After some days:

hehehe

WOW! I love this interior!

But I'd have to dye my seats....and door panels....and instrument area....and dash.....oy. That's a lot of work!

Okay, so if you see this in a store....

I WANT IT! This is a Jupiter's Envy Mystic Topaz. Azotic Coating Techonology enhances white topaz stones into really neat colors. I have some of these:

Mystic Fire Green Topaz, and these:

Neptune's Garden, and these:

Twilight Topaz. Kohl's sells these varieties, and they are GORGEOUS! But I really like that Jupiter's Envy. Some day, it will be mine. It will......be mine......

Good grief!

Will the new season ever start?!

Me and Garth

Found this in the archives. See him on TV? What a performer! Trish and him singing together was soooooo awesome!

Oh I wish I had a poster of this!

How come we don't have these in the US?

About $26-27K, fully loaded - sort of a cross-over vehicle. I think it was on Brazil's VW site. You'd be amazed at how many different (and more affordable) vehicles in the VW line there are in other countries!

Love it

Seth's Loot

He got a patch for entering, and a cool trophy for "Funniest Car" out of 30 cars entered!

Seth's Pinewood Derby entry

Won "Funniest Car" by a landslide!

My girly Pinewood Derby entry

It won two out of four races. Hehe. I didn't even sand it! I painted it pink, tied a ribbon on, and hey, those are Swarovski crystals glued on....only the best!

Rough night!

I'm glad the trees missed our cars (for the most part)!

Icing

Mums on our porch this morning.

Beauty

All the leaves are coated with ice, and every little blade of grass is like glass.

I think we're going to have some firewood....

...we were thinking of trying to get this tree down some day soon anyway. Yikes!

Having a little trouble getting out of the driveway!

May not be able to tell, but my car is completely iced over!

Larry and Roz

Couple that we helped a few weeks ago. I hope they're safely back in South Carolina. They were such great people.

Wee bit of ice

Beautiful yet destructive!

Seth singing at church

He had to be pressed into acolyte service that morning unexpectedly, so he's the boy in the white robe. :)

Happy Veteran's Day

Seth got to carry the U.S. flag for the last Pack Meeting. He did a good job. :)

Where do the leftover pumpkins go?

To the animals! This bear took a big bite out of it right after I snapped this picture.

Cougar + Pumpkin = Fun

This big kitty played with this pumpkin like a regular cat plays with a ball....it was great! He (she?) batted it around so easily...and that was a BIG pumpkin! (Well, it's a big cat....)

Horseriding

At the church's fall carnival...Seth said he enjoyed it!

Cooking Cubs

Slicing the carrots they learned to peel. :)

Venting

I'm in a mood. Just a few random thoughts:

1. Just saw a commercial from some soccer association pushing soccer (again). Americans like watching football, not soccer. Get over it.

2. If people are going to write, why don't they learn the difference between "lose" and "loose". Please. What IS that all of a sudden?!

3. Don't get me started on apostrophe usage.

4. If you have a volunteer that is teaching/taking care of your kid, please be grateful for their time.

5. Why the HECK does it cost so much for (plastic) replacement parts for VWs??

6. Hang up and drive. Period. I could have had a guy in a huge SUV buy me a hospital stay and a new car the other day...he blew right through a red light in front of me. Unbelievable. Didn't even look.

7. I wish some people would realize the world doesn't revolve around them.

8. Pro Sports Players and Military/EMT/Policemen/Firemen's salaries should be switched.

9. Yes, it's policeMEN. If you're a woman, you're a policewoman, yes. But if it's plural, it's policemen. Get over it.

10. Ditto to actors, chairmen, etc. I'm so sick of political correctness. I love people and all are equal, but please get over all these labels!

11. I'm sick of smugness.

12. Your job may stink, but your attitude doesn't have to...it's called customer service for a reason. (I sound like Larry Winget!)

13. I hate that people in my own town are afraid of where their next meal will come from, while idiots like Paris Hilton continue to hemorrage money for stupid stuff.

14. And no, I'm not a socialist, I just don't like suffering or vapid people.

15. Hillary for president makes me yack. I fear for the future of our nation. Remember Whitewater, Rose Law Firm, etc.

16. I honestly believe people like Michael Moore love this country, but I disagree with their tactics. Sorta like PETA - idea is good, tactics are questionable.

17. I hate throwaway electronics....can someone please make something that will last over 3 years?

18. I'm sick of all the competition at the elementary school level. Nobody wants to play for fun anymore...you have to be world champions at everything. Can't anyone just shoot baskets for fun?

19. What the heck is UP with all the homework in elementary school? Are you kidding me? An 8 year old shouldn't have an hour and a half of homework. It's ridiculous and priming them for burn-out.

20. But of course, you can't NOT do it...you're expected to have everything perfect for little Johnny and Susie or you're a bad parent.

OK............now I feel better. I'll now counter with good stuff:

1. I love gemstones. They don't have to be expensive to be beautiful. Since diamond is my birthstone, I've adopted the peridot as my stone since 1) I love green and b) they're cheap and 3) I got married in August.

