Memorial Day

Memorial Day  -  After a rainy yucky Saturday and Sunday, we got lucky and Memorial day itself was quite nice.  I got home from dialysis at the usual 5 am and instead of going straight to sleep (makes too much sense) I had to watch an old episode of NCIS LA...  so I slept from about 6 until 8:30.   I reluctantly got up and got ready for the parade.  Tay was overnight at Ang's and Ashleigh was overnight at Debi's so it was a quiet house as we got ready.  I sent Scott to get Taylor and then I took her to the meeting site.  I was the first adult from our Girl Scout Troop there.  There were about 5 girls there when I arrived.  My other adult volunteers showed up within minutes and I left Doris with about 8 girls and headed down to get a spot on Main St. for the parade.

I was really surprised that it was as easy as it was to get a prime spot in front of the businesses on Main St.  In past years these spots would have been taken early...  but not this year.  I walked across the street to the spot my husband had found and sat in our lawn chairs on the side of the road in front of his car.   There was no crowd at all.  As it got closer to 10AM (parade start time) a few more people meandered about.   They made introductions from the stage and slowly the parade could be heard coming down the hill.   Most years the Scouts are right behind the Legion in the beginning of the parade, this year the band somehow ended up in front of the Scouts.  This made it more difficult for the Scouts to be in position as the speeches began.

Every year, for the past few,  the Girl Scouts have read Red Skelton's Pledge of Allegiance speech from the forties.  This year Sam and Stephanie (fourth and fifth grade) read the speech for the town.  They were introduced and stood on stage behind the podium.  Unfortunately, both girls are quite short and could not exactly be seen because of the podium.  They could be heard though, thanks to the speakers and microphones.  They both did a very nice job.  The speech is a two person explanation of the Pledge of Allegiance -  the first speaker basically says the pledge and the second speaker explains each part.  I like the speech, but I really wish we could do something different each year,  or a rotation of different speeches.  We have done this exact same speech every year since 2006

 They were then asked to bring the wireless microphone over to the cemetery for the bugle and drum to be heard.  Note to self...   turn OFF mic before sending little girls a half mile down the road with said Mic.   Needless to say, the mic had to be unhooked from the speaker system as the girls skipped down the road with it, oblivious to the LOUD hideous noises it was creating...  but it was all good...  the mic was re hooked in for the bugle and drums to play their tributes and the girls returned in good spirits.

The speeches were good,  hard to hear and too long for the audience to stand through, but interesting, for those of us paying any attention.  Eventually the parade continued to Norcross Point and the chaos of locating the kids and their parents was fun as usual.

 Overall it was a success,  the girls who marched had a good time and the girls that spoke did a wonderful job...

Until next time...  write on!

Epic!

So Ashleigh and I went to see Epic tonight.  We went to a 3D showing because we wanted to go to the latest possible show.  It ended up being a private showing.  Apparently we were the only people who wanted to see a 3D child's movie at 9:40 at night.

The previews were fun...  lots of cool things coming out in the near future...  including Despicable Me 2 -  it looks as cute as the first.  Smurf 2 - um...  I love Smurfs, but too smurfin much smurf and I just want to Smurf all over everything - but Neil Patrick Harris might pull it off.     Monster University - again, this looks ALMOST as good as the first; not quite as cute, but maybe funnier.  Rio 2 - beautiful animation, never saw the first one, probably won't see this one, but I really admire the scenery.  Finally the strangest offering...  about a snail that wants to be a race car.  Turbo.  It looks really weird and I am sure little boys and some little girls will love it, but seriously, a SNAIL that wants to be a race car?

Finally the movie started...  it was.... well...  Epic.   I liked the movie more than I expected to.  I wanted to see it, but really knew very little about it.  The animation was lovely.  The 3D effect was cool, but I think the movie would have been just as good, though maybe not quite as beautiful, in 2D.   The action was good and there was a touch of romance.  This could have easily been a movie done with real people and a lot of CGI and would probably be getting a lot more blockbuster fanfare,  but it is instead an animated movie and written off by most as a kid's movie.

This movie combines the battle of good vs. evil,  the struggles of the environment, an estranged father/daughter relationship, young love, true love, and lots of funny moments.  It is obviously kid friendly, but also interesting and held my attention as well.  Not sure the very young wouldn't be a little overwhelmed by the battles between the guardians of the forest and the evil army that are out to destroy it, but they will love the silly dog and the beautiful flower people and talking bugs....

Until next time... write on!

SO Hard!!!!

Writing....   why is it so hard to find something to say????   I am an opinionated individual,  I have my own soap box and find myself up on it every now and again, but when it comes to writing a blog....  crickets.

My goal is to write every couple of days...  unfortunately, a week goes by before it occurs to me that I haven't written anything.  Is there something folks out there in cyber space would like me to write about?  I called this a boring blog so expectations would be low, and so far it has lived up to its name.  I write about things I do, things I see,  but lately I haven't gone anywhere or seen anything.  B O R I N G!   :)   Guess this blog has found its purpose.   Think of it as a sleep aid.   Read my blog late at night with the lights down low and in no time at all...ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...........

