Laugh! You Know It's Funny

I was looking at some pictures we had taken earlier this year when I stumbled across the one above. This is somewhere in North Louisiana. I can't remember which town. When Vinson and I saw this sign he turned around and went back so we could get a picture of it. As you may have guessed the place was closed. There were two old men sitting outside a nearby building looking at us like we were crazy.
So, if you were having a bad day today be happy, at least you don't work at Ho-Made.

Shake, Rattle and Roll

We had a busy day today. We left the house at 9am, which is early for us, and headed to the Mansura thrift store for their bag sale. Kaia probably made out the best at the sale. She has a few more winter clothes for this year and some to grow into next year. On the way home we stopped at the Cottonport library to borrow some movies.
After lunch I did some house cleaning and prepared for the Tiger Cub meeting we were having later in the evening. Vins and Tanek went into Bunkie and got haircuts and picked up snacks for the Tiger Cubs.
We allowed Tanek to skip karate lessons today because he's been fighting a cold. We figured with everything else that was going on today he might need the break.
At 5:15 pm Betty and I left to try out the new aerobics class in Bunkie. It was a good workout and the best part is I can pay per class instead of by the month. This works out well for me since I won't always be able to go because of schedule conflicts with Tanek's karate class. We made it back home at about 6:55pm. The Tiger Cub meeting started at 6:45 pm but Vinson entertained everyone until I arrived. We said our Pledge of Allegiance and set the boys (and girls) to work making paper bag puppets. When they were done they ate their snacks and played for awhile while the grownups visited. Everyone left shortly after 8pm and now it is time to get ready for bed.

Horne for Governor

Yesterday T. Lee Horne, III and his cousin Patrick came over for a visit. Lee Horne is running for Governor of Louisiana as a Libertarian (his website- www.governor.ws). After we ate lunch we had a mock debate. It went well and was good practice for Lee. We plan to have several more practice debates to help prepare Lee for the real thing.
His cousin Patrick is going to be a real asset to the campaign. He seems to be very good at research and pointed out several things that need to be worked on for the campaign. This should be an interesting year we have ahead of us.
Later in the evening I did some more work on Lee's Cafe Press shop for campaign merchandise. I worked on the layout, section contents and added some more products. You can check it out at: http://www.cafepress.com/tleehorneiii
If you would like to read some interesting accounts of Lee's visit check out Vins and A.W.'s blogs.
www.tripnwithvins.blogspot.com & www.breadloaf.blogspot.com.

I Know!

Don't you just hate it when you know something but you just can't seem to locate the answer. Today I was trying to remember the title to a book I read a few years ago. It's not any great novel but I really enjoyed the story when I read it. I called my mom because she had loaned me the book. She couldn't remember the name either. The worst part is I can tell you the whole story but I can not remember the stupid title. Man, that really bugs me.
Since I'm talking about books I have to say I enjoyed reading "Eragon" by Christopher Paolini. He wrote the book when he was 15 and its in the young adults section but I had a hard time putting this book down. Now I have to start on the second book in the trilogy "Eldest". I can't wait for the movie that is due to be released in December.
I've also enjoyed all the Harry Potter movies and now I am finally reading the first book. I read a chapter a night to Tanek and he is having a great time listening to the story. We will slowly read our way through all of the books. I think my favorite character is Ron Weasley. His little quips keep me laughing.
The Eragon picture above is from http://www.eragonmovie.com

Look Alike

I have been dealing with something strange. It has happened for as long as I can remember. No matter where I have lived or places I've visited, people have told me I look just like some person that they know. Now my looks obviously have changed over time as has the length of my hair but still I am told that they know someone that looks just like me.
The truly strange thing is I've never met anyone and said, wow we look the same. Vinson also says he's never seen anyone that looks just like me.
So, my question is: Is this a doppleganger, clone, or do I have 100 twins of varying ages walking around in this big world?

Faith

I've been pondering the faith / religion issue lately as I do often. I guess after much thought I would have to say I have faith. I have faith in a higher power. I personally call this higher power God. What I don't think I have is a religion. I have tried many religions. I was a member of the Catholic Church, the Church of Christ and the Methodist Church. I have attended services at those churches and many more (Lutheran, Assembly of God, Pentecostal). I have also read about some non-Christian religions. So I guess you get the picture when I say I looked really hard for a religion to fit into.
I don't fit into any of them. I guess its because somewhere along the way when I was learning about Jesus I got the impression that he didn't judge people or force them into his beliefs. I thought he led by example. Now a lot of "religious" people I have come into contact with (not all but some) seem to think that if you aren't living exactly the way they do then you are not worthy of their time. Hence my reason for pretty much staying away from religion now.

