I am much more of a baseball fan than a football fan (see my countdown timer to the first game of Cubs spring training to the right).  But I will admit that I love watching football; mainly because my husband loves it, and I love to see him enjoy things that make him happy.  Oh, that and the fact that whenever he watches football, it’s become sort of a tradition with us that he gives me excellent backrubs!  So while I couldn’t care less who won yesterday’s Superbowl,( although I chose the Cardinals to root for because it’s always fun to pick a team and scream and shout and get into the game) I did have a great time watching it.

We had decided to have a get-together; a fun evening filled with friends and food (too much food!  We had to have pizza for dinner again Monday and will have it twice more this week  just to get rid of all the extras!).  Because I have 4 kids, I didn’t get to see all of my favorite part of the Superbowl – the commercials.  But that’s ok, I’m sure I can catch them online somewhere if I’m so inclined.  The ones I did see were pretty good – I especially liked the Potato Head one (think it was for tires).  It just cracks me up when Mrs. Potato Head changes into her ‘angry’ eyes, hehehe!  I also really liked the careerbuilder.com commercial with the moose head on the wall – I won’t spoil the rest of it because I recommend you go out and find it yourself if you haven’t seen it.  I missed the newest E-Trade.com commercials with the talking baby, so those I will have to find because I always enjoy those.  Oh, and I’ll have to see the latest chapter in the saga of the Budweiser Clydesdales…

As for halftime, I’m not a fan of “The Boss”, so I wasn’t paying attention to Bruce Springsteen’s performance.  I am glad to note, however, that he didn’t incur a wardrobe malfunction ala Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson circa Superbowl XXXVII in 2004.  Also during halftime, there was a special 3D event.  We had picked up enough pairs of 3D glasses for the party at a store ahead of time (we actually got enough to last us until Superbowl L!), but in my opinion, they should have given a few minutes warning for people to get their glasses ready.  We had ours ready because they did mention it in the 2nd quarter, but I didn’t get a chance to get my regular eyeglasses to wear underneath, which guaranteed an absence of 3D for me.  But other people seemed pretty impressed…  I have seen the preview for Monsters Vs. Aliens in the movie theater and it looks really funny – I’m looking forward to that movie coming out.

Well, anyway, much fun was had by all.  We had originally intended to make this a game night / Superbowl party, but by the time the big game ended, there wasn’t any time for board games.  Next time!  And oh yeah, I should report that the Pittsburgh Steelers won the Superbowl, in case you’re using my site for a news report 🙂

Tonight’s rehearsal was extremely interesting and cut short because of our limited space.  The stage was being used for final dress rehearsals for the production of Steel Magnolias going up this weekend.  The community room in the building (which has been used as our practice area prior to the stage opening up) was being used by another civic organization.  Our final option was to use the costume room.  On Sunday afternoon when I found out that this was where we would be practicing, I had to laugh.  The WCCT costume facility is wall to wall, floor to ceiling, full of rods, shelves, totes, and boxes full of clothes with very little space to move around.  Tonight, I walked into a room that was much larger and less packed with clothes.  Maybe this was because it seemed that there was a fraction of the costumes present.  There was still a limited amount of space.

Before we began, I met the young man who will be playing John Truitt, the “boy next door.”  We have something in common: both of us are featured in a  youtube video.  And of course, this lead to the introduction by everyone’s favorite Liswathistani.  This drew quite a reaction (a good reaction) from everyone there.  I made sure to invite everyone to look up the video.  “John” and “Grandpa” share one brief moment on stage together.  One of the highlights of the evening was seeing “John” learn how take an on-stage punch from a girl.  I had an experience taking an on-screen punch during a melodrama,  In one performance, the hero’s fist actually collided with me… OOPS 😀  OOPS again, I took an on-STAGE punch.

By the time we had finished (early), we had blocked the largest scene in the musical and one smaller scene.  Some good Grandpa moments in those scenes including a very lovely, tender moment with Esther… right before we do that thing that will be taught this weekend…. looking forward to that 😀 .

I’ve said many times how many pets we’ve had in this house, but I haven’t really posted any pictures of them. Here is a small sampling of the many different pets that have lived here. I am missing pictures of the guinea pigs, hamsters, bird, turtles, frogs and hedgehog. If I find any I will post them.