2. I love coupons and sales. Nuf said.

3. Big fat purring cats that snuggle against you when you're sad.

4. Getting good service at a restaurant...I tip well, but if that actually happens, I REALLY tip well.

5. pizza

6. chocolate

7. Dr Pepper

8. really good salads and soups

9. old pictures that bring back good memories

10. when someone lets you in when driving on a busy street

11. old churches with stained glass windows

12. clean, fresh sheets after you've taken a shower at night

13. someone who cares

14. needing a pair of shoes and finding several pair on sale :)

15. that one outfit that looks good on you no matter how fat you get

16. hot Constant Comment tea in a pretty cup with toast for breakfast

17. going to a tiny shop that sells English stuff (tea, teapots, English candy, etc.) .. and getting that hard toffee that you have to use the little hammer to break it with. Oh MAN that's good stuff.

18. having a little boy that is kind and empathetic and funny

19. having a husband that will order pizza for you when you have a bad day

20. having a mom that will listen to your gripes and understand, and a dad that can fix anything

I feel so much better now....thanks for "listening"!

Link to my little choir's performance

Hardest yet most rewarding thing I do....direct the Littlest Lambs Choir at church! There were only about 4-5 kids last year - for some reason this year there's 22!!! WOW! I have a wonderful helper (who is a teacher in real life) and great youth helpers, too. It's exhausting, but a look at this video shows why I do it. :) Their ages range from 2 to 6.

http://www.fumcowasso.org/vidworship/media.htm Click on Vocal Choirs and then choose Littlest Lambs 10-14-07.

New glasses!

Seth enjoyed looking around at everything....and seeing so CLEARLY!

My little nut

I'd left an empty bin out, so Seth decided to put blankets in it and use it as a bed. *sigh*

Strong winds last night

To the right is a tree from the picture below, and past our mailbox, down the street, another big tree was hit...not sure if that's really clear from the picture. The city worker said that a whole bunch of trees were down in the older part of town. I didn't know the winds were that bad, but Seth and I were watching Nightmare Before Christmas. :)

View from our porch this morning

Not sure if this picture really conveys it - two BIG trees were blown down last night across the street during storms. Amazingly, our trees were okay.

My trophy from the car show

I won "Pastor's Choice" since I was in the spirit of the Pumpkin Patch! Yay!

"Using Tools"

The boys work on building a tool box for their Bear badge.

Indian Territory Map

Seth LOVES maps, so he looked at this one quite a while!

Seth was fascinated by the player piano

Crazy kids!

At the local museum (after the tour). These guys have SO much energy!

"Carrying the Light"

I'm so proud. :)

Seth's First Time as an Acolyte

He did an AWESOME job! He was absolutely perfect! And as a bonus, he had his buddy Mitchell there as a fellow new acolyte. (Does that mean they were neophyte acolytes? Hmm. I'm a poet and didn't know it.)

Littlest Lambs - first day

I think I'm in for a heck of a year.....yikes! I'm glad I had them try on the robes. Aren't they cute?!

First Den Meeting of the Year

The first of many Bear Den meetings (Seth's in the hat). They did great! They'll get their Bear neckerchiefs at the first pack meeting next week.

Crazy Cousins!

Seth and Nicky horsing around at Sugarloaf! "You have one eye!" "So do you!"

Uncle Jerry's House near Atlanta

Seth was so glad to finally see his cousin Nicky again!

At Elvis' House

Not Graceland, but his first house where he was born, in Tupelo, MS. From our vacation. :)

Score!

He got to make a score on his last time up at bat! Good way to end the season.

Best Part of Baseball Season

This was from about a month ago - Seth wanted to complete his "collection" of trophies - he had a football, basketball, and soccer one, but no baseball. WELL after a few LONG weeks of HOT practices and games, he got his trophy! I think he's officially done with sports for quite a while now!

AWESOME weekend

Ok, so OU finally SPANKED Miami (I've been waiting for that for 20 years!!!!!!!!) - my little boy was an acolyte for the first time and did GREAT, and I went to a great prayer and healing service at church.

I feel so renewed! Pictures to come soon. And if you're on the Black family side, I PROMISE to get pictures to you all SOON!

Vintage Seth

Whenever I feel "down", I can look at this picture and be happy. :) I don't know if you can tell, but he's really splashing with his arms. I called this picture "splish splash". Things were really simple then.

Sheesh

Ok, so I was SO excited about us saving an extra $300 to pay towards our credit card this month! Yay, right? Hardly any eating out - no shopping, etc. We did it!

Well, on the day we were going to pay it, the garage door broke ($135), my a/c in my car broke (it's still broke, don't know how much it'll be), and I found out at the dentist I need a crown (over $400).

*sigh*

Again......*sigh*.

It's gotta get better, right?

Back to School Celebration at Church

Students are getting encouragement for the school year.

Blessing of the Backpacks

Neat back to school thing they did at church. Everybody going back to school (even adults) go up with backpacks and everyone gets "blessed" and they all got keychains to put on their backpacks. The kids really loved the keychains as you can see.

Nutty kids!

Seth and his buds at a Cub Scout swim party.

First Bible

Seth got his first real Bible last week. It's really nice and has lots of maps and pictures! It's a New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) which is what we have and what the Methodists tend to use around here. Really easy to understand...much different than my first Bible (that I bought with my own allowance on October 31, 1976!). Mine is a KJV but it *does* have neat pictures. :) The Bible I use now has a dusty pink cover and is a "Life Application Bible". Can't remember when I got it, around 1995, but it's seen a little wear. Which I guess is a good thing!