People being stupid news item of the week

Assault with a deadly confection

DES MOINES, Iowa — A 20-year-old Des Moines man has been charged with assaulting a police officer — with candy.

Sean McGuire, a student at Drake University, was arrested early Sunday at a convenience store, officials said. He allegedly threw several M&Ms at a Des Moines police officer, who was investigating a hit-and-run accident involving an intoxicated man.

Drake security guards on the scene noticed M&M candies falling on the ground around the officer, according to police reports. When the officer turned around, one of the candies hit his shoulder.

McGuire claimed he threw the candy because he was "sticking up for his friend," who apparently was the main suspected in the accident.

I just want to know one thing, were they the peanut m&ms? Because those things are about 3x the size of the regular m&ms and can actually sting a little if you throw them hard enough. :p

Giant Cow!!

Ok, so I was listening to Klove this morning while I was driving. They started to talk about a cow that was 6 foot 6 inches, we have had cows, and I thought to myself, "Wow, that is one big cow". When I got home and looked up the story on Google I found some pictures I thought I would share. The cow's name is Chill, weighs over a ton and is about the same height as a small elephant!

~Anna~

Reposting of Cell Phone Tip #73

A cell phone incident occurred yesterday and it immediately brought to mind "Cell Phone Tip #73" which was posted last year. I figure it is worth posting again so from the archives of September 2007, Cell Phone Tip #73:

When talking to another person by cell phone, if the call is dropped in a bad service area the person who initiated the call is responsible for calling back. Both parties should not try to call each other right after the dropped call, as this usually will result in a busy signal as they both try to reach each other. When a call is dropped the original "caller" should be the one to once again try to reach the "callee" if followed, this tip can save much frustration for the members of a dropped call and put an end to voice mail that starts out like "I just lost you, and now your line is busy...."

A random post on a song I have had stuck in my head

Any readers ever heard of Barry Louis Polisar or listened to his music? He has a definite folkish indie type style that usually has a simple repetitive melody pared with some just killer cheesy lyrics. ("I Need You Like a Donut Needs a Hole" :D it makes me smile just typing it out) Anyway in the absence of something more worthy to blog on, he has a song called All I Want is You" that has been making the rounds in my brain for several weeks. The way the simple acoustic rhythm just flows along is very catchy. Plus the lyrics make me laugh every time I hear them, and they just get better as the song moves along. :p

If I was a flower growing wild and free
All I'd want is you to be my sweet honey bee.
And if I was a tree growing tall and green
All I'd want is you to shade me and be my leaves

chorus:
All I want is you, will you be my bride
Take me by the hand and stand by my side
All I want is you, will you stay with me?
Hold me in your arms and sway me like the sea.

If you were a river in the mountains tall,
The rumble of your water would be my call.
If you were the winter, I know I'd be the snow
Just as long as you were with me, let the cold winds blow

chorus

If you were a wink, I'd be a nod
If you were a seed, well I'd be a pod.
If you were the floor, I'd wanna be the rug
And if you were a kiss, I know I'd be a hug

chorus

If you were the wood, I'd be the fire.
If you were the love, I'd be the desire.
If you were a castle, I'd be your moat,
And if you were an ocean, I'd learn to float.

chorus

If this post were an animal it would be a frog
hopping along through my blog
If this post were a season it would be the spring
a cool simple breeze merrily billowing

Yeah I will admit it I am a sucker for cheesy lyrics :p

Notebook Blogging Season Final

Well this is the last "Notebook blogger" for a while, today was the last day of the spring semester. These past two days we had our finals which actually were a lot easier than I thought they were going be. We had one where we had to estimate the materials for a complete house and one involving building code.

I am not one of those lucky individuals who possesses a photographic memory where everything you read or see is ingrained in your subconsciouses. Rather my memory is slightly strange in that I tend to have very detailed memories of events, almost like instant replay of things that have happened in my life. Almost everyone I know has their own "instant replay" section in my mind, all I do is think of that person and it is like a list of clips starts playing. It is weird, I may have not seen someone in years and we come in contact with each other and my mind will go to the time we were playing hide-n-go-seek and they hid in the trash can!

Anyway it is sometimes hard for me to remember things the way you need to for tests, fortunately as we have built our house building code has been an ever constant topic so for the building code test lot of the questions I was just able to remember a specific event and remember the answers. Remember than guy I mentioned in an earlier post who offered to pay me to do his English homework?

Well during the estimation test, he was sitting behind me and he whispers my name. I turn around and he says, "Will, help a brother out, how many studs do we need?" I just laughed and turned back around and he continues on with "You want some money? I will buy you lunch" This was right after Mr. T. has said "and I don't want anyone sharing answers" :p

I have really enjoyed class, I know this will sound cheesy but being back in a learning environment has reminded me how much fun it is to learn new stuff. Sometimes in the daily grind we forget about learning something new and just go about our lives, which is fine, but learning new stuff is great.

At the beginning of the year, I was not sure what specifically I would doing this summer but I have reached a decision. I am going to spend the summer in Alaska as a float plane pilot. :D Wow, you might think, I did not even know you knew how to fly a float plane Will! My answer is, I am always full of surprises..........but yeah, the above line while something I think would be fun is completely false.

I do want to get my pilots certificate but that currently involves more money than I have sitting around so I am of a serious mind to just become a political lackey for the summer, try to get some people of value into the places they can do the most good. Maybe that will be the title of my Thursday posts from now on, "Ramblings of a political lackey".......has a catchy ring doesn't it?

Without effort, victory is meaningless

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

That is one of my favorite quotes, it popped into my head today and I once again realized how I love being that man in the arena. I love the effort you have to put in as you push for something. For me a battle is almost more fun than a victory and a loss only makes me want to try harder the next time. I know the enthusiasm, the rush, you get when you are devoted to a cause or task that is worthy, it is one of the greatest feelings on earth.

More and more the world is becoming a place of "cold timid souls" who do not understand the thrill of doing something great even if it ends in defeat. The lion chasers are scarce and becoming more so. I know this is a common theme in my "thought" posts and that is probably because it is an ever pressing thought in my mind. How do you show or express to someone the greatness of something if they have never done it and have no desire to? It is a quandary for us humans which has been around since the earth was created.

God loves us, wholly, unconditionally, regardless of the fact that we tend to be ridiculously selfish and sinful beings. He knows what is best for us in our lives and wants us to follow Him, yet so often we don't recognize the amazing potential we could have if we just surrender. We live our lives having never fully surrendered with no real desire to and that causes us to be "cold and timid souls" spiritually. This is going to sound harsh but that is what I feel has happened to a lot of churches today.

