Life in the Fast Lane

New Year, New Look

2012-01-27T16:01:00.000-06:00

ESSDACK has been working hard to update our image. Our new logo has bright, bold colors, I love the new look, (of course, I'm kinda partial to it). A new fresh look for the website is on the horizon, change is good. The guys from Luminous Neon came out today to install our new sign. Now we not only have a new look virtually, we will have a new look physically. Take a peek below to watch the installation. WOOOO HOOOO!

Stumpy - the high-flying shark

2012-01-05T12:49:00.000-06:00

OK, so over the Christmas holidays I saw a tweet from someone talking about these toys. They were helium filled, remote-controlled balloons in the shape of fish. More specifically, the choice was a clown fish or a shark. Upon first seeing them and looking at the website www.airswimmers.com I remember thinking this was about the dumbest idea ever.

www.airswimmers.com

The balloons are about 57 inches long and 36 inches high. It is not recommended that the balloons be used out of doors and the average house probably would not accommodate the fish very well. HOWEVER.... my office would be the PERFECT fish bowl for these guys. I decided we already had enough clowns at the ESSDACK office and opted for the shark. I found one on ebay and placed the order.

When I opened the box and saw all the parts and more than three steps for assembly I knew I was going to need help. I'm just not a very good tab A into slot B kinda girl. So, today I took the box full of parts to the office and asked for some assistance putting it together.

Stumpy getting his helium fix at Decor Party Supplies

Too many parts for me!

After going to the party supply store and getting the shark filled with helium I returned to the office and the we turned it into a team building exercise.

The brain trust working to make Stumpy the fish he was meant to be

Although Terri usually doesn't deal with sharks, she is an experienced animal handler.

Stumpy just brings a smile to everyone's face

The maiden voyage

It was not the easiest task but it was a hoot working together. We named him Stumpy and hopefully he will live a long and floaty life in the ESSDACK office.

Irish Cream and Pistachio Fudge

2011-12-23T19:49:00.000-06:00

Found this recipe on pinterest (have I mentioned I LOVE Pinterest? oh, I have? ok) and omgosh is it good. (Original recipe here at the blog Eat Good 4 Life, some really great recipes) I had official taste testers and it was an all around hit. I think the thing that caught my attention was the different combination of ingredients. I'm not sure exactly about the cost of making this but let's just say it wasn't cheap, so make it for people you really, really like. :)

Ingredients:

36 oz white chocolate chips (3 bags)
1 14 oz can condensed milk
1/2 cup Irish cream liquor plus 3-4 tablespoons (I sometimes use 3/4 cups)
1/2 cup raw pistachios, roughly chopped- I used canned slightly salty and they were fine

Lined a small cookie sheet with foil and lightly grease it.

In a sauce pan, at low heat, pour all of the ingredients except pistachios. Stir constantly until chocolate has almost melted.

Turn off heat and continue stirring until chocolate is completely melted. Add pistachios and pour evenly onto prepared pan. Let cool and chill until set. Remove fudge from pan and peal off the foil paper. Cut fudge into small squares.

"S" is for Street Sweeper Suspiciously Stolen on Saturday from Super Market

2011-12-18T09:25:00.006-06:00

Today's post is brought to you by the letter "S," not for Super Spectacular Sunday, it's stands for Stupid Stealer of other people's Stuff. Let me start at the beginning.

Last night hubs was already asleep and I just crawled into bed and closed my eyes when Greg says, "Did you hear that?" I answer that indeed I did not hear a thing. Now how someone that can't hear me ask him to take the clothes out of the dryer when I am standing in front of him and he looking directly at me, but can hear the doorbell that has decibel strength of a newborn kitten, I don't know, it is truly one of life's mysteries, but he can and did. We had that awake but not coherent conversation that went something like this:
Him: Did you hear that?
Me: Hear what? I didn't hear anything.
Him: The doorbell
Me: Well, if you heard the doorbell, you should go check.
Him: No, it will be alright.
Me: No, Brett is home from school and out, we should check.
Him: No, I'm not getting up.
Me: Well, I will go check.

I go look out the front window and there is a police car out front.
Me: Greg, there is a police car out front.
Him: You are kidding, right?
Me: NO, I am not kidding
Him: What should I do? (yes, he seriously said that)
Me: You should be the man and get up and see what is going on.
Him: Oh, yes, right, ok.

He gets up and no joke when he finally gets to the door, the police car is gone. I look out the window and swear it was there a few minutes ago. He calls the dispatcher and indeed there had been a police car out at our residence. Then he notices a missed call from the guy working for him that the truck had been stolen. (11:00 PM) Seems that while the worker, whom I will not name but his name rhymes with Berry, was blowing out the gutters at the very prominent 30th street grocery store in preparation to sweep the parking lot with a 8500 lb zamboni-like machine, the truck, trailer and sweeper was parked out front but now is missing.

The truck has OnStar but there is privacy protocol and a report has to be filed and OnStar won't tell you anything, just to the officer. Sooooo, Greg goes to the place of said crime and he and J....er.....Berry, have a reportapalooza and the process starts. OnStar is able to track the truck waaaay the heck to the west of town and it is on the move. (thanks OnStar) The Reno County Sheriff's department gets in on the action and enlists the help of the Kansas Highway Patrol and find the perp and chase ensues. He takes the truck in the ditch and bails making the officers work on their Christmas dinner a little early. And just like that we got us a man hunt. But the slippery little snake manages to get away. So we have the truck, (air bags never deployed) so all is good, right? Au contraire, mon frere, there is something missing.......the trailer. Somewhere during the little escapade the nimrod unhooked and left the trailer. Gauging from the amount of mud on the truck, the trailer and hopefully the sweeper with it, is in a field somewhere up to it's axels in prairie goo. After HPD processed the vehicle, Greg gets his truck back and spends the next 2 hours driving back and forth on country roads looking for his lost equipment. He finally gives up about 3:30 AM and returns home.

(7:00 AM) Greg calls his Uncle Ron and they along with Brett go up in the airplane to scour the countryside. As of 9:15 AM they are still looking but have not found anything. Nothing found from the air, but Greg drove around some more this morning and did find some discarded items from the truck in a muddy field but the tracks indicated the trailer was not hooked on at that point.

Oh yes and "S" also stands for super sleepy.

*****Update

Thanks to the networking capabilities of Facebook, a friend of a friend saw the post, and called, the trailer and sweeper have been located. No word yet on the damage, seems the doofus head just pulled the pin in the receiver hitch and pulled forward letting the trailer with the heavy machine come crashing down, I'm surprised no neighbors called because I'm sure it made a racket.

- Story to be updated as the information comes in.
Be on the look out for trailer and a piece of machinery that looks something like this:

Upwardly mobile, 6 flights in fact.....

2011-11-22T12:29:00.000-06:00

This past weekend the hubs and I went to help our oldest son move - AGAIN! Ground floor you ask, ahhhhh, heck no, of course not... but I take comfort in knowing we are certainly not the first parents to be called upon to assist with this roost changing phenomena going on amongst college age students. I know my friends with kids of the same age are dealing with the same issues. But while one of my many trips in the elevator (yes, thank goodness for the elevator) I found myself pondering the way my son's generation seems to adapt to change readily. And I came to the conclusion there is a direct correlation with the technical age we live in and that generation's ability, or maybe their desire to not settle until they achieve their goals.

It probably sounds like I think of that in a negative fashion but while I certainly think there are negative connotations, overall it might be a very positive and healthy thing. Back in the day when I was in my early 20's the path was fairly clear. You graduated high school, went to college, got married, got a steady job and had a family. Pretty cut and dried, no drama, no risk, not much variance. Sometimes the pieces of the puzzle were altered but the goal was pretty much the same for everyone. Now, the puzzle doesn't even look the same. Some people might argue that we are just raising a society of selfish children only worrying about themselves. Trading in spouses, trading jobs, trading domiciles, trading — lives, in an effort to be happy is making them selfish and self-centered. I dare to ponder this differently, is it self-centered to do exactly what the fore fathers suggested when it was blatantly spelled out in the Declaration of Independence - "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?" Maybe it doesn't follow the norm or beaten path of our perception of the "proper" way to go about life but is that necessarily a bad thing? Don't get me wrong, I am not advocating the further decline of marriage or family but I am just openly questioning if staying in a decaying relationship or a dead-end job is the best option to creating a happy family.

On the flip side of the coin I do wonder if this society where so many people work at home and live in neighborhoods that do not have the sense of community and safety of the Beaver Cleaver age, is causing a disconnect to relationships. For instance if you work at home and only know Mary from accounting by the talking head in Skype or the information laden emails, and have no real relationship, it becomes quite simple to move on to another job. Or, if you have never met your neighbors other than the half-hearted obligitory wave when you accidentally make eye contact as they pull into their garage, you don't have to think twice when moving to a new place.

I guess this really is nothing new under the sun, just a different paradigm in which people are struggling to not only do the right thing in the eyes of society but to create their version of a happy, healthy family unit. So, I guess I'll just take more Aleve and be happy my son is making a conscious effort to move and be happy and feel fortunate that this economy hasn't forced him into making this decision. And on a side note......why is it that a young man that manages to hold two jobs and has a college degree cannot see that if he is going to move he might need to plan a bit and gather some boxes and pack a few things ahead of time? I suppose it is because common sense 101 is not required for the degree.....

Here are some pictures from the move, he moved to the power and light district in Kansas City, it's a hotel renovated into apartments and I really like it, the whole area is reminiscent of New York City and his new roomie, Mike, a true sweetheart and good guy.

Vintage hotel renovated into apartments

Looking down the stairs from the 6th floor

Mike sizing up the daunting task before him

Boxes? evidently not a moving necessity

The beast of a sofa that had to be carried down the stairs and then up the stairs.

This project makes me smile

2011-11-09T15:54:00.000-06:00

I spend my day doing creative things-some of it is fancy pants stuff and some is just mundane but the best thing is that it seems no 2 days of work are ever the same. And at the end of each project the range of emotions tends to be from relief that it is finished to excitement that it is finished and usually a mixture of both. I would be lying if I said I don't always just hold my breath when finishing a project hoping there isn't a glaring error that I (and the 40 other sets of eyes) have missed.

Many times my portion is just a tiny part in a much bigger project and I always anxiously await to see how it all fits. An example of that is our new web site which Chris Lock has been working feverishly on to complete. I can't reveal it yet as he is still putting the finishing touches on it but here is our new logo that has inspired the color scheme.

I completed a project and today when it came in I loved the way it looked. It's one thing to design something and see it small on a screen (even if you do have a 17-inch monitor) and it's completely another when it is on a 10-foot backdrop! As with every project a few little things I'd change but overall - LOVE IT!

A Little R & R - Punta Cana Style

2011-10-30T20:22:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned in my previous post it was time for me to take a little vacation. This year we went to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. It is the other half of the island with Haiti.

"The Dominican Republic occupies 48,482 square kilometers, making up the eastern two thirds of the island of Hispaniola , with the country of Haiti comprising the western third. The island of Hispaniola sits more or less in the center of the Caribbean Islands - with the Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas to the North, Cuba and Jamaica to the west, Puerto Rico and the Leeward Islands to the east, and South America to the south. The north coast gives way to the Atlantic Ocean and the south coast gives way to the Caribbean Sea."- http://www.hispaniola.com/dominican_republic/info/location.php

After spending a week there I am still convinced it is one of the nicest places I've had the opportunity to visit. I base that feeling not only on the natural beauty but giving high points to the friendly nature of the people I encountered and ease of the trip in general. The accommodations were above average and I really don't have anything negative to say about my overall trip. (other than there were times in the airports I thought it might possibly be simpler and more pleasant to buy a rubber raft and just head south than to deal with the difficulties and general headaches of the airlines).

Our trip started at roughly 4:30AM to get to the airport so we could stand in line to get on a flight at 6AM. We were required to play a round of clothing russian roulette- leaving a cold climate going to a warm climate. And as far as the plane's temperature.......who knows.....could be fit for Satan or an eskimo, and sometimes both within the same flight.........no wonder people get sick when they travel.

When we arrived in Punta Cana we were not disappointed, yes, between the airport and the hotel we did see examples to remind us of just how fortunate we are. We arrived to the beautiful lobby of the Majestic Elegance Resort and Spa.

View from our balcony

http://www.majesticelegancepuntacana.com/

Carlos and Lori

We were greeted by our "butler" Carlos. He was a very sweet young man, whom we later found out has a degree from the University of Wisconsin as well as the university in his country. He took us on a short tour of the property and gave us little tips that would help our stay to be the most enjoyable. He said to call him if we needed anything and he truly meant it. He offered to take us into town by his personal vehicle if needed and he helped the guys arrange a fishing trip. He called to check on us throughout the week and always greeted us by name when we saw him around. We found out that the "butlers" generally have about 25 rooms they tend to at any given time (or at least I think that is what he said). You can even make arrangements for your butler to have your jacuzzi tub filled and ready for you at a certain time - truly they spoil you. I'm sure your stay can be made by the attention of your butler and I think we probably got the best one available.

Random picture of a HUGE snail

Speaking of jacuzzi tubs, each room has one and the rooms were huge. A big 4 poster bed, marble tile floors, balcony, a fully stocked bar (which they refilled with whatever you wanted) a full refrigerator always stocked with soft drinks, beer, and bottled water. There was a separate sitting area and huge closets. They had this nifty little closet that if you ordered room service they would put the trays in the closet and you opened it on your side and took them out. Then when you were done you put the trays back in there, you never had to see anyone.

Our room

We were in the portion of the resort with a private pool (never more than 20 or so people at one time) and NO kids, meaning no loudness, no splashing, no silliness (well except for an occasional drunk), so totally relaxing. We had our own bar and the drinks were all inclusive and actually you never had to leave your poolside or beach chair, because a happy - and I do mean happy, always smiling, always pleasant attendant would bring you anything you needed. We also had a little lounge area right there, with computers, wifi, snacks, bottled soft drinks and water and fresh towels, anytime we wanted - ALL INCLUDED. The poolside also included what is called a Bali bed. These are outdoor double-sized beds so you can take a nap poolside when you are tired or if you just want out of the sun.

Private pool

Bali bed poolside

Greg using the Bali bed poolside

I did manage to read 3 James Patterson (my FAVORITE author) books, I took 4 but the last one just did not capture my interest.

The books I read

I think there were 6 restaurants on the property, a Japanese tepenyaki, an Italian, a french, a steakhouse, a seafood and a buffet. The menus were somewhat limited but usually something could be found to satisfy them even if they were HYPOTHETICALLY a non-fruit, non-fish eating type person. We found ourselves eating in the buffet restaurant each morning and we had the nicest waiter, Juan, who, even though extremely busy, took time each day to teach me a new word in spanish. I truly looked forward to my omelette and spanish lesson each day.

Lori and Greg

The guys went deep sea fishing one day and "caught" between 6-10 Mahi Mahi. Kim and I walked down to the market (souvenier stands) and I practiced my lame spanish skills to barter for a few trinkets. We also had access to use a Hobie cat whenever, so the guys went sailing a few days.

Greg and Tony on the boat

I loved this trip and would definitely go there again. The resort was excellent, the time of year was great (very good weather and not many people) and the I cannot say enough good things about any of the people we encountered. I even made friends with a little dog on my way to the market. One day was our anniversary so we had a banner placed on our door wishing us a Happy Anniversary and that night we had a little cake and a hand written note from Carlos wishing us the same. A very nice touch.

Happy Anniversary and it was between mine and Greg's birthday


Our anniversary cake from Carlos

If you have an option to visit here, by all means, do it.

Beauty Abounds!

2011-10-23T17:16:00.001-05:00

This post comes from the beautiful Dominican Republic. I am at the mercy of my iPad so forgive the typos and errors. *note to self - should have practiced more. I have been blessed to visit some beautiful places but this definely rivals any of those. It's only been one day and I've fallen in love - with the people, who are so friendly, sweet and helpful to the lush greenery to the most amazing blue green water.I not sure how brown a bean I will be when I get back but I'm loving athe sunshine. the only pics I can figure out how to post are from the iPad camera so I will try to take more. but until then, enjoy these.

Really should have gotten a pedicure!

Beautiful beach

View from poolside cabana

Apple Toffee Blonde Brownies- OMGOSH Yummy!

2011-10-09T17:33:00.001-05:00

Apple Toffee Blonde Brownies

First let me tell you about my chili experience. I think of myself as a pretty good chili maker, my kids have finally gotten old enough that I can actually put the good stuff such as tomatoes, onions and peppers in and they don't have to be disguised and pureed. But I found a challenge this week. At my place of employment we commonly have meals catered in for different events and Friday was one of them. We frequently use a local mexican restaurant by the name of the Anchor Inn. Well some things are easy to guesstimate like tacos or enchiladas, but one thing that they never get right is rice and beans. Especially the beans, seems people never eat alot of beans, maybe because when they are sitting in those two gallon metal pans, they just don't seem very appetizing, and also because, hey, right down the row there are SOPILLAS!!! OLE AMIGO! anyway, so needless to say there are always alot left over. I saw the nearly full pan and thought there has to be something I can make with these but the only thing I could come up with was chili. So I brought this 5 lb pan of refried bean home and set to work.

I started with about 2/3 thirds of the beans, based solely on what my crock pot could hold - which by the way, I dropped and cracked when cleaning it afterwards, grrrr). I filled my humongo crock pot up about 2/3 of the way with refried beans, added hamburger, some rotel tomatoes, big can of tomato sauce, some onions, a couple more cans of different beans with jalepenos, a package of seasoning and crossed my fingers. AND GUESS WHAT!? It was good, but I needed a couple more opinions so my son was home from college and we invited a couple of friends over and the consensus was all thumbs up. Who would've guessed it?

