Saturday, February 17, 2018

Flashback Friday: Making My Valentine Drool....

Feb 1998
I called T.

"Will you be my Valentine?"

"I'd like to be, but not this year."

"Too bad, because IF you were my Valentine, this is what would be waiting for you tonight:  Roasted pork loin, mashed potatoes, broccoli, fresh rolls, and a red velvet cake for dessert."

"WOW!  Is it too late to change my mind?  So......who's your Valentine this year?"

"Since it can't be you, then it's my kids."

Before you judge, remember, D was barely speaking to me and with the accident the previous month, was now making weekly trips to the chiropractor.  We were also getting ready to file our taxes.

Next Month:  Tax Refund Arrives!!!

***********
Present Day:
I was supposed to head home today, since my dad's surgery isn't until March 14th, but woke up feeling wonky yesterday.  Hopefully having lunch with a friend, as well as attending a teleconference with Hydra.

Don't know if I'll go to Kimmieoke tonight at the Eagles, or stay home and watch the Olympics.

Yesterday was a crazy day:  Lindsey Vonn ended up in 5th place in the women's Super G when Austria took over 1st and pushed her to 4th.....then a Czech Republic skier edged out Austria for the gold by .001 of a second!

In men's Figure Skating, Nathan Chen skated a near-flawless long program to go from 17th to first, until Japan edged him out. Then Spain and the final Japanese skater pushed him off the podium.  It ended up being Japan 1st and 2nd, Spain 3rd, and USA 4th.

I'd speculated that since Chen was now in 17th, maybe the pressure would be off and he'd land all his quads.....he did, doing 6, and only bobbling on one of them:)  When Andrea Joyce interviewed him, he confirmed it:  He just wanted to enjoy the moment, with no pressure:)

Friday, February 9, 2018

Flashback Friday: Strange Way To Celebrate Valentine's Day....

Feb 1988:
Six months of trying to flip-flop my body clock finally took its toll, esp with the speeding ticket the previous month.  I decided to end my relationship with CS.

As luck would have it, this momentous occasion happened to be on Valentine's Day.  We spent a lackluster day together, most of it while he was sleeping, then I gently broke up with him.  Friends JR and DH took me out to dinner at Ponderosa and presented me with a small teddy bear that I promptly placed on my dashboard (he lay flat on his tummy) and named 'Co-Pilot'.

Friend BH and I, along with JR, went to a local bar, the Round Up, and had so much fun dancing, that I decided to make one more trip down, to party and say farewell to this college town.

Little did I know Fate had other plans.....

Next Month:  Fall out From Speeding Ticket and Oops, Rebellion Part 3?

************
Present Day:
I'm currently at my parents' house, helping out for either the next week, or staying longer if my dad's surgery is scheduled.  So far, I've taken down the tree and put away the decorations, and played Words With Friends with K,S, J, F, and A.  I joined the app just to play with my son, and suddenly more people want to play with me!

I have to take issue with this app:  It won't recognize some names; some words; but accepts "QIS" as a WORD?  I've been playing for nearly a week, and some of the letter combinations has just bumfuzzled me.  One game, I was given nearly only vowels, no matter how many times I tried to swap them out.

This is why I've always hated playing Scrabble....

Olympic Update:
Figure Skating, Team Competition:
USA is in 2nd, due to Nathan Chen stumbling and falling twice on his quads, then the Pair duo tripping, but not falling.  Japan's Men's skater was flawless, as was the German pair, the Canadian pair, and the Russian pair.

Moguls:
USA did well in both men's and women's.

Opening ceremonies are tonight!  Anxious to see who's carrying the flag.

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Reality Recap

Ink Master #4:  Ingenuity

Flash Challenge:  Painting stairs to make a picture.
Steve:  Issues with teammate, who wants to be a diva (I think???? Had him confused with Daniel)
DJ:  Josh, calling out other contestants and getting on their nerves
Anthony:  David has attitude over his idea not being picked

End Result:
Steve:  Flower
DJ:  Goose
Anthony:  Shadows-Chosen as winner!

Elimination Tattoo:  Mash-up Tatts
Team A targeting Matt, Josh, and Lil D.

Critique-Bottom:
Lil D
Matt
Katie
Gary
Mike
Jason

Chopping Block:
Matt (chosen by coaches)
Lil' D
Katie

Matt sent home.