There is no more worthy cause than to be enthusiastically dedicated to being a shining light for God in this world. Yet how can churches be so timid about proclaiming the Gospel and Biblical viewpoints in our society? Because they have not experienced the joy and thrill that comes from being in that arena, they would rather sit back with their 501c3 status and build their church membership.

Somehow this post has gone way off topic, all I wanted to do was post the quote and say I love it and somehow it has bounced around to churches building their membership! So I end it now with another quote:

"There is not in all America a more dangerous trait than the deification of mere smartness unaccompanied by any sense of moral responsibility."

Political Rambling

Today is NC's primary for the November elections. Rather than join most of the United States on February 5th, we wait three more months to have our primaries. The lateness does not matter that much except usually by this time a presidential candidate has been picked and it does not really matter who you vote for. This year is an exception for the Democratic party, NC's primary actually has some meaning in that race, but since McCain is really the only guy left for the Republicans their presidential primary is, to quote Matthew West, "going through the motions".

The fact that McCain will be the the eventual Republican nominee bugs me, as I don't particularly like McCain, he has some good things going for him but I have felt all along he is more in the mold of a Kennedy style liberal than a Reagan conservative. At the start of '08 there were several candidates who would have been a better choice but in a bewildering display of indecisiveness the public seemed to go with McCain more as a default, "he has been there before" choice rather than the best candidate for the job.

The Republican party only has itself to thank for this mess, then again the leadership probably does not even view this as a mess. :p Still, I am not a fan of the idea that staying home on election day "teaches leadership in a party a lesson" it could actually do irreparable damage to our already muddled political situation. Our government is so far from where it was when this nation was first founded, political correctness is killing us, our inability to have or stand by any type of principle is eroding our very society. Yet decayed and decrepit, we continue to meander though darkness refusing to turn to the light, unaware of the impending precipice. Ugh, it is enough to make you want to get into politics if only to try to bring about a little bit of change for the better. :)

People being stupid news item of the week

FORT WORTH, Texas, April 30 (UPI) -- Police in Fort Worth, Texas, said a man has been arrested after he presented a check made out for $360 billion to bank tellers.

Bank employees told investigators that the check held by Charles Ray Fuller, 21, made them suspicious, so they phoned the account holder and verified that the check was bogus, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Wednesday.

The account holder told bank employees that Fuller was her daughter's boyfriend and did not have permission to deposit or cash the check.

Police said Fuller told them during his arrest that he is attempted to start a record label and his girlfriend's mother gave him the check to help fund his operation.

Arresting officers said they found just under two ounces of marijuana and a .25-caliber handgun with a magazine on his person.

Fuller was charged with fraud, unlawfully carrying a weapon and possession of marijuana. He was released Thursday on $3,750 bail.

Shazam!

No notebook blogger today, I have been using my breaks in class to work on an estimate for an addition, more on that at a later date, so I have did not have a chance to write anything up, besides nothing much exciting happened anyway. :p In the meantime, long time readers of the blog probably remember the dumpster house, full of trash and everything else. Well it has been slowly coming along in it's fix up but since it is almost finished now, I figured I would post some new pictures.

As much as I like the red door on my apartment, this orange one tops it IMO

Remember this?

Sadly the spiral staircase had to go

Old vs. new kitchen

This is the same room:

I am only posting this bathroom picture because I think the sink is awesome...

Going upstairs:

bamboo mini fence in back

Religion is killing us???

This is a post I have wanted to get out for almost a week but I just have not had time to get all I wanted to say typed up. Just as a warning I know it is going to be long but I feel it is worth it... I don't exactly frequent USA Today's website, reading their slant on the news tends to just get me riled up. I do on occasion read their articles though, usually found when I am looking at headlines on other sites. There was an article published last Monday by a Rev. Oliver Thomas that I honestly read with my mouth open in amazement. It starts off like this:

"Is what we preach — and ultimately, what we believe — hastening the destruction of our planet? The answer appears to be a resounding yes. Be fruitful and multiply," says the book of Genesis, and Lord knows we have. To the tune of more than 300 million at home and more than 6 billion abroad. But as we go about the heavenly task of multiplying, a poignant question arises: Might our religion be killing us?"

It continues:

"We all remember the Aztecs. Some say their religion, with its penchant for violence and human sacrifice, played a critical role in the destruction of their civilization. We moderns are far more sophisticated, of course, but if we persist with some of our religious practices, we could be heading down the same disastrous dog trot. Sort of a reverse Noah story. Noah is credited with saving humanity during the big flood. We could be the ones who get blamed for destroying it.

Here's why. The hundreds of scientists who make up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned recently that the environmental crisis is more dire than originally believed. We might have reached a tipping point."

I am going to snip it there and just say that I do not believe there is a environmental crisis. A majority of the people pushing this scare-a-thon are also happen to be evolutionists and thus I'm immediately suspect as to their scientific reliability. Besides that, even secular scientists are widely divided on the fact that carbon emissions are causing global warming. Further, many reputable scientists remain unconvinced that the current warming of the earth is the result of any human contribution at all.

On top of all that, this past winter has been one of the coldest in memory for folks in the northern US or so I have read, which just another reason against a supposed environmental crisis. Yes the earth may be warming up slightly, at the same time 20 some years ago wasn't everyone worried about the world cooling off? The earth's temperature obviously fluctuates, like most things on our earth, it has a cycle. But in the interest of the article lets assume global warming is a serious issue.
Back to the article:

"much of our environmental problem is due to overpopulation. There are simply too many people for the planet to sustain — at least the way we expect to be sustained. Each new person requires more food, water and oxygen. At the same time, each is producing more carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and methane. For each additional human, planet Earth (and the rest of us) pays a price.
Now, consider the Roman Catholic Church's continued opposition to modern birth control or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' (i.e. Mormons) encouragement of large families. This might not alarm you unless you realize that nearly one in every five humans on the planet is Roman Catholic and that the Latter-day Saints belong to one of the fastest-growing religions in the Western Hemisphere. Many Orthodox Jews and some Muslims also eschew birth control."

You see where he is headed don't you? We as humans are supposedly killing the very earth we live on with our very lives. So what is Rev. Thomas' solution? (If you have not guessed it, you might want to sit down)

"In the interest of preserving our planet and our species, shouldn't religious organizations be encouraging smaller families? Do our spiritual leaders need additional divine revelation to realize that our current doctrines — which threaten to take the entire world down with us — have become ethically and theologically questionable?"

"Shouldn't religious organizations be encouraging smaller families?" :o Yeah, that is right, because the population is contributing to the theory, the theory mind you, of global warming and humans obviously must be the leading contributors to this bogus cause. Religious organizations should be happily encouraging smaller families for the sake of our planet!!! The Bible is obviously outdated and the spoken word of our very Creator is ethically and theologically questionable. Right?