Well I couldn't exactly serve just chili so I tried another new recipe, (my friends really don't mind being guinea pigs), Apple Toffee Blonde Brownies. Like I've said before I am not a big fruit fan, but I really liked this. I think next time I will use the suggested 8x10 pan though as they seemed a little too thick to get completely done in the very middle of the pan. It reminded me of a gooey apple crisp. My friends brought Blue Bell Vanilla ice cream and we were all fat and happy.

I used a Granny Smith Apple and Heath Chips

Bake 30 minutes @ 350

Cool Completely

Add Frosting

*Original recipe here from Cookies and Cups

Halloween Treat Bags - Individual S'more Kits

2011-10-06T10:54:00.000-05:00

It's often been joked about how I should have been a kindergarten teacher. I would agree if I liked to be around little children or if I could color inside the lines but small children are like spiders - unpredictable - you just never know if they are going to run at you or jump or bite- almost creepy-like and then the coloring inside the lines......pffft, really? who does that?

I enjoy making the goofy little gifts for all my coworkers and friends. Every holiday I try to come up with some little gift for everyone in my office (around 35 people), my kids (ages 21 & 24) and my coffee friends. Sometimes they are something silly like a first grader would make in school and sometimes it is just something yummy but it's always fun for me.

For Halloween I found the cutest little project on Pinterest (OH? I've mentioned Pinterest before?)
It was so simple and so cute. It was a Individual S'more Kit.
Supplies needed:
       -Ghost shaped Peeps - what? you do not know what a Peep is? It is like those yellow marshmallow chickens at Easter. A marshmallow covered in sugar, need I say more?
       -Small Hershey bars
       -One graham cracker broken in half
       -Cellophane bags

I made a little tag for the top but you could easily use a ribbon or the twist tie that is included.

Apple Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

2011-10-05T12:16:00.000-05:00

My goal for October is to post as often as I can. I would like to post all yummy fall-ish recipes but I simply do not have enough time to test and take pictures so I will just do what I can.
Today's recipe is for Apple Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies, I altered the recipe because I didn't have a specific ingredient or two and I had two apples instead of one. And I think if I were to make it again I would cut my apple bites smaller and use regular oatmeal.

Using my new muffin top/cookie pan

Original Recipe from: The Picky Palate

Fall Baking, New Kitchen Utensil & Orange Slice Cookies

2011-10-02T19:20:00.001-05:00

Orange Slice Cookies

It's finally fall, the leaves turn, the sun rises slower, and there is a slight chill in the air in the morning. But fall also means comfort foods, soups, and BAKING!!! I love to cook and bake and as I've said before I'm sure it has something to do with combining a bunch 'o stuff and then having something totally yummy (or at least most of the time it's yummy). One of the challenges of cooking is making something you personally do not like. I would much prefer to make something I can taste along the way or at least smell that it's going well, but sometimes ya just gotta step out on faith, slap on the Nike slogan and JUST DO IT!

I had one of these adventures this weekend, it was actually a two-fold reason for using the recipe that I chose. I got this handy dandy new baking item for my birthday and couldn't wait to try it out. It is called a muffin top pan, (from Apron Strings- Hutchinson) used to bake a very shallow muffin so that you end up with the most scrumptious part - the top.

Muffin Top/Cookie Pan

I had seen these used also to bake cookies so that you have beautiful perfectly round cookies. Sometimes a nicely shaped cookie can be achieved by using a uniform measurement, such as a cookie scoop, but the type of cookies that seem to be a problem is one that has stuff that melts such as caramel or fillings. I decided to test it on Orange Slice Cookies. Now anyone that knows me at all knows that if I had to choke down a jellified, sticky, sugar-coated, fruit flavored piece of ick, I would do just that - choke. But the second part of the cookie adventure was that this particular cookie is one of hubs' favorites and he was feeling a little blue. He had decided earlier in the week that the Hutchinson Rod Run was the perfect weekend to sell his third child - a white, '91 corvette. He was suffering a bit from separation anxiety and I thought if these didn't cure the sorrow at least he could get a good sugar buzz going.

'91 'vette

Recipe for Orange Slice Cookies

I gathered my ingredients and chopped up the gooey orange slices and set to work. The pan only holds 6 at a time and I only have one pan at the moment, but that turned out ok since there seemed to be a bit of a learning curve on exactly how much dough to put into the pan and how much to smash it down.

Chopped Up Orange Slices

I was happy with the results and think I will be getting one or three more to cut down on baking time. I have several recipes I want to try (have I mentioned I'm addicted to Pinterest? There are days I'm so engrossed in looking at the random collection of things from wedding dresses (yes, I'm already married, and yes I have two boys, so what's your point?) to cute sayings to DIY crafts (like I NEED one more thing to start) to a bazillion kinds of recipes that I'm sure if someone ventures into my pinterest viewing space, I snarl and bare my teeth.

Speaking of snarling....random thought - because it's my blog and I don't have to have fluid continuity, I can be Queen of Random, if I so choose, hear ye, hear ye, all bow to the Queen Mum of Random......ohhh, I like that.... anyhoooo... Murphy, our million dollar dog, has hurt her paw. That within itself is not some big news flash because she is always hurting something, but she is limping around holding it up when she is walking creating a hopping effect, so we are affectionately calling her Hoppy the wonder dog now. Poor thing, she sets her paw in your hand but the minute you act like you are going to inspect it, her lip curls up in the cutest little Elvis snarl you ever saw on a dog. Well, cute until she snaps and sends her aptly named canine teeth into the fleshy part of your hand. I'll let her work on fixing it herself - dogs seem to be able to do that - and if it doesn't get better, we'll spend a few more dollars on that silly but loveable member of the family.

Murphy aka Hoppy the Wonder Dog!

Run for the Rocks

2011-09-25T12:53:00.001-05:00

So today is a run to benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs, it's a half-marathon (13.1) in my town. Hubs and my friend started running at the beginning of the summer. I know your first thought is, wow, what a ridiculous time to start when the weather was averaging around oh........10873742874 degrees.....but I never said they were smart— dedicated and driven- yes, smartest tacks on the board - no. Anyway, they have been running and getting better so they got this whacky idea to run this race. They register and are official, they have a number, a tshirt & hat, and the all important goodie bag. All the trappings of a dedicated race participant.

Angel, Kim and Greg Pre-Race

I know you are thinking, I wonder why she (being me) doesn't run with them..... well the answer is simple- I. Don't. Run. end of story. I thought back and can't think of a single time I ran for "fun". While the other kids were playing tag and chase, I was content to hang upside down on the monkey bars and worry someone might accidentally see my pink flowered underpants. I do however remember a time of playing cops and robbers and running and putting my arm through a glass door, I have no other memories of running. OK, maybe one more.......when I was a teenager and we tp'd a house and the porch light came on mid roll.......but then that's it, no more.

Kim and Greg - 11 miles

Kim and Greg - about 12 miles

But back to hubs and his run. I think the tally was about 350 runners and they zigged and zagged all through town, he and his faithful running companion, Kim kept on pace and ran the entire way. I went to watch at a few different places along the way and took a few pictures (which I am much better at than running) and only found myself distracted once by a really pretty butterfly that was missing part of a wing. But fortunately they hollered at me and got my attention before they were completely past me and I managed to get a few pics taken of them.

Lovely butterfly at the last mile

Kim, Greg and Kerri Shroyer coming into Gowans for finish

All summer long he has been giving their stat numbers to me. I am not a numbers person and I'm sure my eyes just kinda glaze over as I nod dumbly at his reports. I sometimes feel as though I am receiving the coordinates to some long buried treasure or something.....it was a 13.25 at 5.93.......what the heck? maybe this is a long kept secret of DB Cooper......anyway to me it is mumbo jumbo but to him it is the ends to a successful and pleasing, first time ever race. Good job Greg and Kim. (and to race veteran Angel)

Kim, Greg and Angel

Fall Weather Time To Cook Again

2011-09-18T13:20:00.001-05:00

The weather is cooling down and makes me want to get back in the kitchen and do some cooking. Yesterday I made Chili, ohhhhh, was it sooo good. We'll eat another bowl today and then send the rest back to Kansas City with Aaron. I also made a recipe I'd been dying to try. Pumpkin Muffins, a super easy recipe.

Pumpkin Muffins

1-yellow cake mix
1 can of pumpkin
1 can of cream cheese frosting
(and sprinkles if you are a sprinkle kind of person, and I am!!)
Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. It's just that easy and they were quite tasty.

Pumpkin Muffins

Aaron is home for the weekend and loves Nutella (what's not to love?) so I decided to experiment with Nutella and found a great recipe at Megan's Cookin. A great little no-bake cookie, Nutella style. I had to modify the original recipe a bit because I didn't have quite enough oats (don't cha just hate that?) but they were still very yummy. I won't give you the adjusted one, just the original.

No-Bake Nutella Cookies

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
1 & 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup Nutella
3 cups rolled oats

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine butter, milk, sugar, and cocoa. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.Reduce heat and continue to boil for 3 minutes, still stirring.
Remove from heat and add Vanilla.
Add Nutella.
Add oats and mix well.
Drop quickly onto waxed paper and allow cookies to cool and set.

No-bake Nutella Cookies

Then for lunch made some very tasty country style ribs. The key to moist, fall off the bone (if there was a bone) ribs is to cook them very slow and just put them on the grill to cook on the barbque sauce and give a slightly crispy exterior. And no doubt about it, they were good. The left-overs will go with Aaron. I know he'll at least have a few good meals. :)

Country Style Ribs

You Can't Scare Me I Have Sons

2011-09-16T15:18:00.002-05:00

So, the phone call starts like this,
Me: Hello
Youngest son: Hi Mom, how do I get blood out of the passenger seat of my car?
I don't flinch or even miss a beat,

Me: Do I need to be looking for an attorney?
Youngest son: No, there was a small accident in the studio, and it's not my blood.

He explains, it involved a hole saw, a piece of pipe and a kids hand, and I won't give you the gruesome details, but it sounds like everyone is going to live.

It got me to thinking about all the accidents, mishaps and near crisis' we have dealt with over the years. Mothers of active boys learn that almost everything heals and panic has no place in dealing with the issue at hand. Much in the same way a new mother learns that having spit up running down your shoulder will not kill you.

Between the two boys we had:
a mild concussion (falling out of a shopping cart)--btw-I was exonerated of fault
a broken arm (bicycle)
a huge goose egg to the forehead (line drive baseball)
a myriad of slicings on the leg (bicycle and hack saw)
a broken tooth (waterslide)
a broken knee cap (baseball)
a torn acl (basketball)
a torn acl (football)
and other minor injuries far too numerous to mention.

The incident of the hack saw and the bicycle still makes me laugh.
I'm down stairs and hear the front door, younger son (about 6yrs old) comes down the stairs to tell me the older one (about 9yrs old) needs me to come up, I, in my most exasperated voice tell him to go tell his brother to come to me. He obediently heads upstairs and soon is back down, no mom, he needs you up there, he says. I, not wanting to stop what I was working on replied unless he was bleeding he needed to come to me. He waited for a minute or two then said, well yes, he is bleeding. I go running up the stairs to see him sitting there with a towel and yes, blood (but not on the carpet, YAY!) Seems he and his friend were going to build a fort, so they got a hack saw and while he was riding his bike holding the saw every time his leg went up and down he was sawing his leg....yes, evidently this was before he had been given custody of his brain .....anyway, after realizing he had some pretty significant cuts he and his buddy decided their vast boy scout first aid training could fix it. They could not. So back on their bikes, sans the saw, to our house. After a trip to the ER all was well again.

Although the ringing of the phone in the night still makes me break out in a cold sweat (they are now 21 and 24) and probably always will, I've learned not to panic, to think through to the logical solution and help them carry their broken bones to the emergency room.

I do think mothers of boys will collect jewels for their crowns similar to the way a scout collects badges, and mine is gonna be darn sparkly.

One fish, Two fish, Red fish, Blue fish

2011-09-13T17:31:00.001-05:00

Ok, I've never really thought of myself as compulsive, but I'm starting to reassess my tendencies. Well, let me explain.......it all started with Pinterest - which I'm convinced is some level of hellish torture. It makes us desire things that up until we saw the picture, had no idea we even wanted. I say go experience and explore the wonders of Pinterest but I must add I am in no way taking responsibility for the addict you might - ok, for sure- are going to become. I won't bother explaining it, just look it up and spend a few minutes or a few HUNDRED hours and you'll get the picture......heh, heh literally.. Anyway, I saw this really cool fish aquarium so my first thought was, of course, I can make that and probably better too.

Then I started looking around and decided, yes, I probably could but would have to take out a second mortgage to make it happen. Then this dialogue happened,
Me1: Oh, just suck it up
Me2: No, I can do this, I am talented and creative, and it would mean so much more if I made it.
Me1: But you can let your fingers do the walking plop down the $40.00 and call it done.
Me2: Ok
But then I look again.........WHAT!! out of stock, that means not only will I not have immediate gratification but prolonged and possibly never gratification. Oh the horror!

So back to trying to make one. I had this glass bowl thingy, oddly shaped -kind of like a child's spinning top (oh, youngsters.....look it up) and the base was too small and it tipped easily and it was a crackley glass so that wouldn't work, but it had this oh so cool top........what to do?.........I know, I'll break the glass and just use the base and top and put something better in between.

So the adventure begins. I break the glass bowl off, no problem, but then I realized that the bowl had been F26'd or gorilla glued or some dynamite withstanding source of sticktoittiveness and was perplexed. I know, i can put some sort of base stuff like styrofoam over the bottom and then the bowl........no.doesn't work. So i go to get a standard fish bowl type glass bowl and come home with one, perfect, fits well on the base, but the top doesn't fit exactly......well there it this fitting ring, I'll glue it on as an adapter ring......perfect........glue dries......looks like crap. Ok, plan B - I had an old candy jar which coincidently was the exact size of the base and the top, the heavens opened up and glory shown round. BUT.....what about the glass and glue residue.....hmmm problem.......but if I put decorative marbles all the way around the inside of the lip of the base it'll work, right? So I did. and it did work but was going to be unstable. So, if I put a decorative plate between the marbles and the glass it should work, right? yes, and it looks beeee-uu-ti-ful. Success!

Which would've been fine but, I really wanted a light in the bottom. SO..... I tootled my butt down to radio shack (after looking high and low in Hobby Lobby for a led night light type cord that plugged in) and sought assistance -after waiting for an older Amish gentleman looking for a CD player......no, I didn't ask- from the lone Radio Shack employee. He was nice enough and didn't question my motives, probably because of his previous customer, and helped me find an LED bulb, asssured me I could wire it myself without losing a hand and sent me skipping back home. In the meantime however, I asked my super duper tech guys their opinion and they suggested using an old adapter of some sort, not exceeding 5v and give it a whirl. I did and it was successful. No animals were harmed, no eyes were lost. Greg helped me drill holes which I am pretty sure I could have accomplished on my own but he wanted to help and who am I to deny that pleasure. We put the light up inside the base and VOILA! it's not bright enough. It probably would have worked had I not wanted a red plate but it did visually make a difference and the light with a clear plate was still too diffused to make an impression. I didn't feel I could go to a stronger bulb because my new little friend Max did not seem like the hot tubbing type. So I put the light away for another project, which when needed and I won't be able to find it and will just buy another one.......but I digress.

So, I know what you are thinking, what did you do with the first bowl? Well, I'm glad you asked, since I could not just throw it away and it was darn ugly at this point, I did what any upstanding crafter unwilling to admit defeat would do - I got another fish for home. It's a blue one and he is quite lovely and that ugly bowl has got to be better than the little plastic butter tub-like container he was living in at the pet store.

So now you have the story of how Max, the red fish came to my office and how Frank, the blue fish, came to live at my house.

Hot Dogs, Prizes and Games, OH MY! -Back to School Fun Day 2011

2011-08-29T22:08:00.002-05:00

Last Saturday the Hutchinson Volunteer Patrol held it's now annual (this is the second year, woot!) Back to School Fun Day. Like last year it had all the makings of a good time. Food (300 hot dogs!), Games, and tons o' prizes.

Since my husband is on the volunteer patrol, I am guilty by association and strongly urged (nah, I happily volunteered) to help. It started out as expected getting things set up by noonish for the 1PM start time.

Well if you've been in Kansas recently you know that mid-day the ground becomes lava. We had a bit of cloud cover and a few sprinkles but the relief was short lived and the steam bath followed. Fortunately we had lots of McDonald's Orange Drink and donated bottled water and the kids being the resilient little rascals they are, did not miss a beat.

More hot dogs were eaten, more kids went on a cotton candy/snow cone sugar high and more prizes were claimed.

Of course there were a couple of scraps- it's not a party until someone gets a booboo, but our friendly Hutchinson Fire Department was there to administer first aid (and show off the fire truck).

The amount of merchant donations was so great we had to really hustle to give them all away in the allotted 3 hour period. This year we gave away adult prizes too - not "adult" prizes but prizes like $25.00 food coupons to several different family food restaurants and a BlueRay DVD player. But the big prizes that earned the most drool points were the two bikes. Both a girl's and boy's bike were given. They were super snazzy Huffy's too!

