Right now I do not feel very optimistic. I feel like crap and start crying at just the thought of what happened today. I have been a head cashier for about a month now and in that time, I have been over/under my drawer at Goodwill by five dollars or more at least three times! I have never had that problem before when I was a cashier and now I am worried that it could cost me my job! Tony and I cannot afford for me to have no job. If I lost my job, we would have to move in with his parents and that wouldn’t be good. They don’t really have any money either, plus, Amie just moved in with us! That isn’t fair to her.
I have been thinking of asking if Sarah would let me go back to being just a cashier, but what if she won’t let me, or my hours get cut back a lot! We can’t afford having my hours cut back anyway. I just don’t know what to do.
I have no job skills, no one is hiring anyway. I really don’t have any good talents to help me find a job.
I am good with animals, but I have no school to do anything with them, I cannot make a living out of babysitting, I would go crazy and eating chocolate isn’t going to help with anything! I just don’t know what to do anymore. Apparently math isn’t one of my strong suits anymore. I apparently can’t count money, no matter how many times I recount before I hand it back to the customer. Well, enough on that. Who wants to hear my rantings.

On a happier note, both Beru and Padme came out of their surgeries just fine. Padme is just finally starting to eat again, so hopefully she will put on the weight that she lost from not eating for a little less than a week. She was really starting to scare me, but she’s much better now. I know that most people didn’t know that Padme and Beru were going in to get spayed, but my blog wasn’t working for awhile. Unfortunately, Padme isn’t any more cuddly than she was before she was spayed, but at least she is healthy. I miss when she was a baby and would cuddle and want to be picked up and held. She’s still my little baby and I love her. She’s just growing up, that’s all. At least that what I try to tell myself.

So, you wanted some more pics, particularly pics of me?  Well, I’ll meet you partway- here are some pics, most with me in them, but you have to figure out which of those younguns is my younger self. 😈

.

Oh, most them are clickable for larger versions.  Maybe I’ll go back and rescan some of the other ones in larger versions later. (done)

.

Let’s start with extracurricular activities.  Outside of band, this was something I generally had nothing to do with, even in high school for the most part, but way back in 6th grade I seem to have partaken in one, though I have no memory of it.  And I only did it for that year apparently, perhaps because my aforementioned nemesis was also in the club.  Which club?  Well, it wasn’t a sport- shame on you if you know me and thought that! 😀 )It wasn’t drama as I wouldn’t take an interest until my final year of high school.  It wasn’t choir as that interest came even later.  It wasn’t backgammon, debate, french, leathercraft, comic books, D&D, or CO2 cars.  Wait- the school had backgammon and D&D clubs??  I think you might be able to guess it, it was none other than the beginning computer club.  Here is a picture- at least I’m 90% sure it is me in the photo- the 6th grade yearbook doesn’t give names under the photos for these group pictures.  The geeks among you might make a connection from this photo with the title of this post.

.

The next several are of the one extracurricular activity that I was a part of for eight years.  Once I failed to make the army band, and then proceeded to fail an army physical (don’t ask, but- phew!) I quit altogether.  That was okay, I picked up singing a short time later when I became interested in musical theatre.  The first three are the normal concert bands.  In 6th I was in the lower band of course, strangely called “intermediate” as if there was another, lower band.  I suppose if you counted 5th grade band as the lowest instead, then I guess intermediate worked.  In 7th and 8th grades I was in the top band (symphonic), a trend that would not necessarily continue in high school.  The last two photos were from jazz band, which I was a part of in 7th and 8th grades.

.

.

.

.

.

.

No, I don’t remember why I put a big X through the saxophonist in the last photo.  I guess I didn’t like him.  I believe I had something nasty written on his other photo too.  I do remember he introduced me to the handheld Donkey Kong game & watch from Nintendo which he brought back from Japan.  When I discovered it was being sold on this side of the Pacific too, I obtained one for myself using the tried and true method every young income-free person uses at one time or another (“Can I have it Mom? Pleeeeeeze?”) 🙂

.

