PLANS FOR NEXT WEEK

We have a busy week ahead of us! On Monday morning, Dwane and I are going to Bar Harbor on an overnight. He has to be there for business, so it gives us free hotel/free food, etc. Eben is staying at Ma's, and Caleb will be staying at the home of Aunt Sue and Uncle Billy Rhythm. We'll return mid-afternoon on Tuesday.

Then, on Thursday, around noon, we are going to pick up Eben at school. (Eben has a day off for a teacher's workshop on Friday, and Monday is Columbus Day, so he has a 4-day weekend.) Anyway, we're planning on picking him up early without his prior knowledge. We'll then pick up a rental car in Portland. (With the amount of money we will save in gasoline mileage, it will completely pay for the rental car, plus we're not putting the wear and tear on our cars, and I won't be worrying if our vehicle with 150,000+ miles on it will make it.) After picking up the rental car, we're headed for Williamsburg, VA. We're going to meet with with Dwane's sister at Busch Gardens, and spend Friday and Saturday there. Saturday night we'll head to Lynchburg so that we can spend Sunday with his Mom and Grandmother, and then we'll drive home on Monday. Dwane has actually contacted some timeshare place so that we can get a cheap 2-nights at a hotel and 2 free discounts to Busch Gardens. Leave it to Dwane to find a deal. I tend to be a little pessimistic about these types of "deals", so I'll let you know how it all works out.

JIM'S MI-5

Jim says: It is now fall and with that change we say goodbye to many outdoor activities for another year. This five is mostly about indoor things we do when the weather isn't so warm anymore.

Listening to Music
1. What was the first musical album (record, tape, cd etc...) that you purchased and do you still listen to it?

I remember the first CD I bought--it was a Bonnie Raitt CD, probably purchased around 1988. I bought it at Wild Rufus and was accompanied by my brother, Billy Rhythm. As far as a first record album, it had to have been either the Osmonds or the Partridge Family. I don't remember. That was way back in the 1970s.

Reading
2. What are you reading right now and if you aren't reading anything tell us the last book you read and if it is/was good.

For my devotions, I am reading "Lies Women Believe" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. I love it. It's both interesting and informative, and provides many scripture references.

For "pleasure", I am reading "Redemption", a Christian novel by Karen Kingsbury and Gary Smalley. It's about Kari, who is married to Tim. Tim has an affair with Angela and moves in with her. While Tim is living with Angela, Kari learns that she is pregnant with Tim's child, and also finds herself with very strong feelings for her exboyfriend, Ryan.

Eating
3. Do you have any favorite cool weather foods you enjoy? Please feel you can share a recipe if you have one.

The first one I thought of was Chicken & Dumplings. It's not a favorite for Dwane, but I make it from time to time, especially when I have a cold. Hey! I had planned on baking a chicken for supper tonight, so maybe I'll use the leftover chicken to make it. Since Dwane is driving the taxi tomorrow night, it would be the perfect opportunity to treat myself to a favorite (especially since I also have a cold right now). Here's the recipe:

Combine approximately one pound of boneless chicken, 1 stalk celery (cut into thirds), 1 medium onion (quartered), 2 cups water, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover. Reduce heat. Simmer one hour. Remove chicken. Discard vegetables.

Prepare dumplings. (Just so you know---I like extra dumplings, so I double the amounts listed here.) Combine 2/3 cup flour, 1/8 teaspoon baking soda, 1/8 teaspoon salt. Cut in 3 tablespoons butter or margarine. Mix in 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley. Add 1/4 cup milk and stir until moistened. Turn dough onto floured board. Knead 4 or 5 times. Pat dough to 1/4 inch thick. Pinch off pieces and drop into boiling broth. Add cut-up cooked chicken. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Party
4. Do you enjoy the parties that cold weather can bring such as Christmas, New Years and Valentines? Tell us about a memorable one...

I love most parties. I especially love Thanksgiving at Ma's, Christmas Eve at Ma's, and Christmas Day at my Mom's. I remember one Christmas when I was a child---probably when I was in 4th grade. Christmas Morning brought a huge snowstorm, and we weren't sure if Nanny & Pappa, Uncle Roy & Aunt Ada, and Uncle Ashley would be able to make it. The whole snowstorm added to the anticipation. I seem to recall that by the time it was time for Christmas dinner, everyone had made it. And, I may have several Christmases lumped together into one memory. I seem to think that it was a Christmas in the new house, but I'm not sure if Nanny was still well enough to have come to our house at that point. I'm not sure.

