SNOW!!!

YUM!



SNOW BEAR!



I WANNA GO INSIDE NOW!!

The naked tree... in more ways than one!

Sunday afternoon found me in Lancaster County at Frog Hollow Evergreens... where my lovely friend, Maryanne, of Torchsong Studio, lives, makes soap, makes beads, and grows beautiful Christmas trees. It was great to see the inside of her workshop, and she helped me find just the right tree.

Unfortunately, since I'm still trying to get depositions out the door that are a little crusty, I really could only get the tree into it's stand and find it a place in the corner. The kids have been driving me crazy to decorate it, but I just can't do it yet.


So Samantha decided to take matters into her own hands....and decorated the tree herself.......

WITH NAKED BARBIES!!!!!!!!






"O' Christmas Tree, O' Christmas Tree.... You're full of naked Barbies! La la - la la , la la - la la, la la- la la, la la-la la"

I guess you could also caption this one, "And last year at Barbie's Christmas party, things got a little out of hand, and that's why we are staying home this year."



And Keith did a nice job putting up a little touch of Christmas. We've had just a dusting of snow...and it seems like winter is suddenly upon us.

Just.....tooooo.....much......pro....cras....ti....nation.....

Okay...I got distracted again and wandered off to la-la land... where I found this:

Touch My Belly

An art project blog... this goofy looking guy pleads with total strangers to touch his belly and let him take a picture of it. He looks positively bored in every picture, and most of them seem to be taken at parties, but his sarcasm and humor really pull the pictures together. Check it out if you have some spare time.

http://touchmybelly.blogspot.com/

Help! I suffer from DFS!!

Today I self-diagnosed myself with a serious condition called DFS.

DFS is a condition that, if left untreated, can result in.....
well, it can result in many more moments of me almost laughing out loud in the middle of a deposition. This is serious because the court reporter is supposed to draw very little attention to themselves...so a sudden outburst during testimony can really create an upset.

A DFS flare up can occur suddenly without warning and disappear just as quickly. When the afflicted realizes they have had an episode of DFS, the next physiological response is a sudden chuckle reflex that has to be quickly surpressed so as not to interrupt the deposition.

Sadly, I have not found any documentation of just how to treat or cure DFS.

So what is DFS? It stands for Drunken Finger Syndrome.

I found evidence of a DFS flare up in the current transcript I am working on. The phrase was supposed to be, "Portal to portal." To my dismay, a DFS episode caused me to write, "Portal to Fart al" See, it was someone's idea of a cruel joke to design steno theory such that the keys "T" and "P" are next to each other, and to make the "F" sound, you press down the T and P simultaneously. The other misfortune is that your left thumb is used for your two vowels A and O. So at times you may wish to write the words "part", "port", "fort", but your fingers get drunk and include the T or stroke "A" instead of "O"... making TPART, which is "Fart".

On the up side... the laughter you supress during a depo can be made up for at home in the editing process by cracking up when you find it again... that is... hopefully you find it again before it gets sent to the attorneys!!!!! he he he he

Happy Saturday!

Well, I survived the two expedite jobs and got them out within my goals! Now I'm trying to catch up the jobs that had to sit here and get crustier.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel... the glow of my torch...which sits here and stares at me...quietly begging me to please come and light it. I have new frit that I bought at BeadFest...untouched.... I have a cool new Zoozii press that I got from Maryanne in a trade.... untouched.... I have glass for a Round Robin project I need to make into beads... untouched... and I have some nice pinks and a few other lovely colors that I want to turn into lovely samples...untouched.....

Seven jobs remain on my 86 Board... all saying the same thing, "NO BEADS FOR YOU!"

Can you believe it's DECEMBER???????????????

What's happening today?

Two different attorneys, two different depositions.... both want the transcript TODAY!!! The big one was five hours long...I have 80 pages to go! (I've been planted in this seat since yesterday!) The smaller one was two hours long...and 77 pages to do! See you when my sanity returns! Wish me luck!

Black Friday Bits

My favorite bits of the day...

1. Being able to find all but one item in my morning bargain scavenger hunt! Usually I stay home and avoid the crazy Black Friday shoppers, but there a few deals I just couldn't let slip by.

2. When Samantha spontaneously fell off the bench seat at Friendly's during breakfast. She was crying from embarrassment, but man, that was hilarious!

