Traveling Fish Tacos

I ain't in Checotah anymore

2009-04-05T07:26:00.000-05:00

So I'm walking down the street in Mong Kok today...For those who don't know Mong Kok is the most densely populated place in the world. and for some reason I chose to live there. So anyways, I'm walking down the street dodging people and listening to my Ipod. Random shuffle of songs and a Carrie Underwood song comes on. "I Aint in Checotah Anymore." Even though I didn't grow up in a small town, I still grew up in Middle America, which has a Small town feel pretty much anywhere you go and this song totally fit what I was feeling at that moment.

Where 69 meets 40, there's a single stop light town,
And back when I was really young, A part of that burned down.
On any given Friday night, we'd drive a hundred miles between the Sonic and the grocery store,
Laughing all the while, with as many friends as I could pack, in my daddy's Ford.
But I ain't in Checotah anymore.

My hotel in Manhattan, holds more people than our town,
And what I just paid for dinner, would be a down payment on a house,
I'd rather be tipping cows in Tulsa, than hailing cabs here in New York,
But I ain't in Checotah anymore.

I'm in a world so wide, it makes me feel small sometimes,
I miss the big blue skies, the Oklahoma kind.

In a world of long red carpets, the bright lights of Hollywood,
All the paparazzi flashing, could make a girl feel pretty good,
You can get anything you want here, except a Wal-Mart store,
But I ain't in Checotah anymore.

I'm in a world so wide, it makes me feel small sometimes,
I miss the big blue skies, the Oklahoma kind.

Where the Wildcats beat the Ironheads, old Settler's day and the Okrafest,
After prom, down at the bowling lanes, catching crappie fish in Eufaula lake,
I ain't in Checotah anymore.

I'm in a world so wide, it makes me feel small sometimes,
I miss the big blue skies, the Oklahoma kind,
But I ain't in Checotah, No I ain't in Checotah,
Oh, there's nothing like Oklahoma.

Where 69 meets 40, there's a single stoplight town.

Frosty Conversation

2009-04-02T20:17:00.000-05:00

So I do a lot on my Facebook Page and have been ignoring my blog. How truly sad that is. For those of you who are faithful Blog readers, I apologize.

Last night, I went to a seminar at my church and the speaker showed a video clip with a guy holding a Wendy's cup. This made me really want to have a Frosty. Of course being in Honkers, I can't get one...So, I just listed it on my status. This morning when I checked facebook, the following were the responses. I thought it was pretty funny.

Kate Moore is wanting a Frosty from Wendy's

Becky at 12:43am April 3

frosty's are soft!!!!

Elizabeth at 12:49am April 3

Yummmmmmm!

Cliff at 1:43am April 3

One part chocolate soy milk, one part ice cream, blend. It's almost the same.

Sarah at 2:45am April 3

why would you waste the money on soy milk only to add ice cream? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of buying the expensive soy?

Kate... do you remember when Mom bought Microshakes? Frozen things that you actually microwaved to soften before you ate. Those were amazing.

Cliff at 2:54am April 3

Soy milk's not expensive in China ;)

Emily at 3:27am April 3

Wow, I remember the Microshakes! That is crazy.

Becky at 9:10am April 3

is that how you make a frosty? sweet- I have soy in my fridge.
we had micro shakes too as I remember it wasn't that the taste was all that amazing just the shear joy of microwaving it and watching it become your shake

You know I'm a sucker for these things

2008-11-03T10:07:00.001-06:00

Ok here's a new one...You know what to do...

Drinking...Water
Frustrated...that it is still stinking hot
Worried...about the US elections
Excited...That I have friends to spend Christmas with
Reading..."The Shack"
Wondering...if I will meet "the one"
Impressed...with people's generosity even in a bad economy
Missing...Family
Teaching...Individual presentations
Learning...How to really rely on God
Listening...to God
Laughing...with my friends
Sleeping...not enough

"Random Photo"

2008-10-17T08:32:00.000-05:00

Sarah O had this game on her blog today, so I thought I would follow suit.

Ok so here's how you play this game.

Go to your "My pictures", click on the fourth file and then the fourth picture...Post that pic and tell about it. Leave me a message with a link to your page when you do this.
So Summer of 2006, I started to notice that my dashboard was starting to separate from the rest of my car. Probably because I never rolled down my windows and the heat basically ruined the glue keeping it together. Well then Summer of 2007, I wanted to sell my car and the dashboard problem was even worse. I called tons of places around town to find someone to fix it. One guy said that if I sent him pictures of the dash he could let me know if he could fix it without me having to drive 40 minutes to his place. Luckily I was able to do that, because once he saw the pictures he knew that he couldn't fix it. I ended up having to buy a brand new dashboard.

The question now is...Why do I still have that file of pictures on my computer. If I had actually taken the time to clean off my hard drive this would have been the picture.

This was from April 2006 at the Gospel Music Association's Music Week. I was sitting in the hotel and in walks George Huff from American Idol. I love American Idol and had really wanted him to win. He was such a nice guy when I met him. I just realized I have never bought his CD. I need to look him up on Itunes and buy it.

Tagged: Amanda, Amy, Andrea, Billy, Dale, Harmony, Jeff, Jim, Julie, Kathleen, Michelle, Mike, Sarah, and Shelley

Beijing Pronunciation

2008-08-20T11:54:00.000-05:00

I just read an article online talking about how the wonderful announcers on US television are having difficulty pronouncing the name of the city where the Olympics are being held. Personally I thought it was pretty obvious and easy, but apparently it's not. Here's a video of how to pronounce the name.

Never gonna give you up!

2008-08-15T03:00:00.000-05:00

I know it has been forever since I posted last. And for that my dear readers I am sorry. I just haven't been too inspired lately. Anyways, I saw this video online today and thought I would share it with you. I am not endorsing this candidate at all. I just thought it was pretty funny.

Scones take the biscuit and leave linguists in a jam

2008-05-27T23:52:00.000-05:00

Last week in the paper was another funny article by Nury Vittachi. I have to share it with you.

*********************************************************************************

Those of you who follow important items of international news will have heard that branches of Starbucks in Asia are now selling a new snack from the West.

I am aware that the serving of Western food makes many people in Asia get extremely excited and exclaim with joyfully pounding hearts: "Please can we go somewhere else."

Anyway, the new snack is labeled "a scone." The British woman in front of me explained to staff it was from Scotland and was pronounced "skon," to rhyme with John. But no. The American behind me said it was an American snack pronounced scone, to rhyme with cone.

But he didn't put up much of a fight. "You can pronounce it scone or skon as far as I am concerned," he added. "The proper name, anyway, is biscuit."

The British woman's eyebrows rose. "Nonsense," she said, pointing to a round, flat snack. "That is a biscuit." The American shook his head. "No, ma'am. That's a cookie," he said.

I phoned a chef to adjudicate. "The American biscuit and British scone are the same thing," he said. "The only difference is shape. If it is circular, it is British, and if it is rectangular, it is American."

The things in Starbucks were triangular.

There are hundreds of words with British English meanings which differ from those in American English. But there are five in particular which can cause huge embarrassment. To help people in Asia who are trying to communicate in English, here they are:

One: A la mode means "in fashionable style" in Europe, but means "adorned with vanilla ice cream" in America. Potentially problematic sentence: "Want to see my wife, a la mode?"

Two: A boob tube is a garment in Britain, but means "television set" in the United States. Potentially problematic sentence: "The youthful Duchess entered the office clothed in elegant but striking fashion, her breasts hidden by a boob tube."

Three: On a related topic, hooters in British English are whistles, but are parts of the body in America. Potentially problematic sentence: "He smiled at Sarah and turned to look at the elegant ship: there was a loud blast from her hooters."

Four: A jock is a hunky athlete in American English, but is a somewhat derogatory term for a Scotsman in British English. Potentially problematic sentence: "The debutantes cheered to hear they'd be spending Saturday partying with a group of merry jocks."

Five: Suspenders in British English are sexy, elastic-and-lace items that connect a woman's garter belt to her stocking-tops. But in American English, they are thick straps overweight bankers use to keep their trousers up. Potentially problematic sentence: "In an attempt at male bonding, the London banker told his New York colleagues that what really turned him on was glimpses of suspenders."

Incidentally, the Cannes film festival opened this week, and the star attraction is a movie called The Stone of Scone. This news inspired me to phone a linguist at a university to settle the issue for good. She explained that scone comes from an old Dutch word pronounced "schoon," so both Americans and Brits say it wrong.

I then made the mistake of buying one of the things and leaving it in the fridge for too long. It fossilized. Anyone fancy making a film called The Scone of Stone?

Normal

2008-05-21T06:38:00.000-05:00

Many years ago, my mom, a friend and I were talking and my mom said that she has never been accused of being Normal. My friend, Andy, replied "what is normal?" my mom thought that was a great response. What is normal? Just because something is regular for you, doesn't mean that it's regular for someone else.

Case in point, I have been living in HK now for 9 months, and everyday something hits me as not being normal...but normal for HK. My friend Ann has come to stay with me for a few weeks and at dinner tonight we were talking about life in HK and what we missed from home. Sometimes it's hard to pinpoint the exact thing that you miss, you just know that something isn't right. Then Ann said exactly what I was thinking: "I miss normal, nothing here is normal."

It's raining, It's pouring, somethings are really ANNOYING!!

2008-04-19T04:35:00.000-05:00

Well today we are under the signal of a Typhoon 3. This basically means that there is one close, and we will get the effects of wind and rain, but it's not on top of us. And IS it ever raining. The wind actually hasn't been too bad it's just POURING RAIN! This morning lucky it wasn't raining when I went out, but knowing that it was going to rain meant that everyone had their umbrellas with them. This is the first of my annoying things today.

UMBRELLAS--I love them, who ever invented them was genius. Especially the person who invented my Eddie Bauer umbrella. You press the button and it opens and then press the button when you want to close it. No pinched fingers. The problem that I have with umbrellas is that people don't know how to walk with them. A lot of people have those big "Golf" umbrellas and use them as a cane when they are walking. Except that when they are walking they put it very forward of themselves and then walk past it and then let it stay in place behind them for a few steps then they do this crazy swing with it to get it a few steps in front of them again and the craziness starts over. It wouldn't be a problem if the streets of Hong Kong weren't crowded. But hello, people, there is someone walking right behind you and she is getting hit or tripping over your stupid umbrella. Why can't you use it properly.
UMBRELLAS--Wait didn't you just complain about them? Yes, I did. but there's more. the people who use the small compact umbrellas. Since this umbrella doesn't touch the floor it must be swung in a very high arch. I guess since basically there is an extension on their arms, the natural swinging of the arms is made even bigger and if you are walking to close to someone as they are walking up the stairs you might get an umbrella in the eye.
THE POLES IN THE MTR--First for those of you not in Hong Kong you are probably wondering what the MTR is. It's the subway. In the middle of the car is a pole that people can wrap their entire body around and/or lean on if they aren't able to get a seat. WRONG!!! The pole is not for you to lean on, it's not for you to hug, it's for a group of people to put their hands on to keep their balance when the train is moving. Why do so many people feel the need to lean on the pole with their entire body. HELLO, where am I supposed to put my hands. This morning I am standing next to the pole with my hand on it and at the next stop a guy comes on and proceeds to lean his back and head against the pole. DO YOU NOT SEE ME RIGHT HERE??? So, I had to move about 3 steps away to one of the bars that hangs from the ceiling. I was peeved. As I was standing there, I started to look down the car farther. I couldn't believe it...EVERY pole had some idiot leaning or hugging it.

