Canadian Idol + Manic Monday ~ Got Gas?

Oh before I play Manic Monday, let me say that Canadian Idol rocked tonight! It was such a good show. Cyndi Lauper was the guest singer who coached them and boy they each put out some really good performances. I had both eyes and both ears on the set and I usually just have one eye and 1.5 ears! Course they were all 80's tunes tonight so I may be showing my age a bit. Some of them had some really kool new do's and makeover images. They're starting to look pretty darn good. Anybody else catch it?

From the fabulous Fleur de Lisa at http://manicmondaymeme.blogspot.com/

Got Gas?
1. Do you find yourself driving less due to the high gas prices?
yes, definitely and plus I'm riding my bike more.

2. This week, Exxon Mobil reported quarterly profits of more than $10.3 billion, the second-best quarter ever for a U.S. company. As we're paying, on average, $3.00 per gallon here in the U.S., do you think the oil companies are using the conflict in the Mid-East as an excuse to gouge consumers?
yes, definitely and did I tell you I'm riding my bike more?
Pool Boy says he only needs to fill up every two weeks now instead of every week since I've been riding me bike. How's that for another incentive!

3. According to the Department of Energy, adjusted for inflation, the price of gasoline is still below its all time peak back in 1981. Back in 1981 the average new car got 21 miles per gallon. Today the average new car gets 22 miles per gallon. Why do you think there hasn't been more innovation and progress in this area?
beats me. You know how the car changed the world, and the telephone, and air travel and computers? The next big change will be a replacement for fossil fuel. Jet pack travel on combustible ions. Can't wait!

Tagged

I've Been Tagged

I've been tagged by Fleur de Lisa to:
1. Do the following WITHOUT complaint.
2. Choose five people to do this after you’ve completed yours.
3. Leave a tag on the person’s tagboard to say he/she has been tagged.
4. Start your post with I have been tagged! Then do this. (copy and paste!)

So I wrote most of this in the a.m. but posted it when I got home from work.

Favourites:
Favourite Colour: right now, lime green / chartreuse, my favourite colour changes, over the years it has been orange, yellow, teal.
Favourite Food: I think I've answered this in another meme, but I can't remember what I said. Right now I'm gonna say nachos.
Favourite Movie: So I Married an Axe Murderer
Favourite Sport: running or biking - don't make me decide
Favourite Day of the Week: Saturday
Favourite Season: tough one 'cause I always enjoy the one I'm in so now I'll say Summer
Favourite Ice Cream: Anything with chocolate - not chocolate on it's own - mocha chocolate, peanut butter and chocolate, Rolo, you get the picture.

Currents:
Current Mood: waking up ... is that a mood?
Current Clothes: red nightie
Current Desktop: Ardfert Abbey - see pic here
Current Time: 7:12 am
Current Surroundings: me bed, coffee at my side, fan blowing on me, The Doodle sleeping beside me .
Current Annoyances: the situation in the Middle East
Current Thoughts: Damn, gotta go to work.

First:
First Best Friend: Sonja my neighbor from down the street I was 4 or 5. We're still friends today.

Last:
Last Drink: Margarita, last night
Last Car Ride: yesterday to church
Last Crush: Mel Gibson - gone! Can't wait to see his mug shot if it's ever released!
Last Phone Call: My Dad
Last CD played: Music for Small rooms

Have you ever:
Have you ever dated one of your best friends: no
Have you ever broken the law: yes, stoled a street sign in college
Have you ever been arrested: no
Have you ever been on TV: yes
Have you ever kissed someone you dont know: passionately, no

Things:
5 things you are good at: rolling through stop signs on my bike, procrastinating, wiggling my ears, finding typos, my job.
4 things you have done today: peed, put a load of laundry on, drank coffee, blogged.
3 things you can hear right now: fan, radio, Pool Boy knocking around downstairs

I've tagged Mat, Gracie, AlRo, Charmed1 and Viamarie ~Thanks guys!