The oddball question
5. You can relate this to our theme if you want or you don't have to if you don't want to. As a child did you ever think something crazy that as you got older you realized wasn't true?

I suppose there is always the whole Santa Claus/Easter Bunny/Tooth Fairy thing. That myth was debunked before I hit 4th grade, because I remember sitting at the kitchen table at the old house when Mom and I discussed it. We were putting my name on labels to put into my clothes for summer camp. A discussion started about Mom's handwriting, and how her handwriting matched the handwriting on our Christmas present tags.

SURVIVOR CHINA MI-5

Sue says: My inspiration this week is the season premiere of Survivor: China.

1. Usually someone will emerge as a leader in each tribe, but last night, one tribe sort of thrust leadership upon someone. He accepted the role, but said it made him a little uncomfortable. Do you feel you are a natural leader or is it something you had to learn? Or, on the flip side, something you were neither born with or learned?

I think I tend to be a natural leader, although I don't mind letting someone else lead, provided they are actually leading. If I see a leader not "doing their job", I want to "take over" and "make sure it's done right." Sometimes, though, I really love to be under the leadership of a strong leader, just so I can give my own mind a break.

2. The contestants had trouble sleeping because they got soaking wet while trying to construct shelter. What is the longest you have gone without a significant amount of sleep & why?

I don't know that I've ever gone without a significant amount of sleep. Probably the closest to that would be on a trip to VA. I'm either driving, or making sure that Dwane doesn't fall asleep while he's driving. If we drive during the night, that means I probably woke up at 6:00 AM, we left at 5:00 PM, drove 14 hours, arrived in VA around 7:00 AM, and then went to bed at 9:00 PM. What does that work out to??? Maybe 38 hours?

3. When the contestants first arrived on the island, they had no shelter or fire & only the clothes on their back. They were given one pot of rice, but no other supplies. So what's the most important thing to make first--shelter or fire?

I would say fire. I would need it to make food (the rice) and also to sanitize the water for drinking. Since it tended to be pouring most of time in China, though, it would probably make sense to make shelter first. Pretty hard to make fire in the rain.

4. One of the first things the contestants had to do was participate in a Buddhist ceremony in a temple, with several idols lining the walls. The host made a point of saying that he realized the group was made up of people who had a variety of beliefs, so this ceremony was not worship, simply a way for the Chinese to say "welcome". One of the women said she was not "religious", but she has a personal relationship with Jesus & that when she bows it will be only to Him.
Do you think she made the right decision? What would you do?

I think she made the right decision. I was thinking that I would've done the same thing that she did. Even if you said in your heart that you were not worshipping, everyone around you would think you were worshipping. In particular, I noted the Chinese guy who kept getting after the waitress for NY for not "folding" her hands correctly. It seemed to me that the Chinese expected "proper" worship of their false god.

5. The prize is a million dollars. Is it worth being separated from family & friends, risking your health & living very primitively for 39 days?

Not for me. Especially since I know that I could NEVER win something like that. I'm a definite homebody.

A NIGHT OF DREAMS

I had a bunch of dreams last night. Here are the ones I can remember:

1. I bought hazlenut creamer at the store. When I had my coffee, it was too sweet. I was mad at myself for not buying my favorite Chocolate Raspberry (which is really my favorite).

2. I wore a t-shirt with a farm and farm animals on it. There was a sheep, and where the head was supposed to be, was a picture of Eben's head as a baby. (This was one of those cutsie new mom type of shirts, not anything grotesque.) Caleb said, "Who's that". I was going to say, "That's my boy", but when I got to the end of that, I was afraid that Dwane would think I was going to say "That's my boyfriend", so then I started saying all of these other things: "That's my baby boy Eben", "That's a baa-baa sheep", and a bunch of other words that began with the letter "B". (This dream may be because Caleb and I have been talking about the letter B in homeschool preschool.)

