A Sad Tale

I saw the most disturbing sight this morning and of course I have to share it with you! Someone must share in the awfulness of what I saw and lucky for you - it's YOU!

I was driving down the main stretch of road that leads to our street. There were two or three cars in front of me. I saw something up ahead moving in the road and had a quick thought that I hoped it wasn't an animal and assumed it was probably a leaf. I was kind of far back from it at this point. As I got closer I realized that it was in fact an animal - a squirrel to be exact. The poor thing had obviously been hit and he was flopping all around trying for the life of him to get out of the street. He had blood on his chest and his little squirrel mouth was open. He looked like if he could holler that's just what he would've been doing. He'd hop up, then flop down again, his fluffy tail twitch, twitch, twitching. As I got even closer I thought maybe I should TRY to run him over and put him out his awful misery. I slowed down and went straight. Everyone knows if you want to hit a squirrel the last thing you should do is AIM for it, so I didn't aim. Unfortunately I straddled him and he continued to flop. I looked in my rear view mirror and noticed that he only flopped once or twice more and then he was still. The cars in front of me were going slower than usual and I think we were all just feeling SO SAD about what we'd all just seen. Poor, poor squirrel. It's so different to see an animal already dead on the side of the road versus watching one suffer. I'm so sad for the little squirrel and so thankful that Allison didn't see a thing!

Well, have a nice day! :)

Joke of the Week

Here's my fun idea for a regular video feature on my blog, The Joke of the Week! Enjoy!

War of the Worlds

And the answer is....

MADAM IN EDEN, I'M ADAM.

See? It's the same forwards and backwards! Cool, huh?

Last night Ed and I watched War of the Worlds, the original one from 1956. It was on Turner Classic Movies. I'd never seen it before and I do like the whole science fiction thing. The special effects were so hokey and the acting was kind of funny but considering it was made in 1956 it was AWESOME! I loved it. One thing that stood out in different parts of the movie was the references to God. Several times it came up that God had created the world and that people needed to pray for His salvation from the martians. The pastor in the movie recited scripture as he approached the menacing martian spaceship and Silvia's faith in God defined who she was. The final scene in the movie where the spaceships start to collapse suddenly was particularly interesting from a Christian stand point. None of the characters had anything to do with the demise of the martians. The military was helpless against the red and green rays that spewed out of the evil red eye. All anyone could do was run and hide. Then seemingly for no reason the ships start to fall out of the sky. The narrator explains that the martians were overcome by the germs and viruses on earth. Their immune systems couldn't fight them off and so the martians died. The narrator further explains that it was a miracle from God himself who created these viruses and used them to kill the aliens. Hmmm... It reminded me that as a society we've completely left behind the One who has blessed our country so richly. It used to be the common thing to do - to include God in everyday life, movies, school - now it's the uncommon thing to do. Sad, but true.

Supposed to be in the 80's today! Lucy and I went for a long walk this morning and I finally used my little ipod shuffle. A long walk whizzes by when you're listening to some good music!

Good day!

A Palindrome

What is a Palindrome, you ask...click here to see. And then see if you can figure out the answer to this one.

How did Adam use a palindrome to introduce himself to Eve when they first met?

I'll let you know the answer soon.

A Little of This and A Little of That

No video today - sorry Mom & Dad. Just me. I have a fun idea for the video thing so stay tuned...

Allison has enjoyed telling people that my birthday was this week. She asked me how old I am now and I told her '34, again.' She totally buys it! And that's what she tells people, "My mom's birthday was...she's 34 again." I love it! I will be lying about my age from here on out. I refuse to check the box on any questionnaire that asks you to select your age group. Mine would now be 35-50. I will continue to check the 18-34 box for a while longer!! It's not because I'm vain or have some issue with getting older - it's because you're only as old as you feel and I feel 34 AGAIN!! Ed and the girls got me this gorgeous Vera Bradley handbag! I'm loving Vera Bradley patterns and there are so many styles and sizes to the different bags!! Check it out!

Time for some TV talk. I watched the premiere of Survivor China last night. Apparently the survivors were left with the clothes on their backs and nothing else. You'd think that these people would have some sort of clue about what to wear as they set out on their survivor adventure! Other survivor seasons have done the same thing and folks were left with nothing but the suit and tie or short dress and heels they wore for the first episode. DUMB! Unfortunately for those of us watching at home it means a long season of watching people walk around in their underwear! This season has a professional female wrestler. She's quite pretty except for the earrings in her lip and her massive bosom that keeps falling out of her bra which is clearly TOO SMALL!! I'm not sure I will continue to watch. I don't like when people aren't prepared or they aren't smart enough to build a suitable shelter or when they put a professing Christian and a gay Mormon on the same team just to see what happens! As far as I'm concerned, Survivor may have already seen its last good season.

Ed and I are also watching NBC's Biggest Loser. It's about very overweight people who need to lose weight. Apparently the results are INCREDIBLE! It's interesting to hear from the contestants what the weight loss battle has been like for them and what its been like to be so large. You can't watch it without feeling so compassionate for these people. Each team has a trainer who is more like a drill Sargent. The trainer leads their workouts and helps teach them healthy eating habits. A must see.