Float and Bloat

Ah, another glorious day in paradise! Sun is shining, birds are singing, it's Sunday!

Alot different than what is going on in other parts of the world, which worries me. My stress is limited to my 'to do' list, my bills, my family and friend's troubles, my grief and own self pity. Stupid things in the grand scheme of things. I try not to dwell on them for that reason and to be thankful for everything in my life. I digress, but there's a point to be made here. The lack of control that I feel about world events and politics can be all consuming. So I tend to live in the moment. I will do what I'm doing with all my heart and soul for that moment. This applies to work and leisure. I go all out. And when I blog (leisure), I choose to blog about stupid and crazy things, spiritual things, rants, things that may make someone laugh or think. Things that will make them want to come back and read more or not come back at all. What you see is what you get. I am spiritual and loving and human. This is the complexity of me.

After I finish writing this, I plan to get ready and go to church. Then I have nothing planned except puttering, reading, maybe doing some chores (I said maybe), floating in the pool and enjoying the day. I will entertain all options and combinations of possibilities. Like yesterday, I went on an hour long bike ride at the spur of the moment with my daughter. I feel I should do more (like the 'to do' list), but recent events and challenges personally have made me stop and smell the roses, slow down a little and try not to feel so guilty about it.

So this is getting really boring so I'm going to switch it up now and blog about my silly women's stuff. Oh, so guys, you should go now. Ya you. And you too. Go fix the car, go for your run, bike ride, another blog, whatever...(play with someone ...hee). Don't keep reading or you'll be sorry!!

So Thursday Ms. Flow came to see me (surprise, surprise ...I'm always surprised!) I don't track that stuff. I keep saying I should because I swear the cycles are getting shorter and shorter. Is it menopause around the corner? I'm always the one who asks for the calendar at the doctors office when I'm there for my annual pap smear and after studying it awhile and try to relate it to events that happened on certain dates I still have only about a 50% chance of getting it right within a five day period so I make something up and announce it to the nurse with certainty "Sept 28 was the first day of my last period." as I make a mental note to myself to start putting small p's in my on line calendar at work (the only calendar I use). Ya, no one will know what that means! This mental note is forgotten until said next annual doctor's appointment at which point I think ....darn, I knew I forgot to do something these past years [ya I usually can't remember when I had this last appointment and have to call the drs office to confirm - "When did I have my last pap smear? Oh 2004, thanks well can I make an appointment for one now? Oh, you have a 3 month waiting list. No problem, my fault anyways. I'll take a cancellation booking if one does come up." (unless I die of cancer before then). ] If I reme mber to ever do the 'p' thing in my calendar and I start noticing that people leave me the heck alone, right before I put the next's month's 'p' on the calendar, I'll let you know. They might be on to my little code in which case I will change it to a 'y?' meaning 'why again?'.

Anyways, I've digressed again about 3 times from my main point that I wanted to talk about the dreaded 'B' word. B-L-O-A-T. I usually get it right before Ms. Flow but somehow he came at the same time this month. When I came home from work and got changed, I couldn't believe when I looked in the mirror. I looked like I wanted to look like when I was nine months pregnant (I actually looked a lot worse when I was 9 months pregnant 'cause the B-L-O-A-T went from head to toe). I admired my belly for while I fantasized for awhile and then came the shocking reality. Oh ya, I'm not pregnant. Damn, this sucks! Put on my bathing suit anyways, (the dogs don't care what I look like) and proceeded down for me cool down swim after my bike ride home from work. Nice. Really nice. Soon forgot about the swollen belly, mainly because after I ate I was zonked and went right to bed. Oh, another by product of my first day with Ms. p, F or whatever she wants to call herself. That was kinda the reason for my late post on Stuff Portrait Fridays. Anyways I'm feelin' like me old self again. One of the benefits with these seemingly more frequent visits as I approach my late forties is that they are shorter. So I guess it evens out in the end!