3. My sister-in-law Dawn, and her husband Dennis, installed a roller coaster at their house. Dawn got in one car with Caleb. Dennis got in another car with Eben. Then he hollers to Dwane to join him and Eben. "I'm going to ride by myself?" I asked. I was miffed, so I stormed off to the bathroom. (They had installed some sort of aluminum bathroom near the roller coaster.) After awhile, Dawn came to find me and asked me what was wrong. I told her that Dwane and I are supposed to have time alone together, and here was the perfect opportunity: to be able to ride a roller coaster together, but Dennis had to "hog" Dwane. She agreed with me and apologized.

4. Some homosexual man gave me a flute presentation. He had 3 flutes and 3 piccolos. One of the flutes was electric. (This may stem from Billy Rhythm's post about the thermerin and his phone call to me about flutes at Sam's Club.) The guy was going to play "Sleigh Ride" for me on the piccolo, but I had to leave. (I love to hear "Sleigh Ride" on the piccolo--mostly thanks to Laurel Butler and the RDHS band.)

5. My cousin Linda got married. And apparently, six years before the wedding, she was healed of all of the physical and mental difficulties she has faced in life. I didn't know this had even taken place, so I didn't even recognize her. She was BEAUTIFUL, and so well-spoken. My cousin Lisa had some sort of problem with her new husband, and was yelling at Linda so bad that my other cousin Robin was in tears. I spoke up and said that if Linda had been healed, that she needed to tell everyone about the miracle Jesus had done in her life. She thanked me for her support.

6. Almost all of our animals died in one day. Snuggles the cat. The rabbits. Buddy the guinea pig. And, our pet squirrel that was kept at my mom's house. I had gone to her house and found the squirrel laying in his water dish. The water dish was the size of a dog's water dish. I hollered at Mom "He's dead, he's dead." "Oh, no", Mom said and she came running. When she got to the squirrel, she told me that he was not dead but "on his way out". She picked him up and he perked up. He died for real shortly thereafter.

Must've been the steak I ate for supper last night.

FLUTES & SPANISH POTTERY

I bought a flute yesterday. I got tired of looking for my good Armstrong Flute/Piccolo set, so I bought a cheapo Borg Flute at Sam's Club yesterday. With my level of playing, I'm sure it will be fine, at least for awhile. It took my just about 15 minutes to find myself "in the groove" with it, and I'm actually quite impressed with the amount of knowledge I retained after 5 years of not playing. There are still several notes that I still have to "look up", but for the most part, not bad. I'll never be a professional, but I can play enough to have fun, and that's what really counts.

When Dwane got home from driving the taxi at midnight last night, QVC was airing Spanish Pottery. Lo and behold! There was the pattern that I was looking for. Remember the Reba salt/pepper oil/vinegar set that I had been longing for??? I did find that on Ebay (and put a bug in Dwane's ear that I'd like it for Christmas), but QVC has all sorts of other pieces that match. I told Dwane that my next dream is to have a hutch and to buy pieces of that pottery to display in it. It's very expensive, so I wouldn't add to my collection often, but something about that pattern just "speaks" to my heart. Crazy, I know. I just love it. (But two coffee mugs cost $42!!!--guess that's what you pay for hand-painted stuff.) I don't know the name of the pattern, but if you want to see what it looks like, just type "Spanish Pottery" in the QVC search bar, and it will come up. The Sangria pitcher exactly matches the pattern that I like. It's close to the "Toledo" pattern, but not quite.

Ok. Ok. I did a little more research. It appears that the Spanish pottery collection that I like is called "Sol". Here's a link: http://atouchofspainllc.com/catalog/Default.aspx?cat=30 I have no idea how to really put in a link. I'll probably mess my page up again.

FIRST AVON ORDER

My first Avon order must be placed by noon tomorrow. If anyone wants anything, make sure you let me know tonight!!!

I still can't believe I'm doing this. I still think I'm crazy. I'm going to try to stick it out until Christmas, and if it really isn't worth my effort, then I'm giving it up. I'm really not a very good salesman. I don't like to "ask" for orders, and I hate having to "hunt down" or ask for money. Of course, those are the two most important things about being a good salesperson. It's probably why my scrapbooking business hasn't really taken off like I'd like it to (even though I LOVE that, and would LOVE to make it almost a full-time job).

I think I'm really, really burnt out being a paralegal. I need to do something different. Something that doesn't require so much brain power. Unfortunately, until Caleb goes to school, the amount I'd pay in childcare and gas would be almost as much as my salary (unless I want to continue being a paralegal--but even then, my pay would be pretty much consumed). Guess I'll have to stick it out for another year. Then--I'd really love to get into the school system. Of course, that's the dream of every mom, so I don't know if I'd even have a chance. I'd even work in the lunchroom! I'm not too picky.