The next few photos are just some random photos without me:

Just a photo to show what our gym uniforms looked like. Check out those socks we once wore!
.

Urg- one of the two intramurals I have vivid recollections of. One was floor hockey when I didn’t understand what an “assist” was and tried to enter my name as one who assisted a goal which I did not. In one of the grades, I don’t remember which, I remember I truly stunk at wrestling and won the first game not because I actually remembered how to do the wrestling moves, but because my opponent was even worse. The next game saw me pinned within seconds.  And those socks again…  Nowadays intramurals are optional, but not in the early 80s.
.

Even worse than the socks were the trousers on that teacher! 😛
.

Two gym activities I know for a fact the school doesn’t do anymore- too bad. Current kids do get ping-pong instead though…

.

A photo of the old junior high building. I think someone had said it was built in the 1920s, but I may be remembering wrong. It was replaced by a new one in the last 10 years or so.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Couldn’t figure out which one was me in each photo, maybe because you never met me? Okay, okay- here’s a little help from the lunchroom:

My youngest and I spent part of the weekend cataloging the movies in the house. What do we have on DVD, VHS and Blu-Ray? Not too many on blu-ray yet, but I’m sure in the coming months there will be more movies I want to own.

I was thinking of this, because I never can remember if I own a specific movie or not. I have a number of VHS that I did by DVD replacements for. I’m wondering if there will be any that I ‘NEED’ the Blu-Ray replacement for the DVD. I can’t see that yet, but I do like the quality of the Blu-Ray. I guess I enough of an audio-video geek that I can tell the difference, even in cartoons.

Anyway after counting the movies, I have 400+ movies in my collection. This collection started when the kids were small, so in some cases the movies are 25+ years old. I’m surprised those old VHS tapes still play. And with all of those movies, I have seen all of them at least 1 time. Most of them at least twice. Over 3/4 of those movies I’ve seen 3 times. And there are others that I lost count of the number of times I’ve seen them. Now of those movies, the rest of the family also so a lot of them numerous times.

Interesting fact, if the movie was ‘full’ price, I know I’ve seen it more than 3 times. That only makes sense with the cost of a movie and the cost of a rental. If I know I’m only going to watch a movie once or twice, I like to rent them. If they were bargain basement movies ($5.00 dollars or less), I may only watch them once, but usually at least twice, it depends on my mood.

So at an average of 2 hours per movie (give or take), it would take at least 80 days (watching 8 hours of movies per day) to make it through my collection. So back to books… Around the movies in 80 days??? Should I make a wager to see if I can watch all of them? Nah, there would be no time for books!

I’m not a sports fan at all, but as a kid’s ministry leader and former substitute teacher (if not a parent) I can find certain actions by kids cute.  This was a speech done at the opening day Red Sox game by a 5-year old boy.  He was very articulate, and great memorization (I would guess it was memorized) for his age.  Warning- you might be offended if you are a fan of a certain New York team or if you dislike strong language (not f-bomb strong, but fairly close) coming from a child’s mouth, though he only uses such language once I believe.

Third post on this, are you tired of it yet?

Well, I now have hundreds of books at my disposal on my new Nook E-Book reader. From Neverland to Wonderland and on the way to OZ. I have books set in the orient, on the moon and in oceans. Books from Baum, Barrie, Doyle, Carroll and Kipling. Lesser known authors for most like Rhomer, Simak and others. So at my fingertips I have reading for weeks or maybe months. Yes I read a lot.

Here are the things I like best about my new e-reader.

It is very easy to download books onto the machine. It would be easier to get them directly from Barnes & Noble, but I can load all of the books I have from Project Gutenburg and feedbooks through the USB port. I like having a wide selection to look at.

It is easy to read the screen in all types of light. I can adjust the font larger if I forget my reading glasses. It does need light to read, just like a book, so it doesn’t get as tiring as a computer screen.

It is easy to mark my place or get back to the exact location I finished reading. The automatic bookmark will keep my current spot in the book I’m reading. You can leave the book, open another and come back to the exact spot you were reading.

