I thought you might like to see some of people that I work with. So here are some pics.

Koey and I are cubicle mates. She teaches English. She is so funny!

Natalia sits on my the other side of my cubicle wall.
This is her first year at this school and she teaches English.

Mr. Tom (his surname is Tom) when I lived here before he is the one who gave me my Chinese name. Kind of my adopted dad. (my dad's name is Tom)

Daphne is also an English Teacher. She takes great care of me.

May teaches English, too. She and I both love Fashion and enjoy spending time together.

Denise Jim (everyone calls her Jim) teaches English.

There are more, but those are the ones that I have attacked with my camera. They are a great bunch of people and have been so helpful in getting me settled in my life in HK.

This is the Big one to end them all.

Ok, so here it is. The last one of these "About me" that I am going to post. It's a big one and has catagories so be prepared.

Basics:
Name: Katie Moore
Date of Birth: April 8
Birthplace: Pittsburgh
Current Location: Hong Kong
Eye Color: Blue
Hair Color: Dark Blonde (but going to change soon)
Height: around 5 8
Heritage: Irish, German, English
Piercings: ears
Tattoos: none
Favourite:
Band/Singer: Melinda Doolittle (this changes frequently)
Song: Adonai by Avalon
Movie: Hairspray (this also changes frequently)
Disney Movie: I really like most of them
TV show: Frasier
Color: Pink
Food: Mexican
Pizza topping: Pepperoni
Ice-Cream Flavor: Phish Food by Ben and Jerry's
Drink (alcoholic): Cosmo
Soda: dont drink pop
Store: Super Sample (in HK) Chico's and JJill (in USA)
Shoe Brand: cheap--I really don't have a favorite brand just like lots of shoes
Season: Fall
Month: April-- my birthday month
Holiday/Festival: Christmas
Flower: gerber daisy
Make-Up Item: Mascara
Board game: Trivial Pursuit
This or That
Sunny or rainy: I like both, but rain is the best for lazy days in bed
Chocolate or vanilla: vanilla (w/ chocolate syrup)
Fruit or veggie: fruit
Night or day: night
Sour or sweet: sweet
Love or money: love
Phone or in person: in person
Looks or personality: personality
Coffee or tea: tea
Hot or cold: cold
Your:
Best physical feature: eyes
First thought waking up: UGH!!
Sesame street alter ego: big bird
Fairytale alter ego: Little Mermaid
Worst crime: speeding
Strangest received gift: the gift wasn't strange it was the fact that I knew what it was because she gave the same thing to every friend, so the end of the school year birthday people knew what they were getting because the people in September received the same item for their birthday.
Worst habit: picking at my nails
Do You:
Smoke: nope
Drink: occasionally
Curse: no
Shower daily: yes
Like thunderstorms: yes love them--when we were growing up we would sit in the garage and watch the storms with our mom. It was the best.
Dance in the rain: love doin it
Sing: yes all the time --Just not in public
Play an instrument: nope
Get along with your parents: yes
Wish on stars: sometimes
Believe in fate: yes
Believe in love at first sight: no
Can You:
Sew: no
Cook: yes my specialty is a Fratatta
Speak another language: some German
Dance: I love to dance, but don't get to very much
Sing: yes
Touch your nose with your tongue: yes i can
Whistle: yes
Curl your tongue: yes
Have You Ever:
Been Drunk: yes
Been Stoned/High: nope
Eaten Sushi: yes
Been in Love: nope
Skipped school: yes, but mommy said I could stay home.
Made prank calls: of course
Sent someone a love letter: a long time ago
Stolen something: no
Cried yourself to sleep: yes
Other Questions:
What annoys you most in a person? How they eat their food.
Are you right or left handed? right
What is your bedtime? I prefer to stay up late, but since I have to get up so freakin early, I'm trying to be in bed by 10.
Name three things you can't live without: God, family & friends
What is the color of your room? white walls and blue/brown comforter
Do you have any siblings? yes 2
Do you have any pets? no
What is your middle name? Kress
What are you nicknames? Kate, I guess I don't really have any. boohoo
Do you have a crush on anyone? no
Are you afraid of the dark? Sometimes, it depends on where I am.
How do you want to die? without pain
What is the largest amount of popsicles that you have eaten on one day? I have no idea
Would you take a bullet for the one you love? yea
What is the last law you've broken? speeding
In a Member of the Opposite Sex:
Hair color: dark
Eye color: blue or brown
Height: TALL over 6ft.
Weight: more than me.
Most important physical feature: eyes or smile
Biggest turn-off: being a wimpy man

Hopefully when I did the cut and paste, I got all the answers changed to my answers. Hope you enjoyed all that useless infomation.

Company Name?

Some of you might know that I make jewelry as a hobby, well I decided that I am going to start a little business on the side, but I need to come up with a name for my company. So if you can think of a creative name, leave me a comment or email me. If I use your idea, I will give you credit for the name (and a free bracelet)

some info on my business:
*Bracelets
*Necklaces
*Earrings
*Mostly glass beading
*I also knit scarves

So think, think, think!!!

Spell with Flickr

Spell with Flickr a fun little program that lets you spell words with photos of letters from Flickr. If you don't like the photos that are first given then click the letter and it will change them for you.

Crude Advertising/not for innocent eyes

So I am living in Hong Kong now and they just don't seem to have a sensor button on what they show in their advertising in public place(subway station and trains in particular).Often walking in the station or sitting on the train you see advertising that is definitely not PG. Today I saw a very disturbing ad, so I thought I would share it with you.
If you aren't able to make it out very well it's for V*i&agra. Enough said. (the * and & are because I don't want my blog to show up on a google search for that word

List of questions.

Ok gang, I know that you know how to do this. Copy and paste this into the comments section and change the answers to be your answers.

1.How many suits do you own? I own about 4, but only 2 fit me.but I'm getting closer to fitting in to them again. :)
2.What word do you routinely misspell? Definately, oops I mean definitely. thank God for Spellcheck.
3.Did you see Brokeback Mountain? No
4.Did you see The Da Vinci Code? No
5.What's the name of your cell phone ring? I don't know the name, it's a preprogramed ring
6.What time did you get up this morning? I first woke up at 6am and then fell back to sleep about an hour later and slept until 9am
7.When did you last cry and why? Today, I'm homesick and frustrated. (if you are reading this then please pray for me.)
8.Which of the seven deadly sins are you? Gluttony (although I have been working on it)
9.Beach, city or country? 70% of the time--city, 20%--Beach and 10%--Country
10.Would you say you're cute? Pretty? Hot? Beautiful? I hope that I'm pretty on the outside and Beautiful on the inside.
11.What color is your bathroom? Right now I don't have my own bathroom. But at my parents place it was cream walls with green curtain and towels.
12.How many emails do you receive a day, roughly? including spams--40, no spams-3
13.What's your opinion of New York City? I love it -- the energy, the restaurants, the shopping.
14.What's your favorite letter? "K" of course.
15.Have you ever downloaded a podcast? If so, which one? Yes, CFC messages, Grammar Girl, Frommer's travel
16.Who's your all-time favorite American Idol candidate? Melinda Doolittle
17.When's the last time you volunteered? Where? In July, Mission trip to Hong Kong
18.What did you have for breakfast? A 100%Whey Protein Shake
19.What's your favorite item of clothing? Gaucho pants from J.Jill
20.What one toiletry item could you not live without? Toothbrush

I hope that you enjoyed this new list of questions.