Are you still reading? I told you to stop. OK you're too nice now go play some golf.

SPH - Pets / Animals

This weeks theme is Pets / Animals

Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Grab the Scavenger Hunt code.

~If you play and visit, don't forget to tell TNChick which ones are your favourites~

Guess who I saw riding home from work when I was on my bike?

Guess who I saw the very next morning on my way to work on my bike

but about 1 mile from where I was before?

I don't think it was the same deer.

Do you?

(I was so happy to be able to get these pictures, BTW!!)

Bonus for Tennesse Mama

Second bonus ~ for Dawn at Whispers in the Morning!

Cursor over to see their names!

Or are they chickens?

LOL

Alls I know is they're Irish!

SPF - way late and way bad!

OK I'm playin' SPF- - it's still Friday in some parts of the world, even though I'm way late and my pictures r-s-u-c-k-y but I'm anal-retentive and somewhat water retentive today and that is all! Kristine from Random and Odd wants us to show for July 28th
-Something mean looking
-Your weapons
-Your hiding place

But 'cha hafta guess which ones which that's all i'm sayin'!

Mouse over the pics and see if you were right!

Friday ... no pictures ...ok look above i did play after all

I couldn't find anything for SPF. Well I kinda did but they were crappy so I may pass again this week. I will try to visit SPF's tonight and I will have a Sat Photo Hunt for tomorrow. I got nuthin' else to say except

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Oh yeah and what if women controlled the world?

Thursday 13 - Pets I have owned

Week # 51, my #6 TT

Get the T13 code or view other Thursday Thirteens :)

