Friday Fill-In on Sunday!

Okay, I am trying to get caught up....so bear with me.

Friday Fill-In

1. Follow the path less chosen.
2. A knitting project and good music are things I always take with me on vacation.
3. To achieve your goals, you must be prepared to face adversity and remain focused.
4. I love eating breakfast food for dinner is something I’d like you to know about me.
5. I have a dry sense of humor that some people never understand, unless I say incoming first.....
6. I love the movie Hope floats.
7. And as for the weekend, Friday I attended a Greg Trooper concert, Saturday was the museum and celebrating Jack's 30th birthday, and Sunday, I want to watch football and finish one my Pay-It-Forward gifts so I can mail it off.

We now break radio silence.....?

Yes, It has been a week since my last entry. Whoa...flash back to Catholic Confessional....

Sorry. There are a few reasons that I was MIA. I developed a nasty sinus infection and finally had to break down and get professional, medically administered drugs. Monday and Tuesday were basically duds. I just wanted to cut my head off and carry it around on a pole.

I did manage to watch the baseball playoffs. Man, what is happening to the Rays? They need to get it together Sunday! I will be rooting for the Phillies if they end up playing the Sox.....I have lit every candle I can and chanted/prayed in every language I know. I think I even made some up for luck.

I also watched some funny movies this week. I saw, "Anchorman", "The Ruins", " Hot Fuzz", "Wild Hogs". For some reason, I also watched "A Fish Called Wanda" and "Four Weddings, and a Funeral", this week. I had to watch "Anchorman" twice because it was so funny. "The Ruins" was a horror flick and I have to admit that I didn't actually finish it because it is not my genre. I am also queuing up the James Bond flicks on Comcast's On Demand....yummy, as much Sean Connery as I can stand....at my pace too!

Okay, I also went to see Greg Trooper Friday. As good as I am with words, I have very few to accurately describe how amazing this show actually was. Hands down, he is one of the best songwriters/singers I have ever had the privilege to see in person. His song, "This I'd Do", is one of the most touching songs I have ever heard. Any person in my life that could say that those lines and sincerely mean them would win my heart hands down. I think that this says it best:

GREG TROOPER
"Greg Trooper writes great songs, including one of my very favorite songs in the world, Little Sister. On top of all that, there's his voice - an instrument I have coveted for 15 years." - Steve Earle

“Greg Trooper has got to be on our list of our finest contemporary songwriters.” - Billy Bragg

“Greg Trooper is a songwriter and performer who deserves about 12 times the attention he’s received. He knows how to play rock against country and folk and position the pressures of adulthood against the longing for adolescent freedom.” - Dave Marsh USA Today

Greg Trooper, "Make It Through This World" A songwriter who would describe showing love to a hard-hearted girl as being "futile as a prayer" might not be a religious man, but Trooper's songs have the ring of gospel truth. Sure, the organ and the piano testify to each other on Dream Away the Blues, and the slide guitar sways and shouts like a Pentecostal preacher, but mostly it's in the care the singer/songwriter shows for even his least desirable characters, and in the way they all strive for meaning in their loves and lives. — Brian Mansfield

The company I kept at the concert was stellar as well. I am enjoying the freedom of friends that enjoy good music and the company of friends even without imbibing. We had so much fun. The set started at 7:30 PM and they played for about an hour and a half and took a fifteen minute break. They came back and played until after 10:30 PM CST. We gave them such an encore that they came back for three more songs. We didn't leave until 11:00 PM CST. Totally worth the nominal price of the ticket.

I finally downloaded a batch of pictures from the camera as well. I will be updating Ravelry later Sunday. The streaming video should show some of what I have been up to.