Sound of Music Sing-A-Long

(To hear me tell this story click here)
About 2 months ago, my mom and I went to the Sound of Music Sing-A-Long. Let me start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. We saw that the local Civic Theatre was hosting the Sound of Music Sing-A-Long. We thought how fun that would be to see the musical live and to be able to sing along with the cast. So my mom ordered the tickets for the Sunday Matinee show. That is when we found out something that wasn't very good...It wasn't live, it was singing along with the movie. Why did we ignore the red flag?

We arrive at the Theatre and are given our little goodie bag. This bag contains a variety of "helps" for the Sing-A-Long. The following things are in the bag:

• flibbertigibbet card
• maria card
• question mark card
• a ghost (?) card
• an invitation to "The Captain's Ball"
• A piece of floral cloth
• A popper
• and a sprig of silk flowers

Of course we didn't really know what these items were for, so a gal got up on stage and introduced the show and what we were supposed to do with each item. Talk about the wrong person for the job. She was supposed to lead us in a practice of the song "How do you solve a problem like Maria?" yet she didn't know the words. Then she told us that every time the Baroness came into the room we were supposed to HISS, and every time Julie came on we were supposed to CHEER. (good for you if you caught that I wrote JULIE instead of MARIA. yes her name in real life is JULIE, but the character is MARIA and she reference every other person by their characters name rather than their real name. I mean really folks, how hard is it to get that straight, especially when you are explaining about a song that has her name in it.)

These cards go with the song "How do you solve a problem like Maria?" ?-"How do you solve a problem" . Maria -- "Like maria". "A Flibbertigibbet" . Ghost(?)--"a will of a wisp" Then are you ready, we had to put our fingers on our nose for --" A clown"

One scene in the movie, Maria is upset that that children don't have any play clothes. She is thinking and thinking of what she could do. Well she was just told that they drapes were going to be replaced in her bed room. So we were supposed to take the piece of material and wave it and shout "Behind you, behind you." and sure enough she turns around and finds that the drapes would work perfectly for clothes for the children.

We were all invited to the Captain's Ball. So we had to wave our card and shout "A Ball, A Ball!!"


When the Captain sang "Edelweiss" we had to take our flowers and wave them in the air.


We also had a popper, but for the life of me, I can't remember when we popped them. All I remember is that the little girl in the row in front of us got scarred when the poppers when off and her dad had to take her out of the room.

Although the entire concept was CHEESY, I always enjoy getting to watch the sound of music and now I have a fun story to go along with it.

My Car

Well I sold my car, but I can't say that I am sad to part with it. It wasn't that great of a friend. Yes, it got me to the places I wanted to go and it never left me stranded (well one time I got a flat tire on my way home from Indy, but technically that was the tire not the car and I wasn't stranded for long. and the spare was actually a full tire not just one of those sissy spares.) But I digress...My real sadness is that my car didn't get to wear the "In God We Trust" license plate but for a few days. My licenses plates were due for renewal on July 31st, and I didn't sell the car until August 4th. So for 3 1/2 days my car got to wear the plate that I have been waiting for since January. I know that you are probably thinking why didn't you just get the plates in January when they came out. To be honest, I didn't have the time to wait at the license branch and didn't want to pay for the plates until it was time. Well now I have to go back to the license branch to get some of my money back. And of course do I get all of it back. Heck no!!! It cost me $30 so that my car could be registered for those 3 1/2 days. (thank goodness that's not the going rate for the year. can you imagine at that rate it would be over $3,000 for your plates.)

I went to the Derby

Yes, I went to the Derby. For those of you who are into horses, I'm sure the first thing that came into your mind was the Kentucky Derby. Well I'm sorry to disappoint, but it wasn't the Kentucky Derby, it was the Demolition Derby. This was my first experience at it and it will probably be my only one. I really am not sure how to describe this for you if you haven't been before, so I hope these pictures will help. Basically. a bunch of cars are trying to destroy each other and the last one to still be running is the winner.

Mr. Picassohead

Ok, so I have always wanted to be really artistic, but I'm just not. Well today I was told about a website that turns you into a Picasso. You get to create your own Picassohead. It was fun and makes me look like I have some artistic ability. Check out my artwork. Then try your hand at it. When you save the picture make sure you send me the link.

Brooks

Ok, so maybe this isn't funny to anyone else but me. But now my mom knows 4 "Brooks." We were at a wedding yesterday (Congrats, Amanda and Wes) and the Ministers first name was Brooks. When I pointed it out to my mom, she thought it was funny, but my dad didn't know what we were talking about, so I preceded to tell him the whole story about my mom and the 3 Brooks and mom trying to make a phone call with two phones in her hand. He didn't think it was that funny. Oh, well his loss.

Personal DNA

When reading my daily dose of "How about Orange" I found this quiz to get my personal DNA. It was a fun quiz and I found out that I am an Encouraging Director. My DNA looks like this:

Encouraging Director

Take the quiz and let me know what your DNA looks like.

It's official

Well, I thought I would let my three readers know that it is now official.(are you sitting down? well you probably are since you are reading the computer, but you never know, maybe you like to stand and read, and if that's you, then please sit down before you read the next sentence) I am moving to Hong Kong. Yes, you read that correct. I have been offered a position at the school at which I used to teach. I will be working with the students on their oral English. Also, since the school is a Christian school I will be able to lead Bible studies and freely share my faith with them. I am so excited about this opportunity. I will be moving the middle of August. Between now and then I will have lots to do. I have a two week mission trip(to Hong Kong) to go on June 30- July 14 then after I return I will have one month until I move. I know that my mom is planning on having a going away party for me and I would love to have you come.

Also, I would love to have you come and visit me. Please leave me a comment to let me know if you will be able to come to Hong Kong and stay with me. There is so much to see and do there, I think you will all just love it.