But unfortunately we only had two (listen up sponsor-type people) maybe next year we can make this even bigger and better and give away more bikes, I would be so excited to see this event blow the doors off and make lots of little kids have super big smiles. Our boy winner this year, has several sisters and he is the only boy in the family so I'm thinking a shy young dude with lots of sisters, DESERVES a manly black/orange boys bike. HOOORAH for you little man!

The girls winner was so cute she was all dressed in pink and purple and she actually looked like she matched that ultra-girly pastel bicycle.

I think this event was a success and hope we can grow it year to year and get more of the community involved. I do believe a fun time was had by all. Thank you to the sponsors and the Hutchinson Volunteer Patrol.

Friend them to see more pics from this event on Facebook at Hutchinson Volunteer Patrol

CheeChicky Bacon Enchiladas

2011-08-14T18:07:00.001-05:00

OK, so I used to just assume everyone cooked the way I do but evidently they do not. I fancy myself somewhat creative and I guess that seeps over into my cooking as well. While I generally try to follow a recipe, most times the recipe just ends up as a rough outline and the finished product? Wellllll, let's just say sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't but only a few times has it been totally inedible.

Many times I find myself looking through the cabinets trying to come up with something, mainly because I'm too lazy to go to the grocery store. I wish I could say I live in the middle of nowhere 50 miles to the nearest town, but no, it's like 5 minutes away, yes, I'm THAT lazy.

Today is no exception, I'm filled with laziness and I have to take a covered dish to a get together tonight. I scour the cabinets- peanut butter cookies? no eggs....... Zucchini-Banana cake? took that last week.......I opened the freezer, then I spied them......fresh off the Garcia enchilada delivery van.......homemade, hand-rolled cheese enchiladas....and Heavenly rays shown down around them. (I could almost swear I heard angels sing as well.) Shivawn and her family make the BEST enchiladas. Whenever she is taking orders I always order some for home as well as for my poor, poor college students. *WHAT?! no pre-made enchilada's? see note below for alternative.

So, I could just throw them in a big pyrex baking dish add a little more cheese and already the attendees at tonights soireé would think I'm some sort of culinary genius, but....... what if I doctored them up a bit? I could have taken some of Aaron's beefy ones that I haven't delivered yet but instead.....I took a package of cheese and onion and made an enchilada-ish casserole. First I layered the enchiladas in the bottom of a medium sized-13 x 9ish pyrex baking dish.

I had 3 chicken breasts we had cooked out on the grill and were left over so I cut them into small bits, added an chopped onion, a small jalepeno and a package of pre-cooked bacon. (Pre-cooked bacon --------ever so handy to keep at the ready!) and sauteéd all that in what else? BUTTER!! added some pepper seasoning and Mrs. Dash Chipotle seasoning.

Cooked all of this until the onions were soft and fairly transparent. Then I mixed that concoction with a can of cream of chicken soup, a small can of green chiles, a generous 3/4 cup of picante sauce and about 8 ounces of sour cream.

Spread that over the top of the enchiladas and covered with - you guessed it - MORE CHEESE! My friend Bob likes to say you can never have enough cheese, and he's right. Mucho queso, por favor!** I popped that whole thing in the oven for about 35 minutes at around 350.

Remove from oven and let sit, until set, (about 15 minutes) and by that time it is begging for you to taste it! Doesn't it look Yummilicious! No shortage of cheese here. A dollop of sour cream or salsa and Muy Sabroso!**

*alternative to pre-made enchiladas - take some flour tortilla shells and a can of enchilada sauce, tear tortillas into1/4's dip in enchilada sauce and then soften in nonstick skillet, in greased baking dish alternately layer tortillas and shredded cheese about 3 layers. Then follow recipe above.

If you live in the Hutchinson, Kansas area and want to order some of the yummo enchiladas contact me and I'll hook you up with Shivawn.

**Mucho queso, por favor = Don't skimp on the cheese, pretty please
**Muy Sabroso = Very Tasty

Podstock! Success!

2011-07-25T21:46:00.001-05:00

Well, Podstock has come and gone and boy am I tired! Those were some long days but I met new people, saw the fruits of our labors be enjoyed, got many a kudo and laughed, .... alot.

Our wonderful staff pitching in to stuff swag bags.

Glenn Wiebe helping cut out .....stuff

I so enjoy this conference, mainly because it is so different, not only in content but in design and the people are different, not the typical, snooty, stuffy kind of conference attendees that keep to themselves, but the fun-loving, never-know-a-stranger type. LOVE THAT!

The wild women of Podstock

A couple of weeks before Podstock we introduced our new ESSDACK mascots, the sock monkey brother/sister team of Rowdy and Ruby. They now have their own Twitter profile (sockmonkeyjunki) and have been lovingly accepted by all.

Michelle Reavis and Lori Fast, along with Ruby and Rowdy

Visiting Smith's Market to get old fashioned candy

On the Podstock registration bus

We worked hand-in-hand with Lightspeed Systems/My Big Campus, they piggy-backed on Podstock by having a training session the day before Podstock started. I loved these people they were all so nice and very complimentary.... or complementary? both spellings are actually accurate in this case. I hope we get the opportunity to work with them more in the future.

Joel and Kevin

Kevin doing an impromptu interview

It's been a very hectic and exhausting couple of weeks but am eagerly looking forward to next years conference already. We have decided on a theme, it is tentatively 80's Senior Year. I woke up thinking about ideas and can't wait to get started, there is Prom, picture day, homecoming, yearbook and then the whole leg warmers, parachute pants, big hair.......oh my, the fun we will have!

But first, back to getting some everyday normal work done and then prepping for the AESA conference in Colorado in December, a totally different job assignment for me but that's what makes my job interesting, change and with ESSDACK and my work mates, never a dull moment.

Have I mentioned lately that I LOVE my job? :)

Love Technology Style

2011-06-27T11:57:00.003-05:00

Last weekend I attended a wedding, and it provoked a little thought. I found myself comparing the changes in love, marriage and of course, life in general with the addition of the internet and especially social media. I had never really pondered the implications in this context. I was fortunate enough to know my great-grandparents but never got to ask alot about them, which as an adult I truly regret. But my guess is they were much like other young loves back in those days. You knew the families in your town, if you were a guy, you found the farmer (within wagon distance) with several daughters and picked the one that appealed to you. She might not be the cutest one by our standards today but I'm sure she was greatly valued by her work ethic and broad hips.

Then your brother picked her sister and there was a town gathering and a picnic. You stayed married because that's what you did. Love? who knows, but commitment, yes.

Next generation, my grandparents.......the war, trains, and the postal service and the circle of possibility got a bit larger. Some met at colleges, and some when the boy came to a college town and met a local girl, or when he went in to the service. The corresponded via snail mail and eventually they settled somewhere together. The focus shifted a bit to more of an emotional attraction rather than utilitarian companionship. And the commitment continued.

Fast forward a bit to my parents, again, many men went into the military or worked in their home towns, or as before went away to college. Many, as my parents, married before entry into the military, and I believe some of the reasoning was to know they had something at home while they were away. Stress factors increased and with the introduction of women's lib and the diminishing stigma on divorce, marriages started to deteriorate, all of the sudden women saw a chance to test their own wings and did. They were able to travel and meet people from many different places, they went out into the work force and suddenly found themselves spending more time with others than at home, heads turned, marriages crumbled. There was also a better way of communicating—the telephone.

Now to today, wow, what a change, you can go anywhere in person and if you can't go, you just get on the internet. Chat rooms abound on any and every subject. Or you meet someone getting on plane, before the internet, it would be a lovely meeting and a nice memory, and if you didn't get an address or phone number, it was done. Now you can take that tidbit of information, race home and look them up, within minutes you probably have a way to contact them again. You can find them on facebook and manufacture "chance" meetings. In a way we are finding ways to manipulate fate, kismet, chance, serendipity, whatever you want to call it. There is also the whole other side of meeting and connecting via dating sites, letting a service match do the legwork and find your soul-mate, whether it be across the street or across the Atlantic.

Social media allows you to find that cute guy you pined over from the 8th grade on Facebook. Or you google your child's teacher you secretly had a crush on and find she/he has a blog and become a follower. And no wonder marriages are under such stress, now we not only imagine the grass is greener, we read about it on other's pages. There is also the whole other side of meeting and connecting via dating sites.

But the wedding I attended gave me hope, hope that maybe true love will win, the connection of the heart will prevail. That maybe we have turned the corner and are finding ways to use technology to become more connected to our love in the beginning and in turn, once again, remain connected and committed for life.

10 Things I Love About Podstock

2011-06-09T21:36:00.001-05:00

Well the time is fast approaching for us to put on our saddle shoes, poodle skirts and bebop on down to the diner for the Podstock conference, or un-conference. As we've talked about in the past our theme this year is the Fabulous 50's! So we're going to turn the Hotel at Old Town into the Podstock Diner. I've been busy putting the finishing touches on some items to make the whole thing just a hoot and half. So I thought I'd give you a sneak peek.

First we have our conference session guide, designed to look like an old fashioned diner menu.....makes sense, right, ordering up what is just right for you from a selection of scrumptious choices. Yummy....It's all good. Inside there is some pull-away sheets with complete descriptions of each day's "specials". Next we have the name tags, what could be better than an order of .......YOU! so it's written on a guest check, crazy, huh? One of Podstock's goals is to share info about companies real educators are using in their real classrooms (and beyond) so we've decorated up our placemat to give notice to those products we in which we see real, usable technology. Now, we couldn't have a placemat without a plate, right? so what is more appropriate then a plate of bacon and eggs - makes me wanna scream, "Order Up!" Moving along, the fake napkin and silverware (some of our people- not naming names, cough, cough, wyckoff- have that nasty injunction thing about possessing sharp objects, so paper is good), anyway, on the back we pay respect and thanks to our wonderful sponsors which make it all possible. Each participant also gets their own diner cook hat (or soda jerk hat, if you must) so everyone is cooking up ways to use technology in the classroom. We are planning on having baskets of 50's brand candy on the tables but in my pic the basket is filled with foam french fries. Our conference bag to cart home all your freebies (of which we have some great surprises!) is naturally a .........wait for it.................carry out bag! And of course everyone will be trying to score this year's guitar pick.

This is the time of year I love, we've been thinking and planning and now the boxes are coming in and after some more proofing and some final touches, we can start cutting, laminating and assembling. YAYYYYYY! So ready for it to get here, are YOU?

And in case you are counting, because I know even though most of you ooze creativity, some are that pesky type A, yes, there are only 9 things listed but the 10th is the super secret item we're working on so stay tuned, maybe I'll spill the beans closer to time...

And a few of my favorite pics from this year

Tangled but not Trapped - Dealing with Adversity

2011-05-31T15:28:00.004-05:00

Why do some people seem to be able to get temporarily tangled up in the snare of tragedy and adversity and some people find themselves infinitely trapped and immobilized?

Photo from Mittens to the Max

There have been several events in the past few weeks that have caused me to reflect, not only on myself but on humanity and the very question of what fibers make up the fabric of our lives. Why we each deal with events and circumstances differently and how some people just seem to find the strength to carry on. We as outsiders don't understand but I truly believe that God gives us grace when we need it and not before - in other words, He doesn't waste it, He portions it when needed. So that is why we as outsiders look in we don't understand things like how a grieving mother can come to terms with her baby being ripped from her arms in the midst of a violent tornado, how a family can celebrate the life instead of the impending passing of a parent with cancer, how a friend whose marriage unexpectedly collapses in a heap around them can pick up the pieces, or how a child beaten and mistreated can be loving and giving when the very preciousness of innocence has been taken from them. These are the ugly things in life, things we do not understand, but we all learn that we can't let these circumstances rule us. I am not a big fan of the phrase, "Just get over it" to me that reduces our emotions and deems them unjustified. A saying I use alot is, "It is what it is." To me that means, I can't change it so how am I going to deal with it, and what can I learn from it. We need to learn to deal with the events in our lives and let them mold us into better people.

Photo by Marc Arsenault on Flick

I think we see ourselves as a finished product and when undesirable events happen we view that break as creating unusable junk, when in reality it is sometimes necessary to break something to get it into a state that is moldable.......everything from play-doh to melted metal to jello, goes from one pliable state to become a completed, molded form. But even after coming out of the mold, refining needs to happen, smoothing of the burrs, polishing, or drying. So, we are never really "finished" we are - or should be- in a constant state of refining. And sometimes that takes an act of completely breaking us and being cast again to bring take us closer to the person we were meant to be. We want to be able to comb through the tangles and not let them become walls in which we become trapped.

This is a poem I wrote: (and I know there are no capital letters, I did it on purpose......just get over it.....-wink-)

tangled but not trapped

why does tragedy trap us within walls unseen?
tangled up and cut from invisible barbed wire.
unseen traps causing us to stumble without notice.
emotions coming to surface and constricting our hearts.

each person their own identity, formed by events unique to them
given to make us better, stronger, wiser,
but often times causing us to
feel used, weaker, feeble minded.

we allow the evil and negative to rob us of our
accomplishments and our progress and pull us back down
to wallow in our self-pity and loathing.

we allow demons from our past to separate us
from the joys of our present
focusing our thought and energy on things that cannot change
and taking away from the choices we can make today.

allowing the past to hurt us again and again,
ripping the scabs from the wounds and
slowing the healing process, yet again.

trying to cover the scars, instead of using them.
making them visible to alert others,
telling them victory is attainable.

i will not let my past be my master, i am slave to nothing
when pain comes to knock, i will not answer,
i will turn it away knowing it will return again some day.

i have been given this albatross to bear and know triumph
is not a single event but a series of small victories.
as in war i will fight each battle with strength and determination.
eventually hoping to arrive on the other side of this wilderness.

i have been given another day, i will not squander it, i will relish in
the beauty around me, the blessings i have been given and
the joy that is mine for the taking.
I will not be defeated by that which i cannot control.

Not even a tornado takes out Facebook

2011-05-24T14:59:00.001-05:00

On Sunday night a massive tornado ripped through Joplin, Missouri. Shattering windows, strewing cars, trucks and even a helicopter like toys, and tossing precious people about like rag dolls. The violent winds took out anything in it's path, with no regard to loss of property or life. In the aftermath I thought I'd just text my sister to make sure she was ok, and she replied her and Molly were fine but the devastation she was seeing was completely unbelievable. We texted back and forth because in town they weren't getting much info and I was seeing and hearing more from the television than she knew.

Texting seemed to work from their phones but calling in or out was sparse at best. What was amazing to me was watching Molly's Facebook wall and people from all over were inquiring about loved ones and family and damage reports. She would relay back via her page what she was finding out and putting relatives of the residents that were far away at ease. One instance was one of her friends, away in Ireland, wanting to inquire about her family. Molly went and checked and responded to the girl in quick fashion and the angst about the situation, although not totally relieved, was definitely minimized.

Many people still do not see the value of the social networking system, and I watched as the tweets came, Facebook wall posts increased, new pages went up to assist people trying to help and find loved ones, I watched as young and old alike used these tools to ease each others concerns and most of all I watched as the human spirit, put aside the surface use of this technology to dig deep and make it meaningful.

Although we may not be able to physically go and help in the aftermath of this tragedy, the information being disseminated can at least us feel compassion and empathy for those involved. The stories coming across the pages cut deep and hopefully cause us to take the time and examine our own lives and make the most of every moment, because no one is guaranteed tomorrow, not our property, not our plans, not even the breath we take, because like the people of Joplin, everything could change within that same moment.

Some of the Facebook pages set up for the people of Joplin:
http://www.facebook.com/FriendsofJoplin
http://www.facebook.com/joplintornadoinfo?ref=ts
http://www.facebook.com/joplinmo
https://safeandwell.communityos.org/zf/safe/add

Some of the pictures of the aftermath taken by Tee Larmore

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall......why yes, I AM the fairest of them all.

2011-05-06T14:23:00.009-05:00

Pretty, pretty please, don't you ever, ever feel
Like you're less than f*n' perfect.
Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel like you're nothing,
You're f*n' perfect to me.
—From Pink's F*n Perfect

See the entire video here.

Warning: This video contains mature content and may be offensive to some people, but it is what it is.

Although I am not a fan of profanity in lyrics I am very drawn to this song. I heard it again this morning on the way to work and it's just so appropriate for our society. Being a girl myself, - I know, surprise!- I understand the self-esteem issues facing girls growing up in our society. I haven't seen studies but I would imagine that from very early on girls start to hear if they are "pretty" or "cute". And what defines that? Money, affluence, doting parents, things that the girl herself has no control over. I have seen two little kids, one, face smeared with today's peanut butter lunch, hair wild and unbrushed and one, pristinely dressed and clean as a whistle, hair pulled back in a big pink bow and the difference in reaction of adults is amazing. The antics of the "pretty" one are considered "spirited" and the other with the same actions is considered "a mess". No wonder they get to be teenagers and are so confused in their identity and worth.

In an article published on education.com, written by Anita Gurian, Ph.D. NYU Child Study Center, it has some enlightening statistics, which might help us to understand the internal and external pressures girls feel and how these pressures affect the development of their self-esteem. And no surprise is that sexualization of girls is a broad and increasing problem causing harm to a healthy self-image and development.

|| Sexualization is defined as occurring when a person's value comes only from her/his sexual appeal or behavior, to the exclusion of other characteristics, and when a person is sexually objectified, e.g., made into a thing for another's sexual use.||

This whole thought makes me think of the little girls dressed with words across their butts, although that trend seems to be fading. The "new" thing is high heels. High heeled shoes in a fashion sense are to give more length to the leg, but high-heels force the body to tilt, emphasizing the buttocks and breasts – highlights of a woman's sexuality. Seriously? I don't really know of any pre-teen girl that needs that.