I am thinking that in the schools here they should start having a class that is "proper use of daily items."

Is there anything like this that drives you nuts. Leave me a comment and let me know.

Asian Olympic Sports

2008-04-14T01:37:00.000-05:00

I have recently found this new website. MisterJam.com It is HILARIOUS!! Well maybe I think it is so funny because I live in Hong Kong. Anyways. Here is Mr. Jam's proposed games for the Beijing Olympics.

1. Subway Face-Off: Team A tries to get out of a subway train carriage while Team B tries to get in.

2. Synchronized Smoking: 20 Marlboro in 20 minutes. Korea and Japan are tipped for the gold and silver medals in this one.

3. Moderated Karaoke: An audience of singers and musicians will judge this, their brains wired to a cringe-o-meter.

4. Noodle Slurp: The award goes to whoever can down the longest noodle with a single slurp, no hands.

5. Road Racer: This is a car racing sport with drivers having to swerve around bullock carts, tri-shaw pile-ups and massed platoons of terminally deaf scooter riders.

6. Toilet Gymnastics: Contestants have to use a traditional Asian squat toilet, a Western-style throne toilet and a hi-tech Japanese toilet one after another. Not easy.

7. Chopstick Lunge: Four pork buns in the basket, five diners, ready-steady-go.

8. Elevator Leap: Team A has to close the lift doors before Team B reaches them.

9. Democracy Demand: Each team has to organize a demonstration to ask for political reform in their country. (Most Asian citizens are well-practiced losers in this game.)

10. Chilli Chew-Off: Teams eat red-hot peppers in relay form, finishing with those tiny green blow-your-head-off ones from Thailand. Medal for anyone who survives.

Someone left him a comment on this post of his.
***You have forgotten 2:
1. The longest and loudest throat clearing competition
2. the furtherest snot / spit launching event

Happy Birthday to Me

2008-04-10T23:25:00.001-05:00

Tuesday was my birthday. And here's the funny thing...When I lived in Hong Kong before(2003), I celebrated my 29th birthday and here I am celebrating that one again. And this year my little sister caught up to me. She just turned 29 on Saturday. Happy birthday, Sarah!!

In all my years, I have never met anyone who shared my birthday. Until Tuesday and I found out that 2 of my students have the same birthday. How crazy is that?!?!

Since my birthday was in the middle of the week, some friends and I went out to celebrate on Saturday night. We started out at Habibi Cafe for some really good food. Then we went to Honeymoon Dessert for my favorite dessert...Mango and Black Glutenous Rice in Vanilla Sauce. (you have to try it before you say gross...It's very good) Then we went to Lan Kwai Fong for some dancing.

Lynn, Nikelle, me and Rachel

Birthday girls! Harmony's BD was on Sunday

Nikelle and Me

When we were in Lan Kwai Fong we met this guy from the US Navy. You can't really tell but he has a gold grill in his mouth. It was really funny. He was a really nice guy.

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes, cards, emails and gifts!

Anchors Away, my boys(and girls), Anchors Aweigh

2008-04-10T23:23:00.001-05:00

The USS Nimitz was recently in town with its fleet. This time I got the chance to host 5 sailors that are on board the USS Chafee. It ended up that Friday the 4th was a public holiday, so I offered to be their Tour Guide for the day. We started off with a trip to a tailor and then Indian food for lunch. We made it up to the Peak in the afternoon, but unfortunately it was so overcast that they couldn't see the harbor. Then we headed to dinner for some wonderful Chinese. HoHo Mei.

We got together again (plus two more sailors) on Sunday for some Market Shopping. I took them to the Ladies Market and then we went for dinner. It was a really nice time spending those two days with them.

Jatan, Nate, Matt, Paul, Me, Nick, Michelle and Jen

Help, I've sat down and I can't get up

2008-03-12T23:10:00.000-05:00

So you have a friend, girlfriend, brother, mother or father who sits down on the toilet and they don't get back up. How long do you wait to make them get off the pot or call someone for help? 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 2 years? Well a guy in Kansas waited 2 years to finally call the police to help his girlfriend. So for the last two years, he has been in a relationship with someone who wouldn't move from the toilet and he brought her food and water everyday. During this time, the woman's behind had grown around the toilet seat. (just typing this is making me sick) I'm not even going to write anymore if you want to read more about it read the full story.

Famous Footballer (soccer player)

2008-03-10T21:03:00.000-05:00

So this week the big news in Hong Kong is that Da*v*id Be*ck*ham is in town (I really don't want my blog to come up on searches for him) Well I now can say that I have sat where he has sat and I have touched a paper that he has touched. On Sunday, my friend Mary and I went to a store that custom makes athletic shoes for you. She mentioned to the sales person working with her that she had tried to come on Friday to do this and was told at the door that they were closing early. She wondered why. Well it was because DB was having a private shopping time at the store. He had 4 pairs of shoes made: 2 for him and 2 for his son. The salesman got out his order form and we got to see what his new shoes were going to look like. Surprisingly he ordered Basketball shoes.

The 80's live on...

2008-03-07T06:29:00.000-06:00

I have a friend here in HK that just turned 8 years old. Her birthday only comes around every 4 years because she is a Leap Year Baby: born on Feb 29th. So to celebrate her 8th Birthday, she threw a great 80's party. Here are some picks from the party.

Nikelle, Me and the Material Girl (Birthday girl, Amy)

Aren't you just loving the side ponytails that we all have?!
Me, Nikelle and Michelle

Dancing the night away. I don't know who the Jem-want-a-be is,
but she's got the wrong color hair, we all know that Jem had pink hair. Hello!!

And of course an 80's party isn't complete without Boy George!!

Book Meme

2008-03-07T06:11:00.000-06:00

My sister Sarah tagged me to do a book meme.
Here are the rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

(ok so I'm changing some of the rules. It doesn't have to be the nearest book or even the first book you pick up. It can be the 20th book that you pick up, just as long as you use the rest of the rules. It seemed that every book I picked up had a depressing or dumb page 123, so I am choosing another one) (ok so now I have literally tried to do this book Meme with 10 different books. Nothing really felt right, I guess that means you should just go with the first book no matter what. Well here goes. It's still a bit of a depressing kind of 3 sentences, but it's something)

"It was Sharon. 'Holly, I know you're in there so just listen to me, ok?' Holly sniffed back the tears that were beginning to well." P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern

Even though those lines are not great the book is pretty good. I'm a fan of reading the book before I see the movie, so once I get this book finished, I am going to go see the show.

I am tagging the following people: (if you don't have a blog do this on my comments and you get out of tagging other people) Cindi, Julie, Kathleen, Bridget, and Nikki.

Past Reads

2008-03-06T00:16:00.000-06:00

I really enjoy reading and want to share with my beloved readers all the books that I have enjoyed. But I have found that my list is getting long and is taking up too much space on the side of my blog. So I have decided to make it a post and on the side of my blog you can find the link to take you to this post. I will continue to add books to this posting. ENJOY!!

The order of books is "Most Recent at the top"

Helicopter Ride

2008-02-13T23:54:00.000-06:00

I bet you thought this was going to be about my ride in a helicopter, but you were wrong. My friend, Ben, told me about this game online and now I'm addicted. Ben's best score so far is 1111 and I'm not far behind with 1103. I am warning you that it is addicting, but it's fun. Let me know what you score on it. Can you beat my score? Loren, if you are reading this, I want to know how you score on it...This will prove if you are really a good pilot or not. :)

Word of the Day

2008-02-12T10:17:00.000-06:00

I know this might surprise some of my regular readers, but I don't know the meaning of every word. (I know what a shock!!) Because of this lack of knowledge, I often use a very convenient tool on the internet. dictionary.com Well today when the webpage was brought up, I noticed the word of the day feature...and what was today's word of the day you might ask. It was none other than my favorite word of all. copacetic \koh-puh-SET-ik\, adjective: Very satisfactory; fine.

I also saw that you can sign up for a word of the day email. What a great way to learn a new word each day.

Leave me a comment with your favorite word. or maybe even a word that you can't stand.

Navy Visit

2008-02-04T19:45:00.000-06:00

This week the USS BlueRidge was in Hong Kong. As I mentioned before I have gotten involved with the American Women's Association and I host a group of sailors for dinner when they are in town.

Caysie, Me, Loren and Steve

This time I hosted Caysie, Loren and Steve. Caysie is originally from Brooklyn, New York and is 21. She has been in the Navy for almost 2 years. Loren (a fellow Boilermaker) grew up in Haiti and is now a helicopter pilot. Steve is from Springfield, Missouri and is the Chaplain on the ship.

I took them out for a true Chinese Meal. They loved it.

Dried Beef and then you put it in the pockets behind it.

Peking Duck...(A Christmas Story anyone?)

Dumpling Soup.

Everything was delicious (hohomei)

Who has been looking at my site?

2008-01-29T21:11:00.000-06:00

Every week I get an email from Sitemeter, telling me a little information about visitors to my site. I get to find out the location of my visitors, how long they were on my site, how they got to my site (google search or clicked a link from some one else's site) Usually I just glance at the information, but I recently read my sister's blog and she did a post about her site's stats. So this time when I got the email, I decided to look to see what drives people to my site.

There were quite a few people that used Google for searches which lead to my site. The #1 item googled to get to my site: "Sound of Music Sing Along" I was amazed. Before I went to the SoMSA, I had never heard of it. So I decided to Google it to see what else comes up in the search results. Apparently, I am missing out on entire world of Sing alongs.

Some other interesting topics that were googled:

croutons or bacon bits
Answering machine messages
crazy carrots
stupid questionnaires
super sample hong kong
carrot tacos

Quite interesting topics.

Another interesting thing is where do all my visitors come from:
The number one place is Evansville, Indiana. Big surprise, since that's where most of my friends live.

Some other interesting places people are from:

Appleton, Wisconsin
Greensboro, NC
Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Northampton, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom
Waukegan, Illinios
Chicago, Illinois
Mississippi
Bombay, Maharashtra, India
Canberra, Australia

And these were just in the last week.

My total number of hits on my site are 1,456.

So many people have visited, but hardly anyone leaves me comments. How about leaving me one today. ;)

Learn Chinese

2008-01-16T20:26:00.000-06:00

You must read them aloud

Chinese (English)

Sum Ting Wong (that’s not right)

Kum Hia Nao (see me ASAP )

Tai Ni Po Ni (small Horse)

Wai Yu So Tan (did you go to the beach?)