I have an unlimited storage capacity. OK, it is limited by my bank account. I can only buy so many memory cards. I haven’t put books on all the ones I have yet!!!

I can have a new book anytime of day, from almost any place. More good news for me.

It is easy to carry the reader around. It is about the size of a paperback book, and about the same weight. I don’t have to lug my laptop around for the books stored in it.

I got to try it out before buying it. The biggest selling e-book reader is a bit harder to try out, unless you know somebody with one.

I can share my books with other Nook owners or people with a (free) Nook reader on their computer. You can loan books for 14 days.

The service from B&N has been great. I really can’t say enough about that. That service made the purchase for me. I will go there again (yeah, I know I was going there before the service.) Guess what guys, I will actually talk about that experience. They are getting free advertising from me.

Now for the down side..

Hey, it is expensive. I could have purchased a lot of books for the price of this machine. Not that I have the shelf space for them, but it is a lot of books

I am not a big fan of the entry screen for note taking or any typing. My fingers are almost too fat to get the keys correctly. It doesn’t look like it will work with a stylus either. Some of the other screens to move around the books are almost too small. If you have larger than average fingers, I would suggest book reader with real keys.

It is a little slow to turn pages. And when it comes to speed, if you have a lot of books on your reader, it takes a bit to load them in.

I’m not 100% certain, but it doesn’t look like you have a good way to organize your books. I would like to break them up by classification. Science Fiction, Mystery, Children’s Classics, History, ect. If I find a way to do that easily, I will let you know.

That about does it. Two thumbs way up for this book reader.

Well, this was going to be a blog post where I was going to stay upbeat.  I was going to talk about the positives and (as it became apparent) the negatives of the 2010 Chicago Cubs team, but I was going to do it as sort of an objective sportscaster…  until the bottom dropped out, and I realized, for the first time on the opening day of a season, that the Chicago Cubs might just have to be written off in APRIL…

There have been seasons where the Cubs look great – they might make me nervous, but even in those years, providing they get a few lucky breaks and play some great baseball, they have a chance to make it into the post-season, if not the World Series.  And then there are the years where they can be completely written off; years where even the most optimistic of true fans can tell that our beloved Cubbies won’t get much further than the dog days of summer, if we’re lucky.  I remember a year when I had to write off the Cubs in May.  It was late May, but May, nonetheless, but it had become apparent to me that the Cubs were not going anywhere and that I had better explore the idea of a back-up team; not because I love the Cubs any less after all of their failures but simply because I love baseball, and I needed to have a team to follow into the post-season…

But I digress…  back to today; the Cubs 2010 season-opener…

First inning was great – the Cubs were up 3-0…  until the Braves got their turn to bat, and Zambrano (the famous hot-tempered Cubs pitcher) fell apart.  While he did deliver on his promise to curtail his outbursts, that didn’t stop him from choking.  First the Cubs lost a fly ball in left field between 3 players – one of those ‘who’s-gonna-get-it-anyone-but-me’ scenarios that should not exist in games where the players get paid millions of dollars to play baseball.  Next, in the bottom half of the same first inning, Zambrano gave up a homerun, got an error (with an idiotic play – the ball got through the infield, but good fielding managed to make up for it and got the out at first.  Apparently, Zambrano, who was covering first, got so high off the save of the play that he decided to throw to third base to get the runner, but he was so hepped up on his save at first that he overthrew third and got himself an error, which led the Braves to score – UGH).  So back to my list of things Zambrano did wrong…  So then, in his trademark frustration, Zambrano proceeds to bean a batter with the ball and give up yet another homerun – and he was finally out of the game, but at least he left the field tantrumless, per his promise…  at least?!?

Then I find myself at the top of the 5th inning when there is a double play on the Cubs – a line drive was hit, but the runner at first couldn’t get back to the base in time – terrible base-running!!  Honestly, it looked worse than spring training out there!!  Again, these guys get paid millions for this?!?  WHERE is the coaching?  I find myself wondering, just like I did at the end of last season – has Lou Piniella just given up?  But isn’t it too early in the season for that?!?