The article also addresses some ideas for parents that can positively impact their daughter's self-esteem, because contrary to popular belief, parents still have a huge amount of influence over their children.

By the way, this is my random picture insert of three of the most beautiful women I know

Nieces- Kenzie and Molly and my sister, Kelly

In my opinion, I see women struggling to find an identity during their youth and perhaps find a way to be comfortable in their own skin when much to their chagrin their skin changes. Then the cycle of search for beauty begins again.

Here is a poem I wrote some time back about this emergence of a girl to a woman only to be trampled in society by stereotypes, inadvertent expectations, and unrecognized inherent worth.

Fading Beauty
Like a seed sown on rocky ground
working so hard to spring forth
from the hard shell
The soul searching for soft words to
soothe it like refreshing water
A soft touch pulling the face towards the sun
Gaining strength, breaking out
Taking root in the crevices of the hard asphalt
Taking advantage of the limited amount of rich soil
surrounding the tender roots.

A beautiful bloom emerging to full blossom
perched atop a strong stalk,
girding it’s vulnerability with sparse thorns
Petals soft and velvet-like to the touch
Vibrant color, Intoxicating fragrance
Wanting to be cherished, treasured, valued.

Feet unaware of the ground beneath
Taking no heed of damage
Trampling the spirit
Bruising the soft petals
Ripping the now fragile stem from it’s life-blood
Laying gasping on the hot pavement
Shriveling, Drying, ...Dying
Beauty fading, to be enjoyed by no one.

Good vs. Evil

2011-04-28T15:48:00.003-05:00

"Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul-

And sings the tune without words

And never stops - at all." —Emily Dickinson

This week in my town, unfortunately like too many other towns across the globe, we had a teen suicide.

||According to Teen Suicide Statistics website:
One of the leading causes of death amongst teenagers is suicide. The Centers for Disease control report that it is the third leading cause of death, behind accidents and homicide, of people aged 15 to 24. Even more disturbing is the fact that suicide is the fourth leading cause of death for children between the ages of 10 and 14.||

This event is always tragic but for some reason this one made me wonder what drove them to that point. This kid by all appearances was fairly happy and well adjusted. So what pushes a kid that far? No one will ever know but it also made me think about an author I loved reading, Frank Peretti. Many of his books (This Present Darkness, Piercing The Darkness, Prophet, the Visitation and The Oath) were on the conflict between good and evil, and in the end good prevails.......I like that....thinking that the white hat wins. I wrote a poem (which is amazingly scary to share) demonstrating the triumph of good. I realize that this totally over-simplifies the inner struggle and pain which is obviously being dealt with by that person, but my biggest wish is that teenagers have enough hope, —or strength to search for the source of hope— to perhaps overcome their inner demons.

Anew

Sitting in the sand, knees pulled to my chest, staring at the waves
watching as unrelentlessly, the water pounds the shore
Looking out to sea, feeling as empty as the distant horizon.
The moon laughs as it illuminates the blank canvas.

I stand as the bleak abyss beckons me come,
feeling the sand beneath my feet,
sharp shells piercing my flesh,
walking into the dark water
my body enveloped in the cold blackness
shivering, then going numb.

Letting my body succomb to the watery grave
Letting the demons consume me
Letting my mind be free of the torture.

Suddenly overcome with a blanket of warmth
an unseen force propelling toward the surface
A hand from the heavens throwing me hope like a life ring.

Spitting and sputtering, spewing out the rancid water
wishing to fill my lungs
A knowing smile crossing my lips,
realizing that what was meant to be my end and death
has instead baptized me into a beginning, a new life.
Giving me renewed strength to emerge a conqueror
Vanquishing the evil that sought to overwhelm me.

Feeling sorrow no more, only joy,
Pushing darkness away, seeing light.
Loosing the shackles, sprouting wings
Denying despondency, emitting confidence.

As the sun rises displacing the darkness,
The waves push me to shore,
Assisting in my rescue,
My feet steadying me as the sand shifts beneath me
I walk to the dry sand turning and facing the water once again.
This time seeing the sun as it shines upon a blank slate,
ready for me to start anew and begin again.

10 Things I Learned From A Child

2011-04-27T12:04:00.006-05:00

Learning is all around us. As we get older we tend to look to "experts" to advise us, people with vast experience, degrees or just plain smarts to tell us what to do, how to act, where to visit and sometimes even what to think. But if we get honest some of the best lessons come from children, raw and unrehearsed tidbits that can make our lives richer.

I love taking pictures and was amazed at the lessons being displayed in the photos.

10 Things I Learned From A Child

1. Express Yourself- Children have a way of displaying what they feel. Their little filters are not yet fully formed and if they want to act silly, they do. If they feel like crying, they let it go, if something is funny, they giggle. They wear their emotions on their sleeves, although being an adult, one does need to practice a bit of restraint, maybe the world would be a happier place if we all just let go once in a while.

2. Have someone to look up to - we all have mentors and teachers but sometimes it's the plain 'ole people in our lives that have the greatest influence. We need to remember that some of the best memories and lessons come from those closest to us.

3. Ask to drive - We become so accustomed at being told what to do, we fail to ask for what we want. We timidly accept what we are handed assuming someone else has more experience, more clout or just more ......er.....um........guts than we do. We need to learn more often to step up and just ask to take the helm.

4. Be proud of your accomplishments - So often we downplay something we done. We brush it off like it's no big deal when sometimes it is a very BIG deal to us. We have the right to peacock around occasionally, celebrate the victories, no matter how "small".

5. Snuggle - When a child wants a hug they come boldly and get it. They don't fear rejection, and most often they get their hug or snuggle and quickly off to the next thing. Adults need to learn to give (and receive) hugs without expectation.

6. Hold on to your innocence - Children are innocent, they don't second-guess the words coming out of their mouths, they don't have hidden agendas, and they don't worry about outcomes. They act out of impulse. As adults we could take a lesson on letting go of the jaded thinking that makes us cynical and suspecting of everything around us.

7. Be brave and adventurous - The bane of every parents existence is the lack of fear factor in their child. They bravely walk to the top of the hill and hop on that sled and down they go- what about falling off? What about a broken bone? How are they gonna stop when they get to the bottom? Who knows.....they certainly do not, but to them it's all about the fun and adventure. As adults maybe we should just close our eyes and jump occasionally, take a chance. Scary? maybe, Exciting? most definitely.

8. Express your individuality - It amuses me to see a child all dressed up. In the fashion world she'd be slammed for her mismatched outfit. A feather boa with a plastic grass skirt, doesn't she read Vogue or Seventeen? no, matter of fact she can't even read at all. And the little boy that turns a cardboard box into a fort or airplane.....creativity at it's best. Before someone tells them they can't pretend, they let their imaginations take them to worlds they will soon put behind them for the strict perimeters of reality. Perhaps as adults we should occasionally take out the coloring pages and color the people purple and give them green hair - for old times sake.

9. Enjoy what you do - Children enjoy what they do, jump in with both feet and let it go. Maybe that is why we enjoy watching a child dig into that birthday cake. Because who wouldn't like to throw etiquette out the window occasionally and eat with our hands?

10. Don't be afraid to get dirty - Dirt. What kid doesn't love dirt and water.......which let's face it, is mud. As a child you spend your time trying to figure out to get dirty and somewhere along the line that switch flips and you spend the rest of your life trying to figure out how to avoid the mud. Strange how that happens. Go ahead get dirty, and then you can participate in one of the adult world's pleasures.....a good, long hot shower.

All Aboard! - Riding the Rails on the Ark Valley Eagle

2011-04-18T16:30:00.000-05:00

Ark Valley Eagle

OK, I have to admit, riding the train composed of 2 engines (one on front and one on back) and 3- 1950's passenger cars int he middle, was NOT on my bucket list. I could've died contentedly without the hour long railroad tour. But when my husband ended up with an extra ticket (this particular opportunity happens in our area once a year), I did the good wife thing and accompanied him, all the while looking at it from a blogger point of view and having no real expectations. After all, this was not the first time I had been on a train, I remember a few years back when I was just a youngster (alright, MORE than a few years) my elementary school took the train to the zoo. Of course at that time, well the same as it would be today, I was way more excited about going to the zoo than riding on the train.

As much as I was unimpressed, I couldn't help but notice all the children- no doubt having been raised on the adventures of Thomas the Tank Engine - giddy with excitement as the train rolled into town. The whistle blowing and the conductors in period costume waving as the train comes to a stop.

The train coming from Wichita, detrained those passengers in downtown Hutchinson for them to go eat and browse the antique district and then loaded up with a new group of families, railroad enthusiasts and just plain folk, out to experience a dying breed of transportation. We boarded the train and prepared for our short journey. The conductor came by and punched our ticket and we were off.

One thing that struck me was how the train seems to go behind the scenes, not the best part of town, and seeing the underbelly of the infrastructure, the maintenance departments and the drainage ditches. The gentle swaying was relaxing but not enough that it made a wimp like me sick to my stomach. Then we reached the destination and the train simply stopped, we switched our seat backs to the other position, the other engine took over and proceeded back from whence we came. This was definitely not a thrill-seeker kind of adventure and not one I'd like to do every weekend but was a nice way to spend a couple of hours on a sunny, spring Saturday.

10 Things I Learned From My Dog

2011-04-14T13:01:00.001-05:00

I have two dogs, both female and both greyhounds. Austi is coal black and is retired racer - I suppose when you only run in a handful of races you can still be considered retired. According to the owner, she was really fast, just took issue running in a group, a definite deterrent to successful racing. We adopted her when she was a little over a year old and she has been a part of our family for about 10 years now. Murphy is fawn colored and was bred to hunt coyotes, she is greyhound and we guess part wolfhound. Murphy is wild and I am convinced somewhat retarded. Her exploits and adventures have cost us time and again, and I'm thinking she could possibly be the world's most expensive free dog ever. But what these dogs have cost in a monetary sense they have more than reimbursed in the gift of companionship and although the early days were much angst and bits of anger, none of us could now imagine life without them.

When a person gets a dog, or any pet for that matter, they THINK they are doing some huge favor for the animal, when in reality the animal teaches us humans so much. So this morning as I sat drinking my coffee and Murphy just gently laid her head on my lap and looked at me with pleading eyes, I pondered just what types of things I have learned from her.

1. Wagging Your Tail. When we are happy, we should show it. If we are pleased to see someone, it doesn't hurt to let them know as long as it doesn't involve jumping up on them and leaving muddy paw prints on their shirt........I'm just sayin'......

Murphy (and Aaron)

2. When You Want Something, Ask For It.- If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it. Dogs are relentless, they bark, they chase, they search until they get what they want, we as humans tend to give up before putting out full effort into getting what we desire.

John's dog- Dewey

3. It's Good To Chase Things. A rabbit, a ball, , a dream, we need to see the fun and potential in play.

Julie's dog- Teddy

Brenda's dog- Roxie

4. Sometimes A Friend Just Needs You Close- When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close and nuzzle them gently. Words sometimes are not necessary, a hug, a pat, a knowing glance can express what we could never find the words to say.

John's dog Dewey - and Michele

Murphy

5. Tolerance Is Important. Sometimes we need to put aside our fears, our doubts, our inhibitions and just let life happen. Even if the experience isn't necessarily for us, we can play along.

Brenda's dog- Bailey

Austi

6. Get Comfortable. Put on the old jeans and the ratty sweatshirt. Curl up in the comfy chair. Roll up in blanket in from on the tv.

Ron's dog- Mia

Murphy

7. Protect The Ones You Love. Never bite when a growl will do. Protection comes in many forms, and although many of us would fight to the death over a close loved one, we fail our friends when we do not defend them as others slander them in front of us.

Murphy ...well, and Aaron

8. Play. Take time to play, leave the stress behind and just have spontaneous fun.

John's dogs- Leila and Dewey

Watch video: http://flic.kr/p/9yx46a

9. Patience. Whether it is for a walk, a treat or a pat on the head, sit quietly and wait for your turn.

Jaime's Dog- Fonzie

Jodi's dog- Newman

10. Be Loyal. Shake It Off. Whether it's a smack on the nose from a newspaper, or being left behind when everyone goes on vacation, don't hold a grudge, pick up where you left off.

Jake's dog- Arnold

Kevin's dogs, Tia and Starbuck

Bean-apalooza - Top 10 Jelly Bean Types

2011-04-10T13:38:00.001-05:00

Seriously? Do we NEED this many kinds of jelly beans? Last week I was shopping for Easter candy in my local discount store when I was confronted with a complex and confusing dilemma. I wanted jelly beans for the easter baskets but the barrage of so many different types was overwhelming. I personally do not like jelly beans (it's a combination of the flavor and consistency) but have basket recipients at home that do like them. So what's a mom, er....bunny to do? I decided, like many of my projects, to test it out on my co-workers. So I bought the six different kinds, then went to another store and bought 3 more and wanting to have at least 10 went to yet another store and bought 2 more. OK, so I ended up with 11 not 10 but who's counting?

I put out the little dishes of each flavor and did not tell label the brand and left a paper in which to comment on each type. I sent the email and miraculously the people I work with are so compliant they rushed to my desk in droves.

I left the challenge out for the entire week, some of the dishes needing refilling and some - not so much. The opinions were as varied as could be, what some people thought was wonderful others thought were icky. So, bottom line, which had the most votes? Well first let me list which ones I included and a few random comments from my crack team of testers. The list is by no means conclusive, I have yet another 2 types that were not even included!
1. Starburst Crazy Beans - good amount of sweet and sour, don't like and Yuck.
2. Lifesavers - just ok, a little bland, good, and not my favorite
3. Jolly Rancher Smoothies- Super sour, good, love the sour, yuck, and turns to yogurt.
4. Jolly Rancher Original - good and sour, chewier, more crunchy coating that jelly part, nice burst of flavor
5. Starburst Original- lots of flavor, don't like 'em, yum!, yum yum, crunchy, and good
6. Sour Patch- reminds me of sweet and sour babies, very sour from the start, pretty good, and intense
7. Sweetarts - sour, makes me wink, just ok, wonderful and sour, just sour- no flavor, tastes soaked in cheap perfume (I don't know either, it's just what was on the paper)
8. Jelly belly Citrus blend- lots of flavor, not too sweet or sour, chewy orange isn't very flavorful, clean finish, tastes like pinesol
9. Brachs Classic - meh, old ones that I never liked, brings back childhood memories, totally gross, like grandma used to have, like the licorice, big chunky memories
10. Starburst Sour - full of flavor, lots of flavor, like the watermelon
And yes, there were actually 11, not 10
11. Hawaiian Punch- excellent, full of flavor and very fruity.

And the winner was Starburst sour but a close second was the Jelly Belly Citrus.

Also with decent showing were the Jolly Rancher Smoothie and Starburst Original.

Now someone in the office (actually 3 different people) said that the best jelly bean ever is the jelly belly buttered popcorn flavor. We did go get a bag of jelly belly's and picked that particular flavor out and tested it in a small group.......(there were only 10 of that flavor in the bag), the flavor was ok but was split on whether it was the "greatest" or not.

So as you stand in the easter candy aisle at the supermarket and marvel at the amount of different types, and find yourself wondering do we really need this many different kinds of jelly beans, I suppose the answer would be, yes we do. The problem may very well be in deciding which ones to spend your money on.

The History of Jelly Beans

Jelly beans are a popular candy; the beans come in a variety of flavors. Jelly beans are sold throughout the year, but two of the most popular times for jelly bean sales include Easter and Halloween. Jelly beans come in traditional flavors such as licorice and cherry, as well as newer flavors such as buttered popcorn and cotton candy.

Manufacturing Process
- The jelly bean is created using a process called panning. This is the same process that is used to make Jordan Almonds. Panning involves placing a soft sugar based center in a tumbler and giving it several layers of sugar coating using sugar, syrup and food coloring. The sugar coating hardens slowly, giving jelly beans their hard outer shell and soft center.
Origin
- While it is not clear exactly when the jelly bean was first created, it is believed it occurred during the Civil War. A gentleman named William Schraft manufactured them and encouraged the Union soldiers to use them as snacks during the war.
Popularity
- The jelly bean's popularity started to increase significantly in the early 1900's. At this time, the jelly bean become known as a bulk candy. This is because, instead of being sold by the number of jelly beans in a container, jelly beans were sold to customers based on the weight of the jelly beans. Jelly beans were one of the first bulk candies.
Easter and Jelly Beans
- Jelly beans are commonly associated with the holiday of Easter. This association of the candy and the holiday became popular in the 1930's. This is because of the egg shape of the jelly bean. The shape is believed to represent fertility and birth. The Easter Bunny's delivery of candy is symbolic of both spiritual rebirth based on religious beliefs and the upcoming season of spring.
Jelly Bean Facts
- The largest jar ever of jelly beans weighed 6,050 pounds and was created in the fall of 1999. National Jelly Bean Day is held shortly after the Easter holiday season each year on April 22. For Easter alone, in the United States, there are 16 billion jelly beans manufactured. This could fill a nine story office building that was 60 feet wide.
  