Amazing Race #5:  Prague
Double U-Turn:  BB picked Well-Strung

Detour:
This (Beer)                 or             That (Astronomy):
X-treme                                        Ocean (decided to switch)
Yale                                               Firefighters
Ocean                                            B/B (wrong lecture hall; decided to switch)
Indy                                              Well-Strung (1st)
B/B
Well-Strung (2nd)

Firefighters finished 1st; off to the bathing in beer!
X-treme 2nd, but found bathing place 1st.
Yale-3rd

Kafta Phones-Roadblock
"The Meaning of Life is that it Stops"
X-treme 1st-earns trip to Perth:)
F/F
Yale
Indy
Ocean
B/B
Well-Strung-Eliminated.


Tuesday, February 6, 2018

February Reading Schedule

Is it just me, or did January seem to drag?  Maybe it was all the cold and snow that kept me indoors.  Too bad I didn't write anything except blog posts....

So How Did I Do?
Buy inventory  Check:)  Bought copies of HS, CA, and half of what I need of Kenzie's.  TP and Orion still to be ordered.
Write Ch 6 of Heart Song  Nope
Get my clothes out of the box and into a rubbermaid 3 drawer chest Check:)
Organize boys' room  Check:)
Lose 5 lbs Nope; with Christmas and being snowed in for 2 weeks, gained 4 lbs.  Ugh...
Pay cover artist (Paid half!) for Winning Her Heart AND order copies Sitting in my Cart.... 
Pay for March event  Cancelled
Buy new Prayer Journal and calendar  Check:)
Finish watching Criminal Minds (Check!) and The Crown (Check!) before binge-watching Game of Thrones 
Start watching The Ranch on Netflix  (Check!  Watched all episodes!  WOW!)

Books Read:  3
            Print:  2
        E-Book:  1

Karaoke Songs Added:  17
                            Thurs:  3
                                 Sat:  14

February Goals:
Finish Buying Inventory Check:)  All but more copies of TP.
Write Ch. 6 of Heart Song
Start 'Bad Ideas' story Started 1/30 and finished 2/4!!!!!!
Finish paying WHH cover artist
Lose 5 lbs (starting weight:  236)  Ugh.  Due to being at Mom's and the arrival of the GS cookies, put on 5 lbs.  Went the wrong direction, lol....
Watch SE7 Game of Thrones
Watch Stranger Things on NetFlix SE1, check:)
Be helpful to the parents when Dad undergoes knee surgery (aneurysm behind knee cap) Scheduled for March 14th
File Taxes Check:)  Filed March 1st, lol...


Reading Schedule:
Print:
Lost Child of Hermes-Alison Sky Richards  Finally!  Was not invested in this story past Ch 10, and relieved when I finally finished it last night (Feb 27th).


E-Book:
Green Castles-KL Montgomery  Good story!  Was a little lost, locationally at first, but then figured out they were in Greencastle, not Plainfield or Greenwood.
Back To School-Dylan Cross Story began good, but as it went on, I was appalled at how the administrator treated her....seemed to enjoy it also!  Kept hoping it was a pre-arranged 'fantasy', but no dice.  First time I've ever given a 1 or 2 star rating.
This Regret-Victoria Ashley  Finally finished this long drawn out story....


Karaoke Songs:
Thurs: 
***Due to trip to Lafayette, will not be able to sing.  Brower was sick 2/1*****

Sat:
Paparazzi-Lady Gaga (re-sing) Nailed it!
Paperback Writer-Beatles Nailed it!
In The End-Linkin Park (with Melissa) Nailed it!  I sang, she rapped:)
Paradise City-Guns-n-Roses Did well; Elaine sang it with me
Parents Just Don't  Understand-DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince Better than in 2011 or 12, when I tried it at Cincinnati Saloon!
Part-Time Lover-Stevie Wonder Not too bad:)
*****Due to Lafayette trip, will only be in town one week******

Monday, February 5, 2018

Philly Eagles Win! #SuperBowl52 (LII)

Super Bowl Observations:
Pre-Game:
Are the cheerleaders for both teams wearing bikinis????? WTH????

Leslie Odom Jr:  America The Beautiful.  Good job!

Pink:  Nat'l Anthem.  Whoo hoo!!!  Found out today she had the flu....as long as she didn't infect anyone!

NO PLAYERS KNEELING!  Whoot!

Commercial #1:  
Ameritrade, with Lionel Richie, trying to get him to say 'All Night Long'.  Cute!

Coin Toss:
Eagles call tails; it's heads.  Pats choose to kick off.