Indy 500

My dad came home from work on Thursday and asked me what I was doing on Sunday. I responded with "Nothing, why?" "Do you want to go to the Indy 500?"

My dad's company gives away tickets to different events all the time. Last year my dad won tickets to the Brickyard and the Formula One races. This year, the guy he carpools with won the tickets to the Indy 500. He didn't want them, so he gave them to my dad.

We got up way to early on a Sunday (6:30) to drive up to Indy. We parked at the airport, caught the shuttle to Speedway and then walked the 4 blocks to the stadium. Our seats were in the Paddock: facing east, under cover, across from Pit Row and right at the starting line. They were awesome seats.
Before the race started, Florence Henderson and the Purdue Marching Band performed "God Bless America" In the picture, Florence is on the checkered stage on the left, the Purdue Marching Band is next to the stage on the right and Soldiers are across the Middle.

The race started at 1:00. I tried to get a picture of the cars going by, but they were so fast that all I got was a picture of the track.
Actually I did get some pictures, Here they are:


After 110+ laps the rain came down. (I'm thinking it was about 113 laps) Look at the difference between these two pictures. One was during the race before the rain and the other was taken during the rain.

In case you couldn't tell what the difference was between the pictures, it was the number of fans in the stands

After raining for about 30 minutes, we decided to head home. We knew that the race might be called, or it could be hours before they start it back up again. We enjoyed what we saw and were ready to make it a day.

We walked the 4 blocks back to the shuttle stop (it seemed like it was more than 4 blocks on the way back...i'm thinking because we were walking in the rain.) Caught the shuttle back to the airport and then drove home.

Check out my video of the race.

Crazy Carrot

Today I was eating a little bag of baby carrots, when I came across a mutated carrot. I thought it was pretty funny, so I took a picture of it.

My crazy Mom

I'll try to condense this story without losing the funniness of the situation. So here's my attempt.

About 10 years ago, my mom had a client named Brooks (female). Now present day, one of my mom's favorite shows is "Designed to Sell." One of the Carpenters on the show is named Brooks (male). Mom made a comment that until the first Brooks she had never heard of that name as a first name and now she "knows" two Brooks.

Well today the phone rang and on caller ID it said "Brooks" was the first name. My mom answered the phone and when she got off she said, that it was a person calling to tell her that she had left messages on their machine but had the wrong number. But the funny thing was that this person was the cousin of the person she was trying to reach, so he gave her the correct number. I told her she now "knows" 3 Brooks. Well as you can imagine, that confused her so I had to remind her about her dead client, the carpenter and now this one who just called. Apparently she hadn't looked at Caller ID before answering. So when she did, she laughed. Well if you know my mom and her craziness, you know that when she laughs it gets her off track. So with the cordless phone that she had answered in her hand, she picked up the other cordless phone and started to dial the correct number. I asked her what she was doing with two phones. When she realized what was happening, she just lost it. She laughed so hard that she had to wait over 10 minutes to be able to make the phone call.

Canadian Geese

Canadian Geese are so beautiful in the air. It's amazing how they fly in "V" formation. How do they learn to do that? But more importantly, how can such beautiful creatures be such a nuisance to so many people. There are many lakes around town that are inundated with these animals. As fun as it is to take little kids to feed the ducks, you can't because of these mean geese. They will swarm you and peck you for the food.

And then you know what happens after the eat, they have to poo. Well do they ever. They leave a mess behind that is unbelievable. Apparently it's not just here that has a problem, there was a story on NBC news last night about them. Here's the link to the video.

Mission Trip

On June 30th, I and a team of 11 others will be heading to Hong Kong and Mainland China. We are all a part of a mission trip team that will be going to work English Camps for Chinese students. For those of you who know me, you know that I lived in Hong Kong for a year as an English Teacher. We will be working for one week at my old school. The students we will be working with are freshman in highschool. We will be helping them as they prepare for their public exams. When we go into Mainland China, we will be taking with us junior student from Hong Kong.

For this trip we need to raise up a support team. We need people who are willing to prayerfully and/or financially support us. If you would like to be a part of our support team, leave me a comment with your email address and I'll be in touch with you.

For more information you can check out our blog about the trip. we are going to try to update while we are there.

I met Jesus

So yesterday was the Michael W. Smith concert at my church. Since I enjoy music so much I thought that I would volunteer to be the runner for the day. Basically this means that I would run any errands that they(the artist or their people)have. I did this before for Jars of Clay when they were in town and had a good experience, so figured why not for one of my favorite singers.

The run down of my day:

• My day started at about 2 in the afternoon. They didn't really have much for me to do, so I tried to read some of my book "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand.
  
• I ate dinner with them and they seem to have so much fun together. They were all cracking me up. (you know me, I love to laugh)
  
• My first real run was after dinner, I took their bus driver to the hotel so that he could get some sleep before having to drive them late that night.
• The next thing I had to do was show Todd (one of Michael's peeps) to the airport to drop off Michael's rental car. Todd jumped in the van and we made a quick run to Starbucks. As always it was good coffee, plus it was good company.
• After the concert, I had to take Michael and his special guest to the airport. The special guest was Jim Caviezel, really, Jim Caviezel (Jesus in the Passion of the Christ movie) He and Michael are really good friends and so he came into town for the show.
  
  
• Then I picked up the driver at the hotel.
• My day was over.

He's gone!!!

Finally, Sanjaya has been voted off of American Idol. I was starting to get a bit worried that my favorite show was going to be ruined by mean people who wanted to vote for the worst singer. I'm sure that the other contestants are relieved as well.

My favorite contestant is Melinda Doolittle. Not only is she the best singer, she is also so humble and a Christian!!

Let me know who your favorite is!

Let me introduce you to Princess Cupcake A La Mode. I just created her on the M&M website. It was really a fun thing. You get to pick the body shape, color, hair, eyes, well everything about your special M&M. Then you can download it on to your computer or buy merchandise with your creation on it. Check out this site to build your own. If you create one let me know.

Right or Left Brain

Brain Lateralization Test Results

Right Brain (42%) The right hemisphere is the visual, figurative, artistic, and intuitive side of the brain. Left Brain (58%) The left hemisphere is the logical, articulate, assertive, and practical side of the brain

Are You Right or Left Brained?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Four things about me.