Ai Bang Mai Ni (I bumped into a coffee table)

Chin Tu Fat (I think you need a face lift)

Wai So Dim (it’s very dark in here)

Wai Yu Mun Ching (I thought you were on a diet)

No Pah King (this is a tow away zone)

Lei Ying Lo (staying out of sight)

Yu Stin Ki Pu (your body odor is offensive)

Su Pa (Great)

I hope you enjoyed your Chinese lesson for the day. Keep practicing and one day you will be fluent like me

That's so Chinese Raven

2007-12-30T07:09:00.000-06:00

ok I admit it, I like to watch the Disney Channel. I don't know why, I just think it's fun. So I was watching TV recently and saw that "That's so Raven" was on. So I clicked it on, and was ready to watch. But what did I hear...CHINESE. I couldn't believe it, it was dubbed. Talk about funny. Remember those bad movies from the 80's that were dubbed over, the mouth is moving but nothing is coming out or the mouth is closed and the voice is talking. That was what was happening on Raven. CRAZY!!

12 Days of Christmas and More

2007-12-29T08:07:00.000-06:00

I got an email this week from my friend Karla with a link to the video below. I thought it was pretty good so I wanted to share it with you.

After watching that video, I watched a few more of their videos and found this one that brought back some good childhood memories.

It's amazing that something good can actually come out of IU.

Guns N Roses Lyrics Cause Teacher to Lock Herself in Classroom

2007-12-13T22:53:00.000-06:00

ROXBURY, Conn. — Karaoke can be scary, but threatening?

A school custodian's impromptu after-hours karaoke performance prompted a police response when a teacher thought she was being threatened over the loudspeaker.

State police say the teacher at Booth Free School barricaded herself inside a classroom Wednesday when she mistook someone singing a Guns N' Roses song over the public address system for a threat.

She was working after hours and thought no one else was in the building. Then she heard someone say over the loudspeaker that she was going to die.

Six troopers and three police dogs showed up and found three teenagers, one of them a custodian at the school, who had been playing with the public address system.

Police say one of them sang "Welcome to the Jungle" into the microphone. The song contains the lyrics "You're in the jungle baby; you're gonna die."

The teenagers were cuffed for about 15 minutes while police investigated. They didn't realize anyone else was in the school at the time. No charges will be filed, said state police Sgt. Brian Ness.

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In light of the many school shootings and other acts of violence that have been occurring lately, I can see why this woman would have been scared, but you have to admit it is pretty funny. I know I shouldn't be laughing, but I am. Sorry!

Ugly Christmas

2007-12-12T23:30:00.000-06:00

So when I think of Christmas, I usually think of Red and Green, silver and Gold. Sometimes white, maybe some burgandy, mauve, pink, or blue. But have you ever thought of purple. Not the color of purple that royalty wears, but rather a bright purple that is almost leaning too much towards florescent purple. Yes, I said Florescent. Well one of the largest malls in HK decided that that is the color they were going to use to decorate this year. It could be ok, but here's the thing, it's not the ornaments that are this purple but rather it is the tree itself. I'm sure you are having to re-read this over and over because you think how could this be, how could a nice shopping mall actually decorate with Purple trees. I have been asking myself the same thing and the only thing I could think of was that someone was smoking something really bad when they did their ordering of decorations this year. Are you ready for the pictures? Here they are:

I took this picture from the 7th floor looking down on the tree. The theme seems to be a musical theme. The tree is actually sitting on a drum which is about 10 feet tall and then hanging from the tree and leaning at the base of the tree are other musical instruments. I think the total height of the tree is about 4 stories.

The treble clef really adds that special something.

Along with the big tree in the middle of the mall they also have small 6ft trees scattered about the mall. Nikelle couldn't resist playing the little violins.

Luckily one of the other malls in town decided to actually do a nice classy christmas. Here's a pic of their beautiful tree.

Time Waster

2007-12-07T09:30:00.000-06:00

If you want to waste a lot of time, I would recommend "The Impossible Quiz" Leave me a comment to let me know how far you got on the quiz. I have no idea how many questions there are, as I haven't made it to the end yet.

Follow this link and then click on "Play this game"

Enjoy!!

Whatever

2007-11-30T09:02:00.000-06:00

"Whateva" Baby

You have to check out this video. It is so funny. And Minori if you are reading this, this is you when you were young, isn't it?

Simple things

2007-11-29T09:29:00.000-06:00

Tonight as I was writing some e-mails, I was listening to my music in I-tunes. I love that I can have all my music there and it will shuffle through all 5000 songs. So tonight I heard some songs that I haven't heard for a while. One song that jumped out at me was Simple Things by Jim Brickman. Even though it's a love song, (and I'm not in love) it's still a great reminder of looking at the beauty of life in such simple things as leaves falling off the trees.

Hey, Time won’t wait, Life goes by, Every day’s a brand new sky, Every tear, comes to dry. All that really matters, In this crazy world, Is you and I together, Baby just remember.

Chorus 1:
The first leaves off the tree, The way you look at me, A thousand chiming church bells ring, The simple things are free. The sun, the moon, the stars, The beating of two hearts, How I love the simple things, The simple things just are.

So here we go, Let’s just dance, Teach my soul to take this chance, Put my heart, in your hands. Out of all the moments that, We leave behind, Turn around and tell me, Baby we’ll remember.

Chorus 2:
The thunder and the rain, The way you say my name, After all the clouds go by, The simple things remain, The sun, the moon, the stars, The beating of two hearts, How I love the way the simple things, The simple things just are

Chorus 3:
The ocean and the sky, The way we feel tonight, I know that it's the love, That brings the simple things to life, The sun, the moon, the stars, The beating of two hearts, I love the way the simple things, The simple things just are.

I love the way the simple things, The simple things just are.

Interesting Names

2007-11-26T08:10:00.000-06:00

In Hong Kong, the HongKongese people are given a Chinese name at birth but when they get into school they go by English names and their surname. But the names that they come up with sometimes are (to be nice) Unique. I recently came across a list someone put together of names that they saw when out and about, like on the name tags of the workers at McDonald's.

Male
- Walkman - Credit - Gayford - Rock - Pillar - Dummy - Vegas -Freeze -Lego
-Burger -Paper -Kettle -Hercules -Virus -Bible -Candy -Susan(yes for a guy, this is actually one of my students) -Winky -Dolphin -Devil -Pacman -Genius -Joker
-Oxygen -Tornado -Energy -Happy -Goofy -Champion -Spaghetti -Timber -No
- Elf

Female
-Grape -Color -Eureka -Panda -Flower -Wave -Kinky -Piano -Fanny -Telephone
-Chilli -Cinderella -Mango -Fanta -Lotion -Wincy -Purple -Circle -Strawberry
-Seven -Fantasy -Cream -Icy -Dancy -Dior -Puppy -Aries -Lychee -Yo-yo
-Tomato -Ivory -Tissue -Tomorrow - Swanny -Glassbowl

UGH and YEAH and UGH all on the same day

2007-11-18T07:16:00.000-06:00

So this morning, I'm walking to meet my friend Liz at the train to go to church. I'm late and I'm trying to walk as fast as my little feet will carry me. Well, Hong Kong is known for tearing up their sidewalks and not making them smooth when they repave. My sandal caught on the uneven pavement and I went down hard. Luckily, I had on a skirt, otherwise I would have ripped a hole in a nice pair of pants. Unluckily, I had on a skirt and my knees had to suffer. One knee really bad and the other leg is scraped down the whole side. I must have looked very funny. I called Liz on her cell phone and she met me at the steps of the train with band-aids from 7-11. Because of this we ended up being 25 minutes late for church. The singing is always my favorite part of the service and we missed it all.

After the service we met up with Harmony and Maria and headed for Subway Restaurant. I had no idea there was a Subway here in Hong Kong. Oh, my gosh I think this was the best sandwich I have had in forever. I got a turkey with cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, black olives, green peppers and oil/vinegar. Oh so good. and then sour cream and onion chips. Thank God for Subway. I will be eating there frequently. I really should have gotten a foot long and brought the second half for my lunch tomorrow. Next week!!

So after an eventful start to my day, I got home, took my shoes off and put my feet up. That's when I realized my shoe looked funny. Yes, you guessed it. Another pair of shoes is going into the trash. The fall in the morning made them rip at the thong part. Basically they are being held together by two threads. The sad thing is that these are my really nice Chico's sandals. But I guess 2 and a half years is good use out of them.

Interesting Food

2007-11-17T04:06:00.000-06:00

One thing about living in HK that's great is that I love sushi and it's cheap here. It's also a fun thing because you sit at a counter and there is a train of sushi that passes by. You just choose off of the line what you want and at the end they count up your plates. I went with a former student recently and took some pictures to share with you. This is the counter you sit at and the sushi just goes past on the little conveyor belt. If you want something you just take it off. The little faucet below the train is for hot water to make your tea.

Here are the plates that Giovanna and I ate when we got our sushi.

I also went out with a some friends after church one Sunday to a Chinese Tea House. One of the girls ordered a tea that was interesting as it brewed. I made a video of it as it was brewing.

Another pair bites the dust.

2007-11-11T23:51:00.000-06:00

Okay, since moving to Hong Kong in August I have killed 3 pairs of shoes. Basically a pair a month. But actually they have all been in the last month and half.

The first pair to fully bite the dust: So Nikelle and I got out of her car at the shopping center in Admiralty. As I'm walking across the parking garage, I realize that I'm having difficulty keeping my shoe on. Well that would be because the side of the strap has started to come out. By the time I take a few more steps it's done. So here I am on the island with a broken shoe, but luckily we are at a mall, but I still have to get into the mall and find a new pair of shoes. So I walk up 2 flights of stairs(because apparently there is no such thing here as Americans with Disabilities Act and they don't have elevators everywhere) Where we walk into the mall is through the grocery store. So here I am sliding my foot along so that my shoe doesn't come off. One of the store's staff looks at me like I'm a major freak, so I pull up my pant leg to show her that my shoe is broken. She says that she can fix it with some string. So I tied my shoe to my foot with yellow plastic string. Quite humorous. Luckily my pants were long enough to hide the string. I ended up finding a pair of shoes to buy, but by the time I got home I had some of the worst blisters I have had in a long time. Needless to say, I won't wear them again. Luckily they were only $150 ($20 US) Still more than I would have liked to pay, but cheap considering most shoes here start at about $400 ($50US)

The second pair that bit the dust: This pair actually started down the bad road early in my time in Hong Kong. I don't know how, but somehow the sole of the right shoe just split in two crosswise. I could still use the shoe, but I had to make sure that I didn't do too much walking in it. Well two weekends ago, I played Tour guide here and my shoe didn't like that. Before the day was over, I was saying small prayers with every step I took that my shoe wouldn't go. Thank God, I was able to make it home in one piece. When I got home and took off my shoe, I realized that it was gone, there was really nothing holding it together anymore.

Third pair: This just happened yesterday. I was with two friends and we were walking down the street to run an errand. All of a sudden, I got that funny feeling in my foot again. I knew what was happening...I was having a shoe attack. Again my shoe's strap started to come out from where it was attached. I told my friends I had to go back. I couldn't continue on my errand. So we turned around and one of them said she knew where there was a shoe repair. So we went and he said that he could fix it for $20 ($3US) So I sat in at his booth for 5 minutes barefoot while he "fixed" my shoe. I put it back on and it seemed to be fixed. I decided not to try to do my errand again, so I just headed home. Good thing because about halfway to the train. It broke again. The glue didn't hold. I made it home ok, but had to throw out another pair of shoes. UGH!!!