I have always been able to get along with people even if we believed totally different things. Example: I don't drink alcohol but if someone else wants to do so its their body and their choice. I feel this way with just about every issue. I only ask that other people respect my right to live the way I choose to live.

Everyone makes mistakes and bad choices in their lives at some point and what may be a wrong choice for one person might be a right choice for another. I will never know why some people make the choices they make and having never been where they have been I can't say I would have made a different choice.

Quoting Locke from Lost "You can't MAKE anyone do anything." (That might not be the EXACT quote but it was something close to that.)

Golden Globes & Bigfoot

I didn't watch the Golden Globes but I did see pictures of the actors and actresses that attended. It makes me wonder how some of these rich people can wear horribly unflattering clothes and no one tells them until they are on the red carpet. Can't they pay someone to tell them the truth about what they are wearing.
Onto other things. I just saw a great commercial for Discovery Channels Myth Busters. You can see it here: http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/mythbusters/videogalleries/promo_02.html?clik=fsmain_bannerleft

A. W. Griffin, I think you will enjoy it also. Tanek says they should do a Myth Busters show about Bigfoot.

Questions

Last night Vins and I watched part of a story about Lynyrd Skynyrd on CMT. Afterwards we were talking and I said Ronnie Van Zant will be immortal in a way because long after we are gone people will still be listening to his music and his memory will live on. Then we talked about what a regular person can do to influence the lives of people after they are gone. Vins talked about working with kids in Cub Scouts. We can be a positive influence to the boys we are teaching to be resourceful, honest, trustworthy people and we may even have an impact on what type of adult they become. We talked about how just being nice to someone today could change the rest of their day in a positive way and possibly the rest of their lives. Being aware of how we treat people and the impact we have on their lives, even if we don't know them, can be very important.
So, here are my questions for the week. You can post your answer to the questions in the comments link below.
Question #1 - What will /did you do today to make a positive impact in someone's life ? It could be as simple as saying thank you to a cashier.
Question #2 - Whose memory will be around the longest (considering the earth doesn't blow up in the next 20 years)?

My Week Has Begun

The week has just begun and we are already on the run. Yesterday, I spent part of my day working on a design for T. Lee Horne, III's Cafe Press shop. Lee is running for Governor of Louisiana (check out his site here: www.governor.ws ). I created the above Mardi Gras design for some of his products (http://www.cafepress.com/tleehorneiii).
We signed Tanek up for karate at the new studio in Cottonport. He began his first class last night. He said it was fun except for the push ups and jumping jacks. Kaia is asking to take karate now. I guess we will have to sign her up also.
Today, the homeschool group met at my house. I look forward to these meetings when I can get together with other homeschoolers. The kids had fun but Tanek was in a mood. He ended up getting himself sent to his room twice today. When he finally decided to control his temper we sat down and I read Tanek and Kaia a chapter and a half of the first Harry Potter book. We are really enjoying the story and I was happy to see how closely the movie followed the story.
Now, off to cook supper.

No chips for me!

Well, for the last few years I've been telling people about the RFID chip that can be placed under the skin and can hold tons of info about you. I was surprised how many people had never heard of this. Now it seems it is making its way into the mainstream.
I read this article this morning and you can see a snippet of it here:
With a wave of his hand, Amal Graafstra, a 29-year-old entrepreneur based in Vancouver, Canada, opens his front door. With another, he logs onto his computer. ...end...
You can read the rest of the article here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060106/
tc_nm/technology_implants_dc

I've been waiting for this to come out in the media. It's already been used with the military and some high tech companies. My first thought when I started reading the article was this will only be affordable for rich people. As I continued to read I saw that it was rather inexpensive. I find it pretty strange that for a chip and device that will allow me to open my door simply by waving my hand cost about the same as the remote I need to replace for my TV. What!? You're telling me this will only cost me $52 to open my door. Guess that's how their going to get it quickly into the mainstream. Personally, I won't be putting this under my skin.

Think about it, a thief can either steal my keys to break into my house or steal my hand. Now your thinking "yeah like anyone would do that". Here is the thing, eventually they will be able to put your banking info on it so you can swipe your hand at the ATM. Now the thief won't be stealing your wallet or bank statements, he'll be taking your hand. No thanks, I like my hand right where it is. Not to mention the biblical mark of the beast. Really, before you run out and get this implanted in you think about it, is it necessary?