I SERIOUSLY DISAGREE! The Rev. Oliver Thomas is speaking blasphemy in the very truest sense of the word, claiming to know better than God. It seems Rev. Thomas is part of the growing group of liberal "Christians" who feel the need to either re-interpret the Bible or even worse, completely disregard it as being behind these modern times in favor of a more "Politically correct" religious worldview. He continues on later in the article to say:

"we must stop having so many children. Clergy should consider voicing the difficult truth that having more than two children during such a time is selfish. Dare we say sinful? The average American might not listen to his elected representatives, but he darn sure listens to his pastor."

I guess in Rev. Thomas' mind I would be pretty sinful, because I certainly want more than two children! I would not be so rash as to tell God the exact number of children I want but, whatever number He sees fit to bless me and my future wife with I will take. Though if I were lucky enough to have 13 the transportation situation might become interesting. :p The article closes with another look back in time at the Aztecs:

"When Aztec society was threatened by disease and military defeat, their religious leaders appear to have let them down. Most likely, these leaders encouraged even more human sacrifice to appease the gods, thereby further weakening the society and ultimately facilitating its collapse. Let's hope we can learn from their mistakes."

That closing statement adds yet another flaw to the entire article's thought process. First, the Aztec were a carnal society which followed false gods, we trust in the one true God, the command's we receive from Him far outweigh some crazyness an Aztec witchdoctor told the people about sacrifices. Second the last sentence, "Let's hope we can learn from their mistakes." is almost an oxymoron of the article.

A sentence before he is talking about how the Aztec's desire to appease their false gods through sacrifice resulted in the weakening of their society in numbers and it's ultimate collapse. Yet for the whole article the main theme is for a limiting of children, forgetting our Biblical mandate of being fruitful and multiplying, isn't limiting the number of children we have doing the same thing the Aztec's did with their sacrifice, weakening the number of people with our beliefs and our society as a whole?

Environmentalists who value the earth above everything else, who view humans as expendable, would do well to remember Psalm 24:1 The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein. Yes, we should take care of the earth, nobody wants to live in a nasty pollution filled earth, but we also should remember that it is the Lord's, if He wants to cook our current earth, (which will happen eventually, Revelation 21:1) nothing we finite human do will stop Him.

To say I disagree with Rev. Thomas' article would be a understatement, I vehemently disagree in every sense of the word. To be opposed to having a quiver full of arrows, one of God's greatest blessings, is I feel, a serious offense towards all of humanity and God Himself. The fact that this man also is a Baptist minister as well as a constitutional lawyer only worsens that bitter taste in my mouth.

The whole article can be read here, I only took pieces from it as there were several other things said which I could continue ranting on but I knew this post was going to be long from the start without having a whole article pasted in my post.....

Speedtest...

I placed 199248 out of 274070 on the ranking list37 words

~Anna~

I'm sticking with you, 'Cause I'm made out of glue....

Pretty catchy little line eh? It's been in my head all day :p Last Wednesday afternoon I climbed in my car and headed south to help my dad with some work. If you have been reading the blog for a while, you know I love driving, especially with the music cranked up and the windows down. It being a beautiful spring day, perfect for driving, I was happy to spend several hours with the wind whipping my hair as I sang along with my music.

I arrived at my destination roughly two and half hours later, met my dad and we got checked into the place we were staying. No sooner had we parked the cars when his phone rings and he gets a call requesting us to do an interior shot. This requires lights, which are at home several hours back up the interstate.

Being the crazy always willing to drive person I am, five minutes later I was back in my car, windows rolled down retracing my steps. Fortunately the lights were not needed until the next day so I arrived home, put them in my car and got to sleep in my own bed Wednesday night before I was back on the road early the next morning.

Several hours later back on site, we set the lights up for one shot, ate some lunch and headed outside to do another shot. It was then realized that one of our lenses had some serious issues, as in, it was not working at all. What do you suppose happened? I got back in my car and drove yet again back in the direction of home.

Except this trip I stopped before I got all the way home to pick up the replacement lens from a friend. Then I reversed course for the 4th time and headed back down south! I arrived back around 9pm and was just getting ready to park (literally feet away from the parking space) and grab something to eat when the lovely sound of a police siren filled my ears followed by the flashing of bright multi-colored lights. "Rats!" was my only thought as I pulled over and waited for the officer to come to my window.

No, I was not speeding, my passenger tail light was out so I spent 20 minutes out in front of the restaurant waiting on the officer. Finally he comes back and tells me the reason for such a long wait is because his printer is on the blink and he was having issues printing off the warning he wanted to give me. :p Friday was downright slow in comparison to Wednesday and Thursday, the only driving I accomplished was the few hours return trip.

Overall though, I drove 590 odd miles in three days which is not much by my standards, a little more than driving to New York City and a little less than getting to Boston. Unlike a drive up the east coast though, it was the same stretch of road just repeated over and over and over again. It is a good thing I have my ipod in my car, because by the sixth time driving on the same part of the interstate it was getting pretty boring and I could probably have driven it with my eyes closed. I did come up with a cheesy song though and since it has been a while since I posted any seriously crazy stuff I thought I would share:

Well I hopped in my car
for a little drive
a two hour tour
that got multiplied

With the windows rolled down
I'm zipping along
the music blaring
'an I'm singing a song

Pulled by the police
but not for burning rubber
seems my taillight
had gone undercover

With the windows rolled down
I'm zipping along
the music blaring
'an I'm singing a song

Drove the same stretch
of road six times
you can bet by now
I've got it memorized

With the windows rolled down
I'm zipping along
the music blaring
'an I'm singing a song!

Pictures from final concert of the season

Yesterday was the last orchestra concert of the season for everyone, no video this time but here are some pictures:

Sam:

Molly:

Anna:

Sarah:

Molly playing:

Anna playing:

Sarah playing:

The ever enthusiastic Mrs. Kitchen:

Notebook Blogging #10

Well, after several weeks of MIA notebook blogger is back, though this might be a short post. Doesn't it seem like the year is just flying by? In one week it will be the 1st of May! The 1st of May!! 114 days into the new year and exactly 35 weeks until Christmas, which BTW, I already have some gifts for. :p While it seems the days are just flying off the calender, there is also a part of me that feels like time is just crawling along. It is a weird feeling, to know the year is moving right along but at the same time some things in life have their own timetable and all you can do is be patient and wait.

Take our house, granted, we only work on it a couple hours a day when it is not pouring rain (something that has been quite common recently) and the work ethic of some class members leaves sometime to be desired, but taking that all into consideration it is still mildly irritating that construction has been so slow, but at least if I get too frustrated there are usually plenty of things handy that need a good hammer. :p And like I said in January, while there are a lot of things I want to happen or get accomplished you just have to be patient and trust the Lord's timing even for something as minor as building a house.