3. Hearing the giggles and the phrase, "Let's do that again" from the kids after a thrilling ride up and down the escalator at Sears. Woo-hoo!

4. When Samantha underestimated the slipperiness of the floor at Sears and landed flat on her back after jumping up to greet Daddy. Again she was crying from embarrassment, but man, that was hilarious! Her back must be particularly attracted to the floor today...must be because she got up so early!

5. Keith hung up some Christmas lights outside this year. Kind of simple and limited in area, but very sparkly and happy... can't help but feel like a kid again.

6. Hasn't happened yet, but I can't wait to hear and see David's excitement when he gets home tonight and sees the Chritmas lights on.

Today's Favorites...

I thought it might be fun to start a kind of "Highlights of My Day" sort of thing. Here are my favorite moments or things of the day... What were yours???

1. An expert witness walked into the conference room with a huge shredded truck tire. The first thing I said was, "I hope I won't have to take home THAT exhibit!" He said, "Yeah, can you attach it to the transcript?" We both had a good laugh.

2. From the same depo this morning... what was supposed to be a 7 hour depo lasted only two and a half! YES!!!! Back on the road before holiday traffic!!

3. Had a sudden impulse on the drive home... Let's cut all this hair off!!! The wonderful stylist at the salon inside Wal-Mart did a wonderful job. I'm very happy with my new look... short and, can you believe it, STRAIGHT!!!!




4. The new "Turtle" Chex Mix... heaven in a bag!

5. When I walked into the living room to see Keith and David sitting side by side on the couch watching "Myth Busters". They looked so cute together.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I AM THANKFUL FOR ALL THE SWEET AND FANTASTIC PEOPLE I HAVE IN MY LIFE, THAT MEANS YOU! THANKS FOR BEING MY FRIEND!

Happy...

One thing I love about being a freelance court reporter is that if the attorneys don't feel like working the week of Thanksgiving, I get to stay home in my fuzzy slippers! Yay for Fuzzy Slipper Tuesday!

Sure, I still have work to do... six depositions to edit, to be exact... but at least I don't have to wear pantyhose or try to get my hair to cooperate!

I'm starting to catch up on my work!!! YAY!!!! Maybe I'll even get to make some beads in December!

It's a Small World After All...

Hugs for Pooh

Finding a favorite friend at Disneyland.

Hello!

I'm back...
I'm stuffed full of California food...
I'm swamped with work...

I'm not ready for the holidays.

Pictures will be posted soon!

"How do you mend....

A broken butt".... That's a BeeGee's song, isn't it?

"Tell me....
How do you mend a broken butt....
How do you keep your leg from going numb....
How do you stop, your butt from hurting...
So I can get stuff done...."

No? That isn't the way it goes? Could have fooled me!!!!

Leaving for California Tuesday at 6 a.m.
Still have 10 jobs on the 86 Board ... four of which were supposed to be done by tonight
No clothes packed
No carpets swept
No floors cleaned
Last minute laundry
Bill payments to organize, write out, and either send or click
A husband who needed to go to the ER last night for three hours with an eye ulceration
Two hour drive to Rockville, MD in morning for a depo that should hopefully only be two to three hours so I can get home and try to finish these chores....

and the most irritating pain while sitting!
Any other time, I'd be okay... I seem to really perform well at the end of a deadline....that last minute adrenaline that helps me kick into hyperdrive ....
but this sciatica is really kicking my butt.... literally! It's all I can focus on.

To those friends and family in LA.... see you soon!
To those in PA...see you when I return... especially my beady friends...I need some serious bead buddy therapy! Nothing but glass gossip and guacamole!

**hugs**

Busting my butt...literally!

As you know, I have been busting my butt lately, and it has really paid off.
Unfortunately... I think I have literally BUSTED MY BUTT!

I finally caved in and went to the urgent care today because today was totally unbearable sitting. I thought I was just dealing with a sciatic nerve issue, but it has gotten progressively more annoying. Luckily my deposition today at Johns Hopkins was only two hours because I was miserable the whole time. It really broke my ability to concentrate, and I was fighting really hard to stay focused on the testimony.