Until next time....  TRY to write on!

Taylor Tells It!

I continue to inspire the next generation of writers   :)   I have now created a new blogspot for my daughter...  
Taylortellsit.blogspot.com  She has yet to write anything, but I have a feeling she will, very soon.  I hope she stays motivated to write and contributes to her blog regularly.  Personally, I am on my 900th attempt to maintain a blog.... but I am getting better and trying make a habit of regular posts.  I think journaling will be very good for her so...  please go visit her new blog and encourage a young mind to write more!

:) I'm free!

So,  I got to dialysis and FINALLY the new TVs that were promised to us months ago, we were told would be installed weeks ago, told again days ago, were actually installed.  They are smaller than what we had and they are cute.  White casing and a built in remote on the side of the HD screen.   One disappointing feature,  there are a couple, is that they chose to change the channel provider as well.  We have always had touch screen TVs with Direct TV, games, music and internet.   (The internet feature was useless because no Java, No flash and no mouse in addition to an over protective web nanny)  But the TVs were cool (when they worked properly)  The new system is just TV, no more games which a LOT of the older folks really liked.  They also no longer appear to be Direct TV, in fact I cannot tell what provider these TVs are showing.   The channel line-up is like nothing I have seen locally and no longer have any sort of guide to tell us what is on.  We did get a poorly drafted photocopied page telling us which channel was where.  For example CBS is now channel 27 and USA is 24 and MTV is 2...  sound familiar to anyone?  I thought not.

Interesting feature in these little TVs is there are SD and USB slots on the side.  I plan to get a sampling of movie files onto both formats and try my luck watching a moving from file on the TV,  that could be cool.

One VERY interesting thing happened too....  the internet refused to work.  I figure that when the brilliant men who installed all the new wiring for the TVs were out back, they somehow frigged up the network that patients are allowed to access while on dialysis.  I almost freaked...  anxiety levels shoot through the roof when I think I without my computer for the night, even if the web nanny is an abusive strict bitch...   So,  in desperation,  I started trying other networks (i get about 6 here)  One,  labeled from a neighboring business/guest claimed to be unsecure....  but required a password,  all the others are secured and required network security passcodes.  I started guessing at passwrds and passcodes....  I should totally be a hacker...  cause I nailed one and now I have (until I get caught I guess)  NANNY FREE INTERNET    wooo hooo!

I can now access THIS BLOG, Netflix, Youtube, CBS,  and host of other things that web nanny always though it had to save me from....   So,  I am a happy camper, even if the new TVs do kind of suck.   :)

Until next time... write on!

Star Trek - no spoilers

Hubby and I went to see the new Star Trek...   yes, it is true,  I could look at Chris Pine for a few hours in just about ANYTHING!  That said, I still think this is a good movie, on its own, even without the Chris Pine factor!  I try not to give anything away in these quick reviews, so I can't say much...  but I felt it was a better movie from start to finish than the first reboot movie...   Keep in mind,  I am not a huge trekie and I am viewing these movies fresh, with no absolute passion for the first run.   (I watched my fair share of TNG and Voyager, but that is it)  so I see these as new ground.  I do think it was brilliant to alter the universe (in the first one,  no spoiler here) so all the die hard Trekies out there can be shut up with a simple...  it all changed so bugger off.  In fairness,  my husband said he thought the action sequences were a bit too much at times, (most guys love that stuff) but I wasn't bothered by it,  I guess I just accept that the movies are all kind of over-blown now.    It got 2 thumbs up from me - for Chris Pine   It got 2 thumbs up from the hubby,  but mostly because Alice Eve ends up in her underwear (ok, small spoiler)

Until next time....  Write on!

Prompted...

Quite a while ago I had asked friends for writing prompts one night and I got quite a few.  I wrote this, using most of them...  I just came upon it...  thought I would share... the prompts I used are in bold.

At one point I was sure I would never go down that road, but when I did... it didn’t lead to where I had assumed it would.  Instead, it brought me here.  Where “here” was, I had no idea.  I walked along the cobblestone street, my aching feet screaming for real pavement.  The buildings that lined the street were unfamiliar and even though they looked older in style, they were fresher and newer looking than it seemed they should be.  There were no people around, as far as I could see, no other people anywhere.  I continued walking straight down the street; I was on a mission, though I didn’t exactly know what that mission was.  When the street  ended at the door of a stone cottage, I went inside.  

The lighting was poor and I could barely see anything.  Going from the bright sunlight to the dimly lit interior left me blind for the moment.  As my vision slowly began to return, I saw it.  It looked like a headless pigeon, but it was actually a small hen of some sort, bent down, its head tucked under its wing.  This was the first sign of any life I had seen since I had followed the old dirt road and stumbled down the hill and onto the cobblestones that led me here.