One recent element of construction that I thought was great fun was dragging trusses for our roof. We had them all dropped at one end and we had to space them evenly across the top of the framework. This involved balancing on the 2x4 top-plate and walking trapeze style 48 feet to the other end of the house which is actually really easy. We were going to have three people move each truss just to get the job done faster except almost everyone chickened out of getting up there! So the few individuals, myself included who were not scared to death of a little 15' drop balanced ourselves on the 2x4, gripped the truss in the center and dragged them individually to the other end of the house.

The first time I have to admit I shuffled my way across the length of the house, this was mainly due to my feet being the size they are and the fact that I kept kicking myself in my heels. After that first run though, I was good and we got them spaced out relatively quickly considering most of the class was on the ground. Once we got the sheeting down on the roof, most of the class was a little more willing to get on the roof to put down the tar paper and shingles but that could be a post all of it's own.

Remember the I mentioned sunburn in the Earth day post a few days ago? Well, I did not follow my own advice and I actually got rather red, though not severely when we were working on getting the trusses set up and the sheeting on the roof. Since that day I have religiously been putting on sunscreen, I have vowed not to revisit lobster land!

Anyone remember the furniture I was going to build? :p Well it seems like free time we have in the shop is few and far between but I have almost finished the bookcase. I just need to stain it and put it back together. I will post pictures whenever it is fully completed.

Life In The Orthodontist Chair

Last Sunday, one of the brackets on my braces came loose. I'm not sure why... The first time I had a bracket come loose, I thought my tooth was falling out!! :o (My braces make my teeth feel really loose sometimes)

When I called them last Monday afternoon, the only appointment they had was 8:50 Thursday morning. I had to be at my violin lesson at 9:45 that morning , but I went ahead and made the appointment hoping that I would be able to move my lesson later. I was able to move my lesson 30 minutes later. Since the receptionist assured me that it only took about 15 or 20 minutes to put a bracket on, I was confident that I would get to my lesson on time.... as long as I left by 9:30. Forty minutes for one little bracket.....no way it is going to take that long.... or so I thought. :)

So, Thursday morning I get there a little bit early. I only had to wait a few minutes before they called me back. As I was walking back with the Orthodontic Assistant (Morgan) who would be fixing my bracket, She asked what wire was poking me. I explained that it was a loose bracket not a wire sticking into me. (I just ignore wire poking into me. When you have had braces as long as I have you get used to them.) It turns out the that the guy I had talked to on the phone was new and he had put the wrong code on the appointment slot. After Morgan had gone to the front desk and set him straight, she got right to fixing my bracket. She had just finished when the orthodontist Dr. H came over and looked in my mouth. He was quite pleased with how my teeth looked. He hadn't seen my teeth in a few months. I am a special case (really!) so the only Dr. who works on my braces is Dr. B.

Dr. B came over to look at my teeth and apparently thought I was there for a regular appointment and started messing with my braces. I, off course could not say anything with his hands in my mouth...so Morgan told him that I was just here to re-glue a bracket. His reply was "Two of the back brackets need to be converted ?? but they are not convertible so I am trying to see how I can convert them." Yeah... it didn't make too much sense to me either. So he ends up sawing off the little hooks on my brackets and then leaves the Orthodontic Assistant (I was tired of typing Morgan) to "tie the brackets in steel" But, because he had sawed off the little hooks, the wire didn't have anything to attach onto. :0 To make a long story short.... Dr. B ended up having to take off the brackets, find new "convertible" brackets and attach them. I finally got out of there at exactly 9:30 just in time to get to my violin lesson. :) Unfortunately, a few hours later as I was eating lunch the bracket came loose. :( So, yesterday I was back in the chair for the 3rd time in two weeks. (I think my orthodontist is great, but come on! )

For those who don't know, this is the second time I have had braces. I had weird jaw problems that my 1st orthodontist didn't fix. I should be getting my braces off in a few months... just about the time Olivia get hers back on. I feel your pain Olivia.

Today is Earth day....

And in celebration of such a glorious day as well as Arbor day this Friday I present the following picture from the "Sarah and William crazy picture archive"

Note, our faces are turned away from the camera so it would not appear like this was a publicity stunt. Today and Friday are days in which we should be celebrating nature and we wanted our true feelings for both Earth and Arbor day to be conveyed through the power of the photography without a distraction which might arise from seeing our smiling visages.....

Ok enough of that gobbledygook! (yes it's a real word) Since it seems spring is upon us, how about some helpful advice on avoiding potentially painful experiences which can arise between now and the fall.

So it is getting warmer, the sun is shinning, the flowers are starting to bloom, bees are flying from flower to said flower, though none of them are mine since my hives died, the pollen is turning my car a nasty yellowish green, and people are starting to wear shorts. If you happen to not believe in wearing shorts, let me be the first of the season to tell you that you are a smart person, though probably a very hot one as the weather continues to heat up. Why are you a very smart person for not wearing shorts? For the simple reason that by wearing shorts you present the lower half of your legs to serious injury.

Case in point:

As you can see, exposed legs seem to attract hard pointy objects as well as possess a strange, almost magnetic pull towards any hard surface, especially that of concrete. Yes shorts are MUCH cooler in warm weather, but are they worth it? I leave it up to the readership to decide for themselves.

Something even worse and much more serious than injuries to the lower extremities comes from our always shining source of light, the sun. I am talking about sunburn! Now maybe some people don't have this problem, count yourself blessed if you don't, but the sun really likes shining it's bright rays onto my skin and toasting it a nice shade of reddish orange. Maybe toast is too light a word, fry would probably be more like it. The times I have had to deal with skin peeling off in quarter sized pieces is sadly too numerous to count.

Fortunately there is a solution to both injuries to your legs and sunburn, stay indoors! :D (This is not a very feasible option however) A better approach is to wear sunblock to prevent sunburn, yes, it is a slight pain to put on but you are saving your skin. As to bloody injuies on your knees and legs, if you can't wear long pants, at least always have band-aids handy to keep the blood at bay and maybe Neosporin to prevent infection.....Oh and avoid mulch piles in the dark ;)

The folks who run this blog are slackers, or A very random sprawl

Seriously! A whole week without a single post, not even an explanation as to why there are no posts! Booo! Actually I have an excuse and I posted last Friday they the blog might be slightly dead but I figured at least one of my sisters would at the very minimum make one post. I guess it was too much to ask. So yes, I have been very busy, the following is a rather long rambling post on some of the various highlights from the past two weeks.

