Hey you!

"Ma'am... you in the black.... You belong in *this* line."

I turned around while standing in line waiting to get my ballot to vote. I was pretty sure I was in the right line, but the polling lady insisted I belonged in her line. After trying to spell my name three times and not finding it in her book, she finally released me to go back to the line I was standing in. LOL

Yep. That's how my voting experience started out. Despite the line, everyone was in a good mood. Happy, smiling people... getting out to vote! I was in and out within 15-20 minutes.

Did you vote?


GET OUT & VOTE!

Little Shop of Horrors

My college was putting on their summer theatre production... Little Shop of Horrors.


Seymour is a nerdy orphan working at Mushnik's, a run-down flower shop in urban Skid Row. He harbors a crush on fellow co-worker Audrey, and is berated by Mr. Mushnik daily. In an effort to bring customers into the business, Seymour suggests displaying a new mysterious unidentified plant which he calls Audrey II. The plant seems to have a craving for blood. As Seymour's infatuation for Audrey grows, as does the plant's appetite and it begins to sing for his supper... FEED ME! Soon enough, Seymour feeds Audrey's sadistic dentist boyfriend to the plant and later, Mushnik for concluding what happened to Audrey's ex. The ending of this production shows Seymour walking in on Audrey being eaten by the plant. In desperation, Seymour jumps down the plant's throat with the intention of hacking it to death from the inside out... an effort to save the world from this blood thirsty plant.


I have to say this comic musical went WAY BEYOND my expectations! The sets were made by the art dept and the student performances were absolutely phenomenal. A complete orchestral (in the pit) rounded out this fantastic play. I *really* enjoyed it.

Monday Update 9/10/07

Stitchy Stuff
Today was a good mail day! Last week I was turned on to a 60% off clearance page at Village Mountain Stitchery. When I tried to place my order last week, the shopping cart function wasn't working properly, so I emailed them. They answered the email promptly, offered to process the order via email, and were quite helpful. Shipping was inexpensive and fast. I received the package today! They take Paypal, too. Plus, my order was 60% off. I'm a happy camper! Here's what I ordered:




Waxing Moon "Christmas Quickies"








Lizzie Kate Flip-It Bits for January, February, April & June







Lizzie Kate Snippet
"Just Married"








Bent Creek "Wedding Row"

Bent Creek
Red Thread Snappers
"Heart of Love"

Lastly, a chart that I did not order was included. It's a Snowman of the Month for November. It's a snowman dressed as a pilgrim, complete with turkey and gun. LOL

If you think that's all I got in today's mail, think again... :-) From Jana, I received a bunch of Little House Needlework Freebies. Thank you, Jana!

They say things come in 3's. Believe it or not, there was also a package from Rene in NV. She sent me the cutest little magnet for the refrigerator in my new house! :D Thank you, Rene!

OK, I guess I can't count! There was yet another stitchy-related envelope in today's mail. This one was from Carla. She sent me a cute little ladybug chart. I'm tempted to start this one tonight! She says it's a really quick stitch.

Just so you don't think all I did this week was shop, I managed to put a few stitches into NPLH #3. I'm about 3/4 done with it.


A Night at the Theatre
Friday night marked the opening of the 82nd continuous season of the local threatre. It is the oldest continuous amateur theatre in the United States. The 82nd season started out with "The Nerd" by Larry Shue.

Willum Gilbert has it all - a promising career as an architect, devoted friends, even, maybe, a serious girlfriend. But then Rick Steadman, the ultimate social misfit, comes to visit and puts everything in peril. The Nerd escalates into madcap farce as Willum tries to out-nerd his sanity-destroying houseguest.

This was a hilarious production! The entire audience was rolling in their seats.


Health
The chiropracter swears that the muscles and verebrae in my spine are loosening up. Sometimes, I have to wonder! Today he did more work on the thoracic area, which he did get to "crack" not once, but twice. After the first time, with methodic heavy breathing, I said "You're gonna do it again?!?" Apparently, that was funny because he laughed and said "Yes, we're gonna try it again." Great....

Why Do I....

...hear water running???

Saturday afternoon.

I'm in my dining room packing my stuff, getting ready for the move. Yes, I know it's still a month and a half away! I'm eager, what can I say?

The washer and dryer are running in the basement. All is well, until...

I hear water running. And it's running like it's in the next room! I run down to the basement to find that the tub the washer drains into is overflowing all over the floor!!! WTH! I quickly shut off the washer, as water is running everywhere. I found the plunger and start plunging away inside the tub. Next thing I know, it starts draining AND the drain in the floor of the basement starts bubbling! I'm thinkin' they're somehow connected... Now that's a scary thought.

What could happen next?

Monday Update 2/19/07

Stitching
I’ve made my mind up to finish Mime by Candamar Designs. It’s a 15+ year old UFO that my brother bought me when I started getting serious about stitching. It really wasn’t my style of stitching back then, or now but I’m going to finish it and add it to my “wall of stitching”.

School
I took my second test in my meteorology and got a 90, which was really good considering the class average was 73%. I think I’m getting into a “schedule” as far as getting my reading and assignments done.

Family
Yet another family member has made a trip to the ER. On Friday, my sister was admitted with what we thought was a heart attack. The ER doc finally determined that he thought it was chronic gall bladder disease, and was to be scheduled for surgery this week. After talking to the surgeon, he’s sending her to another specialist to have some sort of upper GI test to determine if in fact it is her gall bladder that’s causing all the pain. Three immediate family members have been in the ER since Christmas! Who’s next?

I spent Friday and Saturday with my niece, since my sister wasn’t feeling the greatest. We had a good time shopping and watching movies. Hard to believe she’s going to be getting her driver’s permit in a few months! It seems like yesterday I was going to the hospital to see her for the first time.