Hopefully I can make the rest of my shoes last until I'm ready to part with them. Actually I have another pair that is starting to show a bit of stress. I hope that I don't have another "shoe attack"

Free Christian Music on Fridays

2007-11-09T21:49:00.000-06:00

I recently heard about a site called "My Free Music Friday" Every Friday they offer free Christian music for you to download. So today, I decided to try it. I am so glad that I did. This week they were offering 3 free songs:

"Time has Come" by Mercy Me
"Everything Glorious" by David Crowder Band
"Live for you" by Connersvine

I hadn't heard of Connersvine so I went to their my space page to find out a bit more about them. They are from Indianapolis and Hunter Smith from the Indianapolis Colts is one of the duo. They have three songs from their cd to listen to on the page. I really like it.

So check out the free music friday and the new band Connersvine.

USS Essex

2007-11-08T10:19:00.000-06:00

This weekend I got to tour the USS Essex when it was in Hong Kong.

This is the end of the ship where we entered from the ferry. The ship was anchored about a 40 minute ferry ride from the pier on Hong Kong Island. It was too big to come into the harbor.

Once inside the ship, we came to two large boats. These boats are released from the back end of the ship and will go closer to land to put vehicles and personnel on land. As you can see from this picture of me and the boat, it's pretty big and it is inside the Essex so obviously the Essex is huge.Another view of those boats.

I also got to see the morgue

There is a huge hangar for the helicopters and planes. The black part coming out the front of the helicopter is a machine gun.

Next we went up on the flight deck. It was about 7:30 pm so it was already dark and so I really couldn't get any pics. The 2 means that this was the second boat of this kind made.If you look really close in this picture you can see the outline of a helicopter in the middle.

Safety jackets that they sailors wear when they are on the flight deck.

I got this tour because I joined up with a program called "Meals in the home" to host sailors for dinner as they come through our port. I was supposed to host 3 but only hosted 2 for dinner. I did meet the other one though here are their pictures.Gary and Diane

Tom

Interesting Train ride part 2

2007-11-07T05:33:00.000-06:00

Ok, So I have had requests to hear this story. So I recorded it. You can hear it here.

But there's more...this morning (Wednesday, Nov 7th) I got on the train in about car #8 and started walking back to car #11. (I like to sit there because: 1. I can get a seat and 2. it's right next to the exit closest to my school.) So as I enter car #11 whom do I see? Yes, none other than "talk to imaginary friends" boy. I almost lost it.

Interesting Train Ride

2007-11-05T18:58:00.000-06:00

Every day I ride the train to and from work. It's nice early in the morning when there is hardly anyone on the train so I am always guaranteed a seat, but not so in the afternoons on the way home. Well the other morning, I saw a very funny situation. I got on the train, car #11 and sat down on my bench. On the bench across from me sat a guy about early to mid twenties. Each bench holds 4 people and he was sitting near the other end from me, but not right at the end (kind of in between seat one and two) I quickly realized that he was talking to his two imaginary friends. He had one sitting on either side of him. This wasn't just a person talking to themselves, this was him full-on having conversations. He would turn and look at the person and then turn and look at the other person. This went on until the next station, so about 3 minutes. Then at the next station I guess his invisible friend on the right side got off, because this guy moved completely into the first seat on the bench. Also at this stop an older gentleman got on and sat on the same bench but the other end. The guy continued to talk to the one friend and he also got a book out of his bookbag. In doing so, he dropped a paper on the floor, so the older gentleman tapped him and pointed out the paper. The young guy bent down and picked it up, and then proceeded to give the old man the finger. Well at least that is whom I thought he was giving the finger to until he then gave his imaginary friend an hard fast elbow in the stomach. I guess the paper on the floor was really the fault of the invisible friend.

But really folks, you know sometimes invisible friends make mistakes, but do they deserve to be elbowed in the stomach and given the finger? I think not! Treat all of your friends with respect, invisible or not.

That's great. Over.

2007-10-23T09:07:00.000-05:00

Have you ever watched the news when they have a correspondent that is overseas and there is a big delay for them to get the anchor's questions? You are watching the correspondent nodding away, but the anchor has stopped talking for some time and then they finally start to answer the question. Well, that is kind of like talking to me on the phone. Apparently there is a huge delay for what I say to get to America. My mom and I talk frequently and sometimes the delay is minimal and other times it is unbelievable. The other day the delay was so bad that we kept talking over each other and the conversation was very hard to maintain. So we decided that the best way to work this would be for us to say what we had to say and then say "Over." Oh my gosh, it was so funny. We laughed so hard. The conversation went something like this.

Margie: How was your day? over.
Katie: not too bad, I taught a few classes today. over.
Margie: how were the students? over.
Katie: overall, not to bad. over. oh, I want to say something else. over. I mean not over yet. the students don't want to talk when I ask them a question but do when I don't want them to talk. over.
Margie: wait you can't say over and then start talking again. over.
Katie: ok. over.

And of course through this entire conversation we were laughing so hard. Needless to say the conversation didn't last too long.

Listen to my stories

2007-10-14T09:52:00.000-05:00

So I have recently found out about a way for you to hear my stories. I find when someone tells me stories I usually laugh more than when I just read them. So I decided to go back and record some of my stories for you to listen to. Click the link below to go back to the original posting and then click the new link at the beginning to hear me tell the story.

The Sound of Music Sing along
Mother Sit Down
Changing Noses
Just Leave
Religion during the week

I hope you enjoy them.

2007-10-08T04:02:00.000-05:00

I thought you might like to see some of people that I work with. So here are some pics.

Koey and I are cubicle mates. She teaches English. She is so funny!

Natalia sits on my the other side of my cubicle wall.
This is her first year at this school and she teaches English.

Mr. Tom (his surname is Tom) when I lived here before he is the one who gave me my Chinese name. Kind of my adopted dad. (my dad's name is Tom)

Daphne is also an English Teacher. She takes great care of me.

May teaches English, too. She and I both love Fashion and enjoy spending time together.

Denise Jim (everyone calls her Jim) teaches English.

There are more, but those are the ones that I have attacked with my camera. They are a great bunch of people and have been so helpful in getting me settled in my life in HK.

This is the Big one to end them all.

2007-10-01T22:54:00.000-05:00

Ok, so here it is. The last one of these "About me" that I am going to post. It's a big one and has catagories so be prepared.

Basics:
Name: Katie Moore
Date of Birth: April 8
Birthplace: Pittsburgh
Current Location: Hong Kong
Eye Color: Blue
Hair Color: Dark Blonde (but going to change soon)
Height: around 5 8
Heritage: Irish, German, English
Piercings: ears
Tattoos: none
Favourite:
Band/Singer: Melinda Doolittle (this changes frequently)
Song: Adonai by Avalon
Movie: Hairspray (this also changes frequently)
Disney Movie: I really like most of them
TV show: Frasier
Color: Pink
Food: Mexican
Pizza topping: Pepperoni
Ice-Cream Flavor: Phish Food by Ben and Jerry's
Drink (alcoholic): Cosmo
Soda: dont drink pop
Store: Super Sample (in HK) Chico's and JJill (in USA)
Shoe Brand: cheap--I really don't have a favorite brand just like lots of shoes
Season: Fall
Month: April-- my birthday month
Holiday/Festival: Christmas
Flower: gerber daisy
Make-Up Item: Mascara
Board game: Trivial Pursuit
This or That
Sunny or rainy: I like both, but rain is the best for lazy days in bed
Chocolate or vanilla: vanilla (w/ chocolate syrup)
Fruit or veggie: fruit
Night or day: night
Sour or sweet: sweet
Love or money: love
Phone or in person: in person
Looks or personality: personality
Coffee or tea: tea
Hot or cold: cold
Your:
Best physical feature: eyes
First thought waking up: UGH!!
Sesame street alter ego: big bird
Fairytale alter ego: Little Mermaid
Worst crime: speeding
Strangest received gift: the gift wasn't strange it was the fact that I knew what it was because she gave the same thing to every friend, so the end of the school year birthday people knew what they were getting because the people in September received the same item for their birthday.
Worst habit: picking at my nails
Do You:
Smoke: nope
Drink: occasionally
Curse: no
Shower daily: yes
Like thunderstorms: yes love them--when we were growing up we would sit in the garage and watch the storms with our mom. It was the best.
Dance in the rain: love doin it
Sing: yes all the time --Just not in public
Play an instrument: nope
Get along with your parents: yes
Wish on stars: sometimes
Believe in fate: yes
Believe in love at first sight: no
Can You:
Sew: no
Cook: yes my specialty is a Fratatta
Speak another language: some German
Dance: I love to dance, but don't get to very much
Sing: yes
Touch your nose with your tongue: yes i can
Whistle: yes
Curl your tongue: yes
Have You Ever:
Been Drunk: yes
Been Stoned/High: nope
Eaten Sushi: yes
Been in Love: nope
Skipped school: yes, but mommy said I could stay home.
Made prank calls: of course
Sent someone a love letter: a long time ago
Stolen something: no
Cried yourself to sleep: yes
Other Questions:
What annoys you most in a person? How they eat their food.
Are you right or left handed? right
What is your bedtime? I prefer to stay up late, but since I have to get up so freakin early, I'm trying to be in bed by 10.
Name three things you can't live without: God, family & friends
What is the color of your room? white walls and blue/brown comforter
Do you have any siblings? yes 2
Do you have any pets? no
What is your middle name? Kress
What are you nicknames? Kate, I guess I don't really have any. boohoo
Do you have a crush on anyone? no
Are you afraid of the dark? Sometimes, it depends on where I am.
How do you want to die? without pain
What is the largest amount of popsicles that you have eaten on one day? I have no idea
Would you take a bullet for the one you love? yea
What is the last law you've broken? speeding
In a Member of the Opposite Sex:
Hair color: dark
Eye color: blue or brown
Height: TALL over 6ft.
Weight: more than me.
Most important physical feature: eyes or smile
Biggest turn-off: being a wimpy man

Hopefully when I did the cut and paste, I got all the answers changed to my answers. Hope you enjoyed all that useless infomation.

Company Name?

2007-09-11T22:06:00.000-05:00

Some of you might know that I make jewelry as a hobby, well I decided that I am going to start a little business on the side, but I need to come up with a name for my company. So if you can think of a creative name, leave me a comment or email me. If I use your idea, I will give you credit for the name (and a free bracelet)

some info on my business:
*Bracelets
*Necklaces
*Earrings
*Mostly glass beading
*I also knit scarves

So think, think, think!!!

Spell with Flickr

2007-09-05T20:00:00.000-05:00

Spell with Flickr a fun little program that lets you spell words with photos of letters from Flickr. If you don't like the photos that are first given then click the letter and it will change them for you.

Crude Advertising/not for innocent eyes

2007-09-04T06:35:00.000-05:00

So I am living in Hong Kong now and they just don't seem to have a sensor button on what they show in their advertising in public place(subway station and trains in particular).Often walking in the station or sitting on the train you see advertising that is definitely not PG. Today I saw a very disturbing ad, so I thought I would share it with you.
If you aren't able to make it out very well it's for V*i&agra. Enough said. (the * and & are because I don't want my blog to show up on a google search for that word

List of questions.