Two weeks ago I was commissioned to build a privacy fence of an extra long length, since Nick has to take it easy for 6 weeks, I grabbed my cousin who had nothing better to do and we set to construction. The fence post holes were marked out and we started merrily drilling away with a two-man auger. Well we were merrily drilling for maybe a minute then the auger hit a root and decided it wanted to turn into a paper weight and stop drilling. It was coaxed back to life only to die several rotations later. After several hours of messing around with not much visible success, I decided to return said auger, get my money back and go a different route.

The different route involved shovels and manual post hole diggers, which is actually the correct name for those things. Something like 12 hours were spent digging our holes by hand. For some strange reason, the man we were building the fence for wanted it built right through a miniature jungle, hanging vines and all. This involved first hacking a trail for the fence, then as we dug, hacking through a plethora of roots just to get to actual solid ground. The second day rolls by and we still don't have the holes dug, though they surrounding jungle is pretty much taken care of. I decided to grab another auger this time one a little more powerful from a local place. The second go around with an auger worked without a hitch. Day three ends and we are ready to set the posts.

Not much can be said about setting posts other than it is messy work. It probably would not have been so messy except halfway through the day it decided to rain just enough to make everything muddy. I had close to a quarter inch of concrete mixed with mud covering my entire body. My mother wanted me to strip just to come inside the house, but the posts got set.

Rather than rest heading into the weekend, I decided the best way to end a 55 hour work week was to kick off the weekend by dancing late into the night! I am after all member of the "Manly Men Know How to Dance...And Do" group. (Yes that is an actual group and I am an actual member) So I headed west to a monthly Contra dance get together with some friends.

Four hours later my feet were not sore (this thanks to converse) but I was as sweaty as I had been when I was digging holes for the fence posts. It was a lot of fun though, contra dancing involves lots of fast swinging of your partner and there were several dances where my parter and I were swinging so fast that had I not been looking at her face I probably would have gotten dizzy as everything else was a blur. I would post some video but I am still waiting on it, so I just have this lousy picture of the crowd. If you don't know I am the guy in the brown shirt to the far right.Monday morning my cousin and I were back at it building the actual fence on the posts. It took longer than I would have liked but we got the job done and it looks pretty good if I do say so myself. Something that was rather funny that kept occurring as we worked on the fence was the fact the people driving by, mainly of the female variety kept yelling at us. The chorus of yells such as "Ooooh" and "Hey Baby" as they drove by just made me laugh. The completed fence:



If you notice the fence curves along with the sidewalk so you can't see the whole length but this was the best picture I could get without standing in the middle of the road. :p The day after the fence was completed my dad and I made a quick trip to Florida that for a job which was why I was silent on the blog this past week. Next week is already shaping up to be just as busy as the last two but I will try to at least post a "Notebook Blogger" and "Stupid People News" and maybe my sisters will come out of hiding with a post or two of their own. Though I could continue babbling on about FL in this post I think I will go clean (yes a guy cleaning) my room as it has looked like a bomb went off in it for the past two weeks and yesterday I had a hard time finding some clothes I was looking for which of course means they are probably buried somewhere in my room.

Magic Cookie point winner + Stupid People News

Sorry the the blog has been dead this week, I wasn't even able to get a notebook blogger posted. I have been a little under the weather the past couple of days with a headache and sore throat plus I have not been getting home until 9pm and after dinner and a shower I have pretty much just crashed. I don't think I have been online more than 5 minutes since Monday and that was just to check email. The next couple of weeks I probably will be just as busy, which is good, I can't stand having nothing to do, but that means I won't be posting much, so I apologize in advance if my sisters can't keep the readers entertained. :p

As to the winner of the Anna's Magic Cookie point quiz, rahraht was the winner with a whopping 4/12 right! Yes! 4 our of 12, you rock! I guess maybe Anna's questions were too hard for our readers, I will see if she can post easier ones next time. ;) The answers in case anyone was wondering are as follows:
1. B
2. B
3. A
4. B
5. A
6. B
7. C
8. C
9. A
10.A
11.A
12.A

And now I bring you this week's stupid criminal:

Candy Wrappers Help Police Nab Suspects

CINCINNATI (AP) - Police in Cincinnati say a trail of candy and wrappers led them to suspects in a break-in at a downtown candy store.

Four people have been charged with breaking and entering. One of the four also has been charged with child endangering.

Police say 19-year-old Christine Ruther had her 7-week-old daughter with her when she and three others broke into Peter Minges (MIHNG'-guhs) & Son candy store Thursday. They are accused of taking about $400 in candy.

The group was arrested a few blocks away.

Update on Nick

Nick was released from the hospital tonight. He will be staying at the Ronald Macdonald House for tonight. He has the see the doctor one last time tomorrow, then hopefully, they will be on the way home. I think everyone in my family is ready for them to be home.
Well, that's pretty much it. I'm sorry that the blog has been kinda dead the past week and a half. :)

~Sarah~

Magic Cookie points and a quiz

Anyone willing to answer some crazy questions? No, I did not make these up they are all from a book as well as a game with the same name that we own. The person with the most correct will get 20 magic cookie points! If anyone gets them all right they get an extra 10 cookie points. If you happen to own the book or the game and I know some readers do then you should have no problem getting them all right. ;) Email Will your answers, his email is in his profile.

1. How to Moisten Lip without Lip Balm?
A. Put butter on your finger and then rub on your lips.
B. Rub the outside of your nose, then rub your lips with it.
C. Stick your finger in your ear, then rub your lips with it.

2. How To treat A fractured Collarbone ?
A. Attach a Straight shaft, such as a shortened broomstick, along the victim's spine, so the victim will stand erect with shoulders back.
B. Have the victim wear a backpack filled with 15 lbs. of cargo.
C. Remove the victim's pants, wrap them around his/her chest, and tie the pants legs together tightly at the top of the rib cage.

3. How To Prevent Someone From Choking On His/Her Tongue ?
A. Pass a large safety pin or wire through the tongue and pull the tongue out of the throat.
B.Quickly flip the victim on to his/her stomach.
C. Turn the head of the victim to one side and hole the tongue down with your other hand.

4. How To know IF you are Near Land When Lost At Sea?
A. Small sharks seldom swim more than 10 miles from land.
B. Cumulus clouds, in an otherwise clear sky, often form over land.
C.If the sea is very flat, then you are no more than 20 miles from land.

5. How To treat Chocolate Poisoning In Dogs ?
A. Orally administer a hydrogen peroxide and water solution.
B. Give the dog one tablet of Alka Seltzer dissolved in water.
C. Give the dog salt water to cleanse it's system.