Next, to end the top of the 5th inning – Nate McCloud (on the Braves) makes a great catch – it was a great hit by the Cubs, but the Braves seem to have a team – why can’t WE catch balls like that?!?

And then, at the top of the 6th – McCloud makes a diving catch…  but wait, he drops it.  He picks it up so quickly that the umps rule the ball caught and runners out – Kudos to Cubs coach Lou for not losing it and abstaining from performing one of his famous dirt-kicking tantrums, which is more than I can say for myself…  total crap, and a few choice words were said in my living room…  but to my credit, the kids were upstairs.

Bottom of the 7th – some Cubs pitcher named Samardzija walks 3 in a row but still gets to stay in the game somehow – maybe the team really does think it’s still spring training?  Then there is a huge error, but thankfully, I had to go to the bathroom so I missed it.  Good thing too, I haven’t yet learned how to control my cussing during baseball and my kids were still awake…  And then…  what’s THAT?  Someone hits a ball way back into the outfield which bounces into the stands, and the ball is played wrong, plus the throw to third is terrible…  And that’s it, I’m done.  I’ll watch the rest of the game and maybe offer some final thoughts, but the bottom line is this – I am sad to say that the Chicago Cubs did not show up to play baseball today.

At least the Detroit Tigers, a team I chose long ago to be my back-up team due to their close proximity to where I live plus the fact that they are in the division of my nemesis team, the Chicago White Sox, won their opening game, albeit against the Kansas City pushovers.

And as for the Cubs…
It’s not about the 11 run deficit; the fact that the Cubs lost 16-5.  If they had tried, been well-coached, and played good baseball, it would just be me here pouting.  Fact is, they played terribly.  It’s one thing to have a bad game; that can be forgiven.  But when you’re a team who has so many dedicated fans, and you have so much to prove…  how can you possibly recover from a debut this horrible?  The Chicago Cubs looked like they don’t even know how to play baseball.

I do have a tendency to over-dramatize things, so here is my plea to what I fear are the hopeless 2010 Chicago Cubs:

Surprise me.  PLEASE.

**An addendum…  After this sorry excuse of a baseball game, I did a google search for ‘cubs logo sad clown face’ – thinking it would be easy for me to find a Chicago Cubs logo that someone had morphed into a sad clown face -after over 100 years of disappointment, does it really seem that far-fetched?  I did not find what I was looking for, but I found this amusing blog entry instead…

I remember very well learning this line spoken by Hamlet to the Players in Act II, Scene ii.  It was during whatever course falls between beginning and advanced acting (which would be intermediate) and each student had to learn the speech and deliver it trippingly on the tongue.  We also had to choose a monologue from the bard, memorize it, and perform it in true Elizabethan fashion… ok the costume was extra credit.

Tonight, we had read-through (FINALLY!) for Miracles.  It went very well… imho.  Beth told me to watch my delivery at times.  In places, it sounded as if I was “reading” the lines instead of attempting to “perform” them.  However, she was very complimentary most of the time and it was the read-through so as we progress I can only go one way.  I even surprised myself in a couple of scenes.  “Eve” was absent so our producer had to fill in for the role of my daughter.

I do get to sing bits of two songs, waltz, and a short little dance with “Eve.”  The waltzing may be the most challenging bit of all.  HAHA!  Somehow I think that the drama will be a challenge, too.  But… a challenge is a GREAT thing! Time to once again put my erasable highlighter to use… so glad that the gift I received is being put to good use 😉  Think I found another good use for the blog… an actor’s triumphs and stumbles spot!

Over the past year I’ve learned a lot.  Many people can say the same, for life itself is one big learning experience.  So while I’ve learned a lot about many things, I have also grown spiritually by leaps and bounds ever since we joined a wonderful church family in March of 2009.

As my entire family grows spiritually, we’ve come to realize how much more there is to Easter than eggs and bunnies.  The coloring, decorating, hiding, seeking, and eating of Easter eggs is always so much fun on Easter, and this year was no exception.  As parents, my husband and I treasure all of the milestones, big and small – we even treasure the little sleep we get when we stay up late to prepare the Easter Bunny’s baskets for our children and wake up early to frantically hide the perishable eggs before the excited little ones wake up.