Today, I met Trouble, Jack, and Sweetpea at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. We went to see Dinosaur Mummy CSI: Cretaceous Science Investigation. It was a special treat for me. Before I divorced their dad, I used to take Trouble and Munchkin to the HMNS on a regular basis. Trouble was totally enthralled by the grand Dinos and I loved it. It was a special treat to see Sweetpea so smitten. He is sort-of my grandson, and I had a great time listening to what he knew about the things we saw. Jack and Trouble have been working with him and for five he is bright. I'm not sure who had the most fun.

Today was also Jack's birthday, so in our family tradition, we had what he wanted for dinner. Trouble and I fixed him steak, potatoes and green beans. I also fixed pork chops, broccoli, and a salad. It was so good to have people over and share dinner. Jack glows when he talks about Trouble and he seems so smitten. It was good to see, and Trouble looks great!

Sunday I will be looking over a contract, sending Official emails (follow ups), and catching up on football. I will also be glued to the chair for the final Rays versus Red Sox game.....knitting perhaps, depends on the game.

I may even post a late Temptations because I have a ton of stuff to enable everyone with.....beware.....

Floating and Soaring

Happy Saturday! Just dropping by a moment to jot down some thoughts.

Yesterday I got to spend time with a very special friend. I was a bit melancholy, so we decided to go to the movies at 2:00PM in the afternoon. How random is that for a Friday? What did we see? We saw The Women. It is a remake of the 1939 version that had such famous actresses as Joan Crawford and Rosalind Russell. I must admit, there were some very poignant lines about love and life that made me actually cry, but for the most part it was just the escape that I needed. It is an excellent "chic flick" and I actually want to get the DVD for my collection. It will be a great movie for cold/rainy winter days.

After the movie, we went to one of our favorite places to listen to The Front Porch Society and have some wonderful brats that were cooked by St. Arnold's own James Cunningham. The brats were perfect! They had been soaked in Warsteiner beer, boiled for five minutes, and then grilled. The weather could not have been nicer for sitting outside. One of the perks for Friday happy hours at this place is buy the beer and keep the glass. We each got two beers. One of the glass styles we opted for was the .4L Pilsner glass. The second beer we opted for the .4L Party Mug. The music was wonderful. We were close enough to hear them but not so close that we were unable to have a decent conversation.

Good friends are so important. This special friend knew I needed an escape and the evening was exactly what the doctor ordered.

Today, I have been vegetating. I watched the Red River Shootout and Texas won! I have also been watching other games and will do so the remainder of the day. I am also knitting and now that I found the camera cable, I can finally download the rest of the pictures and get proof of knitting posted.

I will also be watching the Rays second game....

2008 MLB Playoff Central

ALCS	NLCS

vs.	vs.
Red Sox lead 1-0	Phillies lead 2-0
Game 1: Red Sox 2, Rays 0	Game 1: Phillies 3, Dodgers 2
Game 2: Sat. at Rays	Game 2: Phillies 8, Dodgers 5
Game 3: Mon. at Red Sox	Game 3: Sun. at Dodgers
Game 4: Oct. 14 at Red Sox	Game 4: Mon. at Dodgers
Game 5*: Oct. 16 at Red Sox	Game 5*: Oct. 15 at Dodgers
Game 6*: Oct. 18 at Rays	Game 6*: Oct. 17 at Phillies
Game 7*: Oct. 19 at Rays	Game 7*: Oct. 18 at Phillies
Full Red Sox-Rays coverage	Full Dodgers-Phillies coverage
* -- if necessary

Wedensday Interlude

My friend posted this on her blog and I could not resist answering them myself.

What is one thing you admire about each of your parents?

I admire my father's ability to learn new things daily. He always stressed to us that knowledge was power and that we should learn something new daily. To this day, he is still doing that very thing. He loves computers and electronics and learns new programs on his computer as needed.

I admire my mother's ability to live with my father and not have killed him after almost fifty years. No, really, she is always calm and loving and no matter what he dreams up or does, she can remain that way. She is truly a saint.

Which parts of your home do you like best?

