Good Crowd

 
Plenty of people -- each spending at least $6.00/beer, not to mention the cost of the tickets in the first place...

The Saw Doctors rock!

 

We had a great spot, standing on the landing of the stairs for the emergency exit. It was perfect because we were above the heads of everyone in front of us, and we had a rail to lean on. You couldn't get any better than that! They really were great, and everyone was in a rockin' mood. I love the fact that the Saw Doctors attract such a diverse crowd. There was old people AND teenagers down in the mosh pit in front of the stage (although I must admit, moshing was not allowed.) (And I did see one old man carried out in a stretcher, it looked like he broke a leg.) (Even without moshing.)

Hard Rock Cafe, Manhattan

 
We finished the night at the Hard Rock Cafe, which was right next door. It was the perfect opportunity, especially since at that time of night it wasn't as extremely crowded. We looked for Pearl Jam (briefly) but didn't find anything; Frank is looking at some Who memorabilia.

No, well, actually, we finished the night by walking to the train station, then waiting in the midst of a smorgasbord of humanity -- including very entertaining drunk 20 somethings sacked out in the floor -- for a half hour for a train. When the train track was announced at 12:45, we ran for the track, and made it in time to get a seat. The train seemed to never reach a speed above 20 mph and it took forever to get home. I was gasping for breath the whole time, because in spite of the ban on cigarette smoking, there is no ban on really strong perfume, and the lady in front of me, well WHOA! I dozed off on the train for a few minutes and when Frank woke me because our stop was coming up -- he could see the Galaxy Diner out the window -- I may have snapped at him a bit. Why does the end of the night seem to take FOREVER? I couldn't wait to get to bed.

Sawdoctors Concert Tonight!

 

I imagine it's very lame of me to be posting all these pictures of myself. See the questions below....

Who Am I?

Here are the questions running through my brain today.

Who are you? Who do you look like? Who do you think you look like? Who do you think you THINK you look like?



And, am I too young to wear THIS outfit? (Photo to follow.)


And, if people tell you that you look like your grandmother, is that actually a good thing in some ways?





I'll post again tomorrow. I hope.

Escape into a BLOG

Beside the Stream is a blog I just found through a link from the Confessions of a Pioneer Woman blog. These two blogs are similar in some ways. I love them both.

I've been reading Pioneer Woman for quite a while now. She blogs about her life on a cattle ranch in Texas. It's a really great blog, quite an escape, because she has such an interesting life -- so unlike my life, or anyone I know about. Of course, she's also really popular. She will get 300 comments on almost every post. So if you add in the people like me, who read but don't comment -- wow, she's got some readers.

Beside the Stream, on the other hand, isn't that well known yet. It probably will be, though. It's another escape fantasy. The "stream" is a beautiful place in Colorado. The photos and the stories are lovely.

I wish I could write about my amazing life in this glorious area. Well, I guess I can. The suburbs are quite fascinating in their own little way. No one is going to read MY blog and start daydreaming about moving here for the good life, though!

Snow Drop

OK, like I said, it's a rerun. I took this one last year. It's a good one, though.

Actually, though, in spite of the following posts,

it really feels like Spring has Sprung.

Today was lovely and mild. I didn't even really need a coat in the afternoon. I hope the week lasts like this.

SIGNS OF SPRING:
... ONE OR TWO SNOW DROPS AND CROCUSES... (maybe I'll post the photo I took last year. Would anyone mind if it was a rerun?)

... SHORTS ARE APPEARING...
The boys start Golf team at school on Friday. They both bought plaid shorts to wear. Very stylish. Nick tried his on this evening. Frankie put his shorts on after school today.

... MUD... the yard is a bit swampy. Not frozen.

...AN URGE TO GARDEN... for the first time in ages, I really took a look at the yard and the garden. It's pretty messy. I haven't been in the mood to garden in a while. This might be my year; maybe I'll plant new perennials... maybe I can start some peas...

...THE CHRISTMAS WREATH ON THE HOUSE IS STARTING TO LOOK TACKY... Ok, I know I should have taken it down. But I really liked it. Today, I didn't like it anymore. So I have to take it down now.

Nick at Bell Ayre Ski Mountain

 

Here's my baby alone on the mountain. (Well, his Dad was there, he took the picture.) But it's quite cold and solitary and severe and beautiful out there, isn't it? He really enjoyed skiing.

Nick and his Dad

This is about the only picture I got of Frankie.