First up, Colin. He was my wife’s “Hearing Ear Dog”. Not formally trained, but he did a very good job at alerting her to sounds in the house.

Next the rabbits, the black one was Samantha, the grey was Clover, and the brown flop ear rabbit was Freddy.

And of course some of the many chinchillas we’ve had through the years.

Why oh why?  Just a few short month ago, Michael Phelps was on top of the world, setting Olympic records, winning gold medals in every swimming event he competed in in Beijing (8 in total) and the world watched.  In 2004 in Athens, he won multiple gold and silver medals and a few months later was involved in a DUI incident.  Funny how this was never mentioned this season… not that I remember anyway.

Over the weekend the golden one was at a college party in which marijuana was present.  And of course Mr. Phelps was human and young enough that he admittedly partook as a photo most likely from one of the fellow partiers cell phones surfaced.

I’m not going to defend anyone in this post.  Not Phelps nor the person snappin the picture.  I will say that anyone living in any high profile position needs to be careful.  I’m not sure if Michael felt that he would be able to escape the limelight twice but apparently he was not being careful.  Human but not careful.  I think the people who are ultimately responsible are those who place these people on such a high pedestal that if they blink, or turn right when they should have turned left they are forever demonized when mere moments ago they were “heroes.”

Feb 2, Groundhog Day. Any excuse to look for spring. Here we are, just a few days past mid-winter in Ohio, and everyone is looking forward to spring. We’ve had plenty of snow, ice and cold temperatures, and we will have quite a few more before winter is through. It seems like winter just goes on and on.

Of course, I do have a custom for groundhog day. I put in the movie Groundhog Day and watch it again. Since the movie came out in 1993, I think I’ve seen it at least 16 times. I know it is more than that, because some years, when the mood strikes I do watch it over and over again. Seeing that this movie is a looping movie anyway, watching it over and over again is an interesting experience. I wouldn’t recommend that for everybody, but I enjoy it on occasion.

So tonight, I was able to watch Groundhog Day again. I had to split it up into two sessions, since I had play practice this evening, but the custom continued. But this got me thinking. I know there are a lot of movies I will watch again and again at a certain time of year. I will read certain books at certain times of the year. It would seem that I never have time for new books or movies, but I get those in too. Books are easy, I read very quickly and I can get through most novels in a day or two. Movies are a fixed length, so I have to make the time. I do this my not watching many television programs. That gives me time to watch a few movies every week.

So any movies or books you watch over and over again.

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I received an interesting email forward from my mom last week, and I’m sharing it on my blog because it’s a helpful household tip that most people I asked didn’t know about.  I had actually heard this Heloise-worthy hint before, but I had forgotten about it.  Here is a copy of the email forward:

I had to go into the kitchen and check this out for myself. Who looks at the end of an aluminum foil box? You know, when you try to pull some foil out and the whole roll comes out of the box. Then you have to put the roll back in the box and start over. The darn roll always comes out at the wrong time.

Well, I would like to share this with you. Yesterday I went to throw out an empty Reynolds Wrap foil box and for some reason I turned it and looked at the end of the box. And written on the end it said, “Press here to lock end.”

Right there on the end of the box is a tab to lock the roll in place. How long has this little lockng tab been there? I then looked at a generic brand of aluminum foil and it had one too. I then looked at a box of Saran wrap and it had one too! I can’t count the number of times the Saran wrap roll has jumped out when I was trying to cover something up.

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HEHE… much to a friend’s chagrin, I have entitled my first post with my new them after one of the signature numbers from the musical, Chicago. From what I gather, the producer for our community theatre’s production of the musical was fond of using the phrase whenever he could.  (“This show is full of razzle dazzle,” etc.).  Unfortunately, I was not yet involved in the group when this production was presented.  I do however know that I would like to play the role of Mr. Cellophane, himself, Amos Hart.  However, as most know, I am not one to stand in the shadows.  For better or worse, I do tend to stand out.  I dunno.