Since I am currently in an apartment and not at the house I have known for the last ten years, I will answer about my new home. I love the WHOLE place. Why? Because it is mine and I am free to move the furniture daily if I want and decorate how I want. I am free to express myself in a way I have never done before. I love the neighbors and the little community we have in our part of the complex. We are a big family unit and act as such.

Which would you prefer and why? To have every stoplight turn green upon your arrival for the rest of your life or to have one week of the best sex any person ever had?

No challenge on this one! One week of the best sex hands down. What could be better than the best sex of one's life? Traffic can go to fiddle sticks compared to the best sex ever....

Tuesday Temptations

Wow! First, I am finally getting back to "normal" from the sensory overload. I will freely admit that the rev of a motorcycle still makes my heart beat a little faster and also makes me turn my head if I can to look for the owner of the sound.

I must admit that my fellow enabler, lanoue81, aided and abetted the purchase of this. I was pondering my decor and I decided that I needed this for entertaining, especially since I don't seem to be making any headway on getting my personal belongings yet. Not going to mention or dwell on it either. It will happen. Any who, I was shopping at a few places in the hopes that one would be both affordable and match my growing love for the espresso finish. I grew weary of the disappointments so I decided to peruse the online sites. Low and behold, the first one I found was on Amazon.com, and almost instantly upon reading the specs it was ordered. It arrived via FedEx and I had to assemble it. It should have only taken about fifteen minutes to assemble; however, George assured me that he knew how to use my cordless drill/screwdriver and Gracie assured me that she could indeed hand me the parts as I needed them. Needless to say, it took about a half hour to assemble it. It is perfect! I have added a few bottles to it already and have placed the sparse bar tools and wine glasses I have inside.

With that in mind, I have now been in search of a few bar essentials that are needed to mix my poisons. I would love to have this, and monogrammed of course, because I find that very classic. If money were no object, ha, I would love to have this, this, this, and this. Of course, since I love anything monogrammed, anything from this page would be very acceptable. Of course, anything from this page and this page is necessary for a well stocked bar as well.

Speaking of entertaining, I would love to have this because I have a wonderful recipe that I would love to make for some one special for the holidays. Not sure who yet, but then again, my dance card could fill up. Yeah, and I could win the lottery or find a magic lamp with a genie inside. Any how, I would love anything from this page as well. Something about glass serving items is so clean and classic. Although, this tray really caught my attention. And I LOVE this napkin pattern, but a solid table cloth could be a challenge. I also think that this one goes better with the Moroccan theme I have been exploring.

Now, we get to blame my little sister for this one. She mentioned an evening with her better half and this. I was instantly dreaming of a way to get this as a gift....family...hint...hint....?!

Disclaimer....while I would love to be able to shop at both stores linked in these items, I am a working gal trying to be practical. Some of the things I want I already may own, but just don't have them in my possession. Others I do not have and will be looking for them in places that fit my budget. However, that blue tray may be a need item to set off the wine bar.

Last bit of stuff:

2008 MLB Playoff Central

ALCS	NLCS

vs.	vs.
Series tied 0-0	Series tied 0-0
Game 1: Fri. at Rays	Game 1: Thurs. at Phillies
Game 2: Sat. at Rays	Game 2: Fri. at Phillies
Game 3: Mon. at Red Sox	Game 3: Sun. at Dodgers
Game 4: Oct. 14 at Red Sox	Game 4: Mon. at Dodgers
Game 5*: Oct. 16 at Red Sox	Game 5*: Oct. 15 at Dodgers
Game 6*: Oct. 18 at Rays	Game 6*: Oct. 17 at Phillies
Game 7*: Oct. 19 at Rays	Game 7*: Oct. 18 at Phillies
Full Red Sox-Rays coverage	Full Dodgers-Phillies coverage
* -- if necessary

Sorry to all my bloggy friends, but I will be cheering LOUDLY for the Rays! Games start for the NLCS Thursday and then Friday for the ALCS I will be glued to a TV cheering for Carl Crawford and the Rays.