  Article By Alan Kirk, eHow Contributor http://www.ehow.com/about_5044214_history-jelly-beans.html

10 Things Women Do That Men Don't Understand (a counterpost)

2011-03-28T16:41:00.003-05:00

Well, the backlash from the previous post about what women don't understand about men was fairly minimal but I did hear murmurings around the office. I think it was quiet murmurings and not boisterous confrontation because they thought we women would try to justify every issue they mentioned, (and yes, for the record, we did try). But I know we females are complex creatures and the simple mind cannot understand the labyrinth through which we operate. But in all fairness I will put voice to their confusion. I will also refrain from exposing what female attribute they claim seems to have the power over men - I will, however say the brain was never mentioned.... you figure it out.

I will also try and not to give my own commentary - wait a minute- this is MY blog, I can spin this any direction I want....so buckle up, here we go!

10 Things Women Do That Men Don't Understand (in no particular order) The woman's explanation is in pink.
1. New Outfits. Particularly why a new outfit is needed for any kind of event, even if the people there have never even seen ANY of our outfits. Because we need/want to feel our best and a new outfit sends endorphins to our brains to give us super powers.......it's scientifically based, look it up.

2. Why they don't like explosions. They said this and then laughed maniacally.And........I got nothing, blowing stuff up,..........truly makes no sense to me.

3. The appeal of shoes. No explanation needed. Really? a man that has every gadget in the known universe and you are going to complain about a truly important piece of protective clothing? Even Barbie knew shoes were important, ever see a Barbie whose shoes were missing? The poor girl has holes in the bottoms of her feet.

4. The obsession about the toilet seat. Up? Down? whose responsibility is it? Well, seeing that the seat needs to be down 75% of the time then the default answer should be down....what can I say? Numbers don't lie.
5. Not wanting the man to solve our problems. Why when a woman is telling a man about her problems, she doesn't want him to FIX it, just listen. Seriously, how hard is this concept men? At birth you were issued two ears and one mouth, just LISTEN, most times we have it all figured out by the end of the rant anyway.

6.   Why women go to the bathroom in packs. Duh, it's in case we need help from falling in after some inconsiderate man has left the seat up.
7.   Why it takes women so long to get ready. Smiles.....because we have so many choices of shoes from which to pick, and just an fyi - if we ask which ones look best, more often than not you will be wrong.
8.    Asking a man to do a chore and then redoing it when he's finished. I'm just zipping my lip on this one.
9.    Equal Rights. In the sense that women want equal pay, equal recognition but still expect the guy to pay for things when out on a date. We don't expect it all the time, but maybe the first few times out it would be nice, and by the way, a few text conversations or watching you have a marathon xbox gaming session, does NOT count as a night out......just sayin'

10. How women can go shopping for hours and not buy anything. It all goes back to equal pay, we just go to dream and plan for that first date when you are willing to buy us something, we need to have a plan. And we will probably mention all the nifty things we saw that we liked, but did not buy, hint: make note of them for later use.
(and a few more for good measure)
11. Why do women say not to buy them a gift and then get upset when you don't. Because deep down we know you love us so much you would WANT to buy us something, and we have a list of things we've probably mentioned. (see item 10)

12. Why does a woman always think she's right even when you can prove she's not. Because the facts may be in dispute at the moment, but at some point the facts may change and she will be ready to point them out.
13. Why a vacation has to be packed with things to do and not just for relaxing. Because you may never, ever have this opportunity again and you need to take advantage of it.

10 Things Guys Do That Women Just Don't Understand

2011-03-24T14:40:00.003-05:00

Let me start by saying this is in no way a man bashing post. During some discussion amongst the women in my office it became clear that there are just some things men do that make no sense to us.

And although this list is in by nooooo way complete, this list contains those that seem to run fairly straight across the board. And before all you haters start in on all the things women do, let me just say, I'm aware we are not perfect and I'd be willing to let you post a reply as long as it is not offensive.
(Disclaimer: pictures are purely representative not accusatory)

So here goes:
10 Things Guys Do That Women Just Don't Understand
(in no particular order)
1. The Al Bundy pose. Watching tv with their hand in their pants

2. Walking around the house in their underwear. We all agreed, guys, if you are trying to seduce us.......it ain't working, put your pants on. (to protect small children and from losing our lunch, no picture inserted here)

3. Babysitting. Thinking they deserve a gold star for "babysitting" their own children. Really guys, it's not babysitting, it's called PARENTING.

4. Finding humor in flatulence. Yes, it's a natural phenomenon, but it's not funny. And holding our heads under the covers or sitting on top of another person while doing it - that's just wrong. But I suppose the gene that makes you do that is the same one that finds slapstick humor such as the Three Stooges-funny.

5. Driving Impatience. This would be sitting at a red light with the foot on the gas and the brake, inching up a bit at a time like you are John Force on the line waiting for the green.

6. Channel surfing. Not channel surfing like just trying to find something to watch, no- channeling surfing because, heaven forbid a commercial is on. And then the male ADD kicks in when something shiny appears on another channel and we wonder if we are even going to see the rest of the original program.
7. Reading directions or instructions - or rather NOT reading them. Leaving us to shake our heads and bite our tongues as they grouse about how they don't know what happened and why it's not working properly.

8. Death grip on the television remote. Holding the remote like it's Excalibur emitting forth it's magical powers and further proving he is the true king of the household.

9. Putting empty items back into the cupboard or refrigerator. This truly is one of life's little questions. Why would one do that? Since we as women seem to be the only ones that know the super secret location of the grocery store, it would be helpful to know if something needs to be replaced.

Yes, enough here to put back in the 'fridge

10. Man eyes. Simply put, this is looking for something, not being able to find it, assuming it is the evil plan of whatever woman is in the vicinity and throwing up one's hands in disgust at the disappearance of said item. It is genuinely using their man eyes when the guilty (or not) woman looks in plain sight, retrieves said item, usually without nary a word and walks away.

ROCK CHALK!!!! - an explanation of the Jayhawk and other things

2011-03-21T13:59:00.005-05:00

As a mother of two sons, both of which attended or are presently attending the University of Kansas, the Jayhawks and all surrounding them have become embedded in our family. We have spent time in Lawrence, Kansas and absolutely love the town. I do not hesitate in the least to say that we will forever have crimson and blue blood running through our veins. The hype, the hullabaloo, the hurrah surrounding KU athletics is now a part of who we are and what we do. I thought maybe I should take a minute and explain a few things about the beloved Jayhawks since we are on our to the sweet 16.

Mascots are believed to bring good luck, especially to athletic teams. KU is home of the Jayhawk, a mythical bird with a fascinating history. Its origin is rooted in the historic struggles of Kansas settlers. The term "Jayhawk" was probably coined about 1848. Accounts of its use appeared from Illinois to Texas. The name combines two birds-the blue jay, a noisy, quarrelsome thing known to rob nests, and the sparrow hawk, a stealthy hunter. The message here: Do not turn your back on this bird.

During the 1850's, the Kansas Territory was filled with such Jayhawks. The area was a battleground between those wanting a state where slavery would be legal and those committed to a Free State. The factions looted, sacked, rustled cattle, and otherwise attacked each other's settlements. For a time, ruffians on both sides were called Jayhawkers. But the name stuck to the free staters. Lawrence, where KU would be founded, was a Free State stronghold.

During the Civil War, the Jayhawk's ruffian image gave way to patriotic symbol. Kansas Governor Charles Robinson raised a regiment called the Independent Mounted Kansas Jayhawkers. By war's end, Jayhawks were synonymous with the impassioned people who made Kansas a Free State. In 1886, the bird appeared in a cheer-the Rock Chalk Chant. When KU football players first took the field in 1890, it seemed natural to call them Jayhawkers.

How do you draw a Jayhawk? For years, that question stumped fans. Henry Maloy, a cartoonist for the student newspaper, drew a memorable version of the Jayhawk (top left) in 1912. He gave it shoes. Why? For kicking opponents, of course.

In 1920, a more somber bird (top right), perched on a KU monogram, came into use. In 1923, Jimmy O'Bryon and George Hollingbery designed a duck-like Jayhawk (second image on left). About 1929, Forrest O. Calvin drew a grim-faced bird (near right) sporting talons that could maim. In 1941, Gene "Yogi" Williams opened the Jayhawk's eyes and beak (left), giving it a contentious look.

It is student Harold D. Sandy's 1946 design of a smiling Jayhawk (left) that survives. The design purchased from Sandy and was copyrighted in 1947 by the KU Bookstores. The University of Kansas later registered the design as its official service-mark and it is still one of the most recognizable and unique collegiate mascots in the country.

Information is from "Traditions", published by the KU Office of University Relations.

As the most popular sport with the University's students and alumni alike, Jayhawk basketball has a pedigree unlike that of any other KU athletic team.

It can boast among it coaches the sport's inventor, James Naismith, as well as the man widely regarded as the father of basketball coaching, Forrest "Phog" Allen. It can count among its heroes any number of dominant players including Wilt Chamberlain, whom some regard as the greatest basketball player ever.

These names are backed up by the numbers: The Jayhawks lay claim to four national championships and have won nearly 30 more conference titles than any of its conference foes.

Some of the success of the men's team has spilled over to the women Jayhawks who can boast one of the greatest collegiate women's players of all time in Lynette Woodard.

Surprisingly, perhaps, basketball was not always the most popular sport on campus. At different times both football and track could have claimed that distinction. Even Naismith conceded in 1910 that he had "always believed that football was the typical college game." Thus the team grew to national dominance rather quietly. Its first NCAA Tournament title in 1952, however, ensured that the sport would no longer remain an afterthought on Mt. Oread.

In 1988, its fifth Final Four appearance since 1952, KU succeeded in claiming its second NCAA Tournament title. The 1990s saw the University boast the best winning percentage in college basketball and reach the national semifinals of the NCAA Tournament twice, even advancing to play for the national title once. However, the decade might best be remembered by KU basketball fans for a series of tournament letdowns that characterized the latter half of the 1990s.

Nonetheless, the Jayhawks continue to be title contenders at the dawn of the 21st century. The Jayhawks of 2001-02 and 2002-03 were the eleventh and twelfth KU basketball teams to reach the Final Four. (find more of this article at The History Of KU)

The Chant

KU's world famous Rock Chalk Chant evolved from a cheer that a chemistry professor, E.H.S. Bailey, created for the KU science club in 1886.

http://www.ku.edu/about/traditions/songs/rockchalk.mp3

Bailey's version was "Rah, Rah, Jayhawk, KU" repeated three times. The rahs were later replaced by "Rock Chalk," a transposition of chalk rock, the name for the limestone outcropping found on Mount Oread, site of the Lawrence campus.
The cheer became known worldwide. Teddy Roosevelt pronounced it the greatest college chant he'd ever heard. Legend has it that troops used the chant when fighting in the Philippines in 1899, in the Boxer Rebellion in China, and in World War II. At the Olympic games in 1920, the King of Belgium asked for a typical American college yell. The assembled athletes agreed on KU's Rock Chalk and rendered it for His Majesty.

And now for some funstuff:

Hawkigami

Test your skill by turning this origami Jayhawk into an inspirational figure. Download and print out Hawkigami himself and the instructions by clicking below.

Hawkigami origami Jayhawk
(536KB PDF)

Hawkigami folding instructions
(60KB PDF)

KU EcoHawk Car

Click on the download below to send this fuel-efficient car driving to your desktop. Print it out, cut the pieces and assemble for your own replica EcoHawk. The instructions are on the PDF download be sure to have a good pair of scissors and tape handy. To learn more about KU's EcoHawk project,
visit the official project Website.

Download EcoHawk!

(248KB PDF)

Just a word about this project, I am building one, notice I did not say "built" as I finally just decided to take a break and it sits on my desk very much unfinished. This project is not for the weak of heart or scissor challenged. Oh and follow the instructions.......I'm just sayin'

QR codes: An addiction waiting to happen (to both scanning and Roy's)

2011-03-19T14:01:00.003-05:00

At ESSDACK we have been using QR codes in our marketing efforts to catch a few of those savvy smart phone users that have the barcode scanner apps installed. Our social media princess, Jaime (Life as a Digital Mom) has been trying to think of new and exciting ways to encourage, lure or just plain trick people into reading and exploring our sites, newsletters and blogs. Her latest attempt was that of placing a "secret" QR code and making it a game to see who could name it the quickest. I was honored that the first one she chose was a link to one of my blog entries and referenced it on my facebook page.

I suppose I should not have been surprised when I started getting the questions about what is a QR code and how do I make it work? First let me regurgitate the info on what exactly a QR code is, instead of trying to wax eloquently about it, I will just reference an explanation (from ourchurch.com) that is very clear and concise:

What is a QR code?
A QR Code is a two-dimensional barcode, which has encoded in it a URL (web address), text, or other information. It can be read by a QR code scanner, including QR scanner smartphone apps.
How can I read a QR code?
If you have a smartphone, go to the app store and search for a QR code reader. You’ll find several free apps. Run the app and then hold your phone’s camera over a QR code to read it. Most QR codes you’ll come across have a URL encoded, so chances are when you read the QR code it will take you to a web page.
What’s the point of QR codes?
QR codes link offline information to online content, effectively providing additional information and even multimedia to an offline experience. If you’ve created print material that included a URL for more information, a QR code for that URL could also be added to enable smartphone users to go directly to that web page without having to type in the web address.

So I decided to create one (I used kaywa) and demonstrate how simple to create and how simple to read.

This code takes you to one of my very favorite places to eat, Roy's Hickory Pit BBQ, here in Hutchinson, Kansas. (Thank you Kevin Honeycutt for the awesome picture of Roy's ribs) People come from all over the US and I suspect foreign countries to eat there. It's small but packs a huge punch in the taste and satisfaction department, and Anne and Ryan are two of the friendliest people you'll ever meet. You can sit in the dining area at a table or gather like the family you'll be, around the big round table in the front. A word of warning, be prepared to smell like the scent of smoked ribs the rest of the day and don't be surprised when no matter where you go the rest of the day, you will see people sniff the air around you and tell you how jealous they are because they KNOW you had lunch at Roy's. Smelly? yes, Blissful? Absolutely. Too bad I can't embed the aroma into the code, you'd be hooked for sure.

St. Patrick's Day Facts and Trivia (and happy birthday to my friend Frankie!)

2011-03-17T07:05:00.000-05:00

St. Patrick's Day, a day when suddenly everyone claims to be or wants to be Irish. I've always thought I would have liked to be Irish or Scottish, maybe it's the accent or maybe it happened after viewing the Wizard of Oz. Those lollipop guild people remind me of little leprechauns and then the similarities between the rainbow.....yellow brick road........coincidence? you decide......but anyway.....here are some thoughts and facts gathered in remembrance of this wacky day of celebration.

An Irish Friendship Wish

May there always be work for your hands to do;

May your purse always hold a coin or two;

May the sun always shine on your windowpane;

May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain;

May the hand of a friend always be near you;

May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

Universally regarded as a symbol of good fortune (in reality, a horticultural anomaly), the four-leaf clover is often thought to represent "the luck of the Irish." But that's a bit of blarney. The shamrock, or seamróg in Gaelic (meaning "young clover"), is the national plant of the Emerald Isle, but it has only three leaves.

And there isn't just one type: Many types of clover are considered shamrocks. Test your friends with this four-leaf-clover trivia over a pint of green beer on Saint Patrick's Day. The four-leaf clover achieved "lucky" status because the ancient Celtic druids viewed it as a sign of good luck. According to legend, during the fifth century, Saint Patrick used the shamrock to teach the Celts about the Holy Trinity. The three leaves attached to a single stem represented the unity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in one God. If Saint Patrick came across a four-leaf clover, he used the extra leaf to represent "God's grace."

The Chicago River, dyed
green for St. Patrick's Day.

There are 3.8 million people in Ireland, but when Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17, it seems that the whole world turns Irish.

The day commemorates Patrick, who brought Christianity to Ireland in the Fifth Century.

Although not an official holiday in the United States, St. Patrick's Day has a long history of being celebrated with parades and general goodwill toward all things Irish, or at least Irish-American.

(Translation: green beer, corned beef and cabbage and Irish soda bread).

The Irish who immigrated to the United States brought the traditions of the home land with them. Many who fled the poverty, famine and unrest landed on the shores of North America. In the US today, there are 33.7 million residents who claim Irish ancestry. This number is almost nine times the population of Ireland itself.

Some more Irish-American numbers...

156,000 - U.S. residents born in Ireland, which was among the top 10 countries of birth among the foreign-born population as recently as 1970.

373,000 - Tourists and business travelers from "the old sod" who visit the United States annually.

$24 billion - The value of U.S. imports from the Republic of Ireland during a recent 10-month period (January-October 2005). Meanwhile, the United States exported $7.5 billion worth of goods to Ireland.

22 - Gallons of beer consumed per capita by Americans annually. Some establishments offer beer dyed green in honor of St. Patrick's Day.

9 - Number of places in the United States which share the name of Dublin, Ireland's capital city. Dublin, Ohio, was the most populous, at 31,392, followed closely by Dublin, California, at 29,973.

4 - Number of places in the United States named Shamrock, the floral emblem of Ireland. Mount Gay-Shamrock, West Virginia and Shamrock, Texas, were the most populous, with 2,623 and 2,029 residents, respectively. Shamrock Lakes, Indiana had 168 residents and Shamrock, Oklahoma, 125.

If you're still not into the spirit of St. Paddy's Day after stopping by one of the places named "Shamrock" or "Dublin," then you might consider paying a visit to Emerald Isle, North Carolina, with 3,488 residents, of whom in a ratio of 1-in-6 are of Irish descent.