1st Q:
Philly-11 plays, F/G:  3 pts

Comm #2-4:
Cute Sprint comm!
Star Wars:  Solo coming Memorial Day!!
Jurassic Park:  Lost Kingdom.  Looks intense!

Pats-8 plays, F/G:  3 pts

Comm #5-6:
Danny DeVito as Red M&M!  Priceless!
Game of Thrones-inspired/Camelot:  Bud Lite!  TBC....

Philly-TD!  XP, nada.  9 pts

Comm #7:
Dodge Ram and Vikings.....Love it!!

*****End 1st Q:  Philly 9, Pats 3*******

Comm #8-10:
Doritos with Peter Dinklage....awesome!
Mt. Dew Ice with Morgan Freeman.....equally awesome!
Tide:  Weeeeeird.....

2nd Q:
Pats player tried to jump over Philly.....FAIL!
Pats F/G attempt:  Catcher fumbles ball; kick goes wide to left and bounces off upright.

Philly 1....2.....3....4.....punt

Comm #11:
Bud Lite Pt 2....strange.....

Pats player:  Wind knocked out of him?  Sent to locker room.

Comm #12-13:

Great Rocket Mortgage!!!!
Avacados.....weeeeird....

TD Philly!!!!!  2-pt conversion, nada.  15 pts.

Comm #14-16:
Pringles???
Febreeze???
Chris Pratt-'getting in shape' for Michelob Ultra...WTH?

Pats-F/G:  6 pts

Interception by Pars at 5 yd line!!!

TD Pats!!  XP, nada.  Wide left.  12 pts

Comm #17:
Chris Hemsworth and Danny McBride-tourism comm for Australia!

TD Philly!!  XP, good:  22 pts

*********Halftime:  Philly, 22, Pats 12*********

Comm #18:
Great Toyota one!!!  Priest, Rabbi, Muslim, and Monk...going to the SB!

Justin Timberlake is in da house!
-???
-Rock Your Body??
-Great shout-out Minnesota!
-??  Sound really not that great.
-??  Can't understand words; music drowns him out.  Great choreography with mike stand!
-???
-???  Playing piano.....PRINCE!!!  "I Will Die 4 U" with projector screen and hologram!!  LOVE IT!!!  Outside shot of downtown Minneapolis....going purple....GREAT TRIBUTE!!!!!
-???
-Can't Stop The Feeling:)   Kid looks thrilled to be taking a selfie with JT!

3rd Q:
TD Pats!!!  XP, good:  19 pts

Comm #19:
Tide:  Stand By Me

TD Philly!!!!  Under Review.....

Comm #20:
Jurassic Park Jeep with Jeff Goldblume....clever!

TD Philly ruled good!  XP yes:  29 pts.  This one's going to be talked about; did the player have control as he stepped out of bounds?

Comm #21-22:
Steven Tyler 'Dream On' as he drives around the track with Kia Stinger.....gets younger:)
The Voice:  Loved it!!!!  Kelly Clarkson is new judge:)

TD Pats!!!  XP good:  26 pts

Comm #23-24:
Babies are Equal....T-Mobile.  Duh.....
Kraft:  'There are many ways to Family"  Again, Duh!

Spotted in-house:  Gwen Stefani, Blake Shelton, and Bradley Cooper

*******End of 3rd:  Philly, 29, Pats, 26*************

Comm #25:
Eli Manning dances with another player to Time of My Life (Dirty Dancing)  Best one of the night!!!

4th Q:
Philly, F/G:  32 pts

TD Pats!!  XP good:  33 pts (takes lead for 1st time!)

Comm #26-28:
Alexa loses her voice-funny!
Coke For All! 
Peyton Manning and Universal....kid tells him, "You're un-coachable!"

TD Philly!!!  Under Review.....Ruled good!  Another one going to be talked about for days to come....was the player a runner or was he diving?  Ruled:  Runner who was tripped....that makes ball Good when hit the ground.  Player loses ball, but recovers it before it hit the ground again.
2-pt conversion, nada.  38 pts and retake lead.

Tom Brady-picked off!  Philly's ball!  Did the ball hit the ground or player's foot???

Comm #29:
Another weird Tide one.... Tide Ad??  Tie-Dad???

Philly F/G:  Good!  41 pts

Pats 4th and 10, convert 1st down, 45 seconds left in game.  Can't get past 30 yd line, clock runs out.

EAGLES WIN!!!!!!  41-33!!!!!  Brady looks stunned.