6. How To Survive Being trapped in a Walk-In-Freezer ?
A. Use your heat to thaw food.
B. Eat ice.
C. Keep moving to stay warm.

7. How To Perforce Mouth to mouth Resuscitation ?
A. Stop if the victim has not recovered in 30 minutes.
B. Stop when the victim seems to be enjoying it.
C. Stop if the victim has not recovered in four or more hours.

8.How To Survive A Poisonous Snack Bite ?
A. Immediately place ice on the wound.
B.Make two deep cute over the wound and suck out the poison.
C. Immobilize the bitten ares and keep it lower than your heart.

9. How To Prevent A Cold ?
A. Sit in a sauna two or more times a week.
B. Use a dehumidifier in your house to reduce germs.
C. Wash hands each time you touch something.

10. How to treat swollen feet ?
A. Soak the feet in cold water, then elevate them.
B. Soak the feet in warm water, elevate them, then wrap them tightly with an Ace bandage.
C. Soak the feet in either warm or cold water, then wrap them in ace bandage.

11.How To Survive Spilling Coffee on Your Keyboard?
A. Immediately wet your finger and run it over the area where the spill is. Then use a paper towel or toilet paper to clean up the spill.
B. Immediately blow on spill. Continue blowing for at least a minute, while you grab around for something to mop up the liquid.
C. Immediately flip your keyboard over. Let it stand down for a few moments before turning it back over and mopping off the liquid.

12. How to Tan a hide ?
A. After soaking the hide in water, smash the animal's brains into a thick moisturizing solution, then work it into the hide.
B. Rub the hide with dirt and small rocks to make it smooth.
C. Dry the hide in the sun. Periodically spit on it, and rub the spittle into the hide.

Have fun Answering!
~Anna~

Update on my brother

Just a quick update for those who have asked and anyone else wondering. Nick is doing great, he is off the epidural and is probably going to be leaving the hospital tomorrow. He will then spend a few days in the Ronald McDonald House just so the doctors can keep an eye on him and if all goes well, should be home later this week. Thanks once again to everyone for their prayers. :)

People being stupid news item of the week

Spanish Police Nab Burglar Playing Dead at Funeral Home

MADRID, Spain — A burglar who broke into a funeral
home tried to fool police by playing dead, but two things gave him away.

First, he breathed. Plus, he wore grungy clothes rather than the Sunday best of those dressed for eternal rest.

Police and the Crespo Funeral Home said Wednesday they have no idea what the 23-year-old Spanish man was trying to steal in the break-in March 17 in Burjassot, a small town just outside Valencia.

Neighbors alerted police when they heard the front door of the business being forced open in the middle of the night.

Police officers arrived with the owner, and eventually found the suspect lying on a table in a glassed-in chamber used for viewings of deceased people during wakes, a local police official said from Burjassot.

"The custom here is for dead people to be dressed in suits, in nice clothes that look presentable. This guy was in everyday clothes that were wrinkled and dirty," the police official said. Department rules barred her from giving her name.

"He was trying to fake being dead, but he was breathing," she said.

The suspect's name was not released. Police said he had served jail time in the past for robbery.

The funeral home said it was mystified as to what the man wanted. There were no valuables or cash in the funeral parlor.

Notebook Blogging #9

More than half the guys in my class are African American and they are all great guys but I have to say their clothing style for the most part leaves something to be desired. I just want to knock upside the head the dude who started the fashion of extremely baggy clothes and pants riding at least halfway down your waist.

It seems that pants are no longer there to cover your rear, rather they are just there to cover your legs. I am dead serious here, there are several of my class mates who literally wear their pants on their upper thighs, as in below their rears, as in they have to walk funny to keep their pants from just falling to the floor.

Maybe pants are much more comfortable riding on your upper thighs but I doubt it. It seems they are all just succumbing to some weird fashion trend. The lowness of the pants actually explains the overly large shirts and when I say overly large I mean just that. These shirts reach almost to their knees. But then since their pants are on their thighs, they have an excuse for such large shirts, they don't want to be exposing their undergarments or worse to the world.
At least I think that is the idea, it works relatively well while standing, but sitting down is another issue :o :red:

Yeah, I think this is one style that seriously needs to go. Another one has to do with baseball hats or lids as they are now called. It seems when you buy a hat you keep the size sticker on. Why? You might ask, for the world to know what size you wear of course! Also make sure you buy several sizes too large and definitely wear it at a jaunty angle. Whatever you do, do not bend the brim it, needs to be as flat as possible so as to offer a clear view of your size sticker.

To illustrate the hat style popular today, I went into the "Sarah and William crazy picture archive" and present to you a rather bad example.

If you notice, the "do not bend the brim" law was broken, but we tried to make up for it by placing our hats at an even more jaunty angle than is normally seen.

Update on Nick

As of 7:30 this morning, Nick was doing very well. They haven't had to give him any morphine since yesterday afternoon. His epidural is now covering the pain. That is a big answer to prayer. Everyone, thank you so much for praying. I don't even know some of you personally. You how no idea how encouraging it is to know that there are people from all over praying for Nick and my family.

~Sarah~

For those of you who don't read the comments :)

Nicholas' surgery went really well this afternoon. He is now resting comfortably. He had to get a dose of morphine because his epidural only goes up so far. They can't put the epidural any higher because it might affect his breathing. Right now the prayer requests are that the pain will be be managed and He will get hydrated.

Thank you

~Sarah ~

Prayer Requests

There are a couple of prayer requests I wanted to share. First, my brother Nick is scheduled to have surgery tomorrow. Those who know us may or may not know that his ribs are slightly inverted, which means they are pressing his lungs and trachea causing a decreased air supply. It is not quite as serious as that sounds, he can still breathe fine and everything, but it is something that definitely needed to be fixed.

He was planning to have the surgery next month with another doctor, but the Lord really moved in a mighty way and Nick is going to be able to have the doctor who invented the surgery as the lead guy for his operation.

They go about fixing the issue by inserting two titanium rods under his ribs in such a way that his ribs are moved to their normal place. So the surgery is not some cupcake walk in the park, it is a pretty major operation. Please pray that the doctor, who is a Christian, will have wisdom performing the procedure, everything will go as planned and that Nick will have a quick recovery. The pain after the operation is probably going to be the hardest part. It is comparable to having broken ribs so for about a week he is going to be in the hospital doped up with some heavy stuff and he is going have to take it easy for at least a month or two.

Also tomorrow our good friend John Paul Taylor (on right) heads back to Iraq for seven months on his third tour. Please keep both him and another of our friends Josh Eaton, (on left) who is already in Iraq in your prayers. Both these guys are putting their lives on the line defending our freedom as a nation and they as well as their families could really use our prayers.