2007-09-01T06:23:00.000-05:00

Ok gang, I know that you know how to do this. Copy and paste this into the comments section and change the answers to be your answers.

1.How many suits do you own? I own about 4, but only 2 fit me.but I'm getting closer to fitting in to them again. :)
2.What word do you routinely misspell? Definately, oops I mean definitely. thank God for Spellcheck.
3.Did you see Brokeback Mountain? No
4.Did you see The Da Vinci Code? No
5.What's the name of your cell phone ring? I don't know the name, it's a preprogramed ring
6.What time did you get up this morning? I first woke up at 6am and then fell back to sleep about an hour later and slept until 9am
7.When did you last cry and why? Today, I'm homesick and frustrated. (if you are reading this then please pray for me.)
8.Which of the seven deadly sins are you? Gluttony (although I have been working on it)
9.Beach, city or country? 70% of the time--city, 20%--Beach and 10%--Country
10.Would you say you're cute? Pretty? Hot? Beautiful? I hope that I'm pretty on the outside and Beautiful on the inside.
11.What color is your bathroom? Right now I don't have my own bathroom. But at my parents place it was cream walls with green curtain and towels.
12.How many emails do you receive a day, roughly? including spams--40, no spams-3
13.What's your opinion of New York City? I love it -- the energy, the restaurants, the shopping.
14.What's your favorite letter? "K" of course.
15.Have you ever downloaded a podcast? If so, which one? Yes, CFC messages, Grammar Girl, Frommer's travel
16.Who's your all-time favorite American Idol candidate? Melinda Doolittle
17.When's the last time you volunteered? Where? In July, Mission trip to Hong Kong
18.What did you have for breakfast? A 100%Whey Protein Shake
19.What's your favorite item of clothing? Gaucho pants from J.Jill
20.What one toiletry item could you not live without? Toothbrush

I hope that you enjoyed this new list of questions.

Sound of Music Sing-A-Long

2007-08-13T01:09:00.000-05:00

(To hear me tell this story click here)
About 2 months ago, my mom and I went to the Sound of Music Sing-A-Long. Let me start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. We saw that the local Civic Theatre was hosting the Sound of Music Sing-A-Long. We thought how fun that would be to see the musical live and to be able to sing along with the cast. So my mom ordered the tickets for the Sunday Matinee show. That is when we found out something that wasn't very good...It wasn't live, it was singing along with the movie. Why did we ignore the red flag?

We arrive at the Theatre and are given our little goodie bag. This bag contains a variety of "helps" for the Sing-A-Long. The following things are in the bag:

flibbertigibbet card
maria card
question mark card
a ghost (?) card
an invitation to "The Captain's Ball"
A piece of floral cloth
A popper
and a sprig of silk flowers

Of course we didn't really know what these items were for, so a gal got up on stage and introduced the show and what we were supposed to do with each item. Talk about the wrong person for the job. She was supposed to lead us in a practice of the song "How do you solve a problem like Maria?" yet she didn't know the words. Then she told us that every time the Baroness came into the room we were supposed to HISS, and every time Julie came on we were supposed to CHEER. (good for you if you caught that I wrote JULIE instead of MARIA. yes her name in real life is JULIE, but the character is MARIA and she reference every other person by their characters name rather than their real name. I mean really folks, how hard is it to get that straight, especially when you are explaining about a song that has her name in it.)

These cards go with the song "How do you solve a problem like Maria?" ?-"How do you solve a problem" . Maria -- "Like maria". "A Flibbertigibbet" . Ghost(?)--"a will of a wisp" Then are you ready, we had to put our fingers on our nose for --" A clown"

One scene in the movie, Maria is upset that that children don't have any play clothes. She is thinking and thinking of what she could do. Well she was just told that they drapes were going to be replaced in her bed room. So we were supposed to take the piece of material and wave it and shout "Behind you, behind you." and sure enough she turns around and finds that the drapes would work perfectly for clothes for the children.

We were all invited to the Captain's Ball. So we had to wave our card and shout "A Ball, A Ball!!"

When the Captain sang "Edelweiss" we had to take our flowers and wave them in the air.

We also had a popper, but for the life of me, I can't remember when we popped them. All I remember is that the little girl in the row in front of us got scarred when the poppers when off and her dad had to take her out of the room.

Although the entire concept was CHEESY, I always enjoy getting to watch the sound of music and now I have a fun story to go along with it.

My Car

2007-08-13T00:54:00.000-05:00

Well I sold my car, but I can't say that I am sad to part with it. It wasn't that great of a friend. Yes, it got me to the places I wanted to go and it never left me stranded (well one time I got a flat tire on my way home from Indy, but technically that was the tire not the car and I wasn't stranded for long. and the spare was actually a full tire not just one of those sissy spares.) But I digress...My real sadness is that my car didn't get to wear the "In God We Trust" license plate but for a few days. My licenses plates were due for renewal on July 31st, and I didn't sell the car until August 4th. So for 3 1/2 days my car got to wear the plate that I have been waiting for since January. I know that you are probably thinking why didn't you just get the plates in January when they came out. To be honest, I didn't have the time to wait at the license branch and didn't want to pay for the plates until it was time. Well now I have to go back to the license branch to get some of my money back. And of course do I get all of it back. Heck no!!! It cost me $30 so that my car could be registered for those 3 1/2 days. (thank goodness that's not the going rate for the year. can you imagine at that rate it would be over $3,000 for your plates.)

I went to the Derby

2007-08-01T22:17:00.001-05:00

Yes, I went to the Derby. For those of you who are into horses, I'm sure the first thing that came into your mind was the Kentucky Derby. Well I'm sorry to disappoint, but it wasn't the Kentucky Derby, it was the Demolition Derby. This was my first experience at it and it will probably be my only one. I really am not sure how to describe this for you if you haven't been before, so I hope these pictures will help. Basically. a bunch of cars are trying to destroy each other and the last one to still be running is the winner.

Mr. Picassohead

2007-07-19T21:51:00.001-05:00

Ok, so I have always wanted to be really artistic, but I'm just not. Well today I was told about a website that turns you into a Picasso. You get to create your own Picassohead. It was fun and makes me look like I have some artistic ability. Check out my artwork. Then try your hand at it. When you save the picture make sure you send me the link.

Brooks

2007-06-24T20:28:00.000-05:00

Ok, so maybe this isn't funny to anyone else but me. But now my mom knows 4 "Brooks." We were at a wedding yesterday (Congrats, Amanda and Wes) and the Ministers first name was Brooks. When I pointed it out to my mom, she thought it was funny, but my dad didn't know what we were talking about, so I preceded to tell him the whole story about my mom and the 3 Brooks and mom trying to make a phone call with two phones in her hand. He didn't think it was that funny. Oh, well his loss.

Personal DNA

2007-06-15T22:39:00.000-05:00

When reading my daily dose of "How about Orange" I found this quiz to get my personal DNA. It was a fun quiz and I found out that I am an Encouraging Director. My DNA looks like this:

Encouraging Director

Take the quiz and let me know what your DNA looks like.

It's official

2007-06-10T17:42:00.000-05:00

Well, I thought I would let my three readers know that it is now official.(are you sitting down? well you probably are since you are reading the computer, but you never know, maybe you like to stand and read, and if that's you, then please sit down before you read the next sentence) I am moving to Hong Kong. Yes, you read that correct. I have been offered a position at the school at which I used to teach. I will be working with the students on their oral English. Also, since the school is a Christian school I will be able to lead Bible studies and freely share my faith with them. I am so excited about this opportunity. I will be moving the middle of August. Between now and then I will have lots to do. I have a two week mission trip(to Hong Kong) to go on June 30- July 14 then after I return I will have one month until I move. I know that my mom is planning on having a going away party for me and I would love to have you come.

Also, I would love to have you come and visit me. Please leave me a comment to let me know if you will be able to come to Hong Kong and stay with me. There is so much to see and do there, I think you will all just love it.

Indy 500

2007-05-27T20:58:00.000-05:00

My dad came home from work on Thursday and asked me what I was doing on Sunday. I responded with "Nothing, why?" "Do you want to go to the Indy 500?"

My dad's company gives away tickets to different events all the time. Last year my dad won tickets to the Brickyard and the Formula One races. This year, the guy he carpools with won the tickets to the Indy 500. He didn't want them, so he gave them to my dad.

We got up way to early on a Sunday (6:30) to drive up to Indy. We parked at the airport, caught the shuttle to Speedway and then walked the 4 blocks to the stadium. Our seats were in the Paddock: facing east, under cover, across from Pit Row and right at the starting line. They were awesome seats.
Before the race started, Florence Henderson and the Purdue Marching Band performed "God Bless America" In the picture, Florence is on the checkered stage on the left, the Purdue Marching Band is next to the stage on the right and Soldiers are across the Middle.

The race started at 1:00. I tried to get a picture of the cars going by, but they were so fast that all I got was a picture of the track.
Actually I did get some pictures, Here they are:

After 110+ laps the rain came down. (I'm thinking it was about 113 laps) Look at the difference between these two pictures. One was during the race before the rain and the other was taken during the rain.

In case you couldn't tell what the difference was between the pictures, it was the number of fans in the stands

After raining for about 30 minutes, we decided to head home. We knew that the race might be called, or it could be hours before they start it back up again. We enjoyed what we saw and were ready to make it a day.

We walked the 4 blocks back to the shuttle stop (it seemed like it was more than 4 blocks on the way back...i'm thinking because we were walking in the rain.) Caught the shuttle back to the airport and then drove home.

Check out my video of the race.

Crazy Carrot

2007-05-27T20:47:00.000-05:00

Today I was eating a little bag of baby carrots, when I came across a mutated carrot. I thought it was pretty funny, so I took a picture of it.

My crazy Mom

2007-05-03T12:25:00.000-05:00

I'll try to condense this story without losing the funniness of the situation. So here's my attempt.

About 10 years ago, my mom had a client named Brooks (female). Now present day, one of my mom's favorite shows is "Designed to Sell." One of the Carpenters on the show is named Brooks (male). Mom made a comment that until the first Brooks she had never heard of that name as a first name and now she "knows" two Brooks.

Well today the phone rang and on caller ID it said "Brooks" was the first name. My mom answered the phone and when she got off she said, that it was a person calling to tell her that she had left messages on their machine but had the wrong number. But the funny thing was that this person was the cousin of the person she was trying to reach, so he gave her the correct number. I told her she now "knows" 3 Brooks. Well as you can imagine, that confused her so I had to remind her about her dead client, the carpenter and now this one who just called. Apparently she hadn't looked at Caller ID before answering. So when she did, she laughed. Well if you know my mom and her craziness, you know that when she laughs it gets her off track. So with the cordless phone that she had answered in her hand, she picked up the other cordless phone and started to dial the correct number. I asked her what she was doing with two phones. When she realized what was happening, she just lost it. She laughed so hard that she had to wait over 10 minutes to be able to make the phone call.

