Halloween Hangman

Mao's new friend is Toby. They sat for over an hour today just looking at each other.

Happy 12th Birthday Mao!!

Friday Update

I am really glad that it is Friday, it has been so busy at work this week. Next week I will be getting some much needed OT. I will be doing some of my old supervisor's duties while she is on a business trip to Boston. Speaking of Boston, congrats to Thomas for getting to go to Boston next year. I'm glad he has decided to take Diedre along. Last night for supper we had a very yummy tortilla bake. Not much going on, so that is all for now.

Something a little spooky for Halloween.

This post is for Thomas

How to create folders in GMail.

Actually, Gmail doesn't use folders. To help you organize your mail more effectively, Gmail uses labels instead.

Here's why we think labels are better than folders:

Labels	Folders
A conversation can have more than one label	You can only put a message in one folder
A conversation can be in several locations (Inbox, All Mail, Sent Mail, etc.) at once, making it easier to find later	You have to remember where you filed a message to retrieve it
You can search conversations by label	You can't always do folder-specific searches

Learn how to create, edit, delete and search labels.

Sunday Update - Continued

This has been a busy weekend. Friday my sister Susan came because her daughter Raven was choosen for the Center-Point-Urbana Homecoming Court. She was choosen Queen, of course. Sue stayed at our house Friday night. She got here after the football game, we stayed up very late talking. She stayed most of the morning on Saturday and we got caught up on even more old and new family memories and secrets. All I know is that I intensely dislike my "mother" even more than ever. Sue left around 11:00 to spend some time with my nephew Hunter and then go with Raven to have her hair done for the Homecoming dance.

After Sue left, I went grocery shopping. I bought pumpkins for soup today. At 2:00 I went to Vernon Middle School to hear what John Edwards had to say. He was supposed to be there at 2:30 for a Town Hall meeting, but didn't arrive until 3:00. First Elizabeth spoke about her husband and then he came out to speak. She looks very good for someone with cancer. Edwards is a very good speaker and he was very quick to answer all of the questions asked. Unfortunately, there wasn't much time for him to speak because he was also going to the Johnson County Democrat's Barbecue in Iowa City and it started at 4:00. The candidates that were going to be there were; John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, Bill Richardson, and Dennis Kusinich. After he was finished speaking he stayed for a little while to have pictures taken with people and shake hands. I didn't have a camera with me, but I did shake his hand.

I'm glad that I have Monday off for Columbus Day, it give me an extra day to do things around here. Hopefully I will get a chance to try my new leaf blower.

Sunday Update

My niece Raven was choosen the 2007 Homecoming Queen for Center Point-Urbana. Congratulations Raven!

Thursday Update

Sorry about not updating all week. It has been very hectic at work and I just haven't felt like updating. On top of all of my usual duties, I now have to check the faxes that come in, print the PO's, check if they have the required information, log them if they are not correct and then call the school to get the correction made and enter any PO's that are ready to go.

It was very nice seeing Tommy and Diedre on Sunday. It sounds like Diedre is really enjoying student teaching. Dexter was very good on Sunday, it should be another exciting season. Last night we watched the new show Pushing Daisies. It is by the same person who made Dead Like Me. It was good, but not as good as Dead Like Me. Chloe had to help at a show last night and she got in late. She is very busy lately with school, work, baby sitting and tutoring. I hardly see her for more than a few minutes. I miss her. I hope the weather dries up soon, so I can try out my new leaf blower/mulcher/vacuum.

John Edwards is going to be in Marion this Saturday afternoon at Vernon Middle School. I think I am going to try and go see him.

Congratulations to Bjorn and Lindsey on their wedding yesterday! Thomas said it was a very nice American/Norwegian wedding. I guess the Pastor even told an Ollie and Lena joke. I don't know if they had a Norwegian wedding cake, but this is what one is supposed to look like.

I can't wait to see Thomas and Diedre later today. Chloe is so busy that I barely got to see her this weekend. I hope she gets a chance to see Thomas and Diedre. I know she misses them too. Dexter starts today!

SONGS OF INSECTS

Monday Update

Well, another weekend has ended. We did some more cleaning in the garage. I can't believe how good it is starting to look. Yesterday morning I started my first leaf pickup of the season. The tree out back has been dumping a lot of leaves on the patio. I picked up about a half a leaf bag. By next weekend, I am sure there will be some leaves in the front yard as well. I can't wait until next weekend, Thomas will have the weekend off for Bjorn's wedding. He and Diedre will be coming home on Sunday for a short visit. We can't wait to see them both. Last night Ross stopped by. He is such a nice boy, I like him. The new season of Dexter starts next Sunday. Wanda was so excited when we told her. She is our Dexter viewing partner.