Sleep positions and your personality

Professor Chris Idzikowski, director of the Sleep Assessment and Advisory Service, has analyzed six common sleeping positions - and found that each is linked to a particular personality type.

"We are all aware of our body language when we are awake but this is the first time we have been able to see what our subconscious posture says about us.

"What's interesting is that the profile behind the posture is often very different from what we would expect."

The Fetus: Those who curl up in the fetus position are described as tough on the outside but sensitive at heart. They may be shy when they first meet somebody, but soon relax.

This is the most common sleeping position, adopted by 41% of the 1,000 people who took part in the survey. More than twice as many women as men tend to adopt this position.

Log (15%): Lying on your side with both arms down by your side. These sleepers are easy going, social people who like being part of the in-crowd, and who are trusting of strangers. However, they may be gullible.

The yearner (13%): People who sleep on their side with both arms out in front are said to have an open nature, but can be suspicious, cynical. They are slow to make up their minds, but once they have taken a decision, they are unlikely ever to change it.

Soldier (8%): Lying on your back with both arms pinned to your sides. People who sleep in this position are generally quiet and reserved. They don't like a fuss, but set themselves and others high standards.

Freefall (7%): Lying on your front with your hands around the pillow, and your head turned to one side. Often gregarious and brash people, but can be nervy and thin-skinned underneath, and don't like criticism, or extreme situations.

Starfish (5%): Lying on your back with both arms up around the pillow. These sleepers make good friends because they are always ready to listen to others, and offer help when needed. They generally don't like to be the center of attention.


Personally I am somewhat of a mix between the Starfish and Soldier and both of those accurately describe aspects of my personality, though I occasionally will find myself in the Fetus position...

People being stupid news item of the week

Just Released From Lockup, Man Tries Carjacking

Frank Singleton could almost write the book on how to turn a misdemeanor into a felony without ever leaving the jail's parking lot.

"This is one of the stupid criminals," Sheriff's Office spokesman Paul Miller said. Singleton, 21, of West Palm Beach, got released from the county lockup Tuesday after being arrested on a misdemeanor trespassing charge.

He immediately ran out into the visitor's parking lot and, in an apparent effort to get away as quickly as possible, tried to carjack a 2006 Nissan 350Z, Miller said.

The woman who was driving it, Justine Lapierre, was just getting out of her car when Singleton ran at her saying, "I want your car," Miller said.

He pushed Lapierre out of the way, grabbed the keys and jumped into the Nissan. But it was a manual transmission and Singleton couldn't operate it, Miller said.

Hearing the commotion, Sheriff's Office Pastor Leo Krug walked up and, holding his handgun by his side, ordered the barely free Singleton to the ground so a deputy could handcuff him. Singleton was booked on a carjacking charge.

"I don't think he wanted to go back to jail," Miller said. "I think he really wanted to get away and was looking for a car." When the detective was making the arrest, he asked Singleton why he did this. "I didn't feel like walking," Singleton said.

I had to share this one as well....

Chicago's "Dumbest Thief"
18-year-old Ruben Zarate, entered a muffler shop in the 2600 block of North Laramie Avenue yesterday and declared a robbery. He allegedly waved a gun around and demanded money, according to police.

When he was told the money was in a safe and that the manager who knew how to open it was not there, the suspect had a brilliant idea; at least he thought it was brilliant. He gave the shop employees his cell phone number and asked them to call him when the manager arrived so he could open the safe for him.

He left and the employees opted to call 911. Authorities stationed plain clothes officers in the shop and called the would-be robber back. Zarate, showed up again, and waved his gun around again, but this time was shot in the leg by an officer.

He had surgery at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center and is said to have suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Zarate, of the 5100 block of West Schubert Avenue, was charged with three counts of attempted armed robbery and one count of aggravated assault to a police officer, the latter for allegedly pointing a gun at the officer, said the Cook County state’s attorney’s office. One officer with 20 years on the force, said this is one of the more “unusual” cases he’s seen.

Notebook Blogging #8

The state of morality in our nation and the world is appalling. Everyday people do not have principles they are willing to stick to and the leaders of the various forms of government are sadly not much better. I don't get frustrated very easily but honestly, the state of morality, or lack of it, in the world's population really gets me hot. For that matter, the leadership in government and even the church for the most part is ridiculously depressing. Rather than go into a rant, which happens often when I am on the above subjects, I am just going to say the morality and overall attitude of my classmates leaves something to be desired.

Technically we have 15 students in the class. I say technically because only on a handful of occasions has the full 15 member class been present. There is a core group of about 10 people who regularly are in class, of those 7 or 8 are for the most part on time. The rest come and go like the wind, one day they will be there for 2 hours, the next they will not show up and the day after that they will stay for the entire class! There is no method to their scheduling, it is almost like they come when they really want to show up.

This attitude to class attendance and the apparent reflection of laziness on their part is mildly irritating to say the least. I guess I should not care about it, but I just don't understand how people can have such a lackadaisical attitude. I am an action type person, sure, I enjoy laying around watching 4 days worth of basketball games once a year, but if I have a job that needs to get done, especially one that involves manual labor, I am going to bust my tail and get the job done.

It is just very frustrating when we are trying to get things done and 1/3 of the class is usually absent and of the 2/3rds who do show up, about half of them would be content to sit around and talk on their cell phones when we need to be sticking headers in the openings! Do you just feel the frustration dripping off my words? :p It is a good group of guys, they just sometimes remind me of chickens in a pen, content to stand around with their mouths open on a hot day and the only way you are going to move them is if you start yelling and moving the pen and even then they sometimes don't move....Chickens, especially ones you raise to eat are some of the dumbest birds but I digress, I'll save that subject for another post.

My classmate's laziness does not just extend to our class as I found out the other day. As part of the requirements for our class you also have to take a math and English class, unless you test out, which I easily did. You don't have to be a mathematician or an English major, of which I am neither, to be in construction, imagine that! Not everyone in my class tested out of the math and/or English classes so some people are taking those in addition in construction/building code.

Anyway two of my classmates were talking about an English assignment they had to do, one classmate could not understand what they were supposed to do and the other was saying he was just going to pay someone to do it for him! Curious, I asked what they had to do and they showed me the assignment. It involved pretending you had your own business and were presenting a proposal for services to the government. Sounds easy right? It is the type of assignment you can hit right out of the park. Instant A+

I asked the guy who said he was going to pay someone to do it for him if he did not understand it. I was like "Dude that is a cupcake assignment" His reply was yes he knew how to do it, he just did not want to! I asked why not and he said he would rather pay someone to do the work because he just did not want to take the time to do it. He then offered to pay me to do the assignment! I told him $100 bucks, he said sure, paid me and I did it.... :p J/K!

