, staring at the ceiling starts to get old. :)
It was lunch time when I got out of there. Guess what happens around 12:30?
Thats right! Everybody in Raleigh goes to lunch! And what does that mean.... yep, you got it..... traffic. To make matters worse it was pouring. I know we are in a drought, and we need the rain because we are running out of water. But I just wanted it to stop. And to get past the mall... I knew I would be fine once I was past the mall. I don't go to malls very often. but one of my observations is that malls attract traffic, especially at lunch time. It took me about 25 minutes to go a mile. But any way, I arrived home, grabbed a late lunch, put the roast in the oven and left to teach the rest of my piano students. I got home in time to help my mom with dinner aka. I talked while she cooked the rest of dinner. Since this post is getting a little long winded,
I think it will end it right here . :) Good Night!

~*~Sarah~*~

Go Buy "Forever" Stamps!

The U.S. Postal Service decided that raising the postage 2 cents last May was not enough. Starting May 12th first class stamps are going to cost a cent more @ 42 cents. Across the United States the dwindling number of people who still mail letters collectively groans. Over the years the USPS has blamed email and electronic communication for loss in revenue but for me, I have to say that the steadily rising cost of postage is one reason I don't mail as many letters. I personally love getting letters in the mail and I am sure everyone reading this does as well, but unless it is "pen-pall" type communication I pretty much do all my communication with friends and bill paying online. Oh BTW under a new law that took effect in late 2006 postal prices will be adjusted annually each May....So go buy some forever stamps today because after the 12th their price will be a cent higher.

My Life As a Song!

Opening Credits- The day before you - Rascal Flatts

Waking Up – Stand by Rascal Flatts

First Day of School - The Outside – Taylor Swift

Falling in Love - Take My breath Away - Jessica Simpson

Fight Song - Average Girl Barlow Girl

Breaking Up - What Happened - Jessie Daniels

Prom - Real to Me - Nichole Nordeman

Life's Ok – Ever Ever After - Carrie Underwood

Mental Breakdown - What Hurts the Most – Rascal Flatts

Driving - The prayer by Josh Groban

Flashback – Rise Up – Third Day

Getting Back Together - Tears Of the Saints - Leeland

Wedding – I can't do this - Plumb

The Night Before the War - Cry out to Jesus – Third Day

Final Battle - I need you to love Me - BarlowGirl

Moment of Triumph -Love takes you In - Steven Curtis Chapman

Death Scene - How Do you Know – Third Day

Funeral Song – Oklahoma Texas Line – Rascal Flatts

End Credits – Beautiful Name – ZOEgirl

What about you? What's your song?

1. turn on your Ipod.

2. Put it on shuffle

3. Press play

4. For every question, type the song that's playing

5. When you go to a new question, press the next button

Charlie + finger = hilarity!!

One of my sisters showed me this video that they found on our friend Ellie's blog and I had to share it. I have lost count how many times I have watched it today, it has got to be the funniest video I have seen on youtube in a long time. The way the older boy's facial expression changes puts me in stitches every time!

Please Pray!

My Grandfather just called to tell us my Grandmother fell down the stairs! The ambulance had just got there and they were going to the hospital! My Dad is with them. At this time that is all we know, please pray that she will be fine! I will let you know as soon as we hear something! Thanks!


Update by Will.....
Our grandmother was at the hospital several hours as they ran tests since she was feeling dizzy and her hip was hurting from the fall, but they cleared her to go home and she did not have to stay overnight in the hospital. Today she has mainly just slept, and is doing much better.

People being stupid news item of the week

Vandalism Claim Nets Arrest in Burglary

SUTHERLIN, Ore. (AP) — They say problem gamblers never quit while they're ahead, and one properly insured Oregon man apparently didn't, either.

Authorities recovered a stolen antique slot machine worth $4,000 and arrested the 30-year-old, who they said asked his wife to help file an insurance claim to cover damage done to his van during the heist.

The slot machine was reported stolen in a burglary Monday night at a home in Sutherlin, 170 miles south of Portland, Douglas County sheriff's deputies said. Investigators learned that the victim's housekeeper filed a police report a day earlier claiming someone had thrown a piece of sheet metal through the window of her parked van.

The sheet metal turned out to be from the back of the stolen slot machine, with the serial number attached. Deputies said the housekeeper's husband stole the machine, which tipped over as he drove away, breaking the van window. He told his wife the van had been vandalized and asked her to report the damage so insurance would cover it, deputies said.

The husband and a 25-year-old man were charged with burglary and theft, but the wife wasn't charged. The case was still being investigated.

That just goes to show you, when making a false insurance claim, using a piece of sheet metal from a stolen slot machine is not a good idea! :p

Notebook Blogging #4

Sorry the blog has been so quiet, it seems my sisters have forgotten that they were to keep the blog updated. :p I have decided to build the shelf/bookcase rather than the dresser because the wood for the dresser was going to cost me a little more than I really want to spend right now. I have yet to starting building it though because in true loopy NC weather this whole week has been around 75. 75 in February! It is a hard lot we in the south must endure let me tell you.

Because of the unseasonal weather we started construction this week on a 1,344 sqft house. So far all we have done is built and leveled off the foundation but on Monday if the weather holds up we should be putting the floor system in. Also to the horror of my mother I found out there is a guy in class who has had some trouble with the law. So much trouble he has a curfew of 7pm, is not able to drive and has to call his parole officer regularly....Oh and he can't get near a blade longer than 3 inches!

We also lost power during class, which was a rather interesting experience. We were all sitting in chairs as Mr. T talked about footings when all of a sudden the lights go out then come back on, then go back out. They repeat this for several minutes then they go out for good. "Hmm" Mr. T says "Looks like we get to have class in the dark" It was not that bad except for the fact that no one could see the board and it is a tad hard to see the footings being drawn. Fortunately the power was only off for about 30 minutes. Well, this "notebook blogger" post is going to be a little on the short side, I figured no one really wanted to read about footings, foundation walls, piers and making sure they are level and up to code...

People being stupid news item of the week

Man rides lawn mower to liquor store

ADRIAN, Mich. (AP) - A man was charged with drunken driving after going through two bottles of wine, cutting through a snowstorm on his lawn mower and riding down the center of the street to reach a liquor store, authorities said.

Police found Frank Kozumplik, 49, homeward bound on a John Deere tractor Saturday night, toting four bottles of wine in a paper bag, officials said.

He told officers that his wife had taken their car to work, and that the mower was the only way he could reach the store, two miles from home.

His blood alcohol level was 2 1/2 times Michigan's legal driving limit of 0.08 percent, police told WLEN-FM. They arrested him and confiscated the mower.

Kozumplik declined to comment Monday night.

Poor guy all he wanted was a little more wine... :D