Wednesday Update

They Might Be Giants was excellent last night. My knee got very sore from standing, but that's because I am old. Doug and I went with our daughter Chloe and her boyfriend Ross. Ross didn't really know who they were, but it seemed like he enjoyed the show. The only thing that could have made it better is if Thomas and Diedre would have been there. I am glad I took today off from work, it was nearly 12:30 before I went to bed last night and I slept in until almost 7:30 this morning. I hope the whole family can get together for the next show we go to.

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation

By Lynne Truss

The game.

THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS lyrics - Don't Let's Start

Don't don't don't let's start
This is the worst part
Could believe for all the world
That you're my precious little girl
But don't don't don't let's start
I've got a weak heart
And I don't get around how you get around

When you are alone you are the cat, you are the phone
You are an animal
The words I'm singing now
Mean nothing more than meow to an animal
Wake up and smell the cat food in your bank account
But don't try to stop the tail that wags the hound

D, world destruction
Over and overture
N, do I need
Apostrophe T, need this torture?

Don't don't don't let's start
This is the worst part
Could believe for all the world
That you're my precious little girl
But don't don't don't let's start
I've got a weak heart
And I don't get around how you get around

No one in the world ever gets what they want and that is beautiful
Everybody dies frustrated and sad and that is beautiful
They want what they're not and I wish they would stop saying,
Deputy dog dog a ding dang depadepa
Deputy dog dog a ding dang depadepa

D, world destruction
Over and overture
N, do I need
Apostrophe T, need this torture?

Don't don't don't let's start
This is the worst part
Could believe for all the world
That you're my precious little girl
But don't don't don't let's start
I've got a weak heart
And I don't get around how you get around

I don't want to live in this world anymore
I don't want to live in this world

Don't don't don't let's start
This is the worst part
Could believe for all the world
That you're my precious little girl
But don't don't don't let's start
I've got a weak heart
And I don't get around how you get around

Saturday Update

I am glad it is the weekend. It seemed like a long week at work. Today we plan to finish cleaning the basement, clean our bedroom, go shopping for a new printer and make salsa. We are getting down to the last harvest in the garden. There are still quite a few green tomatoes, I am hoping a few more turn red. If not it will be fried green tomatoes. Tuesday night we are going to see They Might Be Giants. I think that is going to be all kinds of fun. Mao's fur is so much softer now that I have finally combed out all of the matting. Poor little aging kitty. He still shedded a bunch everyday though. Yesterday I received a very nice Coleman flashlight in the mail from a Marlboro freebie offer. It is the brightest flashlight I have ever seen, it also has a fluorescent light.

Tuesday Update

This last weekend was very busy. Most of Saturday was spent cleaning and organizing the basement. I did my shopping on Sunday morning and the rest of the day was pretty much devoted to canning tomatos. Last night we had hamburger/cabbage soup. It was the best comfort food I have had in a while. The cabbage was from Mark and Wanda's garden and did not smell too bad while cooking.

Only one week until we see They Might Be Giants. I am excited and cannot wait.

Friday Update

Just a quick update. This week we had a visit at work by my supervisor's supervisor. He told us they are looking to sell our part of the company again. He and some investors are interested in buying it. There are other companies looking at buying it as well. They hope to have a deal worked out by the end of the year. So, here we go again!

Thomas drove down for a little visit yesterday afternoon. He had to pick up his last two books that finally came in the mail. He stayed and had supper with us. I hope he has a chance to visit often. It is still hard to believe this is his senior year of college. Where has the time gone?

This weekend we plan to do more organizing in the garage and basement. We also have more canning to do.

Tuesday Update

I guess I should update. Thomas is now back at school. I wish he didn't have to be in school yet. We miss him. Good luck on your first day back in class tomorrow Thomas. He has a very nice apartment like dorm this year. It has a living room/dining room, kitchen, two baths and three bedrooms. It also has a nice big closet. The parking lot he gets to park in is right behind his building as well.

Yesterday we canned tomatos and made Ratatoulli. We froze most of the Ratatoulli and canned one pint to see how that would work out. We also ate some of the Ratatoulli, which was exellent. I think we have now canned a total of 24 quarts plus one pint of tomatos, 3 quarts of sauerkraut and one pint of Ratatoulli.

Last night we watched Top Gear. We are glad this show is back on again. It is hard to believe that a show about cars can make two grown people laugh so much.