Dancing with the Stars is back on Monday! I'll be tuned in! Thank goodness for DVR - I record these shows and watch them whenever I want! It's awesome!

We've had the most beautiful weather this week! Sunny and high 60's into the low 70's. Yesterday got up to 77! And today is supposed to be even warmer! Indian summer? We'll see.

American Girl has introduced a new historical doll to its collection. There are several dolls representing different eras in American history like a pioneer girl from 1854 or a depression era doll from 1934. The new doll is from 1974! You read right, 1974. That's not American history - that's current events!!! I'm slightly insulted that the folks at American Girl think 1974 is an historic era! I mean it's after I was born!!! Does that make me an antique at 34 again!? Perhaps I'm feeling a little more sensitive about this since I just had a birthday and birthdays only remind us of how OLD we are - and then to have a doll come out representing an historic era which occurred AFTER I was born - it's all working together to make me feel ANTIQUE! Any way, the new doll's name is Julie, check her out.

Our little preschool/kindergarten soccer team is having fun. Notice I didn't say we are winning or doing well, just having fun. We've gotten beat, badly, both of our games so far. But, the kids are doing GREAT in their concept of the game and dribbling. Passing is not going to happen in this league. But our goalies are learning how to anticipate when to grab the ball and the basic rules of the game are starting to stick. Allison scored our only goal at Wednesday night's game so I was a proud mom! Overall I think it's going well. Our team is mostly preschoolers who've never played before so in light of that we are having a STELLAR season!

I think I will take Lucy for a walk and then vacuum before I pick up my little pickle from school. But first I'll post some pictures...

Me and my girls on my birthday.

Allison at swimming lessons jumping in!!

Allison on her first day of school.

More Video

I love the video feature on Blogger! Here's the kiddos (and Lucy) just doing stuff...

I know I'm due for a more inventive post but this is the best I can do for now. We're off to Allison's soccer game :)

Testing 1, 2, 3

Just trying out Blogger's video feature. Pretty cool, eh?

Spider Story

So. I was plucking grapes off their vine and putting them in a bowl to be washed. As I'm plucking I noticed an old spider web on the vine. It was no good and I thought probably the spider was LONG GONE. Then my arachnophobia kicked in and I began to think that perhaps the spider was still there. But the voice of reason was still winning out at this point and I figured that even if the spider was still there it was probably small - I mean the old web was small so the spider must be too! I decided to hold up the grape vine and turn it a bit to have a look see at the whole thing before I plucked any more grapes. Sure enough I found the MOTHER OF ALL BROWN SPIDERS on my grapes!!! The grapes that I had been holding and touching!!! I most likely brushed that spider with my fingers!! Maybe it even TOUCHED ME with one of it's long, spindly legs!!! YOWZER! The grapes were promptly dropped into the sink and the spider was washed down the drain. I ran the garbage disposer for a minute to make sure there was no chance of survival! All in all I think I handled it quite calmly. Only a minor screech came out of my mouth and I managed to continue on with preparing lunches for the girls without any more trouble! I didn't like it - that spider - NOT ONE BIT!

Back to School

Today is the first day of school for Katie and Becky. They both did great getting back into the routine of getting up and ready. Katie cooperated for a couple of pictures before she left and she even let me walk her to the bus stop and wait with her there. That turned out to be a good thing because I met a neighbor who I haven't had the opportunity to meet before and her daughter is in sixth grade. Maybe she and Katie will become friends now that they are in the same school! Becky was more willing to have her picture taken and I was noticing how BIG that child looks these days!! I tell you, one blink and they're all grown up! Ed and I (and Allison) took Becky to school where I got a few more pictures and got to meet her teacher. She seems very nice. Then Allison and I went to her school for a clean up day - that was fun too - not the cleaning part but catching up with other moms from school. One lady said something that I thought was kind of funny. We'd been there for an hour or so and several people had come and gone during that time. Each time someone came in I'd say hi, you know, whatever. Well this lady says, "Lisa knows everyone! How do you know so many people?" That cracked me up, one because we've only lived here for a year and a half; and two because I don't really feel like I know very many people at all! I just happen to know lots of moms of preschool aged children!! It also helps that I have a child in middle school, one in elementary school, and one in preschool - I'm all over the place! It kind of made me feel like we're really becoming part of this community, not just people who live here - that's a good thing.

Before I post some very cute pictures of my children I have a complaint. Not that any of you can do anything about my complaint. It's really just venting. Here goes: We were at Sears the other day and Ed wanted to look at TVs (Ed always wants to look at TVs!). I strolled into the TV section with my children when I noticed a very questionable show on ALL the TVs. Then I noticed that it was a preview for a movie - a rated R movie! Another preview came on after that - also rated R! What's up with that?! I didn't realize that you needed to be over 17 to shop for a TV! When did that happen!? Clearly this isn't right. Something needs to be done. Whatever. I don't really want a new TV anyway - I just wanted to vent. I won't be shopping for a TV at Sears with my children again.

Okay. Here's the cute pics from this morning.