Perhaps I should have waited a few weeks to celebrate the first year of our little group of bloggers, but I was looking through various themes and came upon this little number.  I kinda like it.  So… don’t be afraid to comment on the blog of Morat’s new look.[poll id=”16″]

This weekend has been one of the busiest but most fun I have had in sometime.  It all started Thursday night when a group of us met at the theatre to practice singing the songs we had selected for our concert on Saturday night.  I did not get to practice mine because circuits got crossed and the clip that held the accompaniment to my piece was not there.  But it was fun to see some of the others practice.  Chris practiced his two selections from Jekyll & Hyde.  I had forgotten that the song “I Need to Know” (one of my favorites from the show) had eventually been taken out of the Broadway production. It was replaced by “Lost in the Darkness” which is sung by Jekyll over his comatose father.   I often listen to the Anthony Warlow Gothic Musical Thriller version and find it far superior.  Chris also shone brightly on “Confrontation” which  is sung toward the end of the musical as Jekyll battles the evil that has risen to the surface and is about to totally consume him.

On Friday morning, I had to go to church to practice singing the songs I would lead the congregation in Saturday night.  Then I returned home to practice the song I eventually chose to perform Saturday night at the theatre.  When I decided to sing this weekend, I had two selections picked out that were very special to me and I thought would challenge me; however, they were deemed “not modern enough.”  The theme for the concert was musicals of the past decade.  I eventually chose “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid.  Very fun piece.  However (and I don’t know why it bothers me), I was not able to memorize the entire piece.  But I had fun with it and heard many compliments from some close friends and also from newcomers to the theatre group.  Megan even noted that she could see me one day performing the role of Sebastian on stage.  Another great character with not one but two very memorable songs.  Carol also expressed an interest in eventually performing a duet with me in the near future.  I would relish the opportunity to perform a duet with Chris and one with Carol.  I loved Carol’s duet of “Feed the Birds” from Mary Poppins.  The song really lends itself well to beautiful harmonies.  I must say that all of the performers as well as the MCs were very good and the evening was a great success.

Super Bowl Sunday found me at work then immediately onto rehearsal.  We got to watch some of the choreography begin to take shape.  One of the signature pieces from Meet Me in St. Louis is the “Trolley Song.”  Just in the beginning of the staging of the song, I can see that it will be very intensive but fun.  However, Grandpa does not get to ride the car.  After rehearsal, I made my way to a game party.  I thought the game was good; sad to say the team I picked was not victorious but it is always fun to watch the game with a large group of friends as spirited as mine.   I will watch the Super Office Special episode tomorrow.

I like to play with computers. Both hardware and software. I like to take them apart and then put them together again. My first computer was one I put together from bits and part. I’ve added this and that, played with software and hardware. And since I work in the computer field, it is like getting paid to practice my hobby.

Many times I’ve helped friends with their computers. I’ve replaced hard drives, installed software, added memory and video cards for friends. There are times when they want to pay me for the things that I do. I feel a bit strange about taking money for helping my friends. I never know how much to ask or accept. After all, I am again getting paid for something I would do for fun.

Funny as in strange, my wife had the same problem. She was very good with everything involved in thread, yarn and material. She enjoyed working and creating with these things. Again she would help out friends when they needed a bit of sewing, knitting or some other needlecraft done. She often wondered about how much to accept or charge when friends wanted to pay her.

I have no such worries when I go to work. I know what I get paid to do my work. Why would I think that something less than my hourly rate is to much too charge for computer work. Someday I may figure it out.

My wife had chinchillas for pets.  She worked in a pet store and brought home many rescue chinchillas from owners who no longer wanted them.  Today the last rescue chinchilla died.  We’ve been calling her old lady for at least the last 6 years.  Our best guess on her age would be 18 years.   Not quite a chinchilla record, but not bad for an animal with a ‘normal’ life span of 12 to 15 years.   For the past 6 years, this little girl was acting her age.  The inquisitiveness normal in chinchillas was almost absent in her.  We kept her comfortable and fed.

Today she left this world.  I like to think she is now with the lovely lady who saved this little chinchilla from a much earlier death.  We got her as a retiree of a pet breeding program/business.  They don’t keep them very long after they stop breeding.  We were very luck to find her. She was the second chinchilla in the house. Many more followed, but the first two were my wife’s favorites. They are both gone now.

I found a couple of pictures of this little chinchilla, so I though I would share those.