Men
Is it normal for a 42year old man who’s never been married to refer to his mother as “mommy”? Twice now in emails to me, this man has done this… and quite honestly it weirds me out. He was supposed to call me last week and two days later he emailed to ask me when he would call. His response as to why he didn’t call was “Distractions.” And something about his “mommy”. Now, today I get an apology email that ended in “I guess I blew it with you.” Yikes... For inquiring minds... I haven’t gone on any dates with this guy.

S wanted to do a day date... spend an entire day together, so I racked my brain to come up with activities we could do together for a good part of Saturday. Winter really is not a good time for dating! We ended up going to the historical museum (which he really liked!), the art museum, and bowling… where I found out that he is pretty competitive! I also found out that he compares me to his ex-wife. He’s only been divorced 8 months. I’m not sure how I should feel about being compared to the ex. I guess the good thing is that he says I’m nothing like his ex. My 15yr old niece text messaged me on Sunday: "Has he asked you to be his girlfriend yet?" LOL, isn't she funny?

Had a dinner date on Sun with T. It was a nice time. I can tell he’s ‘sizing’ me up by the observations and comments he makes.

Interestingly enough, I find it interesting how both men emailed/text messaged me after the date to tell me how nice I looked... and to ask me if I was interested in another date. Could it be they’re afraid of being rejected? It's very weird for me to be dating more than one person at a time - I've never done it before now. Everyone tells me it's good to keep my options open, and until things get serious not to worry about it.

Cough Cough
By the end of the day Friday, I had a little cough. I thought it was my asthma acting up since I’d been in and out of the cold air all day. On Saturday, I woke up with chest congestion. By Sunday, I had the rumbling congested cough. Didn’t sleep well at all. This morning I woke up with swollen glands and feel pretty yucky, but not yucky enough to stay home from work.

Threatre
I went to a play called the "Odd Couple" on Saturday night. It's based on the TV show. The playhouse was packed. Two rows in front of me were a bunch from the red hat society. The play was really funny!

Thunder Nationals 2007

As promised, here are some photos of the action at the Monster Truck Thunder Nationals. The first one is of my nephew. Isn't he the cutest thing?

If you care to see more, click HERE. This is only a small portion of the photos I took that night.

Ladies Spa ... Ahhhh... Day

Are you overworked? Do you wish little Johnny would quit saying, "Mommmmm, I'm hungry." or "Mommmmm, Where's my.... ?" Ever take a break just for you?

Yesterday, I attended a Ladies Spa Day sponsored by the local hospital and YMCA. Well-deserving ladies could choose from several sessions to soothe the body, mind, and spirit. Sessions included such things as: Yoga, Cycling, Toning with Toys, Women on Weights, Pilates, Yarns of Today, Habits of Highly Effective Weight Loss, Cardmaking, Container Gardening, Massage, Manicure, and Facial. This is the second year I've gone and let me tell you... It's the best $35 you could ever spend if you want a day of relaxation, pampering, and creativity. We started out our day with a nice breakfast that included bagels, fruit, danish, coffee and/or juice. Then we all went on to our different sessions. I started out with a "For Your Body" session called Toning with Toys -- For 45 minutes, we were taught how to tighten and tone our muscles using hand-held weights, resistance tubing, and stability balls. Then I went on to a 45 minute Pilates session. I don't really care for Pilates -- It was hard on my joints and the mats are not thick enough. But hey, you never know til you try it! (Btw, I am sore today! LOL) Now that I had my body in order, I moved on to my "For Your Mind" session: Container Gardening. It was taught by an Illinois Extension Office Master Gardner. I didn't really learn too much, but I did get to share some tidbits that I knew with the class. Wouldn't you know that several others in the session has had problems with the cute furry critters I wrote about a couple weeks ago! My last two sessions were "Simply To Pamper". The fun part! Ahhhh.... First, I had a 20 minute facial. These were given by the Cosmetology students at the college. The girl I had was VERY good. Then I went and had a 15 minute seated massage. There were 4 massage therapists from the area there. The lady I had is actually a massage therapist at the salon I get my hair done at. She was very good, too! Now that I had my body, mind, and spirit in order -- It was lunch time! We were given a simple lunch and afterwards they gave out doorprizes. I actually won a card that offered $ off of various products at a pizza joint in town. Not something I will probably use, though. Last year, they had a motivational speaker which I really liked. They didn't have a speaker this year, so I was a little disappointed in that. It was well worth the $35! In talking with one of the other ladies, she said that she talked to several women who drove over 40 miles just to attend the Ladies Spa Day! Women everywhere should have something like this! We all deserve a partial day to ourselves!

GENTLEMEN! Start Your Engines!!!

Ladies & Gentlemen, Children of all ages... Welcome to the Thunder Nationals Monster Truck competition!! It’s an hour and a half of eardrum vibrating... fuel inhaling... testosterone pumping… 10,000 lb. monster truck action! Sat night, I celebrated my nephew’s 10th birthday by taking him to the Thunder Nationals Monster Truck competition. It’s an annual tradition now, since I’ve taken him for the past 5 years for his birthday. Fans had the pleasure of witnessing Brutus losing control and flipping over, crushing the roof and body of the monster truck favorite! After the show, there was the ritual of standing in line and getting autographs of the drivers. As if that weren’t enough… One of the drivers had a new sponsor: Mt Dew... and was handing out free bottles of Mt Dew MDX. For those of you who aren’t familiar – it’s one of those drinks that contain enough caffeine to wire you up enough to want to run laps around the stadium yourself! I told my nephew he best not drink that until the next day. (Let his parents deal with him bouncing off the walls) LOL!