Fun Facts about the Irish

34 million Americans have Irish ancestry, according to the 2003 US Census. That’s almost nine times the population of Ireland, which has 4.1 million people.
Nine of the people who signed our Declaration Of Independence were of Irish origin, and nineteen Presidents of the United States proudly claim Irish heritage -- including our first President, George Washington.
Some American towns have “Irish” names. You could visit: Mount Gay-Shamrock, West Virginia; Shamrock Lakes, Indiana; Shamrock, Oklahoma; Shamrock, Texas; Dublin, California and Dublin, Ohio.
The harp is the symbol of Ireland. The color green is also commonly associated with Ireland, also known as “the Emerald Isle.”
The Irish flag is green, white and orange. The green symbolizes the people of the south, and orange, the people of the north. White represents the peace that brings them together as a nation.
The name “leprechaun” has several origins. It could be from the Irish Gaelic word “leipreachan,” which means “a kind of aqueous sprite.” Or, it could be from “leath bhrogan,” which means “shoemaker.”

Fun Facts about Clovers

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the highest number of leaves found on a clover is 14.
One estimate suggests that there are about 10,000 regular three-leaf clovers for every lucky four-leaf clover.
Legend says that each leaf of the clover means something: the first is for hope, the second for faith, the third for love and the fourth for luck.

Third Round Mascot Bracketology - Super Hero or Cartoon Character

2011-03-15T16:08:00.002-05:00

When picking a very scientific method to predict the winners of my third round picks (based of course on my second round picks) I decided to use a not-so-well-known method of which mascot would make a good super hero or cartoon character. Why you ask? ----->this is me shrugging<----- because I can..... so, here goes....
Ala St. Hornets vs George Mason Patriots- goes to the Hornets.......ummm, Green Hornet? duh
West Virginia Mountaineers vs. Kentucky Wildcats - hmmm, this was a little tougher, neither really fits the criteria so I chose the Mountaineers, simply because it made me think of the cartoon with the Saint Bernard with the little keg around his neck and the mountain climber.
Xavier Muskateers vs. Indian St. Sycamores - once again, a tree. A tree? really? not funny for a cartoon and no detectable super powers, da da da dummmmm and in swooped in the mighty Sycamores to save the day! no, doesn't work, win goes to the Muskateers (besides I love their candy bar)
Washington Huskies vs. Long Island Blackbirds - I'm so laughing remember (yes, I'm old) the magpies Heckle and Jeckle? So the win goes to the Blackbirds

Hampton Pirates and Michigan Wolverines - oh course, Hugh Jackman? the Wolverines

Memphis Tigers vs Oakland Golden Grizzlies - my first inclination is to say that the Golden Grizzlies reminds me the Golden girls which is similar to a bad cartoon......but I'm going to have to have to go with the Tigers because I also think of Tony the Tiger who is really a representative for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes but a cartoon none-the-less.
Cincinnati Bearcats vs Connecticut Huskies - neither really jump out at me as a clear choice so I'm going to go with the Bearcats. My reason being is the bearcat reminds me mercat that little animal, Timon, in Lion King.
Temple Owls vs San Diego St Aztecs - Owl, I can think of two right off the top of my head, the Owl in Winnie the Pooh, aptly named....uh, Owl and the owl in the commercial for tootsie pops, that says, How many licks to get to the middle of a tootsie pop? so the winner is the Owls. And by the way, the answer is 3.

Kansas Jayhawks vs UNLV Running Rebels - I pick the Jayhawks because they remind me of the Kellogg's Fruit Loop bird.

Richmond Spiders vs Louisville Cardinals - easy peezy, Spiderman. so Spiders
USC Trojans vs Purdue Boilermakers - gotta go with the Little Engine That Could on this one. Boiler UP! Boilermakers

Texas A&M Aggies vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish - laughing, appropriately for this time of year, gotta pick the Irish. And how can they lose? I'm reminded of the Lucky Charms Leprechaun, they are magically delicious! Fighting Irish

UALR Trojans vs Old Dominion Monarchs - What IS IT with all the Trojans? The market is flooded with them this year? But I'm going with the Monarchs, which is actually a lion. And maybe it's a stretch but thinking of the Lion from the Wizard of Oz. Oh, and I like that song, ooooo wee doooo oooo widdledomdoayyyyy........in the jungle the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight.
You can thank me later for getting that song stuck in your head, giggle giggle.
Kansas State Wildcats vs Wisconsin Badgers - The wildcats are purple and Snagglepuss is pink so I've got to go with the Wildcats. Not very manly but my pick anyway.

Gonzaga Zags vs BYU Cougars - Ok, this may be a stretch but I'm going with Tom from Tom and Jerry, he is actually a regular housecat but I'm sure he most likely descended from a long line of different larger cats and quite possibly a cougar was among them. Win to Cougars

Michigan St Spartans vs UC Santa Barbara Gauchos- In the realm of superheros I suppose a Spartan would classify as some sort of superhero, no real powers but when I think of Gaucho I think of the guys sitting around the campfire in Blazing Saddles and I'm sorry but superhero material, they are not. Victory to the Spartans.

Lions and Tigers and Bears- Oh My! Mascot Bracketology 2011 version- Let's Dance!

2011-03-14T13:27:00.006-05:00

Last year I did my bracketology according to the team mascots and which on could eat the other one. This year I am sticking with the mascot as the pivotal ingredient in the first round of predictions, but changing it up by choosing according to:

Which mascot could win in a face off pirate-type sword fight?

Yes, I'm pretty sure that is totally scientific. But of course you must also remember, it's my blog, my predictions so it's my logic, which at times isn't very logical at all. So without further ado, here we go:

East

Ohio St Buckeyes-(either UTSA Road Runners or Ala. St Hornets) -First of all I have never seen a dead Road Runner on the road, so obviously they are elusive and I HAVE seen dead hornets, even killed a few myself.....but wielding a sword? Buckeyes.....a seedling, seriously? a seedling? no arms.....so out.....and can a hornet even lift a pirate sword? but road runners can't fly, so they'd be stabbing at feet.....the win goes to the HORNETS

George Mason Patriots vs. Villanova Wildcats - generally I'd have to go with the wildcats simply because the Patriots sounds kinda lame but in this case......a Patriot is closer to an actual pirate (even kinda dress in a similar fashion) then a wildcat so the prediction is the Patriots

West Virginia Mountaineers vs. (UAB Blazers or Clemson Tigers) ok, Blazer? wasn't even sure what that was, it apparently is a dragon, a green dragon which reminded me of Puff the Magic Dragon so I'm thinking he is probably........shall we say.......mellow.....probably more interested in finding a bag of cheetos than putting up a fight, which leads me to choose between the Mountianeers and the Tigers. Mountaineers are used to swinging that pick axe and are strong and burly, and Tigers are fierce but Clemson is orange......I hate the color orange, so this win goes to the Mountaineers.

Kentucky Wildcats vs. Princeton Tigers This is a tough one, neither is really suited to wield a pirate sword, so how to decide? This was my logic - Pirates drink rum, an alcoholic beverage, Kentucky is famous for Bourbon, an alcoholic beverage, Tigers? the best they can do is be turned to butter in the book, Little Black Sambo........although, buttered rum is considered a tasty treat, I'm going to have to go with the Wildcats.

Xavier Musketeers vs. Marquette Golden Eagles - well, this might seem quite obvious, I always envision musketeers being very similar to a pirate, however, it's a foot soldier armed with a musket.....and then there are pictures of the 3 musketeers in which the guys all seemed rather .......um.........feminine...so what to do? But really since musketeers actually have hands to hold a sword, I'm going to have to choose the Musketeers.

Syracuse Orangemen vs. Indiana St. Sycamores- ok, originally the mascot for Indiana St was the "fighting teachers" wow, just wow.......maybe they should be in Wisconsin.....just sayin'........anyway they changed it to the Sycamores because why? because a fighting tree is so much more scary? please.....but the Orangemen are... well........ oranges..... so this is a tough one for me, I don't like fruit, I don't like the color orange, so I guess I will choose the VERY FIERCE, tree. I pick the Sycamores, like it matters........

Washington Huskies vs. Georgia Bulldogs - oh, talk about dog eat dog.......the huskies are definitely cuter and probably less apt to suffer some sort of heart failure under extreme physical exertion but bulldogs are tenacious. But in a sword fight between the two.......I'm going to have to go with the Huskies they are taller and I think they could wield a sword with their tail if need be.

North Carolina Tarheels vs. Long Island Blackbirds - first of all, a tarheel is a native of North Carolina......really? that as a mascot? I am picturing Elmo sitting on his porch with a moonshine jug, cleaning his shotgun and lamenting about when he used to have teeth. And Blackbirds, when the world is long gone, the only thing remaining will be all the dumb black birds so the win goes to the Blackbirds.

Southwest

Kansas Jayhawks vs. Boston Terriers - OMGOSH, a boston terrier? What is he going to yip yip until our ears bleed? Nope the mighty Jayhawk will win, wielding the sword in his strong Jayhawk talons, or better yet, ditch the sword and just pierce the unsuspecting hearts of the little terrier boys. I choose the Crimson and Blue Jayhawks, Rock Chalk Baby! What? Who? Me? biased, nah......

UNLV Running Rebels vs Illinois Fighting Illini- I don't even like saying Illini.......it makes me grimace, for that fact alone, I choose the Running Rebels.
Vanderbilt Commodores vs. Richmond Spiders- wow, all I can picture is Lionel Richie singing "Sail On" or "Nightshift" and then my mind races to a picture of Charlotte from Charlotte's Web. So I'm thinking the spider is one smart animal and even though in theory the Commodores could hold a sword, I'm banking on the one that can weave the words, 'some pig' in silk that is literally pulled out of it's butt. Spiders

Louisville Cardinals vs Morehead St. Eagles - Birds of a feather......hmmmm, how to choose, I don't even know who or where Morehead is - the win goes to the Cardinals.

Georgetown Hoya vs (USC Trojans or VCU Rams)- ok, their mascot is the bulldog, but Hoya doesn't mean bulldog, so based on the fact they are trying to defraud us, they are out, and between the Trojans and the Rams......Trojans are fighters and can hold the sword, Rams, they have sissy horns that are curved, not even pointed for impaling. Trojans

Purdue Boilermakes vs St. Peter's Peacocks - although Peacocks have a nasty temperment I cannot hold a sword. I'm thinking though you could attach a sword to the front of the Boilermaker engine and plow over the stupid peacock, who's proud now, Mr. Peter Peacock? Win goes to Boilermakers

Texas A&M Aggies vs. Florida St Seminoles - can't let color influence because they are both crimson ( I like that better than burgandy, burgandy reminds me of Will Farrel in Anchorman) so it comes down to the Farmer vs the Indian. Well, we still have crazy farmers in this country and do not have wild Indians, so I'm going with the Aggies.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs Akron Zips - ok, soooo confused. The zip is short for zippers which is a type of overshoe.....and their mascot is a kangaroo. And I can't even think about the word zip without thinking of that stuffed monkey from yesteryear with the plastic banana in his hand and molded tennis shoes on his feet. And although the kangaroo thing is super cool and I think I might even pay money to see a drunk Irishmen fighting a Kangaroo in a sword fight, I think I'm going to have to go with the Fighting Irish.

West

Duke Blue Devils vs. Hampton Pirates - I do not even know who Hampton is but this is a no brainer, the Pirates.

Michigan Wolverines vs Tennessee Volunteers - ordinarily I would need to pick the Volunteers even though that is another dumb name for a mascot- seriously, do they just all get together for a hoe down and then let the drunk guy pick the mascot names? But, Volunteers do have arms and can theoretically hold a sword BUT! they are orange.......so by default (and that I liked the movie, Red Dawn), the win will go to the Wolverines.

Arizona Wildcats vs Memphis Tigers - wow, another wildcat/tiger match up, how can I pick? This was my rationale -yes, there is some rationale in my process - the colors for the two teams Arizona - red, white and blue, although patriotic, the Memphis Tigers are Blue and Gold, pirates are in search of gold therefore being more like pirates, the pick is the Tigers.

Texas Longhorns vs Oakland Golden Grizzlies- Have you been to the circus lately? Bears are trainable, I think if you gave them a sword they would be eating longhorn steaks for dinner. And then of course......the Texas color is orange, 'nuff said. The victory will go to the Golden Grizzlies.

Cincinnati Bearcats vs. Missouri Tigers - I actually had to look up what the heck a bearcat is, and it is not a bear at all, more like a big cat, but lives in asian countries, eats mostly fruits and to me, kinda looked like a raccoon in the face. However he has a totally prehensile tail, which means he can wield things with it. Can a tiger do that? I think not, I choose the Bearcats.

Connecticut Huskies vs. Bucknell Bison- since neither of these is going to be any good at a pirate fight and I see no connection to pirates what so ever, I had to find different logic. In this case, Huskies are cuter, they pull sleds and are able to stand extreme weather conditions. Bison are big and stupid, anything that just stands there and let's themselves become extinct by the hands of a people shooting them with bows and arrows, deserve to go home in the first round, my pick is the Huskies.

Temple Owls vs Penn St Nittany Lions - neither the owl or the lion can hold a sword so I chose in this way, Nittany Lion? what the heck it just sounds like a little sissy lion and an owl? well he can turn his head almost all the way around, how cool is that? So I choose the Owls based solely on the creepy cool factor.

San Diego St Aztecs vs. Northern Colo Bears - I'm thinking that an Aztec is a warrior, bred to fight and could probably poke a hole in a Bear pretty easily. So for that reason I choose the Aztecs.

Southeast

Pittsburgh Panthers vs (UNC Ash Bulldogs or UALR Trojans - Ok, we have a sleek, big cat against either a fat, very ugly dog or a Warrior dressed in a skirt. Really have you ever thought about that......armor, helmet and a skirt? Talk about what not to wear...... anyway, the Trojan has arms even if he is kinda girly with the skirt thing going on so I'm going with the Trojans.

Butler Bulldogs vs Old Dominion Monarchs- So you might be wondering what kind of Monarch? Is is a butterfly or even ruler of a government which is a hereditary title? No, in this case, the mascot representing the Monarchs is a Lion. So once again we have an overweight, smashed up face dog and he is facing a lion. I'm thinking even if the lion cannot fight using the sword, his claws would be like tiny little sabres and shred the bowlegged dog before he knew what hit him, win goes to the Monarchs.

Kansas State Wildcats vs. Utah St Aggies - Are you kidding me? A farmer vs a wildcat? A farmer might be able to hold and handle that sword but the crafty wildcat will pounce from behind and sever the jugular before the farmer knows what hit him. Yep, I'm going with the Wildcats.

Wisconsin Badgers vs. Belmont Bruins - We don't need no stinkin' badgers......oh wait, that's badges, never mind. Wisconsin.....they have had a tumultuous year, and the Bruins, fancy name for a bear - just call it a bear already would you? I would say these teams are fairly divided in the pirate sword competition but since Belmont ( I can't even say, Belmont without sounding like Mr. Howell from Gilligan's Island), has to be all fancy and call themselves the "Bruins" I am rooting for the Badgers. Badger - it just sounds fiesty.

St. John's NY Red Storm vs Gonzaga Zags- who knew? a zag is the name but they are the......yes, you guessed it, another BULLDOG. After some research I have discovered that the mascot is actually the Thunderbird..that isn't even real.....if you are going to choose a mascot that totally has nothing to do with your names at least it should be real. I mean the Bulldog is ugly but does actually exist so I'm choosing the Zags or Bulldogs.

BYU Cougars vs Wofford Terriers - The sleek and stealthy cougar against a yappy, lapdog terrier? And seriously, who can say Wofford without thinking Judge Wapner? I hear Raymond from Rain Main, "Fifteen minutes until People's Court and Judge Wapner".. and I'm thinking the Terriers might need to take a road trip to KMart for new boxers after the Cougars take it to them in the first round.

UCLA Bruins vs Michigan State Spartans - OK, sissy guy warrior in a skirt against the fancy name Bear/Bruins. Will Farrel made a great Spartan cheerleader in SNL so hope the Spartans bring it against UCLA, I'm sure Arianna and Craig will be cheering for them. Win goes to the Spartans

Florida Gators vs UC Santa Barbara Gauchos Really? Really? Gauchos?....they were bad as a fashion choice, they are bad as a mascot. But I know what you are thinking, Florida is orange and blue, ORANGE? I get blue - water but orange, what part of gator makes you think orange? I had decided that color alone was going to make me choose the fearless gauchos until I pulled up a picture of them on the site, seriously, what font is that on their uniforms, pretty weak.......but I still will choose the mighty, mighty gauchos.

Worry-Supermom's kryptonite

2011-03-09T21:03:00.004-06:00

There have been songs sung about it,

-Worry, why do I let myself worry- Patsy Cline

-Don't worry be happy
In every life we have some trouble
When you worry you make it double
Don't worry, be happy...... - Bobby McFerrin

-Worry worry worry
Worry is all I can do
Oh worry worry worry baby
Worry is all I can do
Oh my life is so miserable baby
Baby, and its all on account of you - B.B. King

Quotes written about it,

-Today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday. ~Author Unknown

-People gather bundles of sticks to build bridges they never cross. ~Author Unknown

-A hundredload of worry will not pay an ounce of debt. ~George Herbert

-Never bear more than one kind of trouble at a time. Some people bear three - all they have had, all they have now, and all they expect to have. ~Edward Everett Hale

-I am an old man and I have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened - Mark Twain

And books written about it, and wise men have pondered about it and the average person just.....well, worries about it.