Canadian Geese

2007-05-02T11:22:00.000-05:00

Canadian Geese are so beautiful in the air. It's amazing how they fly in "V" formation. How do they learn to do that? But more importantly, how can such beautiful creatures be such a nuisance to so many people. There are many lakes around town that are inundated with these animals. As fun as it is to take little kids to feed the ducks, you can't because of these mean geese. They will swarm you and peck you for the food.

And then you know what happens after the eat, they have to poo. Well do they ever. They leave a mess behind that is unbelievable. Apparently it's not just here that has a problem, there was a story on NBC news last night about them. Here's the link to the video.

Mission Trip

2007-04-26T21:56:00.000-05:00

On June 30th, I and a team of 11 others will be heading to Hong Kong and Mainland China. We are all a part of a mission trip team that will be going to work English Camps for Chinese students. For those of you who know me, you know that I lived in Hong Kong for a year as an English Teacher. We will be working for one week at my old school. The students we will be working with are freshman in highschool. We will be helping them as they prepare for their public exams. When we go into Mainland China, we will be taking with us junior student from Hong Kong.

For this trip we need to raise up a support team. We need people who are willing to prayerfully and/or financially support us. If you would like to be a part of our support team, leave me a comment with your email address and I'll be in touch with you.

For more information you can check out our blog about the trip. we are going to try to update while we are there.

I met Jesus

2007-04-22T21:07:00.000-05:00

So yesterday was the Michael W. Smith concert at my church. Since I enjoy music so much I thought that I would volunteer to be the runner for the day. Basically this means that I would run any errands that they(the artist or their people)have. I did this before for Jars of Clay when they were in town and had a good experience, so figured why not for one of my favorite singers.

The run down of my day:

My day started at about 2 in the afternoon. They didn't really have much for me to do, so I tried to read some of my book "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand.
I ate dinner with them and they seem to have so much fun together. They were all cracking me up. (you know me, I love to laugh)
My first real run was after dinner, I took their bus driver to the hotel so that he could get some sleep before having to drive them late that night.
The next thing I had to do was show Todd (one of Michael's peeps) to the airport to drop off Michael's rental car. Todd jumped in the van and we made a quick run to Starbucks. As always it was good coffee, plus it was good company.
After the concert, I had to take Michael and his special guest to the airport. The special guest was Jim Caviezel, really, Jim Caviezel (Jesus in the Passion of the Christ movie) He and Michael are really good friends and so he came into town for the show.
Then I picked up the driver at the hotel.
My day was over.

He's gone!!!

2007-04-18T21:00:00.000-05:00

Finally, Sanjaya has been voted off of American Idol. I was starting to get a bit worried that my favorite show was going to be ruined by mean people who wanted to vote for the worst singer. I'm sure that the other contestants are relieved as well.

My favorite contestant is Melinda Doolittle. Not only is she the best singer, she is also so humble and a Christian!!

Let me know who your favorite is!

2007-04-11T00:44:00.000-05:00

Let me introduce you to Princess Cupcake A La Mode. I just created her on the M&M website. It was really a fun thing. You get to pick the body shape, color, hair, eyes, well everything about your special M&M. Then you can download it on to your computer or buy merchandise with your creation on it. Check out this site to build your own. If you create one let me know.

Right or Left Brain

2007-03-15T00:27:00.000-05:00

Brain Lateralization Test Results

Right Brain (42%) The right hemisphere is the visual, figurative, artistic, and intuitive side of the brain.
Left Brain (58%) The left hemisphere is the logical, articulate, assertive, and practical side of the brain

Are You Right or Left Brained?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Four things about me.

2007-02-21T20:17:00.000-06:00

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Instructor at Community College
2. Christian Concert Promoter
3. Shopping Center Manager
4. Teacher in Hong Kong

Four movies I can watch over and over:
1. My Best Friends Wedding
2. Sweet Home Alabama
3. Emma
4. Sliding Doors

Four places I have lived:
1. Newburgh, IN
2. Hong Kong
3. West Lafayette, IN
4. Indianapolis, IN

Four TV shows I love/like:
1. Law and Order:Original
2. Law and Order: Special Victims
3. American Idol
4. Frazier

Four places I have been on vacation:
1. Multiple places in Florida
2. Singapore
3. Australia
4. England

Four of my favorite foods are:
1. Reese's Cups
2. Rice Krispie Treats
3. Mexican
4. Scones

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Hong Kong
2. Australia
3. Singapore
4. With my Niece

Four favorite things:
1. Thunderstorms
2. Flowers
3. I-pod
4. My Niece

Let me know about you!!

Gung Hei Fat Choi

2007-02-19T21:41:00.000-06:00

Happy Chinese New Year!!!! It's the year of the pig!

Do you think English is easy?

2007-02-02T21:13:00.000-06:00

I got a funny email today.

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present
8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail
18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant,
nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins
weren't invented in England or French fries in France. We take English
for granted But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can
work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from
Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't
groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the
plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One
index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not
one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one
of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats
vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the English
speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what
language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck
and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a
wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a
language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you
fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going
on.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the
creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all That
is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are
out, they are invisible.

PS. - Why doesn't "Buick" rhyme with "quick"

Super Bowl shuffle

2007-02-01T20:17:00.000-06:00

Chicago Bears Super Bowl Shuffle Video

Da BEARS!!

2007-01-24T22:35:00.000-06:00

Even though I live in Indiana, and am an AFC fan, I am going to be cheering for for Da BEARS!! I have been a Bear fan since the Super Bowl shuffle days. If you don't remember all the words to that fantastic song check out this site.

2007-01-23T19:06:00.000-06:00

Well here she is!! My new little Niece, Ashlyn. She arrived on Wednesday Jan 17. She is just precious. Besides the fact that she pooped on me today.

TOO MUCH FOOD

2006-12-27T22:59:00.000-06:00

The week before christmas, my Bible Study group got together at the Acropolis for lunch. The night before, my friend Kyle said that I should try the "name your own price" meal. So I asked about it. Oh, my gosh, talk about alot of food. Here's the description from their menu:

"Name your own price and enjoy an combination of dishes consisting of cold and hot appetizers, salad, assorted entrees and dessert. Remember to take your time to finish this and let us tell you that it is ok with the chef if you do not finish it. He knows that towards the end you will be begging for no more food.(minimum 2 people)"

Well let me tell you, we were begging for NO MORE food. Actually, one course that was brought out was immediately taken away and boxed-to-go.

Our Meal:
Platter of pita bread & various sauces including: Hummus; Melitzanosalata – blended eggplant with humus, tahini and olive oil; & Tzatziki – homemade creamy greek yogurt/cucumber dip with garlic and virgin olive oil

Dolmades – grapevine leaves stuffed with lean spiced ground beef, rice, & herbs

Greek Salad

Stifado – beef cubes cooked with onions red wine and red wine vinegar, served with rice pilaf

Gyros Platter – seasoned blended beef and lamb served w/tzatziki sauce & pita bread

Baklava

If you live in Evansville, then you really need to give the Acropolis a try

Holiday Edition

2006-12-20T15:56:00.000-06:00

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Growing up the presents under the tree (wrapped) were from Family, and then on Christmas day the present "from Santa" were (unwrapped) in a pile. Each kid had their own pile.
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? white
4. Do you hang mistletoe? No
5. When do you put your decorations up? Day after Thanksgiving
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Cranberry--with the mold of the can.
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: Christmas when I was twelve. I had really wanted a phone. Being the snoop that I am, I had found all my presents and knew that I was getting a phone. YEAH!! but that morning, it wasn't in my pile. my mom saw that I looked confused and asked if something was wrong, I said I was supposed to get a phone. she replied that I was too young. so I said no, I found it and I took the whole family up to the hiding place and opened the lid, and there was the phone box. I picked it up and it was empty. my parents started laughing and told me to look under my bed. Sure enough, for the last week the phone had been plugged in, in my room, but the ringer was off.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I'm not sure
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? when I was young we opened a small gift every weekend of December, then the rest on Christmas day. Since we have got older we started doing all our opening on Christmas Eve. But this year, we are doing it on Christmas Day.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Lights and ornaments (is there another way)
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Let it snow, let it snow, let in snow!
12. Can you ice skate? Ugh, NO!!! I have enough trouble on my own two feet, why would I put any thing like a skate under them and then try and walk on ice.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? No, I have had many favorites over the year
14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? The birth of Jesus
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Fudge
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Fondue
17. What tops your tree? A Big Bow
18. Which do you prefer Giving or Receiving? Giving
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? don't know that i have a favorite, but I do really like to hear Karen Carpenter sing them.
20. Candy Canes? Love them

Say Thank you

2006-12-18T23:54:00.000-06:00

No matter how you feel about President Bush, or the war on Terrorism or anything else to do with politics, we all need to be supportive of our troops that are fighting overseas. These men and women are putting their lives on the line every day. Xerox has come up with a way for us to Say Thank you to the troops. visit this website to send a postcard to a military member.

Pass this on to everyone that you know.

Another one

2006-12-09T17:07:00.000-06:00

I told you I'm a sucker for these questionaires. So here is another one. I did try to edit it for any duplicate questions.
1. What is your occupation? Teacher
2. What color are your socks right now? Red with red and black fish and a separate place for your big toe (like mittens)
3. What are you listening to right now? The hum of the computer
4. What is the last thing you ate? Peanut butter balls
5. Can you drive a stick shift? No
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Green, even though my favorite color is pink
7. How old are you today? 32
8. Have you ever dyed your hair? yes, but always "normal colors"
9. favorite day of the year? My Birthday
10. What do you do to vent anger? Complain to my mom
11. What was your favorite toy as a child? cabbage patch kids
12. What is your favorite season? Fall
13. Hugs or kisses? It depends who from...ha..just kidding!
14. Cherries or Blueberries? Blueberries
15. Living arrangements? with the parental unit
16. When was the last time you cried? probably not recently enough
17. What is on the floor of your closet? shoes...lots of them
18. What did you do last night? Ate, laughed, played games..had a good time with friends!
19. Favorite smells? food
20. What inspires you? Love
21. What are you afraid of? Losing a loved one
22. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Cheese
23. Number of keys on your key ring? 5
24. How many years at your current job? 1 1/2years
25. How many states have you lived in? 7 Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Colorado, Tennessee, Maryland
26. Favorite holiday? Christmas
27. Who's your favorite NFL team? Steelers
28. Do you have a house phone that is NOT cordless? yes
29. 10 inches of snow or 100 degree weather? 10 inches snow