So I go to the urgent care and whine about the pain shooting down the back of my left leg when I sit. While sitting on the table, the physician's assistant that examined me tried extending my leg out and up, at which point I screamed out for mercy. "Yep, that's a positive sign for a herniated disk." CRAAAAPPP!!!! I do not like those words...herniated disk. It just sounds so yucky. I can just picture all the things that might come next in the course of treating such a thing. He even made me take some X-rays in a not-so-flatering gown. He didn't see any slipage, but there is some narrowing in my lower lumbar spine...like at L4-5 or even L5-S1. None of this of course means anything when you are just at the urgent care. It means, "Here is a script for Naprosyn, and follow up with your own doctor in a week."

I'm loving this Naprosyn! I can actually sit painlessly for the first time today. I busted something, I guess... and I just hope I can manage it without anything real serious because there is a lot of driving and sitting and driving in my future. I begged him to be wrong about the positive signs for herniation, but he wouldn't let me off the hook there. We'll see what happens.

Have a good weekend!

Happy Halloween!!!

THE GOOD....




THE BAD....



THE UGLY....


THE SERIOUSLY CONSTIPATED???



THE SUGAR COMA?????


HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

More Davidisms... and a couple from Samantha too.

1. Pooms -- as in the "pulp" you find in orange juice.
2. Suction cups -- as in the "handcuffs" police use to restrain a suspect.
3. "Look, there goes Evil Evil on his motor-snycle!" -- since every biker must be Evel Knievel, right? Yes, he still calls them motor-snycles, no matter how often you correct him!


From Samantha:
At the top of her threatening little voice: "You want a piece of MEAT?!!!?!"
One time while I was shampooing her hair: "No! Take your filthy hands off of me!!!!"

Happy Halloween! Pictures to come soon!

Slow posting...but finally some pictures!

This is how slow I am... Presenting pictures from "A Day Out with Thomas the Train". We went to Strasburg Railroad for this very special event... like back in September! Here are some of my favorite pictures from that day out with Jen, Scott, and Paden:


David, Paden, and Sammie doing the "Shake your Booty" dance.


Pre-schoolers and chocolate ice cream.... great combo!


Jen shows off her butt, while Scott shows off his muscle. The rest of the kids are on there too, but all you can see is Jen's enormous butt! (ha! ha! She'll kill me for that one!)


From the inside of the caboose on our ride on Thomas!



Tada! And here is Thomas! Larger than life!


Tattoo Trio....


Thomas in action...


Me and my munchkins on the train to Paradise, PA


Scott, Jenn, and Paden... they make a cute family.
Scott was brave and got a tattoo put on his cheek.


"Hey, Paden! I have a present for you!"

Progress???

I have a magnetic dry-erase board hanging on my fridge now. I call it my "86 Board" like at restaraunts... you know, they keep an 86-Board to keep track of what dishes are no longer available. But since the only thing I'm cooking in my kitchen these days are transcripts, this is my version of the 86-Board. I have a first in - first out policy, unless an attorney requests an expedite. All of my outstanding jobs are listed, and as I finish one, I cross it off or erase it. This morning I crossed one off, but this afternoon, I put a new one back on! Sheesh! I have 11 pending jobs to finish!

I don't know if I'll ever have a clear board, but I'd like to at least get to a point where I have some breathing room so I can make beads, clean my house, chat with friends, stuff like that.

This morning I dowloaded Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" from Wal-Mart.com. You can buy MP3's for 88 cents. I started a new tradition. As soon as I e-mail a job off to my production manager, I quickly click open, "Another One Bites the Dust" and dance around the kitchen. I know it sounds kind of pathetic, but hey, it feels soooooo damn good to click and send a finished job away!

Take care, everybody!

(Sorry I don't have anything more exciting to write about. Oh, the fire alarm went off during my depo today. We sat there a few minutes deciding if we wanted to burn up and die or interrupt the doctor's testimony. We chose to burn up and die. As you can tell, we are okay. It was just a drill or something! Nobody else in the hospital seemed to be moving very quickly anyway! I was thinking though at the time...not about my safety, but how much of my equipment I could scoop into my arms at one time if I needed to flee quickly. )

Yes, I'm still here!

Just in case anyone was wondering.... I'm still here! **wave**!!! HI!

We are going to California November 8th... so I am keeping my nose to the grindstone for now. I am starting to get a little more adjusted now. The new workload is still kicking my butt, but I'm starting to kick it back! hahaha Hopefully soon I will be the one doing all the kicking, and it will just reply, "Yes, ma'am, where shall I file myself?"