I approached the hen slowly, as not to startle it.  I reached out my hand to touch the small creature and she brought her head around, out from under her wing, and I knew then, this was no hen.  She had a head like a lizard, no a dragon! Which was ridiculous I told myself.  This must be some kind of rare bird.   I could tell by the look in her eyes that she would not hurt me; I gently touched her back and the feathers were soft and downy.  Her eyes begged me to help her somehow, but I wasn’t really sure how I could be of any help at all.    

Just then, I heard a noise from the distance.  It was a strange humming sound, like a helicopter, but lower and somehow scarier.  I gently picked up the weird bird and held her close to my body.  She snuggled in close and seemed to be comfortable in my arms.  I ran for the back door of the cottage and saw that the cobblestone street continued as far as the eye could see.  I began to run away from the cottage and away from the humming noise that grew louder and louder.  I kept running, it wasn’t easy and my ankles ached from the unevenness of the cobblestones.  My new friend made it a little easier for me, as she didn’t struggle or try to get away; she seemed to know that I was helping.  I decided to call her Evey.  

Evey and I continued down that road and away from the cottage for what must have been several miles.  The cottage was the last of the buildings.  For a long while the road was edged by open fields of tall grass and wildflowers.  I may have enjoyed the sight if I weren’t so concerned about whatever it was making the humming noise that seemed to follow us.  Eventually the meadows gave way to trees.  At this point, we were deep into the forest, still on the cobblestone street, or rather, path now.  At first the forest was bright and green with moss, slowly, as we went deeper and deeper into the forest, it got darker and trees became larger and larger.  The trees were bigger than any trees I had seen before, like the ones you read about, where highways go through them, but nothing like the trees I was used to.  My arms were tired from holding Evey and my legs were about to fall off.  I desperately needed a rest.  The humming sound had faded and I felt it was safe to stop.  I stepped off the path and climb up onto a mossy tree root, it was about 3 feet high and 2 feet wide.  I placed Evey down next to me and she stretched.  She looked into my eyes and I instantly knew she was hungry and that she needed to hunt.  I nodded and she flew off the root and wandered off into the woods.

I don’t know how I knew... but I knew she would be back when she finished hunting, and that she wanted me to remain here, where I would be safe.  I must have dozed off, because the next thing I knew, Evey was back, with dinner.  She had returned with what looked like white carrots and leafy greens and a rabbit.  She held it all wrapped in a cloth that she held in her mouth.  I climbed down off the mossy root and found a spot to try and build a fire in the dirt.  I gathered pine needles, dried moss and a few sticks, if only I had matches.  I had never been successful at rubbing sticks together to start a fire, I had no hope of that working now.   As I piled my materials in the center of the stone circle that I made, I had no idea how I planned to actually make a fire.  Evey waddled over to me, cocked her head and looked into my eyes.  She blinked her big round black eyes at me and then turned to my pile of kindling.  It looked like she was going to throw up, she coughed and gagged and then...  she belched and line of blue fire shot from her mouth.  The sticks and pine needles went up in flames instantly and Evey waddled away.  Any doubt I had about dragons being real went up in flames as well.

I cooked the rabbit and the carrot-like vegetables over the flame and added a few logs to keep the fire going into the night.  I wondered what the next day would bring and where I was going to go with Evey.  Hard to believe only a yesterday I was worrying about things like ruby red lipstick and high heels and what dress to wear to the social.  It all seemed so trivial now.  Food, shelter and surviving the night were what I had to think about for the moment.  We both ate like we had never seen food before.  The white carrots were sweeter than carrots and actually really delicious, the rabbit was harder for me to eat, but Evey had no problem there, even eating the innards with enthusiasm. The noises of the forest increased as the crescent moon got higher in the sky.  The stars were beautiful in the darkness, but the forest felt creepy.  Evey laid close to me on the mossy root and we both fell asleep.

I awoke while it was still dark, though the hint of morning light hung in the air, which was heavy with dew.  I sat up, trying hard not to disturb the tiny creature next to me.  Evey purred in her sleep and sounded so content, I carefully slide down off our perch and stretched my legs.  I walked a tiny ways down the past and crested the hill, and then I saw him.  There he was standing watching the sunrise over the horizon.  He was magnificent.  I am not sure he could have looked any better if an artist was sent down from heaven to sculpt a man out of marble.  His muscles rippled down his body and his hair blew in the gentle breeze.  He had no idea I was there, and he did not look like the type of man you wanted to startle, so I started to back away.  

“You there!  You needn’t leave.” He said, without even turning around.  How he knew I was there, I have no idea. He turned around and began to walk towards me, “You have nothing to fear from me.”  

I stopped where I stood and stared, I couldn’t help myself.  He was beautiful beyond words.  He was also very large, he stood over six feet tall and looked like he could lift an elephant.  He wore black leather pants and a utility bag that draped over one bare shoulder and across his body.  He had various tools and weapons hanging from the strap of the bag.  He looked like one of the barbarians from a book I had once read, only he was very real.

wish I had written more,  I am dying to know how it ends!

Until next time...  write on!