Fall TV is back!!

I'm so excited - it is finally time for Fall TV! A couple of shows I watch have already premiered, and most of the others premiere this week! It was a long summer with nothing to watch but Houston Astros baseball and the one good prime time show - Saving Grace.

I've added something new to my sidebar - Shows I'm Watching. As they premiere, I'll add to the list. If you watch them, too, let me know! I love to dish on the latest episodes! Here's what I think so far:

Kid Nation - great show! I was way impressed with those kids; I cried with them and cheered with them - I can't wait to see how it unfolds! My early favorites: Sophia, Taylor, Laurel, and Michael.

Survivor: China - off to a pretty good start. The last Survivor was kinda boring, but being the devoted Survivor watcher that I am, I stuck with it. I hope they liven it up a bit this season. So far so good. There are people I like and people I dislike on each tribe, so I haven't really sided with either one yet. I think the Gwen-Stefani-lookalike-girl needs to go. My early favorites are Aaron (easy on the eyes), James (big and sweet), and Leslie.

Some of my favorite shows aren't coming back yet - like Lost, American Idol, and Amazing Race. They'll be back mid-season. Something to look forward to!

Friday's Feast #15

My fifteenth Friday's Feast!

Appetizer

What is your favorite type of art?

dance

Soup

When was the last time you got a free lunch (or breakfast or dinner)? Who paid for it?

Bubba's Mom bought my lunch yesterday!

Salad

On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how emotional are you?

Easily a 9.

Main Course

Approximately how long do you spend each day responding to emails?
Hmmm......maybe 30 minutes to an hour? I do it sporadically thru-out the day, so I've never really added up the time.

Dessert

To what temperature do you usually set your home’s thermostat?

In the summertime, 77. In the winter, 72.

The Cost of a Free Education

My children go to public school. For one thing, I can't afford to pay college tuition prices for them to go to grade school. But even if I could, I wouldn't - because we have superior public schools where we live and I know they are getting a great education. However, this "free education" guaranteed to my children by the government is starting to break the bank around here.

First of all there's the cost of new clothes and shoes for them. Of course this is an expense I anticipate every year (because those darn kids keep growing!) and I try to spread it out by buying a little at a time. But it still ain't cheap. And they both needed new backpacks. Not wanted - needed - as in the old ones were filthy and worn out and had been used the past two years anyway.

Then there's school supplies. I was able to pre-order Daughter's school supplies - a great convenience offered by her school - and they cost about $35. Because she is in a program for gifted/talented students, she is "highly encouraged" to purchase all the novels they will be covering throughout the school year. So we did. $35 more. Little Son's school supplies also came pre-packaged - $65. And "oh-yeah-I-need-a-binder" - add $10. (Do you know you can get binders for $25???? Insane!)

So school begins. In the first week of school I wrote out $55 worth of checks for various class fees for Daughter's school. I then bought her approximately $30 worth of sewing supplies for Home Ec class. Her first Drama Festival is $3 per event - she is in 5 events. There's another check.

Then - THEN! - we're hit with the fundraisers!!! I bought a little something from Daughter's catalogue of goodies, but Little Son's school is selling "Butter Braids", which is frozen dough that bakes into a lovely pastry. For $10. Even Little Son agrees that's highway robbery. We'll not be purchasing one of those.

And it's also time for school pictures! I chose one of the lowest packages I could buy and still get pictures large enough to identify which child it was. Still came to $20. Each child. No, I didn't have to buy them, but what mom doesn't buy her kids' school pictures? The guilt would have eaten me alive. Now I'll at least have 1 5x7 picture to remember their 5th and 8th grade years by, and they can have the 500 postage-stamp sized pictures to hand out to their friends.

By the way, we skipped both Book Fairs. My credit wasn't good enough for the loan needed to pay for anything else.

Wordless Wednesday - Shark!

Ten Things I Do When I Have Nothing Else To Do

As I was making this week's Ten on Tuesday list, Hubby saw my title-less list and said, "What's this? A list of how you spend your days?" Har har. I really do have lots of things to do with my days - this is what I do when I'm done with all that other busy stuff:

1. nap
2. surf the Internet
3. play a game on the computer (I'm really into Spider Solitaire right now)
4. snack
5. look over my calendar for important things that might be coming up
6. watch TV
7. pull weeds from my flowerbeds
8. read the newspaper (I try to do this every day anyway)
9. take the dogs for a walk
10. call Bubba's Mom and see what she's doing!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Space City