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Instructor at Community College
2. Christian Concert Promoter
3. Shopping Center Manager
4. Teacher in Hong Kong

Four movies I can watch over and over:
1. My Best Friends Wedding
2. Sweet Home Alabama
3. Emma
4. Sliding Doors

Four places I have lived:
1. Newburgh, IN
2. Hong Kong
3. West Lafayette, IN
4. Indianapolis, IN

Four TV shows I love/like:
1. Law and Order:Original
2. Law and Order: Special Victims
3. American Idol
4. Frazier

Four places I have been on vacation:
1. Multiple places in Florida
2. Singapore
3. Australia
4. England

Four of my favorite foods are:
1. Reese's Cups
2. Rice Krispie Treats
3. Mexican
4. Scones

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Hong Kong
2. Australia
3. Singapore
4. With my Niece

Four favorite things:
1. Thunderstorms
2. Flowers
3. I-pod
4. My Niece

Let me know about you!!

Gung Hei Fat Choi

Happy Chinese New Year!!!! It's the year of the pig!

Do you think English is easy?

I got a funny email today.

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present
8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail
18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?


Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant,
nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins
weren't invented in England or French fries in France. We take English
for granted But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can
work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from
Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't
groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the
plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One
index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not
one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one
of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats
vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the English
speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what
language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck
and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a
wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a
language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you
fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going
on.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the
creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all That
is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are
out, they are invisible.

PS. - Why doesn't "Buick" rhyme with "quick"

Super Bowl shuffle

Chicago Bears Super Bowl Shuffle Video

Da BEARS!!

Even though I live in Indiana, and am an AFC fan, I am going to be cheering for for Da BEARS!! I have been a Bear fan since the Super Bowl shuffle days. If you don't remember all the words to that fantastic song check out this site.

Well here she is!! My new little Niece, Ashlyn. She arrived on Wednesday Jan 17. She is just precious. Besides the fact that she pooped on me today.

TOO MUCH FOOD

The week before christmas, my Bible Study group got together at the Acropolis for lunch. The night before, my friend Kyle said that I should try the "name your own price" meal. So I asked about it. Oh, my gosh, talk about alot of food. Here's the description from their menu:

"Name your own price and enjoy an combination of dishes consisting of cold and hot appetizers, salad, assorted entrees and dessert. Remember to take your time to finish this and let us tell you that it is ok with the chef if you do not finish it. He knows that towards the end you will be begging for no more food.(minimum 2 people)"

Well let me tell you, we were begging for NO MORE food. Actually, one course that was brought out was immediately taken away and boxed-to-go.

Our Meal:
Platter of pita bread & various sauces including: Hummus; Melitzanosalata – blended eggplant with humus, tahini and olive oil; & Tzatziki – homemade creamy greek yogurt/cucumber dip with garlic and virgin olive oil

Dolmades – grapevine leaves stuffed with lean spiced ground beef, rice, & herbs

Greek Salad

Stifado – beef cubes cooked with onions red wine and red wine vinegar, served with rice pilaf

Gyros Platter – seasoned blended beef and lamb served w/tzatziki sauce & pita bread

Baklava

If you live in Evansville, then you really need to give the Acropolis a try

Holiday Edition

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Growing up the presents under the tree (wrapped) were from Family, and then on Christmas day the present "from Santa" were (unwrapped) in a pile. Each kid had their own pile.
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? white
4. Do you hang mistletoe? No
5. When do you put your decorations up? Day after Thanksgiving
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Cranberry--with the mold of the can.
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: Christmas when I was twelve. I had really wanted a phone. Being the snoop that I am, I had found all my presents and knew that I was getting a phone. YEAH!! but that morning, it wasn't in my pile. my mom saw that I looked confused and asked if something was wrong, I said I was supposed to get a phone. she replied that I was too young. so I said no, I found it and I took the whole family up to the hiding place and opened the lid, and there was the phone box. I picked it up and it was empty. my parents started laughing and told me to look under my bed. Sure enough, for the last week the phone had been plugged in, in my room, but the ringer was off.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I'm not sure
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? when I was young we opened a small gift every weekend of December, then the rest on Christmas day. Since we have got older we started doing all our opening on Christmas Eve. But this year, we are doing it on Christmas Day.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Lights and ornaments (is there another way)
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Let it snow, let it snow, let in snow!
12. Can you ice skate? Ugh, NO!!! I have enough trouble on my own two feet, why would I put any thing like a skate under them and then try and walk on ice.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? No, I have had many favorites over the year
14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? The birth of Jesus
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Fudge
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Fondue
17. What tops your tree? A Big Bow
18. Which do you prefer Giving or Receiving? Giving
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? don't know that i have a favorite, but I do really like to hear Karen Carpenter sing them.
20. Candy Canes? Love them

Say Thank you

No matter how you feel about President Bush, or the war on Terrorism or anything else to do with politics, we all need to be supportive of our troops that are fighting overseas. These men and women are putting their lives on the line every day. Xerox has come up with a way for us to Say Thank you to the troops. visit this website to send a postcard to a military member.

Pass this on to everyone that you know.

Another one

I told you I'm a sucker for these questionaires. So here is another one. I did try to edit it for any duplicate questions.
1. What is your occupation? Teacher
2. What color are your socks right now? Red with red and black fish and a separate place for your big toe (like mittens)
3. What are you listening to right now? The hum of the computer
4. What is the last thing you ate? Peanut butter balls
5. Can you drive a stick shift? No
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Green, even though my favorite color is pink
7. How old are you today? 32
8. Have you ever dyed your hair? yes, but always "normal colors"
9. favorite day of the year? My Birthday
10. What do you do to vent anger? Complain to my mom
11. What was your favorite toy as a child? cabbage patch kids
12. What is your favorite season? Fall
13. Hugs or kisses? It depends who from...ha..just kidding!
14. Cherries or Blueberries? Blueberries
15. Living arrangements? with the parental unit
16. When was the last time you cried? probably not recently enough
17. What is on the floor of your closet? shoes...lots of them
18. What did you do last night? Ate, laughed, played games..had a good time with friends!
19. Favorite smells? food
20. What inspires you? Love
21. What are you afraid of? Losing a loved one
22. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Cheese
23. Number of keys on your key ring? 5
24. How many years at your current job? 1 1/2years
25. How many states have you lived in? 7 Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Colorado, Tennessee, Maryland
26. Favorite holiday? Christmas
27. Who's your favorite NFL team? Steelers
28. Do you have a house phone that is NOT cordless? yes
29. 10 inches of snow or 100 degree weather? 10 inches snow