"IT" -is WORRY.

Thank you Terri P. for the dramatization

What Is worry? Worry is a very strong feeling of anxiety. It’s fear of the unknown – the thought that the worst will happen. We may become overly concerned with future events. We may engage in repetitive negative self-talk with all the worst case scenarios. A lot of our thoughts will begin with …

“If only …

“What if …

I had a friend point out to me this week that I am a worrier, and I do a lot of what-if ing, this friend also brought to my attention that I can only do what I can then need to move on because over thinking is not going to make it any better. One of my favorite sayings is - Don't borrow trouble, live on what you already have." yet.......I do it ALL the time.

Everyone worries to various extents. It could be about something little, like what you think you got on a test, or something big, like getting a major surgery.
Do you worry so much that you worry about worrying too much? In the end, if you just worry about what's going to happen tomorrow, when will you have the time to live today?

What Do We Worry About?

-from the pick your brain website

When it comes to worry, studies have shown the following statistics:
40% never happens – so in essence we are wasting our time by worrying.
30% of what we worry about has already happened. Learn to “let go” and forgive yourself and others. You cannot change the past – no one can. Accept it for what it is and go on.
12% are needless worries, such as what someone else thinks about us.
10% are petty and unimportant such as we worry about what’s for dinner, we worry about being late, we worry about what to wear.
8% of what we worry about actually happens. Of this percentage…
4% of our worries that happen are beyond our control. We cannot change the outcome. These worries may include our health, the death of a loved one or an impending natural disaster. Often times the reality of these events are more bearable than the worry.
4% of what we worry about we have some if not all control over the results. Basically I think this is the consequences of our actions or inaction on the problems and challenges we face.
Given these statistics, you may find it worthwhile asking the following questions:

http://angus.essdack.org/webshare/Andy.mp3

How many times do we work ourselves into frenzy over a situation that is beyond our control?
Why do we allow worry to stress us out so much that we become ill?
Why do we waste our mental energy with worry?

How to stop worrying and start living: from wikihow
1. Live in the moment, most of the time. Worrying is something we do when we think about bad things that might happen in the future. So the less you think about the future, the less you'll worry. Immediately stop the thought as soon as you recognize that you are worrying. The more you worry, the more worried you'll feel. Take out time for yourself.
2. Tackle your worries head-on, and swiftly. You can still anticipate problems and plan for them without necessarily worrying. The key is that when the worry enters your head, you immediately address or resolve it somehow, and then let it go.

If a worry enters your head at an inconvenient time, designate another time to address it. If you start thinking about house fires during your child's school play, for example, you might think to yourself "I'll go home and make a plan at 10p.m. when the kids are in bed. There's no use in thinking about it until then."

Another approach is to make a list of all the fears that worry you. Go through them, one by one, and make plans. Then...

3. Move on. Once you develop a reasonable plan, and commit to following it, there's no need to dwell on the worry anymore. Let it go. The danger in worrying is when a scenario that you dread lingers in your head. Sure, you could always do more, like anticipating every possible outcome and taking every possible step to prevent each unwanted outcome from happening, but you'll spend your life preventing bad things from happening rather than enjoying the good things that have already happened. And you won't even be able to stop all bad things from happening, anyway!

Maybe you need to learn to be comfortable with risk. If you believe you've done enough to decrease the chances of something happening by, say, 85%, accept that as good enough. There are simply no guarantees in life.

4. Don't recycle the past. Many of the worries we have about the future are fears that the past will repeat itself. Whether it was heartbreak, or an injury, or a natural disaster, it haunts us and we want to do everything in our power from preventing it from happening again.

5. Stop trying to save the world. If you feel like it's your job or responsibility to stop bad things from happening (perhaps to your family, your business, or at all) you're placing too much pressure on yourself. There is such a thing as a hero complex, and you might have it. The thing is, you're only human, and to set yourself an unattainable standard will only cause pain and disappointment.

Remember:
Perception is key. When you change your perception regarding a specific event, object, or issue: your attitude will change. Stress is associated with something when your mind perceives it as so. Remember, most things really don't have a true value unless our mind associates it with a psychological response. For example, the perception of money itself. Money is associated with a economic value because our mind was trained to respond it with a monetary value; otherwise, it's just a printed piece of paper.

Be more prepared for stuff, so you won't panic when that "stuff" happens.

Eight Ways to Get Happy

2011-03-07T15:38:00.002-06:00

You know I think the Partridge Family might have been on to something when they sang the song, "Come On Get Happy." Sounds like a relatively simple thing but sometimes it becomes a monumental task to pull ourselves out of a dark rut of unhappiness. Now I do not necessarily equate unhappiness with sadness. I think a person can be unhappy and can turn it around with just a few minor changes in attitude, where as sadness sometimes runs fairly deep and might just need a wee bit more attention than a mind shift.

I was reading a couple of different articles on happiness and really liked a point made on the pluginid site he stated that 50 percent of our happiness is related directly to our genetics. which he notes that means that 50 percent of our happiness comes from what we can control.

I've pulled some ideas from several different places into what I think are some great ways to lift your spirits.
1. Mingle With Amazing People
Surround yourself with positive people, making a positive impact on the world around you. It doesn't have to be a major mover and shaker or someone traveling the world, it can be someone in your small circle of influence. Someone that makes a difference in the life of the child around the corner can be as uplifting as someone who works to better the life of a child half-way around the world.

Wasting our time with people who just want to bring us down, is simply that, a WASTE. We need to surround ourselves with people who want us to succeed and believe in us. The quality of our life is directly related to the quality of friends and family around us.

You are a product of your environment.

2. Accept What Is
We tend to waste so much time worrying and wondering, what if, what if.........how about this? WHAT IF we just moved on? We need to stop concentrating on past mistakes, past choices, and the past in general and focus on the now and plan for the future. One of my favorite quotes is, "Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending." - Carl Bard. We need to learn to embrace our imperfections and learn from them instead of just living in the punishment phase forever.

Never borrow trouble.

3. Befriend Failure
We all know someone (a boss, a co-worker, team mate, teacher, mentor, etc) that isn't exactly our best friend but we keep them around because they do teach us things. Failure is like that, although not the most pleasant person in the room, it is often the wisest. Instead of concentrating on our short comings we should use those as a spring board for growth.

Make the laughter outweigh the tears.

4. Do Something You Love
We all have activities that we enjoy, something that just brings us pleasure. There is that one, that single little activity that just makes us smile or relax, we need to find that. Often times we let friends or family dictate what we should or should not enjoy doing. So if the activity is legal, we all need a little selfish time to indulge in the simple pleasures of life.

Be yourself.

5. Choose To Be Happy
Although we are surrounded by things that we cannot control, we have made many choices and decisions that bring us to the point we are right now. So we need to learn to accept that we've messed up and our present state might be a direct result of either taking or not taking certain actions. One of the most stifling things is to be paralyzed with the fear of making ANY decision. We need to learn that indecision is, in fact, a decision - a decision to not make any kind of move and usually because we fear the outcome. It's like walking through the house in the dark, we may finally arrive across the room but it may be with a bruised shin or stubbed toe. We should boldly choose to walk forward, inching ahead in the dark and eventually emerging on the other side.

Learn to find pleasure in the simple things.

6. Sleep
We all need plenty of rest. I know for me, I can always tell when I need more sleep, when something doesn't go right, I feel defeated. Most times a little sleep and I awake with a new zeal for life and a bring-it-on attitude, ready to face the problem head on.

A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book. ~Irish Proverb

7. Sing Out Loud
There is nothing like just finding some tunes you like and belting them out like you are the newest cast member of Glee. I have a small folder of songs that I refer to as my "attitude songs" when I feel down or even if I just want to smile, I crank those up and sing to my heart's content. However, I must admit, I have to be somewhat selective when I do this because dog's for miles cover their heads and howl at the sound of my voice.

Sing like no one is listening, Dance like no one is watching, Love like you've never been hurt.

8. Sit in the Sunshine
You know if you'll watch a dog or a cat you'll see they often times find a little spot in the sun to curl up and take a little nap. They know the secret to being content, find a sunny spot, let the sunshine cover you and just breathe. Contentment is buried beneath those beams.

In the words of the late, great, John Denver, "Sunshine, on my shoulders makes me happy......"

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!- 20 Seussisms- Read Across America

2011-03-02T12:13:00.001-06:00

Have some cake or maybe even some green eggs and ham to celebrate because today is the birthday of Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss ( it is also Bon Jovi's birthday but that's a whole other blog post.....). Also the NEA has proclaimed March 2 - Read Across America Day. So although virtual learning and the iPod serve a vast variety of purposes, nothing beats the smell of a brand new book or the musty smell of a well loved book pulled from an old toy box. So go find a child, heck, borrow one if need be, and take a few minutes to lose yourself in the depths of imagination that can be coaxed from your stodgy old brain that is crammed too full of all the realities from everyday life.

"You're never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read to a child."

Theodor Seuss Geisel (pronounced /ˈɡaɪzəl/; March 2, 1904 – September 24, 1991) was an American writer and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone.

In May 1954, Life magazine published a report on illiteracy among school children, which concluded that children were not learning to read because their books were boring. Accordingly, William Ellsworth Spaulding, the director of the education division at Houghton Mifflin who later became its Chairman, compiled a list of 348 words he felt were important for first-graders to recognize and asked Geisel to cut the list to 250 words and write a book using only those words.Spaulding challenged Geisel to "bring back a book children can't put down." Nine months later, Geisel, using 236 of the words given to him, completed The Cat in the Hat. This book was described as a tour de force by some reviewer-—it retained the drawing style, verse rhythms, and all the imaginative power of Geisel's earlier works, but because of its simplified vocabulary could be read by beginning readers.

On October 23, 1967, suffering from a long struggle with illnesses including cancer, as well as emotional pain over her husband's affair with Audrey Stone Dimond, Geisel's wife, Helen Palmer Geisel, committed suicide. Geisel married Audrey on June 21, 1968. Though he devoted most of his life to writing children's books, Geisel had no children of his own. He would say, when asked about this, "You have 'em; I'll entertain 'em."

I was a little dismayed to read about Geisel and that he was in fact a mere mortal with flaws just like everyone. For some reason it just seemed he was bigger than life and the perfect "dad-like" figure. I still love many of the quotes that have been pulled from his writing and a few of the 'seussisms" that I love the most are:

A person's a person, no matter how small.
You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself, any direction you choose.
Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.
From there to here, and here to there, funny things are everywhere.
Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.
Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So... get on your way.
If you never did, you should. These things are fun, and fun is good.
I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful, one hundred percent.
So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.
And will you succeed? Yes indeed, yes indeed! Ninety-eight and three-quarters percent guaranteed.
Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.
All alone! Whether you like it or not, alone is something you'll be quite a lot. - Dr. Seuss
The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.
Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.
Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the things you can think up if only you try!
Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.
I'm afraid sometimes you'll play lonely games too, games you can't win because you'll play against you
I'm sorry to say so but, sadly it's true that bang-ups and hang-ups can happen to you
From there to here, and here to there, funny things are everywhere.
I know up on the top you are seeing great sights, but down at the bottom we, too, should have rights.

For more information and a little bit of seusstastic fun visit the seussville site.

Podstock- Fat city for all the 18 karat radioactive cats

2011-02-23T12:10:00.003-06:00

What's the tale, nightengale?

I'm so excited (or in 50's speak) cranked and on cloud 9! Starting to gather and really THINK about PODSTOCK 2011 ( July 22 & 23). First of all,

So what is Podstock?

It’s a conference. But it’s more than a conference. It’s conversation. It’s family.

It’s a bunch of cool folks getting together to learn more about how to improve education. And we’ll use whatever it takes - technology, PBL, gaming, online tools . . . we’ll try anything as long as it helps kids learn.

Podstock is about creativity, about inspiration, about what’s good for kids. Our formal and
informal conversations change how we do school.

The 2011 Guitar Pick

Now, that we know WHAT it is, let's talk about what I'm doing for, with and about it, you know, get with it. We came up with our theme, it's going to be more 50's diner-ish and it's going to be a kick. My plan is to use a menu as our conference book, you know the big Denny's-like type? and the placemat under the blue plate special will have all the web 2.0 stuff as well as vendors and sponsors being represented. We are also looking in to having our staff in retro bowling shirts. The reception that's in the mix will continue on with the theme by having bowling and a sock hop, however, since this is a conference discussing new technology, and virtual learning in Kansas (AND BEYOND!) it will be Wii bowling and a Second Life sock hop. It is going to be a hoot I'm sure.

We've ordered enough guitar picks to fill the trunk of a '57 Chevy and working hard to provide the best Podstock scene to date so we've got it made in the shade! Also word from the bird is that there will be a sugar band that can wail playing a gig with ipads.

So, Daddy-O, pound the z's because the joint is gonna be jumpin' and the same old, same old is so lame. Be sure to fire up and flat out floor it to get your registration in soon.

Cast an eyeball on the nifty extras we have already created. The placemat listing web 2.0 resources (and any additional illuminations you might have!).

Placemat with web 2.0 resources

The "blue plate special

The Special

and the hand out card - Kevin is spraying them with the scent of maple syrup right now and that is really going to razz my berries!

Hand out card for conferences

So, don't be a party pooper, get all your friends on the horn and and scream on over to the Podstock website and get registered today, you dig?

Scottsdale, Arizona - The Desert Adventure- Tipping, News, Dog Parks & Wildlife-Yah, it's random

2011-02-14T15:47:00.001-06:00

First subject: Tipping
This post will just be a rambling, smattering of random thinking provoked by experiences while in Arizona. The first being on tipping. Now I know tipping wait staff has been cussed and discussed more often than I want to think about but I'm going to bring it up anyway. While we were on vacation we ate out - ALOT- and most experiences were pleasant. We ate from the fast food sector and we dined at some very nice places (Don and Charlies in Scottsdale- YUM!), and we adjusted our expectations accordingly. But one specific instance caused me to ponder, yet again, why we don't just pay for our meal and extra 10-15% up front and let the restaurant pay the staff what they deserve.

A tip, or gratuity, is a small amount of money given voluntarily as a token of appreciation for a service rendered. We tip our servers as a way of thanking them for good service. We might also leave a very low tip, or no tip at all, as a signal that the service was substandard.

Now that is a very good definition of what tipping is but what if the service is crappy? and what level of service should one expect? I believe many times we tip more out of moral obligation than as a show of appreciation of good service. But the event that brings this up is a particular lunch......let's just called it edRa obinRa......or something like that.... We get there, been to one before, no big surprise expected. We are seated at a very small table for two when there are plenty of bigger tables around and it is the middle of the afternoon. The waitress comes takes our drink order and asks.....do you want me to bring the basket of steak fries before your meal (those are like baskets of chips at a mexican restaurant, an appetizer of sorts) and we reply yes that would be great. She disappears.....the drinks show up........we are thirsty drink them down........no refills offered, matter of fact she walks by several times and also we never get the fries. Our food comes, is delivered by yet another person. Finally, the waitress appears to see if we need any refill (food is half gone at this point), and then, only THEN does she seem to care about us. Now the restaurant is not busy, and we see she has only one other table, seems a bit hard to feel sorry for her. Now we left the customary 15% but was it because of good service as intended? no, it was moral obligation.

Why have only certain service industries been given license of expectation to be tipped? What about the guy at the auto parts store that fills the order? or the lumber yard? or the florist? I don't have any answers to this conundrum, just simply verbalizing a little frustration.

Next subject: Television in Arizona.
Something that perplexed me while visiting here was why, oh why, do they have soooo many news/variety shows. We had Good Morning Arizona, Good Afternoon Arizona and the news show was basically Good Evening Arizona......same stuff different hosts....and TMZ the entertainment (and I use the word loosely) gossip show. I swear if it was on once during the day, it was 3 times. The only thing I can figure out is that maybe the people that watch all this have alzheimer's and don't remember seeing it the first couple of times and every show is like a brand new episode... sorry, I'm just saying....

Next subject: Dog Parks
While in Scottsdale our condo was very close to a huge dog park, about the size of a baseball field, matter of fact it was in the park next to a couple of diamonds. It was separated into small dog or large dog sections. It was always busy, but on the weekends.......my gosh, I'd say 100 dogs at least, all romping and playing and it was a hoot to watch. At first I thought- my goodness these people really love their dogs, (we would also see many people out walking their dogs) but then I came to a conclusion, they walk their dogs and take them to the park because they have NO YARDS! The yards if any are either small with very little grass or all rocks, not conducive to really let a pet get the exercise it needs. So that answered that.

Next subject: Wildlife
And now just the final observation. There is no wildlife (other than the geese and ducks in the parks and dogs on leashes) in Arizona. BUT, coming home and driving through New Mexico we saw a site that was beautiful. A herd of antelope in the field by the road. Totally made my day. And then in the next mile I saw tumbleweeds.......lots of tumbleweeds......oh well, take the good with the bad.

Scottsdale, Arizona - The Desert Adventure - The Grand Canyon

2011-02-06T11:13:00.001-06:00

Yesterday was a trip to the Grand Canyon, although very excited about seeing it (I think I've only seen it from the air before) the four hour, one-way drive did not excite me. But we loaded up and headed that direction early in the morning. My first picture was sunrise from the vehicle going down the highway and then once we got to the Kaibib National Forest I saw Smokey the Bear.

Then it was on up to the canyon, what is normally a $25.00 entry fee, was knocked down to a mere $8.00 because my mother (whispers.....a senior citizen) was in the vehicle.