Stupid Questionnaire

2006-12-05T21:37:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I'm a sucker for these stupid question and answer things and I don't know why! Ok, here's what you're supposed to do... and please don't spoil the fun :) Copy the questions below and paste them into the comment section,then delete my answers, and type in your answers.
1. What time is it? 9:45 pm
2. What is your name? Katie
3. Nickname? Kate
4. Any piercings? ears
5. What is the most recent movie you've seen in the theater? Happy Feet
6. Eye color? Blue
7. Place of birth? Pittsburgh, PA
8. Favorite food? Pretty much anything ethnic
9. Ever been to Africa? not yet
10. Ever been toilet papering? yes
11. Love someone so much it made you cry? yeah
12. Been in a car accident? yeah,
13. Croutons or bacon bits? Croutons
14. Favorite day of week? Friday
15. Favorite restaurant? Taco Loco in Hong Kong
16. Favorite flower? Gerber Daisy
17. Favorite sport to watch? Football
18. Favorite drink? Cosmo
19. Favorite ice cream? Chubby Hubby or Phish Food by Ben & Jerry's
20. Disney or Warner Brothers? disney
21. What kind or car do you have? Daewoo Leganza
22. Color of bedroom carpet? beige.
23. How many times you failed your driver's test? never, I got a waiver
24. From whom did you get your last e-mail? Nikki
25. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Bombay Company
26. What do you do most often when you are bored? Online games
27. What's your bedtime? should be 10:30 but lately it's been around 1am
28. Favorite season? the fall, perfect weather and the trees are so beautiful
29. Favorite TV shows? Law & Order (all of them)
30. Last person you went to dinner with? Julie
31. Ford or Chevy? chevy Ford was a Nazi
32. What are you listening to right now? I'm watching TV.
33. What is your favorite color? Pink
34. How many tattoos do you have? NONE!!
35. How many pets do you have? NONE!!
36. Which came first the chicken or the egg? the chicken
37. What time is it now? 9:55

Funny Joke from Lucky

2006-11-13T23:29:00.000-06:00

A Nun gets in a cab in New York City. After the Nun tells the driver where to go, the driver says "I have a confession, I have always wanted to kiss a Nun." The Nun is shocked. The driver pleads for a kiss. Finally the Nun says, that is would be ok if the taxi driver can meet two conditions. First, that he must be catholic and second that he must be single. The driver says that he meets both, and the Nun gives in. The driver gets out of the front and climbs into the back seat for his kiss. After the passionate kiss, the driver tells the nun that he must confess again. "I am not actually Catholic and I'm married." The Nun replies "Thats ok, I'm not really a Nun, my name is Frank and I'm on my way to a Costume Party."

Do you have any funny jokes, leave me a comment with them!

Driving GRRR

2006-10-24T23:15:00.000-05:00

I don't know how many times in the last week I have seen some form of the following situation: In a parking lot, there is a great big arrow pointing in one direction, the direction that traffic should go and there is an idiot driving the other direction. How hard is it to go to the next aisle to drive the direction that you want to go. It just GRRR's me. At school, the drive next to the building has multiple huge arrows pointing towards the back of the lot, but every day drivers insist on driving the wrong way. Also they just painted brand new arrows in the entrance off First Ave. These arrows along with the sign attached to the stop sign show that it's a right turn only. Yet the other day, I was behind 3 people who decided they were too important, and had to make left hand turns at Rush Hour. We sat there forever.

So what's your big GRRR? Leave me a comment with yours.

Voice mail/Answering Machine Messages

2006-10-20T14:06:00.000-05:00

First the GRRR...When you call someone and end up getting their voicemail. They have a nice message saying "I'm not available, leave a message." You expect the beep to be next, but NO! it's now the automated lady telling you "if you would like to page this person press 5, if you want to text them press 2, if you want to leave a message record after the beep, after recording press pound to send your message and press star for more options." My gosh, do I really need to hear all of that. I just want to leave a message. Actually, I probably really just want to talk to the person I'm calling. And what are these additional options anyways? I know there are some of you out there who "need" those additional options, like "Priority" All that does is put your voicemail to the front and now it's the first one that I delete rather than the last. I will make my own list of priorities for returning phone calls. (don't worry dear friends, I always call people back)

Now for the funny...I love when people are creative on their answering machine. It's funny to get a machine like my mom got today. Let me share the side of the conversation that I heard and then I'll share what the machine said.

Margie: Hi, Lee, this is Margie Moore, Donna's friend (pause)...Yes it does seem(stops due to interuption)... oh, ugh, Donna this is margie, call me when you get this message.

As soon as I heard the second part of what my mom was saying I put it together, she got fooled by the machine. Here's the entire conversation:
AMM: Hello
Margie: Hi, Lee, this is Margie Moore, Donna's Friend.
AMM: How are you? It looks like it's going to be a great day.
Margie: Yes it does seem
AMM: And we are out enjoying the beautiful weather. Leave us a message.

My one thought on these funny machines is "don't leave it like that forever," after awhile people do get a bit fed up with the "funny" and it just seems to be annoying. So be creative people!! just don't be annoying!!

Religion during the week

2006-10-09T22:58:00.000-05:00

(to hear me tell this story click here)

Are you wondering what I might be getting ready to write about with a title like that? Well let me set the stage for this post...1. my mom is crazy (I love her anyways)2. The following was said in the hallway of our house around 11pm. 3. my mom is crazy 4. I was walking down the hallway towards my mom and when she saw me this is what happened.

Margie: You remind me of a Catholic on Wednesdays, I, I, I mean, a Catholic on Wednesdays.

Katie: (confused)Well, you remind me of Buddhist on Saturday.

Margie: I mean a Catholic on Ash Wednesday.

(Apparently I had a mark on my forehead)

September was a boring month

2006-09-29T19:30:00.000-05:00

Today I was talking to my good friend Cindi and she mentioned that I hadn't updated my blog for the entire month of September. She said that I needed to or else September wouldn't be listed on my long ago posts section. I couldn't believe that I hadn't posted anything this month. But sure enough, she was right. Nothing was posted for September.
So now comes the problem, what to blog about. I mentioned this to my mom and she started to think of things for me to blog about. Here were some of her suggestions:
1. my dislike of the fall festival
2. my students
3. being free from my driving my mom around
4. the party I had when my parents were both out of town at the same time.(there wasn't one)

Then she came up with a crazy story that my brother could blog about(if he had a blog) Apparently, while visiting my brother last weekend, they went to Target and since my mom is still recovering from knee surgury, she had to use one of their electric scooters. Well the whole time she was using it, she couldn't control the stopping very well and she kept giving herself whiplash. After watching my mom suffer with the controls, my brother told her to stay put and he would get the last thing they needed. When he came back she was gone, and he had to start looking for her. When he found her he asked her what part of "Stay put" didn't she understand, the "stay" or the "put". I know that story might not be funny to you readers, but it was hysterical when my mom told it. She was laughing so hard she almost couldn't get thru the story.

I hope you enjoyed my September blog.

Holy Land In Newburgh

2006-08-22T22:21:00.000-05:00

As some of you know, my mom broke her leg a few weeks ago and she had to have surgury to repair the break. As part of the surgury, the doctor had to do a bone graft. Rather than taking part of her own bone, he took Coral from the Red Sea and placed that in her leg. When my mom found out that she had the coral in her, her response was "I've always wanted to go to the Holy Land and now it has come to me."

A bit deeper than usual

2006-08-04T10:14:00.000-05:00

This post is a bit deeper than I usually like to post, but I really thought that this guy had good insight into the war on Terrorism. (I made one modification to his article and that is the biblical passage. I put it in NIV rather than the translation that he originally used...easier to read this way)

Remember Amalek
What the Bible says about fighting terrorism
By Rabbi Marc Gellman

The Bible is the greatest collection of books, and I believe it to be the complex but discernable word of God. However, the Bible can also be a dangerous book when it is used as a blueprint for any particular political or military stance seeking sanction and support through a few carefully selected and often misleading segments.

On both sides of any war debate, both pacifists and provocateurs can use the Bible's authority. The same is true for the Qur'an and for the Vedas. God's will and God's ways, we must always remember if we are to be true to the message of faith, are not our own. As Abraham Lincoln cautioned, the important question is not whether God is on our side but whether we are on God's side. However, we ought not conclude from this humble caution that the Bible is utterly recondite and irrelevant to the wars we fight. I believe that the key to the Bible's message to us in this moment is remembering Amalek.

In Deut. 25:17-19 we read: "Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and cut off all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God. When the LORD your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!

What made Amalek so dastardly was that unlike any other enemy who attacked the Israelites fleeing slavery in Egypt from the front, Amalek attacked the rear. This meant that his soldiers could kill women and children, the elderly and the infirm and in so doing avoid engagement with the soldiers at the front. In this way he could produce maximum carnage and maximum terror. The moral problem the Bible addresses is that this is not warfare, it is the slaughter of innocents—it is terrorism.

Why, I wondered, would God command us to remember the terrorist Amalek? There are other villains in the Bible, but there is no biblical command to remember Pharaoh or Nebuchadnezzar, or Cyrus. We are commanded only to remember Amalek. I believe this is because the planned and plotted slaughter of innocents even during wartime cannot be condoned and must be remembered as a bright moral line which can never be crossed. Indeed our remembrance of Amalek is combined with a chilling pledge from God that is also unique in the Bible: “The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation” (Exod. 17:16). Our enemies are just our enemies except if our enemy is Amalek. In that case our enemy is also the enemy of God. Amalek thus becomes the symbol of terrorism in every generation. He is the symbol not of evil but of radical evil.

In our generation Amalek is alive and well and killing the weak ones at the rear of the march. Amalek has attacked the rear of our line of march in Madrid and Bombay, in Jakarta and London, in Haifa and Tel Aviv, in New York and Washington, in a quiet field in Pennsylvania and in a hundred other homes and families—leaving them covered with blood and tears. Yes, one can disagree and debate how Amalek must be fought, but not that Amalek must be fought. One must report and mourn the innocents who are inadvertently killed by our soldiers in our battle against Amalek, but that remembrance must always make the spiritual moral and political distinction that our victims were killed by mistake and Amalek's victims were killed by design.

I have no new or fresh or insightful take on the latest battle in the worldwide war on Islamic fascism except the message of our president: victory is the only way. In my heart and prayers, I thank President Bush for remembering Amalek. And to all the world leaders who are used to thinking about war as just a struggle for land or oil or power, remember that this war is different and this enemy is different. If you can, come to realize that this is a war against a lover of slaughter. If you join us, then we shall not have to fight Amalek alone and he cannot again attack the weak ones at the rear of the line.

© 2006 Newsweek, Inc.

It's been along time

2006-07-20T23:28:00.000-05:00

Well it has been along time since I have blogged, I have been told by a few friends that I need to keep up on my blogging. I'm sorry for the void that I created in your life. I hope you enjoy the below posts.

ANNOYING to just GROSS

2006-07-20T23:17:00.000-05:00

At 6:30pm every night, you can find my mom and me watching her favorite show: "Wheel of Fortune" Recently, WOF has gotten a new sponsor...It's called HEAD-ON. The Commercial consist of a woman rubbing what looks like a glue stick to her forhead and the voice-over saying "Head-on, apply directly to the forehead. Head-on, apply directly to the forehead. Head-on, apply directly to the forehead." No, that's not a typo. The commercial repeats the phrase three times. At first the commercial ran just the one product, then they added another product: Activ-On This is for Arthritis. "Apply directly where it hurts." These commercials have become so annoying. Everynight, this commercial runs during WOF and now it's starting to run during other shows. If you haven't seen it then you just don't watch TV. Here's a link to a YouTube of it. Today was the worst, they have added another product. It's for Hemorrhoids, FREEdHEM. "Freedom from Hemorrhoids, FREEdHEM Hemorrhoid Cream. Freedom from Hemorrhoids, FREEdHEM Hemorrhoid Cream. Freedom from Hemorrhoids, FREEdHEM Hemorrhoid Cream." Now here's the question, why didn't they say..."FREEdHem, apply directly to the Hemorrhoids" I found a really funny commentary on these products. so if you have the time, take a listen to what Brian Unger has to say.