Stupid Questionnaire

Ok, so I'm a sucker for these stupid question and answer things and I don't know why! Ok, here's what you're supposed to do... and please don't spoil the fun :) Copy the questions below and paste them into the comment section,then delete my answers, and type in your answers.
1. What time is it? 9:45 pm
2. What is your name? Katie
3. Nickname? Kate
4. Any piercings? ears
5. What is the most recent movie you've seen in the theater? Happy Feet
6. Eye color? Blue
7. Place of birth? Pittsburgh, PA
8. Favorite food? Pretty much anything ethnic
9. Ever been to Africa? not yet
10. Ever been toilet papering? yes
11. Love someone so much it made you cry? yeah
12. Been in a car accident? yeah,
13. Croutons or bacon bits? Croutons
14. Favorite day of week? Friday
15. Favorite restaurant? Taco Loco in Hong Kong
16. Favorite flower? Gerber Daisy
17. Favorite sport to watch? Football
18. Favorite drink? Cosmo
19. Favorite ice cream? Chubby Hubby or Phish Food by Ben & Jerry's
20. Disney or Warner Brothers? disney
21. What kind or car do you have? Daewoo Leganza
22. Color of bedroom carpet? beige.
23. How many times you failed your driver's test? never, I got a waiver
24. From whom did you get your last e-mail? Nikki
25. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Bombay Company
26. What do you do most often when you are bored? Online games
27. What's your bedtime? should be 10:30 but lately it's been around 1am
28. Favorite season? the fall, perfect weather and the trees are so beautiful
29. Favorite TV shows? Law & Order (all of them)
30. Last person you went to dinner with? Julie
31. Ford or Chevy? chevy Ford was a Nazi
32. What are you listening to right now? I'm watching TV.
33. What is your favorite color? Pink
34. How many tattoos do you have? NONE!!
35. How many pets do you have? NONE!!
36. Which came first the chicken or the egg? the chicken
37. What time is it now? 9:55

Funny Joke from Lucky

A Nun gets in a cab in New York City. After the Nun tells the driver where to go, the driver says "I have a confession, I have always wanted to kiss a Nun." The Nun is shocked. The driver pleads for a kiss. Finally the Nun says, that is would be ok if the taxi driver can meet two conditions. First, that he must be catholic and second that he must be single. The driver says that he meets both, and the Nun gives in. The driver gets out of the front and climbs into the back seat for his kiss. After the passionate kiss, the driver tells the nun that he must confess again. "I am not actually Catholic and I'm married." The Nun replies "Thats ok, I'm not really a Nun, my name is Frank and I'm on my way to a Costume Party."


Do you have any funny jokes, leave me a comment with them!

Driving GRRR

I don't know how many times in the last week I have seen some form of the following situation: In a parking lot, there is a great big arrow pointing in one direction, the direction that traffic should go and there is an idiot driving the other direction. How hard is it to go to the next aisle to drive the direction that you want to go. It just GRRR's me. At school, the drive next to the building has multiple huge arrows pointing towards the back of the lot, but every day drivers insist on driving the wrong way. Also they just painted brand new arrows in the entrance off First Ave. These arrows along with the sign attached to the stop sign show that it's a right turn only. Yet the other day, I was behind 3 people who decided they were too important, and had to make left hand turns at Rush Hour. We sat there forever.

So what's your big GRRR? Leave me a comment with yours.

Voice mail/Answering Machine Messages

First the GRRR...When you call someone and end up getting their voicemail. They have a nice message saying "I'm not available, leave a message." You expect the beep to be next, but NO! it's now the automated lady telling you "if you would like to page this person press 5, if you want to text them press 2, if you want to leave a message record after the beep, after recording press pound to send your message and press star for more options." My gosh, do I really need to hear all of that. I just want to leave a message. Actually, I probably really just want to talk to the person I'm calling. And what are these additional options anyways? I know there are some of you out there who "need" those additional options, like "Priority" All that does is put your voicemail to the front and now it's the first one that I delete rather than the last. I will make my own list of priorities for returning phone calls. (don't worry dear friends, I always call people back)

Now for the funny...I love when people are creative on their answering machine. It's funny to get a machine like my mom got today. Let me share the side of the conversation that I heard and then I'll share what the machine said.

Margie: Hi, Lee, this is Margie Moore, Donna's friend (pause)...Yes it does seem(stops due to interuption)... oh, ugh, Donna this is margie, call me when you get this message.

As soon as I heard the second part of what my mom was saying I put it together, she got fooled by the machine. Here's the entire conversation:
AMM: Hello
Margie: Hi, Lee, this is Margie Moore, Donna's Friend.
AMM: How are you? It looks like it's going to be a great day.
Margie: Yes it does seem
AMM: And we are out enjoying the beautiful weather. Leave us a message.

My one thought on these funny machines is "don't leave it like that forever," after awhile people do get a bit fed up with the "funny" and it just seems to be annoying. So be creative people!! just don't be annoying!!

Religion during the week

(to hear me tell this story click here)

Are you wondering what I might be getting ready to write about with a title like that? Well let me set the stage for this post...1. my mom is crazy (I love her anyways)2. The following was said in the hallway of our house around 11pm. 3. my mom is crazy 4. I was walking down the hallway towards my mom and when she saw me this is what happened.

Margie: You remind me of a Catholic on Wednesdays, I, I, I mean, a Catholic on Wednesdays.

Katie: (confused)Well, you remind me of Buddhist on Saturday.

Margie: I mean a Catholic on Ash Wednesday.

(Apparently I had a mark on my forehead)

September was a boring month

Today I was talking to my good friend Cindi and she mentioned that I hadn't updated my blog for the entire month of September. She said that I needed to or else September wouldn't be listed on my long ago posts section. I couldn't believe that I hadn't posted anything this month. But sure enough, she was right. Nothing was posted for September.
So now comes the problem, what to blog about. I mentioned this to my mom and she started to think of things for me to blog about. Here were some of her suggestions:
1. my dislike of the fall festival
2. my students
3. being free from my driving my mom around
4. the party I had when my parents were both out of town at the same time.(there wasn't one)

Then she came up with a crazy story that my brother could blog about(if he had a blog) Apparently, while visiting my brother last weekend, they went to Target and since my mom is still recovering from knee surgury, she had to use one of their electric scooters. Well the whole time she was using it, she couldn't control the stopping very well and she kept giving herself whiplash. After watching my mom suffer with the controls, my brother told her to stay put and he would get the last thing they needed. When he came back she was gone, and he had to start looking for her. When he found her he asked her what part of "Stay put" didn't she understand, the "stay" or the "put". I know that story might not be funny to you readers, but it was hysterical when my mom told it. She was laughing so hard she almost couldn't get thru the story.

I hope you enjoyed my September blog.

Holy Land In Newburgh

As some of you know, my mom broke her leg a few weeks ago and she had to have surgury to repair the break. As part of the surgury, the doctor had to do a bone graft. Rather than taking part of her own bone, he took Coral from the Red Sea and placed that in her leg. When my mom found out that she had the coral in her, her response was "I've always wanted to go to the Holy Land and now it has come to me."