Seems like a steep price to pay but when driving through and seeing all the improvements and nice amenities around it was understandable. As you might guess, the pictures don't begin to do it justice. It should be on everyone's bucket list.

How the Canyon Came to be the Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon is probably the world’s most spectacular example of the power of erosion. Scientists estimate the Grand Canyon began forming 6 million years ago with the downward cutting (erosion) of the Colorado River, which flows through the Canyon. The work is by no means finished. The powerful forces of the river, rain, snow, heat, frost and wind are still sculpting the fantastic shapes of precipitous bluffs and towering buttes.

The Numbers
Grand Canyon

Length: 277 river miles
Average width: 10 mi. (max. 15 mi.)
Average depth: 4000 ft. (max. one mi.)
Acres: 1,218,375
South Rim elevation: 7,000 ft.
North Rim elevation: 8,100 ft.
Phantom Ranch elevation: 2400 ft.
Average high temperatures:
Jan. - 41o F (rim), 56o F (gorge)
July - 85o F (rim), 107o F (gorge)
Average rainfall: 16” (rim), 8.44” (gorge)
Average snowfall: 62” (rim), 2” (gorge)

Colorado River (within the park)

Length: 277 mi
Average width: 300 ft.
Average depth: 40 ft.
Average speed: 4 miles per hour

The definite changes from the different levels and types of rock were clearly visible. There are 3 groups of types of rock, 18 different kinds.

As many of you know, I am a total wildlife freak and was excited about the possibilities, but......aside from Smokey the Bear......this was the only wildlife I saw, a Raven. And yes, he was taunting me.

Wildlife and Vegetation

Home to 88 species of mammals, 56 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 17 species of fish (the Humpback Chub and the Razorback Sucker are on the US endangered species list). There are more than 300 species of birds within the Park including the Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, the California Condor (10 ft. wingspan) and the raven (largest of crows). Boasts approximately 2,000 species of plants, mosses and other vegetation.

Then the last thing that was a photo op......another picture from the vehicle......the Arizona sunset, and I can only describe the beautiful colors - bright oranges, deep turquoise, subtle yellows........gorgeous over the gigantic red rocks.

Scottsdale, Arizona- The Desert Adventure - Fountain Hills

2011-02-04T21:39:00.000-06:00

Today we went to see the huge fountain in Fountain Hills, Arizona. I know, I know, big whoopie, a fountain, but it was a beautiful area and the fountain was quite amazing.

The Fountain was once listed in Guinness World Records as the tallest fountain in the world, although that listing doesn't exist anymore and there may be taller fountains now.

The Fountain has been operational since 1970.
When the fountain is operating, it has a column of water that can reach 562 feet in height.
The Fountain is set in the middle of a 30 acre lake. It spurts a column of water for 15 minutes every hour on the hour between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m., unless weather conditions (wind) prohibit it.
If the wind reaches 10 MPH, the Fountain automatically turns itself off.
On most days, the water from the Fountain only reaches a height of about 330 feet. That's because there are three pumps operating the Fountain. Usually, only two are in use, with one of them being a backup. When all three pumps are operating together, water stream can get as high as 560 feet.
You won't hear the fountain when it is working--it's very quiet!
Once a year, on St. Patrick's Day, the Town of Fountain Hills adds color--green, of course--to the water.

The area was filled with lovely million dollar homes and the terrain was very hilly. It seemed to be a very artsy area with bronze statues everywhere.

And there was this statue made of tons of scrap metal, name Maytag Matilda, by Dixie Jewett.

Scottsdale, Arizona - The Desert Adventure- FRESH JUICE!

2011-02-02T11:36:00.002-06:00

Ok, when you go someplace and you see fruit growing on the trees everywhere you tend to think, oh it must not be good or buggy or some sort of problem with it. Well at the condo we are staying at a huge grapefruit tree in the back yard.

Greg decided he was going to try to make some grapefruit juice. We found an electric juicer in the pantry and set off to see what kind of mess we could make. It was actually quite uneventful, he sliced about 4 grapefruits and it made two tall glasses of grapefruit juice. The juice was not bitter and very tasty. I can only imagine what it would be like to have fresh juice every day and even though I don't like fruit, maybe this would be enough to influence my taste buds.

Scottsdale, Arizona - The Desert Adventure - FLW's Taliesin West

2011-02-02T11:02:00.000-06:00

I went and visited Frank Lloyd Wright's, home and school of architecture in Arizona, Taliesin West. I wasn't too excited at first by looking at the pictures online it didn't seem that fascinating to me but others wanted to visit so I willingly went along. What I wasn't counting on was a great lesson into the life and works of Frank Lloyd Wright. I had vistited another structure of his in Bartlesville, Oklahoma called the Price Tower.

Frank Lloyd Wright for all his oddities and eccentricities was a brilliant architect. It is said that all he needed to make a building was his imagination, a triangle and a Tsquare. No rulers necessary. It was a great tour and we had a fabulous and very informative tour guide.

One dedicated fan - Rock Chalk Jayhawks- KU vs. KSU

2011-01-31T23:40:00.003-06:00

Here I am in Scottsdale and get a text from my son in Lawrence, Kansas. During the Kansas- Kansas State University basketball game -"Hey, Mom, watch for me on television during the game, I'll be on the front row." No big deal, so watching and there he is.....on the front row, with his shirt off and a big exclamation point painted on his chest. I text back, "ummm, what happened to your shirt?" response, "ooops, must have forgotten it. : )" Being the mother of two very active and non-shy boys from birth, I have never really been surprised by anything so this didn't really phase me.

After the game, we got a message saying he'd had two newspapers take pictures and talk to him. Looking up on the websites I found the pictures in question. One from the Lawrence Journal World

and one from the Kansas City Star.

I am genuinely proud of both my boys (young men) and their antics, while causing me to frequently just shake my head, they do make me smile. College, a unique adventure never to be equalled for any of us. Rock Chalk Jayhawks! GO KU!

Scottsdale - The Desert Adventure- Balloon Ride

2011-01-29T13:53:00.001-06:00

Up, Up and Awaaaay, in my beautiful balloon........

Ok, admittedly before I went to Scottsdale without really the desire to go up in a hot air balloon. But somewhere during the flight here, I saw in a magazine an article on hot air balloons and something clicked. I thought, THAT is something I'd like to do. So when I got here we checked into it and although a bit expensive, (isn't everything?) I decided I'd like to do it. I called my mom who was flying out and she thought it sounded fun too. So my mother and I signed up (Aerogelic Hot Air Balloons).

It seems anything I do turns in to an event and this was no exception. Balloon launching is never the same twice, it is very dependent on weather especially winds. So we met at the airport (it was me, my mother and a couple that lives in Mesa, retired from Minnesota) and went to launch location #1 and there was almost no wind, so we left and went to launch spot #2. As we drive to the next location we are discussing launch spots and how difficult it is to find a spot that is suitable. We end up at a park - what is assumed public property, and he has launched several times from this particular place. They were getting everything set up and this guy, you know the type, a little bit of power he thinks he can parlay in to world dominance, anyway, he shows up and says we cannot launch from that spot. It seems it is actually owned by a homeowners association which he is head grounds keeper. Well, our pilot must be a miracle worker and slick talker because what we assumed was going to move us to yet another launch location, turned into the guy asking him to come back and tether in the park so people could could come see it. It could have had something to do with the crowd that has now gathered to watch the event.

We finally got the balloon aired up and permission to launch and after very climbing in the basket, we are ready to roll. Up we went, every time he opened the burners you could feel the heat, like a brief opening of a furnace on you. The winds were very light and variable so the rising was slow and very little movement. Before you know it, you are hundreds of feet barely gliding over the rooftops. Then something happens - people driving and pointing, cameras flashing, people coming out of their houses, children jumping and waving, dogs and livestock going crazy.........- transformation from simple passengers on an adventure to rock star status. It was Friday evening, tons of people in the outdoor restaurants and bars all cheering and waving as we pass over........that was just plain fun.

Then we went up even higher up to about 4000 feet, soaring and the thing that struck me was the quiet, the only noise was us, talking, laughing, ooing, awwwing and the whoosh sound of the burners. He gave us each a little parachute man toy and a glider plane and we launched them and watched them go down, that was a fun little add on.

We went from Chandler to Mesa, not really the route he anticipated but the winds had a different idea. Since we got a bit of a later start, our times were all messed up and we watched the sun go behind the rocks we had to find a spot to land. He found a little park and knew the landing would be a little tight. He radioed the chase car and had him meet us there. Greg and his parents were also following and they as well met us there. They dropped a line to guide us in since the spot was going to be tight and it was amazing what happened then. People from out of nowhere suddenly appeared, men running and helping guide the balloon to a spot that was big enough. Children laughing and pointing, a big crowd gathered and we set down. I was expected a bump but it was smooth as could be, no jolt whatsoever. We had to stay in the basket until we were cleared to get out- you know, the pilot turned off the fasten seat belt sign. :) By this time there was a huge crowd and .........the police. The pilot warned us that it seems there is a no launch, no land ordinance in Mesa. After getting out of the basket, he went and talked with the police and they were not upset at all, it had been called in as a balloon crashing. They left us to do our thing and we finished (or Cody the pilot assistant) packing up the balloon and they gave us a drink and some snacks.

A homeless man and a neighbor boy joined us for our snacks and then we packed up in the chase vehicle and headed back to get our vehicle at the airport. An adventure I'd never even really dreamed of now one I never will forget.

Scottsdale - the Desert Adventure- Day2

2011-01-27T22:59:00.001-06:00

Today was not a well-balanced meal of events but several small snacks of activities. We started out the day doing a little shopping, because, well, who doesn't like to start their day out that way? Greg dropped us off to shop and was parked in a very empty parking lot taking a little nap. Snoozing away when a lady hits our Navigator! Needless to say he was not a happy bear when he was rudely awakened from his slumber. Evidently the lady was so worried about hitting the parking island that she was unaware that there was this BIG WHITE BOAT OF AN SUV right in front of her. She felt really bad and fortunately for us, hit directly on the tire.....her little camry, well, - it didn't fair as well.

The next thing on the menu was to go to a place called Queen Creek Olive Mill. Now I've never really just had a hankering to find out how olive oil is made but I am always fascinated by learning in general, so it was an interesting day. Learned the difference between extra virgin olive oil all the way to light olive oil (it has nothing to do with calories, everything to do with processing and nutrients) and what the difference is in green olives and purple olives(it's the degree of ripeness) and the difference between cold press and heating. FYI- if I did like black olives before this, I would not really want to eat one now. Icky.

What is extra virgin olive oil?

Extra virgin olive oil is the highest grade of olive oil obtained only from the olive, using solely mechanical means which do not alter the oil in any way. It can be qualified as a natural product. Olives do not undergo any treatment other than washing, grinding, mixing, gentle separation and filtering. Oils extracted by the use of solvents or extreme heat are excluded from the extra virgin classification. Extra virgin olive oil has a free acidity, expressed as oleic acid, which must not be higher than 0.8 grams per 100 grams or 0.8%.

Then from the olive farm we went to the mall. Stopped by an ice cream store and yes, I did sample the "Funny Farm" ice cream (maple, brown sugar and bacon bits) and it wasn't bad at all.

Then went out into the mall and fell in love.........he was dark and handsome, very playful and had sharp little teeth but had horrible breath and was quite furry. He was a neopolitan mastiff and the cutest little thing ever.

Well tomorrow is my big day, balloon ride....WOOT!

Scottsdale, a tad bit warmer than Kansas

2011-01-27T10:54:00.001-06:00

So here I am in Arizona. I left Kansas it was 20something degrees and arrived in Arizona it was 70ish. So what have I done so far? Day 1 drove alot and saw lots of rocks.... and went up in the mountains where there was snow (wait, didn't I come here to get away from snow?), and I was in my sandals and capris.

Of course, lots of great food, some coconut shrimp to die for, and miscellaneous culinary delights. Been shopping, every corner has some big mall or shopping center and then in old town Scottsdale there are blocks and blocks of galleries. Saw some really interesting art.

Yesterday we went to the Phoenix zoo, being an animal lover I was very excited. I really didn't know much about it before going but the ad said rated one of the top 5.......top 5 of which, I didn't look to see, but thought he had to be great. I've been to some fantastic zoos, the San Diego zoo, the Houston zoo, even the Wichita zoo has some interesting exhibits. Well, we got there and the very first exhibit was................wait for it................the PRAIRIE DOGS! I'm thinking to myself....seriously? really? I see these every day in Kansas.

Then we went through the exhibit that showcases animals of Arizona....was interesting. Overall the zoo was nice and the people working there were very chatty and tell you anything you wanted to know. But I was disappointed that there were no penguins or bears or aquatics. There was one exhibit that I totally loved and that was the spider monkey habitat. There were dozens of spider monkeys just loose in a big caged area where you go in with the monkeys. You can't touch them and are told to move at least 3 feet away from them if they come toward you. They were jumping everywhere and it was fun. I missed not having my big camera with me.

One other animal that intrigued me was the komodo dragon, a lizard about 4 foot long and about 150 pounds! creeeeeeepy.

My mother flew in last night and I'm sure we will find some fantastic shopping and then tomorrow........ A HOT AIR BALLOON RIDE! woot woot, very excited.

Your answer, to answering the touch screen phone

2011-01-25T11:14:00.001-06:00

So, here I am in Phoenix where it's warm and not necessary to wear gloves like it was home in Kansas. But I made a discovery before I left that I just HAVE to share with those of you in the colder climates. Seems everyone has a touchscreen phone these days and wearing gloves makes it impossible to answer the blasted things. Funny how technology has advanced so much that you can't even simply answer the phone. But there is hope, Isotoner has come out with an answer to the problem.

As technology has advanced the problems associated with touching those screens that use capacitive technology have increased. In fact, nowadays, capacitive touch screens are everywhere, from cell phones to MP3 players to ATM machines to interactive gas pumps. Let’s face it, there is nothing worse than having to take your hands out of your warm gloves in order to “swipe to answer” your cell phone or enter in your PIN at the ATM, especially if it is really cold outside.

Most of the currently popular cell phones use the capacitive technology so Isotoner decided to capitalize off of this and create a glove that actually worked with capacitive touchscreens. The problem with capacitive screens is that they require a tiny electrical current or charge from the user’s finger tips and these charges, since they are so small, simply do not transfer via a glove.

The good news is that Isontoner has come to the rescue with an affordable and readily available solution. What Isotoner has done is actually weave conductive threads into the index finger and thumbs of both hands on the gloves. What this means is that you can still use all of those capacitive devices but without removing your gloves.

Sounds hokey right? But my coffee klatch of girlfriends and I decided to test it. We looked up the Isotoner glove and lo and behold, available at Walmart, after a search to find out the cost, a mere $12.00, we loaded up the truck and headed for the store. I was totally amazed, it worked. That price is for the stretch fleece, they also have other styles and prices points to meet just about every taste and need.

So, if you are looking for a solution to fight frost-bitten fingers without having to let go of some major funds buying from the high end electronic and technology based gift and gadgets places, these are for you.

Chocolate Turtles.....slow and messy but YUMMY!

2010-12-21T11:32:00.000-06:00

OK, I had this fantastic idea.....or so I thought (rolls eyes). I found this new product that I am quickly falling in love with, Diamond Glazed Pecans. I have been putting those in everything from salads to my Christmas confections. Yesterday I decided what could possibly be better than combining them with caramel and chocolate......ahhhh, heaven (at least until you get on the scales!) As with all recipes, I have several adjustments I would make the next go around but the consensus of my office lab rats (ESSDACK co-workers) is that they are delish - not pretty, but tasty. I will tell you what I used and then the changes I plan on making the next go around.

Chocolate Turtles Recipe First Draft

Chocolate Almond Bark -yep, it quick and easy, I like that
1 package of Diamond Glazed Pecans-a bit pricey but sooooo worth it or make your own (pecans, egg whites whipped until frothy then coat pecans and shake in brown sugar and cinnamon bake at a low temp for a while, stirring frequently) <------that was just a bonus.
1 bag of caramels (Kraft has these available now in caramel balls that you don't have to unwrap, YAY!)
Butter
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Melt 1/3 of the almond bark, drop in small spoonfuls on wax paper, then sprinkle a few pecans on top of that. While that is setting up, melt your caramels and butter and sweetened condensed milk in the microwave (used a stick of butter but would recommend less perhaps a 1/2 of a stick, because it took FOR-freaking-EVER for the caramel to set up). After the caramel is melted and a bit stiffer, drop on top of the half-made cluster. Go do your taxes and then when you return the caramel should be set up enough. Melt the remainder of the chocolate bark and drop a spoonful over the top of each one. Allow that to time to dry. Remember these are somewhat a pain to make so only share them with people you truly like or are super special - for instance your wonderful co-workers. wink wink.

A little more about Savannah- AESA

2010-12-16T13:36:00.001-06:00

OK, soooo many cool things happened in Savannah at the AESA conference, but I would be remiss if I didn't at least give you guys opportunity to SEE some of it yourself. I mentioned earlier that ESSDACK's own Kevin Honeycutt got called upon at the last minute to deliver the keynote and what an awesome job he did. I had seen snippets of his presentations before but was totally blown away. He had the audience eating out of his hand, they loved him. His message was timely and the delivery was fantastic. He was entertaining enough to keep the attention of his audience, yet it was filled with nuggets of motivational and educational information. I could tell you more but I'd rather you check it out yourself, it's worth the few minutes you'd invest to watch.