1. Laddie 1 - a blue budgie, the most tame budgie my family owned. He died of old age.
2. Laddie 2 - a not so tame blue budgie that flew out the back door once while my Mum was cleaning his cage and we never got him back
3. Laddie 3 - our third blue budgie who lived to be very old so that he couldn't even fly anymore but used to walk around on the carpet (the red carpet I have referred to before) and sadly got killed / eaten by a neighbour's dachshund when she came in for coffee and didn't realize her dog was following her. Those were the days when dogs ran outside loose all the time.
4. Tiger - our first dog as a family when I was a child. I was about 11 years old. She was a Doberman / German Shepherd mix. She had the colours of a doberman but the hair and body more like a shepherd. She was a good dog but also a bit of a nervous Nelly. She would bark at the motor on the boat whenever we went water skiing and was a real nuisance for that.
5. Kerry - She came into my parent's household when my youngest sister brought her home. She was a great dog and very nice looking. Sadly, she and Tiger got into a big dominance fight once when she was about 2 years old. It was a nasty fight and Tiger was badly injured as a result. She had to be nursed back to health and from thereon in Kerry was the top dog. I always felt sorry for Tiger after this. When Tiger was about 13 my Dad had her put down when my Mom was in Ireland because she wasn't able to walk or hold her bladder or bowels. He waited until she went away because he knew she didn't have the heart to do it. Kerry got sick suddenly and died when she was about 10 years old. Very sad. She was such a great dog. My parents had two more dogs after those two, but this was after I was no longer at home. One was Carla - a Belgian Tervuren mix. Sadly she got hit by a schoolbus when she ran out the front door on my parents street. The last one was Mr Black, a Belgian Shepherd Dog. He outlived my Mum but he was getting old and Dad had him put down last fall. Here's a picture of my Mum with the sweatshirt I got her that she loved so much. I still have the sweatshirt. Couldn't bear to part with it.
6. Cliff & Norm - my first pets when I moved into my own apartment. Two budgies. Cliff was blue and Norm was green. Very pretty. I learned afterwards that having two budgies is not a good idea if you want them to be more sociable with you. If they have each other, they tend to bond with each other. If you just have one, then they tend to interact with you more and talk with you. (more pictures of people's budgies)
7. Clancy - my cat. I adopted him from someone at work. He was my first ginger tabby and he was a domestic short hair. He was a great cat. Orange cats tend to be very friendly. Did you know that? He got sick and died suddenly when he was only about 8 years old. I was devastated and it took me months before I was ready to replace him because I thought he was such a perfect cat.
8. Daisy - another budgie. Sadly, Cliff died from fright after a trip to the vet's office. He had something wrong with his eye and I took him to a special bird vet who put on ointment and prescribed it for me to put on him. Anyways the whole vet trip and ointment applications became were too much for him and he died from stress the next day. I replaced him with Daisy, another budgie but a yellow green one. She got along with Norm fine. He was an olive green colour. Sadly Daisy died after being attacked in the cage by Clancy (the cat). After that I didn't want to risk it anymore and Norm went to live with my best friend where he lived to be a ripe old age.
9. Magoo - This was Pool Boy's dog. When we met and got married we had a blended family. His dog and 3 kids and my cat. Magoo was a poodle maltese mix, sometimes referred to as a malti-poo. He was chocolate brown and a good dog. He was pretty old. He and Clancy got along with each other very well after the first getting used to each other time period. He died at home one day when the kids were at school / daycare and we were at work. DQ Girl found him when they came home. It was quite a shock to the kids, though they knew he was getting old. We went out for supper as a family that night to get over our grief.
Click here for pics of the following pets.
10. Phoebe - Phoebe was the replacement cat for Clancy after he died. As I mentioned before, although Pool Boy suggested that we get another one, I was not ready for a while. Clancy is buried in our backyard and I would go out to visit him often in those days. When I was finally ready, I did not want to get another ginger cat because I didn't want to seem like I was trying to replace Clancy, so instead we got a Calico one, some orange, white and black. Seemed like a good compromise and very pretty combination. True but she is cranky! She has permanent PMS Pool Boy declares.
11. Jasper - After a year with Phoebe, we decided to add to our family and go with the tried and true ginger tom again. This time we went with a long hair. We adopted him from the paper as a kitten from a low rent part of town. We joked that he was getting a better life with us. He is a good cat. True to the ginger cat disposition. I was not disappointed, even if he was long haired and I wasn't sure if I liked that, but it made him different from Clancy so life was good. Enter
12. Winston - Nurse-a-baby's cat. Nurse-a-baby's friend's cat had kittens. This was the last one left. It didn't take Nurse-a-baby long to get me won over, now we had to work on Pool Boy. Once he saw the kitten the deed was done. Winston is also a ginger and white male. So we went from no cats to 3 cats in 3 years and they're all still at home!! Winston has an eating disorder. He eats too freakin' much. He's fat and big and jolly and lazy. He does not care. He's really laid back. He's actually quite a sweetheart! People can't believe how big he is. He's a back sleeper too so when you catch him in his sleeping position he looks huge and funny.
13. Fergus - my baby. I've already blogged enough about him!
14. Daisy - my granddog. I've already blogged about her too much too. I know it's number 14 but how could I leave her off?

Have a great Thursday!

Hump Day Foto Ferrits

Welcome aboard, all of you pherrets!

The time for the hunt has arrived.

Last week we searched for things so small.

Our word for this week is:

Tall

This is a rock 'island' off the coast of western Ireland at the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare.

I'd say it's TALL.

First things first, I played over at Lizzie's TMI Site. Go check it out and tell her if you play. She's got cool new buttons and everything on her new TMI only site! Link also listed at right! Have fun!
Went to see Pirates of the Caribbean tonight ~ it was date night with Pool Boy! (We're just starting this date night thingy 'cause we never have time for each other). It was great fun. Long movie - 2 hours 45 mins. He finally could hold his bladder no more and had to slip out about 10 mins from the end but came back to catch the ending. 'kay so now I'm tired. I'm gonna visit a few sites and hit the sack.