Having grown up in this NASA community, all things space were just a way of life to me. My daddy worked at Johnson Space Center for over 41 years - he just retired at the end of 2006. I attended the splash-down party for Apollo 11 in-utero (I was born less than 3 months later). My first grade teacher was an astronaut's wife. When Bubba and I were kids Dad used to take us to work with him sometimes. We have seen the parts of NASA that you don't see on the public tour - we've been in the shuttle simulator and seen where the astronauts train. We were never allowed in Mission Control, but Dad has been there several times. Even today Hubby and I know a few astronauts personally. They are the people we go to church with, have lunch with, and see at the grocery store. Their triumphs are our triumphs and their tragedies our tragedies. I can't even begin to explain how the Challenger and Columbia disasters rocked this community of ours. I had friends who lost parents in Challenger, other friends who dropped out of astronaut training after Columbia. You never get over those things.

But today Daughter got to experience one of the perks of living in this NASA area. In an assembly today at school, the students got to speak to one of the astronauts onboard the International Space Station (he has a kid at that school). It was a live feed and the students got to ask questions, such as "What do you do to exercise?" and "How does living in space affect your hair and fingernail growth?" Daughter was impressed with how clear it was - just like talking on the phone, yet this guy is orbiting the earth 220 miles above the ground!

I think Neil Armstrong said it best: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

And we continue to leap.

Friday's Feast #14

Happy Friday and Happy Feasting!

Appetizer

When was the last time you visited a hospital?

The last time I was in a hospital was in January when Hubby had surgery to remove the screws from his ankle (which were put in last November after breaking his leg/ankle).

Soup

On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how ambitious are you?

Eh, I guess a 5.

Salad

Make a sentence using the letters of a body part. (Example: (mouth) My other ukelele tings healthily.)

Apes need kind, loving empathy.

Main Course

If you were to start a club, what would the subject matter be, and what would you name it?

I think a club to share vacation tips and info would be fun - I'd call it The Vacation Information Station! (**Disclaimer - if you already have a club named that, I'm sorry - I just thought of it off the top of my head and it's late.)

Dessert

What color is the carpet/flooring in your home?

oatmeal

The Conspiracy

I believe there is some kind of conspiracy in this world to discontinue making the products I like. As sure as I find something I really love - whether it be a cleaning product or food or whatever - they stop making it. Some examples:

• Glade Spin-Fresh toilet paper holders - a pleasant but subtle way to keep the bathroom smelling nice every time you use toilet paper
• Alpha Bits cereal - and while I'm on the subject of cereal, can I just say that while I appreciate the effort to make cereals healthier (lower sugar, sodium, etc.), doing so has made some of the oldies-but-goodies not so goodie anymore. Super Golden Crisp should have stayed Sugar Crisp. I'm just sayin'.
• Chicken by George - tender boneless chicken breasts that came in delicious flavors like Tomato Herb with Basil, Caribbean Grill, and Mesquite Barbecue; yes, they were over-packaged and a little over-priced, but they were great for a quick and easy meal!
• Scotch Brite Rescue Pads - soap-filled sponges with a scrubber side and a sponge side; while Googling this, however, I discovered that they may still be available online, so it's apparently just my local stores that are in on The Conspiracy
• Several Bath & Body Works products, including but not limited to the Stress Relief Bath Salts (the new ones aren't as good as the old ones) and White Tea and Ginger Bubble Bath (which also appears to be available online, but not in my local store)

So why does this happen to me? I can't be the only person who bought these products! Bubba's Mom has noticed the trend, too. She can't get her Revlon Moon Drops Moisture Cream anymore. What is this world coming to?

Name Game

**SCROLL DOWN FOR WORDLESS WEDNESDAY**

I stole this fun game from Stacey at JameeForever - it's silly and fun and guaranteed to make you laugh! Try it!

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) Muffin Venture
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) Chocolate Chip Chocolate Chip! I think that should be just Chocolate Chip Squared or something....
3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name) J'Car
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Blue Dog
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Darlene Houston
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) Carji
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink) The Red Tea
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) Albert Martin
9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy) Design Whoppers (HA!)
10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ) Marie Albert
11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter) Giglio Geneva
12. SPY NAME/BOND GIRL: (your favorite season/holiday, flower) Spring Lily
13. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”) Strawberry Tankie
14. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree) Brownie Oak
15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”) The Dancing Storm Tour!

Wordless Wednesday - Rollin' on the River

Ten Cities I Could Live In

Today's Ten on Tuesday list asks for Ten Cities I Could Live In - forever or just for a little while.....here's what I came up with off the top of my mind. Some of these places I have been, others I haven't.....