I have to admit I was slightly tempted to, not because I wanted to help him cheat or because I wanted the easy money, rather, because of past work experiance, I seriously can write proposals like the assignment called for in my sleep. My competitive nature was already thinking how I could make this the greatest proposal the teacher had ever seen....

Even though my classmate's attitudes can sometimes be a pain, at the same time it is sad and I feel sorry for the guys. That type of mentality is just so foreign to me, I honestly can't comprehend it. I also feel their mentality is a reflection of us as a nation. No one wants to work hard and accomplish something with a feeling of satisfaction at a job well done. We want instant gratification, and we are willing to do whatever we can, even compromising our principles to get it.

Oh and sorry this is so long guys, like I have said before, sometimes I sit down to write and it just keeps on going on and on... :p

And the guy who wins a cd is......

On Friday I made a post regarding people of the male gender and commenting. Every guy who commented had his name written on a piece of paper and I stuck them in a hat and drew a name. The winner was: Tim

So congrats to Tim, I have no idea who you are, but thanks for the comment. :p If you click on my name in the sidebar to the right you will go to my profile and from there you can send me an email with your cd choice and where to send it.

The Top Song the Year I was born was Livin' On a Prayer by Bon Jovi

Wow! Bon Jovi has been performing a long time!

Last week I actually had a good reason for not posting. I was sick. I managed to get the bug that Anna and Matthew had a couple of weeks ago. This bug has a pretty long incubation period. I took to my bed on Wednesday night and no one saw me again until yesterday morning.
Just kidding! I did hear that the house was a bit quieter when I was sick. My fever was gone by Saturday morning, but I still stayed home from orchestra. Goodbye perfect attendance record! I hate being sick. I don't like feeling bad but on top of that I get lonely. By Friday, I was making frequent trips to the kitchen to get my temperature checked just so I could see people. My fever spiking Friday night put an end to that.... my family just doesn't want to get near people with 102 fevers. I don't understand it....

I was able to watch a few movies I had been wanting to see, including Nicholas Nickleby. I didn't remember it being so depressing. All of Dicken's books have a certain amount of sad and depressing topics in them but in Nicholas Nickleby all the sadness seemed to pile up. I did have a pretty high fever when I watched it. Maybe that has something to do with it.
I also read The Five Red Herrings By Dorothy Sayers. I was disappointed with it. It seemed too long, like she could have wrapped it up much quicker. Instead it felt like the characters went around and around the same stuff over and over again. There was also some swearing, which surprised me. The author was supposed to be a noted Christian scholar.

The best (only) thing about being sick last week was that the NCAA Basketball tournament started on Thursday. (I agree with William..... the play-in game doesn't count) I was able to watch the Duke game that night and a few more highlights. Friday, my mom left William in charge of the little boys and took the girls shopping. That meant I could lay on the couch in the den and watch as much basketball as I wanted. Yay! I have never been able to do that. If I had not been sick, I would have been teaching Friday afternoon and I would have missed all the games. I also canceled my Saturday lessons.....that was fun. I got to watch more basketball on Saturday and Sunday. In fact, I watched so much of the NCAA tournament over the weekend, that Monday afternoon I was feeling deprived. I really missed it. :(

It was weird to miss Easter Sunday. I was better but my ear was still clogged and Matthew's nose was still running so I stayed home with him. That was the worse thing about this whole virus. My head was soooo clogged. I could not hear out of my ear for three days! It was horrible!!!
I am pretty much 100 percent. I just have to stay away from dairy for a few weeks, so my ears don't get clogged again.
I also went to the family thing yesterday. I didn't have to drive, I read on the way up there and then coming home I went to sleep. It was the weather........kinda raining and just ugh.

Today's weather was beautiful! I am really excited that spring is here. I think I am going to go have a cup of tea before I go to bed.

Good Night!

~*~Sarah~*~

Easter Eggs

Every Easter we head up to my Aunt's for an Easter cookout. This year Will's chauffeur and rescue service was in full swing as I drove my grandparents to the event. My grandparents live about an hour away so I drove to their house and then I drove their car from there.

I really like to drive, windows down, music blaring, singing along as the wind whips your hair, the open road before you, I love driving. I like it so much, I even like driving in traffic! Last year on the road trip driving in NY and NJ was awesome. Anyway driving an hour to pick up my grandparents then driving another almost 2 hours west was something I did not mind at all. What I did mind was their car.

My grandparents have a Lincoln Town Car, "Nice!" you might think. No so, it is not nice, the thing drives like a marshmallow or maybe a big balloon would be a more accurate description. Either way I can not stand driving it, it feels like you have no control, it does not hang tight to the curves, and with it's crazy suspension system you don't feel exactly attached to the road.

Because I was heading from their house I was not sure of the exact way to get to my Aunt's but I figured I could just ask my grandparents. Except once on the road my grandparents promptly fell asleep, which was the main reason I was driving them, older people seem to fall asleep a lot. Needless to say, somewhere around Greensboro I missed my exit. My grandparents then picked that moment to awake from their slumber. Since they used to live in that area they said it was fine we would just go another way.

This "other way" took us around curvy back country roads in search of a mysterious road which would lead us to another road which in turn would lead us to our destination. For about ten minutes we drove around with my grandmother periodically saying she did not recognize this side of Greensboro while my granddad ignored her. That, or he just did not hear her as he is slightly deaf....Eventually we made it to my Aunt's where we then stood around the grill and shivered in the 40 degree weather as we talked about basketball. Ah family gatherings! :D

Later in the day I was drafted as an egg placer for the upcoming Easter egg hunt. I feel my hiding places were the best as they used the surrounding colors for camouflage. Sarah's edit: the following picture (the pink flowers one) is actually of an egg that I hid. But I did get the idea from William. He does, however, neglect telling the whole story. While he took his time and hid his dozen eggs artistically, Anna and I were left with the other hundred. Hmmm. I never realized how much fun it is to edit somebody's post. Ok....I'm done. :) Will's edit of Sarah's edit: Actually the picture is of the egg I hid, Sarah tried to hide it in that bush but it kept falling on the ground. Some examples:

Our youngest cousin there, Ross, decided for some reason Nick and I would be great candidates to play with, it started with balloons and I received this strange headpiece:

I guess finding someone to play with was rather exciting to Ross because he then decided to attack people with the balloons. The balloons ended up getting popped, duh, and Ross not to be detoured decided to attack with a nearby spoon which is where this picture came from:

There were several more pictures involving Ross and the spoon but they were all a little too graphic for the blog since it is after all PG. Poor Nick was laughing so hard it was all he could do to defend himself against the onslaught from the spoon. Seriously!