One thing I must say though... I know I did the right thing.

Miss ya!

**hugs**

By the way... my sanity is still intact... and I owe it all to www.stuffonmycat.com . Man... nothing like a pointy bra on a pissed off looking cat to make you forget about the stress of deadlines!

York Fair Pictures....better late than never!

Here are some pictures taken at the York Fair on September 15th. It was Pre-School Pals day, so the kids got to ride until 4pm with armband privileges! David met these two cute girls and wouldn't leave their side. It was hilarious. You can see his sweeties below:


A Pile of Pals


Flying High!


This year's funhouse was painted in Spongebob theme.

Just checking in...

Hello there! How are you? I'm still here.

I'm plugging away at work, and just trying to balance out the other stuff that happens outside of that. Before I started with this new firm, I was lucky to get one to two jobs a week, and they were maybe an hour or two at the most. On a real crazy week, I might have had three jobs! That was all well and fine with me because then I could go fun places in the middle of the week, make beads when I felt like it, go to the gym... stuff like that. So life did not CENTER around work.

Now... whoa! What a change! Right now, life is CENTERED around work! I have plenty of work, and the depositions go three, four, five, six hours! I just went on a deposition yesterday that was only two hours... but they want it expedited!!! Yipes...what about the other jobs I am working on before that? I have to play a little bump and shuffle.

This is what I wanted though, and I am by no means complaining... I'm just amazed at what a difference a bigger city makes! I like it! I like the point where the corn fields and cows end..and the skyscrapers begin! York is not all cows and corn, but we really don't have any skyscrapers in our little city. It's just civilized enough... because believe me... I'm just as excited to get out of THE city too when a job is done, and return to the slower pace of York.

I have lots of pictures to post from the York Fair and from our Day Out with Thomas the Train this past Sunday in Strasburg. We went with Jen, Scott, and Paden.

I taught a beginning lampwork class this past Saturday and got to meet five wonderful people... hopefully getting them addicted to fire! ha ha ha

I made a list of all the sample requests I received from the website, and I want so much to make beads to fill these requests! So if you are a reader who may have sent me a sample request, I haven't forgotten you!

The Moochies also need my attention.

Then there is the cleaning around the house... the laundry....the children who are trying to get used to me being gone more often, only to come home and see me sit in the kitchen at my laptop... and the staff at the gym must think I fell into a hole or something...(Ssssh....don't tell them about the ice cream!)

The rhythm is coming... and at least I'm not chasing the deadline wagon from a mile behind...I'm kind of trotting along beside it and maybe only a few feet behind. Balance is coming... and so is cooler weather!

What was my favorite thing today: I was folding underwear and heard David behind me. He says, "Mommy, you want to see something? Look, Pockie is dressed up like a ghost for Halloween!" First I think to myself, "Who is Pockie?" So I turn around to see David with one leg of his shorts hiked up, and his hand, cleverly disguised inside his pocket, is poking out! I launched into quite a big laugh. It was so cute that he named his pocket "Pockie", and that he thought he was dressed like a ghost for Halloween!

Thanks for stopping by! Take care! ***hugs***

My conclusion....

MR. NEWMAN IS FULL OF CRAP!

(Just in case you were wondering how the stress management was going.)

Okay...just so as not to make it sound like my day was total poo, and that this proactive approach to handling day-to-day activity isn't working at all, I will list here my favorite things of the day:

1. Enjoyed a lovely view of Baltimore from an eighth-floor conference room.
2. Had a smooth depo and the enjoyment of meeting two nice attorneys from North Carolina.
3. Finally started listening to "The Vendetta Defense" on tape in the car, which I borrowed from Mothwoman. So far it's a great story, and my very first audio book experience.
4. Found out I could still jump, thanks to a cockroach in the parking garage.
5. Heard the phrase, "Hello, Nice Customer!" from the friendly parking attendant with the interesting accent.
6. Narrowly escaped being sent to Reno, Nevada for four days! Whew!
7. Remembered I had a little one-pint container of cookie dough ice cream in the freezer! YES!
8. Enjoyed David's chanting, "Can you feel it, Mr. Krabs? Can you feel it, Mr. Krabs? Can you feel it, Mr. Krabs?"
9. Listened to the kids play tag with Invisible Pickle.
10. Pretended to be scared when Sammie told me to close my eyes and then put a rubber bug on my leg. (I had practice earlier with the cockroach in Baltimore.)