A bit deeper than usual

This post is a bit deeper than I usually like to post, but I really thought that this guy had good insight into the war on Terrorism. (I made one modification to his article and that is the biblical passage. I put it in NIV rather than the translation that he originally used...easier to read this way)

Remember Amalek
What the Bible says about fighting terrorism
By Rabbi Marc Gellman

The Bible is the greatest collection of books, and I believe it to be the complex but discernable word of God. However, the Bible can also be a dangerous book when it is used as a blueprint for any particular political or military stance seeking sanction and support through a few carefully selected and often misleading segments.

On both sides of any war debate, both pacifists and provocateurs can use the Bible's authority. The same is true for the Qur'an and for the Vedas. God's will and God's ways, we must always remember if we are to be true to the message of faith, are not our own. As Abraham Lincoln cautioned, the important question is not whether God is on our side but whether we are on God's side. However, we ought not conclude from this humble caution that the Bible is utterly recondite and irrelevant to the wars we fight. I believe that the key to the Bible's message to us in this moment is remembering Amalek.

In Deut. 25:17-19 we read: "Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and cut off all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God. When the LORD your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!

What made Amalek so dastardly was that unlike any other enemy who attacked the Israelites fleeing slavery in Egypt from the front, Amalek attacked the rear. This meant that his soldiers could kill women and children, the elderly and the infirm and in so doing avoid engagement with the soldiers at the front. In this way he could produce maximum carnage and maximum terror. The moral problem the Bible addresses is that this is not warfare, it is the slaughter of innocents—it is terrorism.

Why, I wondered, would God command us to remember the terrorist Amalek? There are other villains in the Bible, but there is no biblical command to remember Pharaoh or Nebuchadnezzar, or Cyrus. We are commanded only to remember Amalek. I believe this is because the planned and plotted slaughter of innocents even during wartime cannot be condoned and must be remembered as a bright moral line which can never be crossed. Indeed our remembrance of Amalek is combined with a chilling pledge from God that is also unique in the Bible: “The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation” (Exod. 17:16). Our enemies are just our enemies except if our enemy is Amalek. In that case our enemy is also the enemy of God. Amalek thus becomes the symbol of terrorism in every generation. He is the symbol not of evil but of radical evil.

In our generation Amalek is alive and well and killing the weak ones at the rear of the march. Amalek has attacked the rear of our line of march in Madrid and Bombay, in Jakarta and London, in Haifa and Tel Aviv, in New York and Washington, in a quiet field in Pennsylvania and in a hundred other homes and families—leaving them covered with blood and tears. Yes, one can disagree and debate how Amalek must be fought, but not that Amalek must be fought. One must report and mourn the innocents who are inadvertently killed by our soldiers in our battle against Amalek, but that remembrance must always make the spiritual moral and political distinction that our victims were killed by mistake and Amalek's victims were killed by design.

I have no new or fresh or insightful take on the latest battle in the worldwide war on Islamic fascism except the message of our president: victory is the only way. In my heart and prayers, I thank President Bush for remembering Amalek. And to all the world leaders who are used to thinking about war as just a struggle for land or oil or power, remember that this war is different and this enemy is different. If you can, come to realize that this is a war against a lover of slaughter. If you join us, then we shall not have to fight Amalek alone and he cannot again attack the weak ones at the rear of the line.

© 2006 Newsweek, Inc.

It's been along time

Well it has been along time since I have blogged, I have been told by a few friends that I need to keep up on my blogging. I'm sorry for the void that I created in your life. I hope you enjoy the below posts.

ANNOYING to just GROSS

At 6:30pm every night, you can find my mom and me watching her favorite show: "Wheel of Fortune" Recently, WOF has gotten a new sponsor...It's called HEAD-ON. The Commercial consist of a woman rubbing what looks like a glue stick to her forhead and the voice-over saying "Head-on, apply directly to the forehead. Head-on, apply directly to the forehead. Head-on, apply directly to the forehead." No, that's not a typo. The commercial repeats the phrase three times. At first the commercial ran just the one product, then they added another product: Activ-On This is for Arthritis. "Apply directly where it hurts." These commercials have become so annoying. Everynight, this commercial runs during WOF and now it's starting to run during other shows. If you haven't seen it then you just don't watch TV. Here's a link to a YouTube of it. Today was the worst, they have added another product. It's for Hemorrhoids, FREEdHEM. "Freedom from Hemorrhoids, FREEdHEM Hemorrhoid Cream. Freedom from Hemorrhoids, FREEdHEM Hemorrhoid Cream. Freedom from Hemorrhoids, FREEdHEM Hemorrhoid Cream." Now here's the question, why didn't they say..."FREEdHem, apply directly to the Hemorrhoids" I found a really funny commentary on these products. so if you have the time, take a listen to what Brian Unger has to say.

Changing Noses

(to hear me tell this story click here)
Last friday, my mom, sister, niece and I went to the farmer's market. While we were sitting in the car waiting for the rain to stop, my niece was playing the "Got your nose game" (you grab the other persons nose with your first and middle finger, and then when you pull your hand away you stick your thumb inbetween the fingers so it looks like you have the nose in your hand.) So she took my nose off and then she took my mom's nose off and put my mom's nose on my face. I pretended to cry that I didn't have my own nose. My niece said to me "Don't cry, it's not like you have her whole face."

Stalking Reversed

Ok, So I blogged a while back about "Stalking" someone at Starbucks. Well, tonight when Julie and I got together, I suggested that we just get together at the starbucks closer to us...there really wasn't a reason to go to the one that was out of the way just to see that guy.(especially since I wasn't going to make a move to get to know him) So here we are at out Starbucks and who walks in? YES, you are right. It was him. He ended up sitting at the table right by us. I think he is now stalking me.

Mother, Sit down!!!!!

(to hear me tell this story click here.)
Today while using a public bathroom with my mom, I was reminded of something that happened to us a few years ago. My mom and I were in the bathroom at Barnes and Noble. While we were washing out hands, a lady (about my mom's age) and her elderly mom came into the bathroom. The mom went into the first stall and the daughter went into the second stall. Next thing we know, the daughter is looking over the stall wall into the first stall and speaking very strickly to her mom. "Mother, sit. down. Sit. Down, Mother. MOTHER, SIT! DOWN!! SIT! DOWN, MOTHER!!" It was so funny, it took all the self-control we had to not bust out laughing right there in the bathroom. After we left the bathroom, my mom turned to me and said, "That's us in 30 years!"

playing around

So, I thought I would try out this feature with Blogger.  It's where I can send an email to Blogger and it will be posted on my blog.  That seems to be pretty cool.  That way when I get a funny thing sent to me, all I will have to do is forward it on.  If you are reading this on my blog, then it worked. 

