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