Now, I must say, I haven't completely thrown out all of Mr. Newman's teachings. From the time I left the house this morning, until the time I walked back in the door, everything was pretty fantastic, even though I circled a half a city block on foot in the rain for no reason! It was the chaos that broke out once I crossed back into the disaster of my living room that made me fall apart. I need a lot of work in the domestic stress control area. HELP!!

I.C.A.C.A!

Quick blurb this morning to reinforce what I have learned this morning. If I say it out loud here, it may help me. It's 7:10 a.m., and I am starting my day the ICACA way! (If you say I-CACA out loud, it sounds really funny...but I guess that's what is helping me remember it! (Or maybe you have to be Mexican or live near them to know why the word "caca" is funny!) (Or maybe I'm too easily amused!))

ROFLMAO! I know...it's too early to be ROFLMAO, but oh well!

ICACA is from a book I dug out of the basement called, "How to Stay Cool, Calm and Collected When the Pressure's On; A Stress-Control Plan for Bussinesspeople" by John Newman. You need a stress-control plan just to get through the title! (Or for that matter, the fact that every other paragraph repeats the phrase, "Cool, calm, and collected." Arrrgggh!) (It's helping already, right? ha ha ha ha)

I pulled it out because my method of managing how I handle what I perceive as stressful situations is not so good. Yep, that's right... stress is not the problem, it's what you perceive as stressful and how you react to it. So I dusted it off and revisted the pages. There was a crumpled Post-It where I left off last time, and some areas had been written in already with purple ink. I think the last time I looked at this book was about six years ago at least! The sad thing is, a lot of the purple writing still applied, except now I could check off things related to having children. LOL! Needless to say, it is obvious proof that I never finished the book or applied it's principles since I am not far from where I was when I bought the darn book! Don't you just love that!?!

So back to ICACA. It's a pledge....

I will live my life with...
*Integrity
*Courage
*Action
*Control
*Awareness

Are you being true to yourself? Do you live your life with the courage to not worry about what other people will think and to make your own choices? Are you commited to take action? Are you in control of your emotions, your thoughts, and your actions? Are you aware of what's going on in your life and what shape you are in?

Even though I am 80% true to myself and 80% aware of myself... I fall short in courage, action, and control with an average of about 30 to 40 percent! So I'm leaving the house today the ICACA way!

(And it has nothing to do with the shredded wheat I had for breakfast! LOL!)

Have a great ICACA day!

P.S. - Today is trash day, so Bathtime Betsy will be going far, far, away! Bye-bye Betsy!!!

The Haunted Trash Can!

Okay...some of you know how I feel about the supernatural ... I am one of those people that hope for signs of life after death, but get all creeped out if something strange occurs. I know, I'm weird that way!

The other night I was awakened by a noise in the hallway... a garbled sound and then the words, "Let's get wet!" -- Wait, wait, let's go back a bit.

Some history about my house. My husband's grandfather worked for a local brick manufacturer, and he had the opportunity to have this house built here with the bricks his company made. So he and Keith's Mamaw were the first owners. He past away on December 31, 1970, the New Year's Eve before Keith was born in June. He never met him, but somehow inherited so many traits, like wanting to run a lawnmower repair shop in the back yard. Anyway.... fast forward quite some time. My mother-in-law claims that her mom used to see her husband in this kitchen from time to time, and that she always told him to go away because she wasn't ready to join him yet. Supposedly around Christmas of 1998, Keith's Mamaw told my mother-in-law that the next time she saw Paul, she would go with him. Well, she passed away in her sleep on December 31st of 1998 at around 2:45 a.m. -- yes, the exact same date as her husband had passed back in 1970! Her room was the room that the kids are in now. For a while, David would wake up crying on consecutive nights around 2:45 a.m. each time. I am not trying to say that is related...but there is something curious about it.