 

Just the back of Frankie as he skiis away with his friends...
He had a great time.
He was the one in blue.
He skiis really well now. As they say, he's BEAST.
Yes, that is what they say.

Snow Day HOORAY!

 

Frankie's Eagle Project

Did I mention that Frankie was working on his Eagle Project?
Anyway, his project was to collect toys for the hospital.
He delivered the toys today. He did very very well... I was very proud of him.
He managed to get donations of everything that the hospital had written down on their "wish list"... and then some.
Thank you to EVERYONE who contributed!

WHAT I DID ON MY WEEKEND VACATION

 
Here are the photos from scenic Indian Mountain Lakes.
This is the Indian. Get it?
This statue is in the front yard at Mom and Dad's house.

Wii went bowling.

 

Mom had bought the Wii so she could bowl for exercise. The kids played Wii all weekend. We had a big bowling night last night. I lost.

Dear Deer

 

Can you tell which of these is the real deer?

The kids seemed to enjoy the deer. Stevie tried to catch one. I don't know what he would have done with it if he'd actually noosed it. I guess we would have had to call Uncle Bill.

Thor -- god of Thunder (?)

 
One of the things we both wanted to do this weekend was go hiking. Well, we took a nice walk around the block. Of course, it's a long block.

hyperactive coloring

 
I'm really enjoying messing around with photos, and birch trees in the snow make a really good subject.

Bird Watching

 

What you can't see from looking at this photo is how HARD it was to catch one of these boogers on film. He kept hopping from branch to branch, and he wouldn't sit still! Got him, though!

Yard Sculpture?

 
I did this a few summers ago in Mom's backyard. I like it... It's kinda sculpture related. I think.

Spring is coming, right?

 

Here is the view from the poconos -- snow out in the back yard, and flowers in the window. Makes me think about spring coming soon. It was amazingly warm today. I'm sad about global warming, but I do love warm weather.

Revenge of the Middle Aged Woman

That's the title of the book I just read, it has nothing to do with the fact I just colored my hair again, or had two glasses of sparking white wine in the middle of the afternoon, OK? Yeah, just so you know.

I stole the book from my sister... Bunny? Amber? Sandi? Anyway, it was on her bookshelf, and she's not the biggest reader around. So I thought to myself, if it's on HER shelf, it must be good, right? Right.

So I read it. It's written by Elizabeth Buchan. It was one of those read all night books, because after all, it is a holiday weekend, and nothing says holiday to me more than reading all night! And yes, for anyone who's interested, it was a very good book.

It was about a 40 something woman who was married for 20 something years. Which is pretty familiar for me. She was very happily married, but then all of a sudden out of nowhere, her husband decided to dump her. (OK, it was out of nowhere for her, but as the reader you knew it was coming.) (And obviously, the dumping part is NOT familiar to me. Frank and I've discussed it, and he isn't dumping me -- and I'm not dumping him.) (Of course, then I'D be really surprised like her!)

The idea was that he dumped her because she confined him -- their relationship confined him. But he dumped her for a younger woman... and in the end, it was obvious that she had lost the confinement, and he had just traded one cage for another. All in all, quite a satisfying book, if not the best I've ever read -- certainly worth reading.

It made me think about turning 40; I always thought that turning 50 would be hard, because it would be the beginning of old age. But for some reason, when I turned 40 I was more stressed out than I expected. And every year that has passed since then I've been feeling more obviously "old." Until just recently, when I realized...I've already hit 50. Well, not really. But I've become what I expected to BE at 50. It just happened sooner than I'd planned. For some reason, my body wasn't in on the plan I'd made, which was to be young until I turned 50 and then to start getting older at that point.

So I've realized from these ruminations, and from reading this book -- the plan I had for my life for once I hit 50 needs to go into effect NOW. I can't wait for my timetable any longer. I have to strike while the iron is hot, so to speak, and start living my life a little more fully -- like I thought I would do once I hit 50.

Bucket list? Life list? Things I want to do before I die? Well, now is a good time to start thinking about that, isn't it? Who knows, maybe I'll be hit by a bus tomorrow.

Too many photos, not enough computer support!

So here I am, sitting at Mom's house, with a great computer set up and no clue how to hook my photos into the computer! 'Cause I gotta tell ya, I took some really nice ones of the snow around here! Soon as I get home, I'm gonna post 'em.