GRRR

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I read a little column called "The GRRRR!" check out the link for even more great thoughts by Mike Straka.

While reading the column today, I found this little bit quite humorous and it hit the nail on the head for me. Hearing people eat is one of my biggest pet peeves.
Enjoy the GRRR...

Popcorn Eaters

Whoever thought popcorn would be good movie theater fare obviously never sat in a dark room full of Oblivions munching on popcorn as if they were dying of some rare disease, and the only cure lies at the bottom of their popcorn bucket.

SHOOMP, in goes the hand — SHOOMP, out comes the hand and makes a beeline directly to the mouth — MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH — BREATHE — MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH.

The sound of people relentlessly chomping on their popcorn with bits flying out of their mouths, holding their breath while chewing so that they have to exhale simultaneously as they chew is enough to drive me up the wall.

I want to scream everytime I go to the movies, and of course, these Popcorn Oblivions always sit directly behind me so that I can hear ever bite, every breath, every reach, every salivation and every lick of the buttery popcorn off their greasy fingers.

LICK, SMACK, GRRRRR!

Sad News

It is with much sadness that I have to share this news with you. Moose the dog, better known as Eddie in US sitcom Frasier, has died aged 16 in Los Angeles, his trainer has said.

The Jack Russell terrier passed away of old age last week at trainer Mathilde Halberg's home, she told People magazine and the Access Hollywood show.

"He just had an incredible charisma and was a such a free spirit," Ms Halberg said of Moose, who appeared in 192 Frasier episodes from 1993.

Moose shared the part of Eddie with his son, Enzo.

He made his first appearance on the long-running Cheers spin-off in the first episode on 16 September 1993, retiring 10 years later in 2003. The show finished in 2004.

His fictional owner, retired policeman Marty Crane (John Mahoney), announced the dog's full name was Eddie Spaghetti: "Because he has worms."

Moose's ability to stare at lead actor Kelsey Grammer for extended periods became a running joke on the programme.

Moose was renowned for being able to stare at Kelsey Grammer
When he had to lick his co-stars, however, liver pate was dabbed behind their ears to achieve the required response, Mahoney once revealed.

During the height of Frasier's popularity, Moose received more fan mail than any of his human counterparts.

"He's like a robot," Mahoney told Animal Press magazine in 1994. "A consummate professional who works hard learning his tricks."

Moose also played the title role in 2000 film My Dog Skip.

According to Ms Halberg, Moose was 16-and-a-half when he died on Thursday.

Big Dreamer

I just finished watching the funniest documentary:"My Date with Drew" quick synopsis...This 27 year old guy has a crush on Drew Barrymore. He decides to take his winnings from a game show to finance the next 30 days in his pursuit for a date with Drew. check out the website and then rent the movie. http://www.mydatewithdrew.com/index.html

Taking a trip

Well Today I took a trip. A skating trip to be exact. No, not ice skating, and not roller skating. Water on the garage floor skating. And how did the trip end. Not good. I ended up on my left side/butt/back. I am SORE!! andI know tomorrow is going to be even worse. As my uncle told me tonight "You are going to hurt in places that you didn't even know you had." I am already starting to think that he is right. UGH!!!

Bug Zapper

Ok, you are sitting on the back porch and then ZAP, CRACK, POP!!! You know what that sound is, it's a bug that is too stupid to avoid flying into the blue glowing light. Then for the next 10 minutes the conversation is about how stupid bugs are, and is constantly interupted by the Zap, Crack and Pop of more bugs diving into the light.
What do you ask made me think of this? Well I was driving down the road tonight and some idiot had his bright lights on. Instead of doing like I should (look away from the light and towards the white line on the side), I found myself drawn into watching the light and then once the car passed I was seeing spots and kicking myself for being stupid like a bug.

Calling Information

How many times have you been driving down the road and needed to make a call, but you didn't have the number, so you called 411 to get it. Then the end of the month comes and you about die when you get your cell bill...It's $10-20 more, because you have called 411 5 times in the last month. Well that expensive extra charge is now over. Yes, you read correctly, it is over. http://www.free411.com/ When you are traveling all you have to do is call 1-800-free-411. (I would recommend that you put it in your memory, that way you aren't really dialing while you are driving)

If you have any great deals to share, leave me a comment!!

Stalking

On Saturday Julie and I went shoe shopping. While we were out, I mentioned a guy that I thought was cute. I told Julie that I know where he works a part time job. So tonight she and I got together at Starbucks so she could check him out. Of course, our time together was more than just talking about him, we talked about all sorts of different things. As we got up to leave, I thanked Julie for joining me on my stalking adventure.
It's not really stalking, is it? I hope not. I don't want to be thought of as a crazy woman. No, it's not stalking, it's just admiring God's creation. Yeah, that's what it is: admiring God's creation.

Titanic 2

I hope you enjoy the trailer below.

titanic 2: jacks back!

More on Grouper.com

Blonde Hair

My hair has been some shade of blonde for my entire life. Be it naturally or "with a little help from my friends". Well recently I decided to go darker. Not necessarily dark brown, but a bit darker than I have been.
Since moving back from HK, I have been in search of a hair dresser. Well I am pretty sure I have found "the one" He's funny, he's cute and he has the greatest accent. We are working out the relationship kinks still: He was so gracious when I went back a few days later asking for him to do a bit more on my haircut. I just wasn't crazy about how it turned out the first time, but now I'm happy with it.
But a new problem has come up. This time, it's the color. As I mentioned before I have decided to go darker, but this time, for some reason he went lighter. My problem on the lighter hair is that during the summer, my face gets red when I am hot. and too blonde of hair makes it even more noticeable. So I guess I am going to see if there is any chance that he can put a toner on it.

Tape Recorder

Well I now have the tape recorder!! Julie and I got together yesterday and so I got it from her. (good thing she remembered, because I had forgotten...I would have remembered about 3 days later) Now I can start recording my random thoughts that I have while I am driving down the road, and I won't have to worry about forgetting those GREAT ideas.

Wiggles

So I spent Mother's day with my mom and my neice at Robert's Stadium along with a bunch of other people and the children. What was I doing there you ask? I was watching adults dance around dressed in chicken costumes, a pirate costume, and as a dinosaur and then of course 4 of the guys didn't have to dress in crazy costumes, but they were still dancing around and acting crazy. And who were these crazy folks. None other than the world renowned "WIGGLES" If you don't know who they are, then you probably don't have a child in your life. And you are missing out on alot of fun. I think I had about as much fun as my neice had. They were a hoot. Almost everyone of their songs has motions to it and everyone was participating in doing the motions to the songs. We bought Evie a little sailor hat (the theme of the show was "Sailing Around the World) She looks so cute in the hat.