Now what I was leading up to is this.... my mom was just visiting here for two weeks. She didn't mind sleeping on the couch, but one night she did sleep with David in his bed. Most of the reason she only did that for one night was because, if you have ever seen the kids' room, you know it is impossible to walk in there because of all the Little People and the millions of little cars and junk that litters the floor! It's impossible! But she did say that while she was in there, different toys would just be making noise at different times during the night with no provocation. Now, I believe a lot of times these things occur because of battery issues, but sometimes you have to wonder why else toys go off in the middle of the night for no reason, right? (At least I do! ha ha)

So, no big deal, I am hearing, "Let's get wet! Let's get wet!" and I want to roll over and ignore it, (Keith was at work, by the way, so it was just me and the kids) but I knew if I let it continue it would wake up the kids because it was so loud! I figured out that it was Bathtime Betsy that was making all that noise. She is kind of creepy to begin with. She has matted up hair and Samantha wrote on her hands and feet with a black pen that will not come off. When you push her belly button she sings, "Bathtime Betsy loves to splash, in a pool or in a bath. It's the most fun you can get. Splash with me and get all wet," followed by a maniacal laugh/cackle. (There may be a picture of her in the Eavesdropping on the Damned post) She is naked in the hallway with her leg missing. Not only did Sammie rip her leg off, but she chewed on the socket, so I could not fix it. She had duct tape for a while, but that morning Sammie took her in the tub and the duct tape fell off. I figured she was making noise because she was in the water. Even though she is meant to go in the water, it seems water still affected her voice mechanism. Well, clearly this doll needs to go in the trash now. I picked her up with her leg and, since I really wasn't dressed right to go out to the trash can, I just threw her outside on the porch the way she was. (This was Thursday morning, by the way.) I figured all this noise was because she was recently submersed in water and things were drying out now.

In the morning I was supposed to go out and dispose of her before Samantha saw her, but I forgot, and as we left the house -- me with all my equipment for a depo in Baltimore, and the kids with their juice cups, Samantha sees a pile of Betsy on the porch! CRAAAAAAP!!!

Sammie: "Hey! Why's my naked baby out here??!!!" She exclaims in a disapproving and confused tone.

Me: "Just pick her up and put her inside! Hurry up before we are late!"

So Bathtime Betsy got a reprieve for a while, and has been behaving herself for the most part.... until about 20 minutes ago.

The kids are at the York Fair with my in-laws. Keith is at work. I'm at the kitchen table with the laptop trying to finish a six-hour depo....what do I hear??? "(Splash splash)Let's get wet!" Okay....Where are you??? There she is in the front room! So I scoop her up and look at her sad condition. "Sorry, Betsy, it's time for you to go out." For some dumb reason, I put her in the kitchen trash can. Sat back down and tried working again.

"Splash! Splash! Let's get wet!" -- Even though I knew the sound, it was like my brain forgot about it, so I was phsyically startled when it went off again only five feet away from where I was sitting! My heart was racing! I found a grocery bag and put Betsy with her detached leg inside...took her out to the trash can just outside my back door and said good-bye.

So I'm sitting here now... and as I type all I can hear is, "Let's get wet! Let's get wet! Let's get wet!" I would think she would be totally dried out by now that she wouldn't still be making all this noise...and this is the only phrase she is saying, not her usual creepy song. All that is in that can is her, some of my mom's cigarette butts, and a couple of tomatoes that some insect chewed on while on the plant. She just keeps saying it over and over and over...sometimes three times in a row!!!! I'm half tempted to walk out there and take her across the street to the dry cleaner's dumpster...

Stuff like this never happens when Keith is home or the kids are awake! He thinks I'm crazy! Everyone thinks I'm crazy! I just think some relatives know how weirded out I get and like to mess with me when I'm alone in the house!

"Dear Production Manager: I am late giving you these four files from my six-hour deposition session because my trash can is haunted and I needed to blog about it. Please tell the attorneys I am sorry. Best regards, Rachel Hilker...aka... Madame Scaredy Pants. P.S. - Enclosed please find one posessed Bathtime Betsy and her detached leg, which I have marked as Exhibit 1 and Exhibit 2 for the record."

Leaving on a jet plane...

Above: Mom, Samantha and David

As I write this, my mommy is sitting on a plane! We miss her already. It seems that two weeks came and went so fast. David kept making up excuses to get us to go back to the airport as we were on our way home. He said, "Mommy, I just remembered something! I left Invisible Pickle at the airport. Can we go back and get him?" I thought it was pretty cute.