But last year, we added a new tradition to our Easter weekend – attending a beautiful church service where we were taught (in my case) and reminded (in my husband’s case) of the real meaning of Easter Sunday – the sacrifice of God’s only Son and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We attended church again this Easter Sunday, and we were pleased to see that our worship center at church was overflowing – standing room only; filled with people who were excited to share His Glory with their family, friends and loved ones.

This year, we also added a new tradition to our family’s Easter celebrations.  My thoughtful sister had sent the kids Resurrection Eggs in the mail the week before, so after we colored our edible eggs, we sat down together and listened as my husband read the story of Easter Sunday aloud.  Along with the book came a set of a dozen plastic eggs, each containing a little token illustrating the story of Easter Sunday – there was a little donkey, a cross, a whip, a cloth, a crown of thorns and more.  The kids took turns opening the eggs, and it really got them thinking about the meaning of this special holiday.  I think the Resurrection Eggs really helped them to understand the meaning of God’s sacrifice.  After the story was read, they continued to play with the eggs for over an hour, and then they brought down the entire set for me to put away until next year – that says a lot right there because putting away toys after they’re done playing with them is not exactly one of our kids’ strong points!

So it was a wonderful Easter, filled with family, laughter and love, and I am grateful for every minute.  As we add these new traditions, Easter is becoming a favorite holiday of mine, and I am very excited to continue all of these Easter traditions next year!!

However you celebrated, whatever your faith, I hope your Easter was happy, safe, and fun!!

GO CUBS!!!
GO CUBS!!!
GO CUBS!!!

Well, I just went to check my countdown timer on my blog site; it should say there are mere hours left until the Chicago Cubs open their 2010 season…  but I can’t find the countdown timer on my site.  And I can’t find it in the widgets section either.  Since I have two kids fighting and one crawling around on the dining room table, I think it will be quicker to just write a little post about the opening day of baseball – I don’t include last night since the Cubs didn’t play 🙂 – rather than try to fiddle around with the countdown widget.

So YAY!!  Baseball season is finally here, and the Cubs open against the Braves today at 3:10pm Chicago time – I have made arrangements to shirk my responsibilities of making dinner, and hopefully the kids will be good for the first hour of the game until my husband comes home from work.  I don’t expect to watch all of the games or even most of them, but I figured I deserved a bit of a break for opening day – hey, it’s been a LONG winter without baseball, as always!!

GO CUBS!!!
GO CUBS!!!
GO CUBS!!!

(oh yeah, and GO Indians – just because they are an Ohio team who just happen to play the White Sux Sox today!!)

Back in 1999, when I was expecting our first child, I remember having the WGN Chicago news at noon on the tv in our teeny-tiny downtown (Rockford Illinois) apartment.  I was in the (hallway of a) kitchen making lunch, when I heard a long screech of tires coming from the tv.  The fact that I was able to get from the kitchen into the living room to see the tv even in my expanded pregnant state should tell you how small that apartment really was…  So I made it back in front of the tv to see the reporter get hit by a car –  scary!  Luckily she was ok, but the news anchors at the studio were a bit shook up and forced to forge ahead in the newscast, not knowing the fate of their co-worker.  Every now and then, I remember this incident, and I’ve looked for a clip of it on the internet to no avail – until the other day when I finally found it.  And just because it took me so long to find it, I will post it – perhaps others are looking for it also, who knows.  Remember, the reporter was not seriously hurt in the accident –  she hurt her leg and has since recovered from her injuries.  Unfortunately, she was laid off last year, but the lay-off had nothing to do with the accident that had happened almost a decade earlier and everything to do with the station’s budget cutbacks because of the terrible economy.

When searching for the above clip, I came across the following video of a Dutch weatherman getting nailed by a car, but don’t worry – this is not as graphic as it seems because it is a fake clip; it’s actually a commercial  for tires.