Guess I'm rambling...

I MARRIED SOMEONE TODAY

Today I married Jen and Matt at the Camden Snow Bowl. It was only the second wedding I had ever performed, and I didn't cry. My voice cracked just as I said "I now pronounce you", and I had to do a "quick fan of my face", but I made it through. I got a lot of compliments about the ceremony, so I guess I did a good job.

In school, Eben told Willie that "Mommy is going to marry someone on Saturday." Willie's response? "I don't think your Dad is going to like that!"

INDIAN SUMMER MI-5

Aunt Ginny says: "Traditionally, Labor Day marks the beginning of fall for most of us, even though it isn't "official" until later this month. Thought some Indian Summer questions might be in order."

1. Do you have a favorite outside activity at this time of year? What? Tell us about it.

I would like to have "planting bulbs" as my favorite outdoor activity. I get all excited about seeing bulbs in the stores and imagining all of the beautiful flowers I could have in the springtime. Unfortunately, however, I hate to garden, mostly because I have no idea what I am doing or how to start. When I win the Megabucks, one of the first things I intend to do is hire a gardener. Since I don't plant bulbs, I'm not sure what my favorite activity is. Perhaps going for a walk.

2. What indicates to you that Indian Summer has arrived? Is it the weather? the date? something else?

I think it's the weather. It's that week that is really hot after we had been sure that summer was gone for good.

3. Now that we are between summer tourists and leaf-peepers, do you have any special last hurrah plans for this summer? Details?

No special plans. We thought we might be going to Loudon, NH for the NASCAR race as Dwane was supposed to be working there. We found out, however, that the Blue Angels are going to be Brunswick on the same weekend. Dwane's Dad is totally into aircraft, and since this may be the last time that the Blue Angels are in Brunswick, Dwane thinks he would rather that we go there.

4. What is your favorite season/time of year? Why? What is there about it?

I think there are things I like about every season but summer. I just don't like the heat, so I don't like the summer. I like the crisp, fresh air of spring. I like the anticipation of perhaps being "snowed in" in the winter, and I enjoy the first time you can ride to Rockland with the windows in the car down in the spring.

5. If you had no responsibilities like family, work, church, etc., how would you spend these last few days of summer? Why? Alone or with someone else?

I think I would go to Paris (assuming I was rich). If I was (were?) brave enough, and if I was (were?) single, I would go alone to just take in the sidewalk cafes, come and go as I wanted, and experience something really and truly different. The other thing I would like to do is go back to the Poconos (where we went on our honeymoon). If I went there, I would choose to not be alone, of course.

AUNT GINNY NAMED TO BAD BLOGGER LIST

Alice wanted to make sure Aunt Ginny knew....

BILLY RHYTHM'S FUN FOR FRIDAY

Each answer must begin with the same letter as the first letter of your name...

What is your name? Lisa
4 letter word: Lies
Vehicle: Lincoln
TV Show: LA Law
City: Lewiston
Boy Name: Larry
Girl Name: Laura
Alcohol: Lemon Drop
Occupation: Lawyer
Something you wear: Lace Blouse
Celebrity: Leane Rimes
Food: Licorice
Something found in a bathroom: Lysol
Reason for Being Late: Laying in bed too long
Character: Lightning McQueen
Something You Shout: Lay it on me!

I MISS YOU, DAD

William R. Batty, Sr.
February 10, 1947 - September 7, 2005

I love you.

PAVAROTTI DEAD--MY BOSS MOURNS

Some of you know that my boss's brother was the former General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera House in NYC. Pavarotti was a very dear friend of his, and my boss relayed this morning that her brother is obviously very upset over his loss. Her brother may be going across the pond for the funeral. Anita actually has a picture of her with Pavarotti hanging in her house. (I guess that should actually be worded as "a picture hanging in her house of her with Pavarotti", as Pavarotti was not hanging in her house.)

WISH LIST

I actually took a couple of hours tonight and made an Amazon Wish List! What fun that was! I suppose there are many, many other things that would've been much more productive, but this was much more fun! Now if I could just get my Mom to make one--it would make Christmas so much easier! (Hint! Hint!)