Oh, who is Invisible Pickle, you may be wondering? Well, remember back in 1992 or 1993 there was a song by King Missile called "Detachable P*nis"?? Well, one day I think I tickled David or something and he said, "Who did that?" To the tune of Detachable P*nis, I said in a deep voice, "Invisible Pickle!" So it has been a joke around here ever since. If something weird happens, Invisible Pickle did it.

Anyway... Mom is on her way back to California, and maybe things will get back to normal around here...whatever that is! The new firm is keeping me busy already, and there are still kinks to work out with that until I get onto their software. I am making the production manager want to pull her hair out. I believe within a few weeks we will get some sort of rythm going here again. Take care, everyone! Hugs from Pennsylvania!

I call this one...

"The Serious... and the Seriously Filthy and Silly"

Park City Mall

I think David is outgrowing this kind of ride...but Samantha, in all her dirtly glory, (Yes, I did mean dirt-ly, as we had just ate at Cactus Willies, and she somehow forgot where her mouth was) is just as goofy as ever and having a ball on this simple 50 cent ride.

I was beginning to get all sentimental about how my little boy is growing up...but the funniest thing just happened...

Both of them just rolled out of bed and climbed up on my lap... excited to see a picture of them on the computer. David says in a quite saddened tone... "Hey, why's I'm not smiling. I want to smile again. I want to go back there again and put my smile back." He noticed it too, I guess... and perhaps the camera just captured him between movements... Let me go back to the file where these pictures downloaded... Hey, I found one, but I guess because Samantha was not looking at the camera, I wrote it off as a bad picture! Funny how we think that way. This is much better....


How about this one....


Now I have two happy kids, and Samantha's shirt is even clean again! It's a miracle! (Yeah, a Photoshop miracle!) ha ha ha ha Let me call David back again....
He said, "Yeah!!! That's better! I like that one! How'd you do that?"

Crazy kids!

A little lesson in physics...

There are moments when I look at my children and see the spark of learning in their eyes. They are little thinkers, and to watch their faces as they discover something new is a great pleasure. David is quickly coming upon his fifth birthday, and this time next year will find us getting ready for his first day of kindergarten. He is so ready to learn. He asks so many questions, and the way he explains his discoveries to me in such detail lets me know that he is processing the world around him just fine.

Thursday we made a trip to the Whitaker Center in Harrisburg. The purpose was mostly to see "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" in IMAX vision. It was a blast. What David really left there with came from visiting the shopping center inside of Strawberry Square. There in atrium stands a two-story network of billiard balls and tracks. A huge clock, where the various chimes and knocks and dings are triggered by the motion of the balls. David was so excited about this...


We watched a chain lift system take one ball at a time up and up and up... then another ball would come spiraling down to wait in line...


Gears were turning...balls were rolling... an arm holding them would get heavy with the last to join the line...tip gently... then all the balls would spiral down again to another area... David and Samantha were mesmerized as they waited to see what would happen next...then so excited to see the result....

More balls would roll down and wind up in this funnel where they would rapidly race around the perimeter...eventually dropping out through the hole and beginning a new journey...

I'm curious to bring the kids back again when they are older to see how they react to this work of art and science.

Gem Miner's Jubilee...

What a fantastic weekend! Four of us Susquehanna Sizzlers spent three days up in Lebanon, PA selling beads, laughing up a storm, and telling people about how addicted we are to fire!

Here I am looking pretty geeky with my beads. (Man, I really need to do something with that crazy hair!)



We had one table set up for our beads, which didn't seem like enough with all the cool beads that Ann brought, but we filled the space up nicely. To the side of us we had another table set up with a Hot Head torch so we could demonstrate bead making. Fire really attracts a lot of people! It was fun to explain the process to people, and by Day 3, I was taking requests! I made a roller skate for one person. That was an interesting experiment!

Here is Maryanne showing off:


We plan to be here again next year...bigger and better!

My favorite Davidisms...

Davidisms make me smile. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. "Amadoo" -- As in, "I want to play with the stuffed amadoos!"
2. "Space Shovel" -- As in, "I want to fly in the space shovel."
3. "Keesel" -- As in, "Be keesel not to drop your cup!"
4. "Stinky Beans" -- As in our favorite pizza place, known to everyone else as Stevi B's.
5. "Possadoo" -- As in, "It's hot. Can I eat a possadoo?"
6. "And Nemo was his Dingle!" -- Ah, yes, a true classic childhood song... "There was a farmer who had a dog and Nemo was his dingle, D-i-n-g-l!
7. "And called it Macadoni!" -- Another childhood song... Yankee Doodle and his Macadoni.
8. "Flush a mote" -- His Papaw's fault... back in the day when toilets were called commodes.