Monk-e-mail

So I have found a new thing to entertain me. It's called Monk-e-mail. I have been sending them to everyone. Check out this link to see what I am so excited about. http://www.careerbuilder.com/monk-e-mail/Default.aspx?mid=9411566&cbRecursionCnt=1&cbsid=e109470f15034370a11f62696e3e9106-201047287-WP-2

Wrong Number

So today, my home got a phone call that was a wrong number. But the person who called didn't know who they were calling (returning a page) and my mum assumed that maybe I did page this guy. So what does she do...gives him both my email address and cell number. What was she thinking? I had to give her a "lecture" on when to give things out to strangers and when not to. Didn't she take her own advise "Don't talk to strangers"

Cancelling my massage

So this week, even though I knew it was going to be a bit busy, was supposed to be "ME" week. (but then again, when isn't it me week. I'm single who do I have to worry about but me.) Anyways, I scheduled a hair appointment for Tuesday and a massage on Thursday. Well, last week, I realized that this week was going to be more hectic that I originally thought. And, one way that became obvious was that I scheduled a meeting during my massage appointment. So I had to give Denise a call to reschedule. No problem right? Well I got it rescheduled for monday and tonight I realized, I can't do my massage on Monday because I have to take an exam for grad school entrance. UGH!! How am I going to destress if I can't get a massage.

Just Leave

(to hear me tell this story click here)
So this past week, I have had two opportunities to leave a restaurant after being seated, but prior to ordering my meal. I only took one opportunity and let my friend Cindi have the other one.

So on Tuesday, my mom and I went to this new "Japanese" restaurant. We got there and I thought "hhmm, this doesn't have a Japanese type name for the restaurant" Grand Canal. But we went in anyways. After the waitress took our drink order we looked at the front of the menu and in big letters it said "CHINESE RESTAURANT" We had been misinformed by someone who is definately not a restaurant snob like I am. I should have realized it when my mom said the gal told her it was a good Japanese Restaurant and it had great Wonton Soup. When did Japanese get Wonton Soup? NEVER!! But, again, I thought it was just this person not knowing much about Japanese food. (Most people in this area, don't even realize that Hong Kong is not in Japan, so why would they know that Japanese and Chinese food is different?) Well my mom and I already have a favorite Chinese restaurant, so we got up, left and went to our favorite one instead.

So on Thursday, Cindi and I were meeting for lunch. I called her about 10:30. She told me to pick the restaurant. So I chose Acropolis. I love Greek food. I get there a right on time, but don't see Cindi's car yet, so I go in and get a seat. After about 5 minutes, my phone rings. It's Cindi saying that she is there already and has a seat. "Me too," I say. "I'm downstairs by the hostess stand." At this moment, Cindi is thinking downstairs, I didn't know this place had a basement. It clicks with us both that we are not at the same place. "Just leave," I say. "What?" "Just leave, one of us has too and I don't like the restauarant that you are at, so just leave." She does.

So how does leaving a restaurant make one feel? Well, I think there is some empowerment that is being felt. (do you agree Cindi?) So often, I let people walk all over me, but not this time, Just because I sat down and got a menu, doesn't mean that I have to stay. It's a bit awkward at first, but who cares. :)

Did I start a bit of a rant there. Didn't really mean to, but maybe I'm feeling a bit walked on in other places in my life and I needed to feel some POWER!

Have a great day

Do you think creatively?

When you read the following things, what is the first thing that pops into your head. (let me know what how you answered. Post a comment)

1. What color is the letter "S"?
2. What does happiness look like?
3. What color is today?
4. What does Purple taste like?
5. What does your self-image sound like?
6. What texture is the color green?
7. What color is the smell of your favorite scent?
8. What does love look like?
9. What color is your favorite song?
10.What texture is your favorite scent?
11.What does winter sound like?
12.How old is the letter "P"?
13.How does the letter "M" feel?
14.What color is the fragrance of soap?

I think these questions tell alot about personalities. Cindi and I really enjoyed reading thru them, we laughed the whole way thru.

Random Thoughts that fly by

I often have random thoughts all the time, but by the time I get back to the computer to blog them, they have gone away. Maybe, I'm driving to fast and need to slow down. When I mentioned this to my friend Julie, she said that she would let me have her little tape recorder so that while I'm driving I can record those random thoughts. Hopefully then I will have more postings.

From George H. to George W.B.

So for the past few days, I have been in Nashville, TN for the Gospel Music Association Music Week. It has been an exciting few days. The days have been full of different seminars and then the evenings have been lots of concerts. Sunday started out with a morning service lead by Lincoln Brewster. It was awesome. The speaker for the morning was a guy named Joe Myers. He really had some great thoughts on belonging. "You don't choose who belongs to you, they do."

Sunday afternoon, I was relaxing and reading a magazine in the hotel Lobby and who walks in...none other than George Huff. (He was on American Idol a few seasons back) I got to meet him and get a pic with him. He was such a sweet heart.

Sunday Evening Worship was Chris Tomlin, Charlie Hall, David Crowder and Louie Giglio. What a fabulous time of worshiping God together. Later that evening was the Songwriters showcase. How cool to get to hear the songwriter sing the songs.

Monday morning started off with a talk by Donald Miller. Always a good thing. and the free book made it even sweeter.

Monday at lunch we were entertained by a long list of artists. You heard it hear first....LEELAND is the next great band. The lead singer is 17 years old and writes awesome music. We also got to walk away with some free CD's.

I skipped the music showcase on Monday night to have dinner with my friend Antonio, or as dear Cindi calls him "Mmaa"--if you want to know why you have to ask me. We had a good time catching up and ate at a great restaurant called "Germantown Cafe" One of the best meals I have ever had.

Tuesday Morning devotions was lead by Margaret Becker. It was interesting to hear how God has worked in her life. and another free book.

Lunch on Tuesday was another opportunity to see some great artists. But before the artist started there was a very special guest. George Bush!!!! Ok, it wasn't really George, it was a look alike. One of my favorite groups Mary, Mary opened the event. Unfortunately, I had to leave early, so I could drive back to Evansville to teach my class. But I walked away with 7 more CD's.

Wednesday, I will be driving back down to Nashville with Summer to go to the finale of the week: "The Dove Awards" I am so excited about this. Our seats are pretty high, but we will still be there.

Of course, if I can figure out pictures on this thing, I will post some of the week.