Welcome to any new visitors to my blog... ;) Feel free to comment! (yes, I mean YOU!)

glitter-graphics.com

Time keeps slipping into the future...

OK, you all might think this is very silly, but here's what I'm thinking about this morning.

A while ago, I read a really great book called "The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All." It was about... well, what the title says; it was a fictional memoir of the last person from the Civil War. Actually, she had been married to the last surviving confederate soldier, she hadn't really lived through the war herself.

I was impressed by the idea, though, that someone would be the LAST person alive who personally lived through some kind of huge event like that.

I also remember talking to Grandma Rodgers. She enjoyed fortune-telling and Nostradamus and prophecies about the end of the world in the same way I do. We talked about stuff like that alot, and we agreed that the prophecies are interesting... they may be true, they may not be true ... but we weren't really going to change our lives because of them. Anyway, I remember Gram saying to me that "the world is supposed to end when the last soldier of the great war dies." Now, keep in mind that she didn't really think that meant that the world was going to END. She took the word "end" in a different meaning. It would end the way we know it, but it wouldn't be OVER, just different. After the end of the world, we would begin a millenia of great peace. So it was a good thing.

Now, you're probably wondering why I've been thinking of that book and of those conversations with Gram.

Last week in school, the history professor brought in an article about The Last Living World War 1 Veteran. Yup, the USA is down to one last veteran of the Great War. The last German soldier is gone already.

Who could imagine being the last survivor of some huge event like that? Something that millions and millions of people went through -- so many people died, and so many others survived and lived for years, building up our country... a whole generation of people? And he is THE LAST.

Will the world end when he dies? Who knows? I guess it depends on how you define the end of the world. But I'm definitely hoping for a millenia of peace. Is it even possible?

Happy New Year!

Thursday WITH words.

Wow, wordless Wednesday was harder than I expected. I really wanted to write something. But then it wouldn't have been wordless Wednesday, would it have?

Anyway, I wanted to mention what a celebratory week this has been. I've never seen so many holidays jammed together in one week.

Think about it. Over the weekend, it was Groundhogs Day. I heard that Punxstawney Phil, the Groundhog, did whatever he needed to do -- see his shadow, or not see his shadow -- in order to make spring come faster. GO PHIL!

Then, Sunday was Superbowl Sunday, celebrated widely throughout the USA by watching football and EATING.

And I believe that the Monday following the superbowl really SHOULD be a legal holiday. No one should have to work that day.

Tuesday was Fat Tuesday, part of Mardi Gras. I was plenty fat, thanks for asking. I even got some Mardi Gras beads when we went out to eat. And no, I didn't have to lift up my shirt for that, thank goodness!

Then, Wednesday was Ash Wednesday -- part of Lent, time to give stuff up. I'm starting my diet. Don't tell anyone, I'm cranky and I don't want to talk about it.

Today, Thursday, is Chinese New Year; I believe it is the year of the Rat.

I'm not sure what holiday is tomorrow, but Friday is always a holiday, isn't it?

Wordless Wednesday.

 

How the weekend ended...GIANTS WIN!

 

Headline news -- Giants win the Superbowl!

I was thinking that people in other countries couldn't really understand what the experience of our home team winning the Superbowl, but then I realized it's like the World Cup for us, so yeah, I guess the world as a whole can understand.

An emotional evening!

 

It felt like New Year's Eve, but even better. It was amazing how happy everyone was. There may have been tears of joy. Seriously. I was afraid at times that someone was going to have a heart attack.

Most of the weekend...Camping Weekend

The Superbowl was the end of the weekend, just Sunday Night. A perfect topper to a really nice weekend.

The rest of the weekend, I was camping with Nicky for a Venturing trip. It was a leadership seminar weekend. Nick did great, I was really proud of him.

 

Here are the boys from the camping trip. They are all blindfolded as they work on this part of the leadership seminar. Nick is the one wearing a brown t-shirt over his head.

The goal of this exercise was for them to learn a few things about communication. Blindfolded, using only their voices, they had to hold a loop of rope and make the shape of an equilateral triangle, a square, and a V (for Venturing.) It's harder than it looks. They did quite well -- no arguing with each other, they made the shapes, and they understood what we were trying to teach them.

Campfire

 

It's a blurry picture, but you get the idea. Half the time, it looks blurry to me in real life anyway. Smoke gets in your eyes...

Camping scenery

 

Camping is always beautiful. After every ice and rain storm, the whole world sparkles.