And my favorite of all favorites....
"Mommy, I really miss-ed you today!"

Crazy Whirly Squirrely Time!

Okay... I'm trying something new... the art of managing time.
HAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHA!!! Yeah, right! Somehow though when things get whirly squirely, I kick butt. But when I have plenty of time on my hands...nothing gets done! How is that possible?

Some of you may know this already...some of you do not... but I'm going through a big, big change right now in my career! What has transpired over the past week and a half, (Yes, that was really fast!), has been really exciting for me. I am joining a very reputable court reporting firm in Baltimore, MD. Even though it means 58 miles of driving each way, the rewards are so much more. I will be stretching and improving my skills by taking cases that are more technical or medical in nature and more demanding in terms of attorney expectations. I will also have a greater need to bring my equipment closer to current industry standards. Yes...more bells and whistles on my steno machine and more powerful translation software for me! Woohoo! I am so excited because this is the opportunity for me to become the court reporter I have always known I can be.

Kiln-fresh beads!

I managed to make more than just three beads yesterday...and I also managed to stay awake!! Yes, my finger is healing nicely, for those of you who may have heard about how I dozed off while making a bead and put my hand in the flame! That's what I get for trying to make beads that late at night! It is not something that normally happens, and I have to be really careful with my hands -- especially since I have a deposition to record on Monday morning!

So here are a few of the kiln-fresh beads from yesterday's session...

Laura gave me a rod of this beautiful blue. She said it is a Moretti/Effrete alabastro. I have avoided alabastro because most people call it "alabastard", and it usually is followed by the grumbles of having a difficult time working this glass. Even though the viscosity is a little more challenging on my torch, I found that it did not pop, boil, bubble, or burn for me at all. I was being very cautious with my heat though, keeping a nice medium flame. I think I may have to order me some of this lovely color.

I don't usually do holiday or seasonal beads, but with Gem Miner's next weekend, and Halloween just around the corner...heck, one little ghost won't hurt, right? Last year I made two matching bats, and that was the extent of my Holiday Collection. I don't know what I was going for with the lime green heart...something mod and funky maybe. What do you think?

Kitty-tastic belly laughs!!!

If you need something to make you smile...no wait....if you need something to have you rolling on the floor.... visit:

http://www.stuffonmycat.com

A nice way to end a Saturday...

Thank you, Mr. Clokey...

I remember as a child waking up early on Sunday mornings... very early! Mom wasn't ready to move yet. So I plopped myself down in front of the television and watched Davey and Goliath. Anybody remember that? It was a little animated series about a boy named Davey and his dog Goliath. It always had a moral lesson to teach. I can't say for sure what those were, but I'm hoping they rubbed off on me without my knowing it! ha ha

Later as a child I would be in the living room of my grandmother's house in Gardena eating quesadillas and watching Gumby. I actually was about 14 at the time... but Gumby was still pretty funny. I think what made me laugh was the movements. One episode that stuck out in particular was one where Gumby was holding onto a run-away lawnmower. The way he crashed through the wall of his house and ended up head first in his TV had me rolling on the floor. My grandma thought I was crazy.

A month or so ago I came across a $2 DVD at Wal-Mart of old Gumby classics. David and Sammie thought they were hilarious. This morning Samantha asked me to put Gumby in for her. She has been mesmerized... long enough for her to forget all about the fact that her brother is away from home at a friends house. I haven't heard, "Mommy, I miss Da-did," in about 30 minutes now! Thank you, Mr. Clokey for giving the world Gumby and Pokey! LOL!

Chalky Hoppy Children Smiling

David somehow knows all about the art of hopscotch, but I have no idea how! He made a crazy kind of zig-zag hopscotch on the sidewalk. He drew boxes all the way up to 14, and they went in all sorts of strange directions.



He even tested it out to see if it worked! He's such a sweet little guy!



Samantha's interpretation is a lot like how she writes her name..."Squibble Squibble Squibble". Her version is much easier to hop on though.