Changing Noses

2006-07-20T23:04:00.000-05:00

(to hear me tell this story click here)
Last friday, my mom, sister, niece and I went to the farmer's market. While we were sitting in the car waiting for the rain to stop, my niece was playing the "Got your nose game" (you grab the other persons nose with your first and middle finger, and then when you pull your hand away you stick your thumb inbetween the fingers so it looks like you have the nose in your hand.) So she took my nose off and then she took my mom's nose off and put my mom's nose on my face. I pretended to cry that I didn't have my own nose. My niece said to me "Don't cry, it's not like you have her whole face."

Stalking Reversed

2006-07-20T22:50:00.000-05:00

Ok, So I blogged a while back about "Stalking" someone at Starbucks. Well, tonight when Julie and I got together, I suggested that we just get together at the starbucks closer to us...there really wasn't a reason to go to the one that was out of the way just to see that guy.(especially since I wasn't going to make a move to get to know him) So here we are at out Starbucks and who walks in? YES, you are right. It was him. He ended up sitting at the table right by us. I think he is now stalking me.

Mother, Sit down!!!!!

2006-07-20T22:36:00.000-05:00

(to hear me tell this story click here.)
Today while using a public bathroom with my mom, I was reminded of something that happened to us a few years ago. My mom and I were in the bathroom at Barnes and Noble. While we were washing out hands, a lady (about my mom's age) and her elderly mom came into the bathroom. The mom went into the first stall and the daughter went into the second stall. Next thing we know, the daughter is looking over the stall wall into the first stall and speaking very strickly to her mom. "Mother, sit. down. Sit. Down, Mother. MOTHER, SIT! DOWN!! SIT! DOWN, MOTHER!!" It was so funny, it took all the self-control we had to not bust out laughing right there in the bathroom. After we left the bathroom, my mom turned to me and said, "That's us in 30 years!"

playing around

2006-06-29T12:09:00.000-05:00

So, I thought I would try out this feature with Blogger. It's where I can send an email to Blogger and it will be posted on my blog. That seems to be pretty cool. That way when I get a funny thing sent to me, all I will have to do is forward it on. If you are reading this on my blog, then it worked.

GRRR

2006-06-29T11:29:00.001-05:00

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I read a little column called "The GRRRR!" check out the link for even more great thoughts by Mike Straka.

While reading the column today, I found this little bit quite humorous and it hit the nail on the head for me. Hearing people eat is one of my biggest pet peeves.
Enjoy the GRRR...

Popcorn Eaters

Whoever thought popcorn would be good movie theater fare obviously never sat in a dark room full of Oblivions munching on popcorn as if they were dying of some rare disease, and the only cure lies at the bottom of their popcorn bucket.

SHOOMP, in goes the hand — SHOOMP, out comes the hand and makes a beeline directly to the mouth — MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH — BREATHE — MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH.

The sound of people relentlessly chomping on their popcorn with bits flying out of their mouths, holding their breath while chewing so that they have to exhale simultaneously as they chew is enough to drive me up the wall.

I want to scream everytime I go to the movies, and of course, these Popcorn Oblivions always sit directly behind me so that I can hear ever bite, every breath, every reach, every salivation and every lick of the buttery popcorn off their greasy fingers.

LICK, SMACK, GRRRRR!

Sad News

2006-06-29T01:55:00.000-05:00

It is with much sadness that I have to share this news with you. Moose the dog, better known as Eddie in US sitcom Frasier, has died aged 16 in Los Angeles, his trainer has said.

The Jack Russell terrier passed away of old age last week at trainer Mathilde Halberg's home, she told People magazine and the Access Hollywood show.

"He just had an incredible charisma and was a such a free spirit," Ms Halberg said of Moose, who appeared in 192 Frasier episodes from 1993.

Moose shared the part of Eddie with his son, Enzo.

He made his first appearance on the long-running Cheers spin-off in the first episode on 16 September 1993, retiring 10 years later in 2003. The show finished in 2004.

His fictional owner, retired policeman Marty Crane (John Mahoney), announced the dog's full name was Eddie Spaghetti: "Because he has worms."

Moose's ability to stare at lead actor Kelsey Grammer for extended periods became a running joke on the programme.

Moose was renowned for being able to stare at Kelsey Grammer
When he had to lick his co-stars, however, liver pate was dabbed behind their ears to achieve the required response, Mahoney once revealed.

During the height of Frasier's popularity, Moose received more fan mail than any of his human counterparts.

"He's like a robot," Mahoney told Animal Press magazine in 1994. "A consummate professional who works hard learning his tricks."

Moose also played the title role in 2000 film My Dog Skip.

According to Ms Halberg, Moose was 16-and-a-half when he died on Thursday.

Big Dreamer

2006-06-21T20:43:00.000-05:00

I just finished watching the funniest documentary:"My Date with Drew" quick synopsis...This 27 year old guy has a crush on Drew Barrymore. He decides to take his winnings from a game show to finance the next 30 days in his pursuit for a date with Drew. check out the website and then rent the movie. http://www.mydatewithdrew.com/index.html

Taking a trip

2006-06-07T22:17:00.000-05:00

Well Today I took a trip. A skating trip to be exact. No, not ice skating, and not roller skating. Water on the garage floor skating. And how did the trip end. Not good. I ended up on my left side/butt/back. I am SORE!! andI know tomorrow is going to be even worse. As my uncle told me tonight "You are going to hurt in places that you didn't even know you had." I am already starting to think that he is right. UGH!!!

Bug Zapper

2006-05-30T21:29:00.000-05:00

Ok, you are sitting on the back porch and then ZAP, CRACK, POP!!! You know what that sound is, it's a bug that is too stupid to avoid flying into the blue glowing light. Then for the next 10 minutes the conversation is about how stupid bugs are, and is constantly interupted by the Zap, Crack and Pop of more bugs diving into the light.
What do you ask made me think of this? Well I was driving down the road tonight and some idiot had his bright lights on. Instead of doing like I should (look away from the light and towards the white line on the side), I found myself drawn into watching the light and then once the car passed I was seeing spots and kicking myself for being stupid like a bug.

Calling Information

2006-05-30T13:20:00.000-05:00

How many times have you been driving down the road and needed to make a call, but you didn't have the number, so you called 411 to get it. Then the end of the month comes and you about die when you get your cell bill...It's $10-20 more, because you have called 411 5 times in the last month. Well that expensive extra charge is now over. Yes, you read correctly, it is over. http://www.free411.com/ When you are traveling all you have to do is call 1-800-free-411. (I would recommend that you put it in your memory, that way you aren't really dialing while you are driving)

If you have any great deals to share, leave me a comment!!

Stalking

2006-05-25T22:35:00.000-05:00

On Saturday Julie and I went shoe shopping. While we were out, I mentioned a guy that I thought was cute. I told Julie that I know where he works a part time job. So tonight she and I got together at Starbucks so she could check him out. Of course, our time together was more than just talking about him, we talked about all sorts of different things. As we got up to leave, I thanked Julie for joining me on my stalking adventure.
It's not really stalking, is it? I hope not. I don't want to be thought of as a crazy woman. No, it's not stalking, it's just admiring God's creation. Yeah, that's what it is: admiring God's creation.

Titanic 2

2006-05-25T21:28:00.000-05:00

I hope you enjoy the trailer below.

2006-05-25T21:23:00.000-05:00

titanic 2: jacks back!

More on Grouper.com

Blonde Hair

2006-05-23T20:55:00.000-05:00

My hair has been some shade of blonde for my entire life. Be it naturally or "with a little help from my friends". Well recently I decided to go darker. Not necessarily dark brown, but a bit darker than I have been.
Since moving back from HK, I have been in search of a hair dresser. Well I am pretty sure I have found "the one" He's funny, he's cute and he has the greatest accent. We are working out the relationship kinks still: He was so gracious when I went back a few days later asking for him to do a bit more on my haircut. I just wasn't crazy about how it turned out the first time, but now I'm happy with it.
But a new problem has come up. This time, it's the color. As I mentioned before I have decided to go darker, but this time, for some reason he went lighter. My problem on the lighter hair is that during the summer, my face gets red when I am hot. and too blonde of hair makes it even more noticeable. So I guess I am going to see if there is any chance that he can put a toner on it.

Tape Recorder

2006-05-21T13:27:00.000-05:00

Well I now have the tape recorder!! Julie and I got together yesterday and so I got it from her. (good thing she remembered, because I had forgotten...I would have remembered about 3 days later) Now I can start recording my random thoughts that I have while I am driving down the road, and I won't have to worry about forgetting those GREAT ideas.

Wiggles

2006-05-21T13:10:00.000-05:00

So I spent Mother's day with my mom and my neice at Robert's Stadium along with a bunch of other people and the children. What was I doing there you ask? I was watching adults dance around dressed in chicken costumes, a pirate costume, and as a dinosaur and then of course 4 of the guys didn't have to dress in crazy costumes, but they were still dancing around and acting crazy. And who were these crazy folks. None other than the world renowned "WIGGLES" If you don't know who they are, then you probably don't have a child in your life. And you are missing out on alot of fun. I think I had about as much fun as my neice had. They were a hoot. Almost everyone of their songs has motions to it and everyone was participating in doing the motions to the songs. We bought Evie a little sailor hat (the theme of the show was "Sailing Around the World) She looks so cute in the hat.

Monk-e-mail

2006-05-15T21:20:00.000-05:00

So I have found a new thing to entertain me. It's called Monk-e-mail. I have been sending them to everyone. Check out this link to see what I am so excited about. http://www.careerbuilder.com/monk-e-mail/Default.aspx?mid=9411566&cbRecursionCnt=1&cbsid=e109470f15034370a11f62696e3e9106-201047287-WP-2

Wrong Number

2006-05-03T22:32:00.000-05:00

So today, my home got a phone call that was a wrong number. But the person who called didn't know who they were calling (returning a page) and my mum assumed that maybe I did page this guy. So what does she do...gives him both my email address and cell number. What was she thinking? I had to give her a "lecture" on when to give things out to strangers and when not to. Didn't she take her own advise "Don't talk to strangers"

Cancelling my massage

2006-05-03T22:07:00.000-05:00

So this week, even though I knew it was going to be a bit busy, was supposed to be "ME" week. (but then again, when isn't it me week. I'm single who do I have to worry about but me.) Anyways, I scheduled a hair appointment for Tuesday and a massage on Thursday. Well, last week, I realized that this week was going to be more hectic that I originally thought. And, one way that became obvious was that I scheduled a meeting during my massage appointment. So I had to give Denise a call to reschedule. No problem right? Well I got it rescheduled for monday and tonight I realized, I can't do my massage on Monday because I have to take an exam for grad school entrance. UGH!! How am I going to destress if I can't get a massage.