Comedy Relief

What a day! We woke early this morning and headed down to Evangeline to have a late Christmas with my family. We ate a delicious lunch and spent a couple of hours visiting with everyone. Stacy even showed up and stayed for more than 10 minutes. Baby Cole is growing and slept most of the time. Kaia was excited to play with Karli.
That afternoon we left Tanek and Kaia with my parents and went to the Heymann Performing Arts Center in Lafayette to enjoy the "Cajun Comic Relief XIV" show. Vins and I had a great time. Before the comedy show began we listened to The Pine Leaf Boys, a cajun / creole band. I enjoyed the performance (you can check them out at http://www.pineleafboys.com/) and was amazed at their ability to trade off instruments for different songs. After the Pine Leaf Boys played, the Comeaux High School Brass Quintet played. It also was an enjoyable performance. During the comedy show four different comedians performed. The best comedian, in my opinion, was John Paul Morgan also known as "Rajun Cajun". I laughed so hard I had tears running down my face. His show is definitely worth seeing.
When the show ended we headed back to Evangeline to pick up the kids. My mom said they had a good time while we were gone. My dad said he took them to town to pick up some burgers for supper and they talked the whole way there and back. I think it was good for them to spend some time together without Vins and I being there. We told everyone good night and drove home. We finally arrived at our house at 10:45PM.
Now it's time to get some sleep.

Threesomes List

Okay, for those friends of mine with dirty minds. No that's not what this post is about (you know who you are).
I borrowed this from my friend A.W. Griffins blog: http://www.breadloaf.blogspot.com/. I don't know where it originated but it looks fun. Here goes...


Three screen names that you’ve had: mortal2112, mortal, crecia (I know not very original).
Three things you like about yourself: kindness, a good friend, seeing things in a different way.
Three things you don’t like about yourself: Lack of selfesteem, worry too much, care to much about what other people think about me.
Three parts of your heritage: English, French and (maybe) German (not sure).
Three things that scare you: creepy crawly things, that the stories Andrew sends me are true, that my kids will grow up and say you were a terrible mother.
Three of your everyday essentials: glasses or contacts, watch, the ability to do 10 things at once (hey, I'm a mom).
Three things you are wearing right now: Glasses, Watch, P.J.'s
Three of your favorite songs: Good Riddance (Green Day), I Don't Wanna Be (Gavin Degraw), Crash (Dave Matthews Band).
Three places you want to go on vacation: Roswell, New Mexico; Hong Kong (to see Iris); and anywhere I've never been before.
Three things you just can’t do: Bungee Jump, Sky Dive, Swim with sharks.
Three things you want to do before you die: See my children grow up to be happy successful adults, visit another country, make a positive difference in the world.
Three Celeb crushes: Only three? Ewan Mcgreggor, Hugh Grant, Jude Law (Yes I have a thing for guys with accents).
Three of your favorite musicians: Garth Brooks, Dave Matthews, Clint Black.
Three of your favorite hobbies: Reading, hiking and traveling.
Three things you really want to do badly right now: go back to sleep, drink a Dr. Pepper (I don't have any in the house), hit the road and not worry about anything.
Three careers you’re considering/you’ve considered: Nanny (I've given that up - it's kind of my full time life job now), Owning a store here in Bunkie, Being a school teacher.
Three people that I would like to see post this: Vinson, Mike, I don't have any other friends with blogs.
Now I'm adding this to plug my friends blogs:
Three Blogs that you visit: A.W. Griffins other blog http://www.blueowlsix.blogspot.com/ , Vinson's blog http://www.tripnwithvins.blogspot.com/, and Mike's (he hasn't posted anything yet but maybe this will get him blogging) http://www.blogger.com/profile/16411844 (this link will only take you to his profile).
That was fun. You should try it too.

The New Year Begins

I will start with a recap of the year 2005. I finally got my homeschool group going (Openminded Homeschoolers). We have about 5 families right now. I made some new friends. Tanek and Kaia now have a ton of friends to play with and talk about. They are coming out of their shells. I managed to keep in touch with some great friends from the past. Vinson finally got the promotion he's been waiting for.
So, now onto the New Year. Lets hope it is even better than 2005. I thought about making my New Years resolutions but that just seemed kind of stressful. If I didn't follow through with my resolutions then at the end of the year I would feel like a failure. So, here is what I hope for in 2006 and what I will be working towards. First of all I will work towards losing weight. I know probably 75% of the population is saying the same thing. Secondly, I will work towards being more organized and clearing out some of the clutter taking over my home and life. Thirdly, I want to see my homeschool group grow and continue to find more people with open minds and hearts. Lastly, I will work to become more confident and forget about those who hurt my feelings in the 2005.
It's a new year and I plan to have fun with my family and friends. Ready, set, go!

Above Photo: Taken by Vinson Mouser at Kisatchie Bayou