1. Austin, Texas
2. Bastrop, Texas
3. Beaufort, South Carolina
4. Hilton Head, South Carolina
5. Charleston, South Carolina
6. Savannah, Georgia
7. Natchez, Mississippi
8. Gainesville, Florida
9. San Diego, California
10. Breckenridge, Colorado

Good Answer

Friday's Feast #13

Time for another Friday's Feast!

Appetizer

Using only one word, how does grocery shopping make you feel?
tired

Soup

What is your favorite part about the season of Autumn?
cooler weather

Salad

Have you ever had any bad experiences online?
I had a virus e-mailed to me once, but other than that, no.

Main Course

Name three things that make you happy daily.

my husband

my kids

my dogs

Dessert

What one household cleansing or organizing item would you not want to be without?

my calendar (that's an organizing item, right?)

Back-to-School Bugs

The last time Daughter threw up was 2 years ago - we were in Hilton Head, SC on vacation, and something she ate for dinner didn't agree with her. In the middle of the night it all came back up. All. Over. The. Bed. It was a strip-the-bed-and-throw-the-kid-in-the-shower incident. But after that she was all better and wasn't sick anymore.

Until today.

It started at 6:15 this morning. (She did make it to the bathroom.) Since then she has thrown up 3 more times. This girlie is SICK. She's lying in her bed like a limp dishrag, trying to watch TV but dozing a bit, too. She can't even hold down water. I feel so badly for her, but I know that there is nothing I can do except hold her hair back and give her a cold washcloth - a stomach virus must run its course. This is only the second week of school - I figure all those kids came back with germs aplenty and Daughter was the lucky lottery winner of the tummy bug. Hopefully none of the rest of us get it - I'm Lysol-ing everything like crazy. Maybe I have Mommy Immunity.

Crazy Lady Say What??

***SCROLL DOWN FOR WORDLESS WEDNESDAY***

Whoopi Goldberg has started her stint on The View, and already she's stirring up controversy. She is actually DEFENDING Michael Vick! Kind-of the "he didn't know any better" defense. According to Whoopi, "where he comes from" in the South, dogfighting isn't that unusual.
"It's like cockfighting in Puerto Rico," she said. "There are certain things that are indicative to certain parts of the country." She said that for many people, dogs are sport, and it appeared it took awhile for Vick to realize that he was up against serious charges. "I just thought it was interesting, because it seemed like a light went off in his head when he realized this was something that the entire country didn't appreciate," she said.

Ummm....EXCUSE ME???? Maybe - just MAYBE - if Vick were some kid from the sticks who was being raised to fight dogs and had never known any different, this could be a plausible excuse. But this man is/was a professional athlete! A grown man who knew right from wrong! The abuse and torture of his dogs was despicable, and he had to know that. How on EARTH could anyone defend his actions? I'm from the South and I find it reprehensible, and to generalize Southerners in that way would be as bad as me saying that she's defending him because he's black. Which I'm not doing.

Come on, Whoopi - we thought you were gonna be so much better than Rosie!

**UPDATE**

Whoopi is covering her butt today, apologizing and backpedaling like crazy. Do we give her the benefit of the doubt on this one??

Wordless Wednesday - BFF's

Ten Things I'd Save In A Fire

Ten on Tuesday snuck up on me this week! Guess the holiday threw me off....

Assuming Hubby can get out safely on his own, here are Ten Things I'd Save In A Fire:

1. my kids
2. my dogs
3. my scrapbooks
4. as many photos as I could grab
5. my computer (well, the tower - the part that has all my "stuff" on it!)
6. my Bible
7. my calendar book
8. our box of important documents (no they are not in a fireproof safe - shame on us!)
9. the kids' baby books
10. my vacation spoons (collection started by my grandmother and passed on to me - very special to me!)

You like me! You really like me!

Not one but TWO awards for me this week! Wow - I'm feeling really special right now.

Misty Dawn at My Dogs Keep Me Sane bestowed upon me the Blogging Star award. She is such a neat person and takes AWESOME photos! Thank you Misty Dawn!


Stacey at Jamee Forever awarded me the You Make Me Smile Award - I am honored! She makes me smile every day both at her blog and the comments she leaves on mine. Love ya, Stacey!

I think I'm supposed to pass these along to others now, so I'm going to think about it some - I would gladly give both of them to USO Girl, but she got them, too! Lots of stuff to do today, so I'll mull on it and come back tonight to do my awarding.

Happy Labor Day Weekend everyone!

In Loving Memory

July 1, 1961 - August 31, 1997