~Toodles!~

ICL

Manic Monday ~ What A Way To Make A Living

From the fabulous Fleur de Lisa at http://manicmondaymeme.blogspot.com/

If you did not work (or if you don't) how much TV would you/do you watch during the course of the day? ....probably no different than now when I'm working ... about 2 hours in the evening.

How long have you held your current job and how does it rate against your former jobs as far as overall happiness? ....i've been in my current position not quite two years. i've never been terribily unhappy in a position. this is a good position and I enjoy it as much or more than others i have had....the job is what you make it!

If you had to describe the thing done by someone at work that drives you the craziest, what would you say? ...not meeting commitments. (can I slip a few more in? how about being late for meetings, whining, trying to get other people to do your work (not delegating but rather absconding)

If you could have someone at your current place of employment fired, would you do so? ...i had to fire an employee once. ordinarily i wouldn't go out of my way to get someone fired, however i would let the right people know if their performance was suffering.

Do you work a typical "9 to 5" Monday through Friday work schedule? ... yes and no. i try to keep my hours manageable but sometimes due to deadlines, need to put in extra time at night or on the weekend. the odd time if my schedule allows it I will go in late or leave early or work from home to try to keep things manageable and not burn out. it never works out as time for time though that's all i'm sayin'

I'm worth nothing, nada, $0.00 + A Lizzie Quizzie

My blog is worth $0.00.
How much is your blog worth?

WTF? What does this mean? My blog is worth a lot more than that to me. Oh well, at least no one will try to steal it.

If you're just catching up, please go back and read my Sunday post. You won't be sorry.

Onward, A Lizzie Quizzie! from the laughable Lizzie Daisy

1) On a scale of 1-10, how well do you know html/css? 5 self taught and still learning

2) What is your occupation (stay at homes, you rock!)? Do you like it? Project Manager, yup

3) Do you enjoy cooking? Are you good? So - so, alright

4) Are you working on any projects (not job related) right now? What? Nada

5) How well do you swim? I'm very comfortable in the water, but could build up my endurance.

6) What is your favorite indulgence? Chocolate, what else

7) Are you a starter, a finisher? Do you enjoy the process? Starter, not really

8) Who is is your favorite sports star? Kurt Browning

9) What is the last thing you MADE with your own two hands? Excluding meals, a dressy scarf.

10) The ________ doesn't fall far from the tree. Nut

What do you think of me? (aka how well do you know me through me blog or how big of a blabbermouth am I really?)

Lizzie got this from ~Lil Deb~

Pick one word from each pair that you think describes me the best and leave it in the comments. Then copy this and post it in your own blog (if you want to) to see how your blogger friends view you.

*dominant or submissive
*logical or intuitive
*social or loner
*kinky or vanilla
*cute or sophisticated
*kitten or puppy
*warm flannel sheets or sleek satin
*leader or follower
*quiet or talkative
*spontaneous or planned
*teddy bear or porcelain doll
*hiking or window shopping
*tequila or vodka
*top or bottom
*bare foot or shoes
*jeans or slacks
*tender or rough
*aware or dreamy
*nerd or jock
*brains or brawn
*common sense or book smarts
*pretty or sexy

Thanks Peeps!

Ok I need to share with you what Erica @ ButterflyKisses (she's linked under 'keep me grounded' wrote on Friday. Important: Please read her posting first.

My comment back to her was:
"Irish Church Lady :) said...
O Erica. How beautiful and well written. It is so true! Can I post a link to this on my site so I can share with others? I needed to hear that. I feel the Lord is talking to me through you. Thank you, Lord. I'm crying tears of joy.
4:11 PM"

Even better when I asked her if I could link to it she had this to say:
"At 9:40 PM, Butterfly Kisses said…
Not photo hunt related, sorry..I am responding to your comment on my page. You wanted to know if you could link to my post that I wrote yesterday. Of course you can.You know, when I started to write it, I had other things in mind to write...but I prayed first..I asked God to give me the topics and words..I knew He knew who would read it and how to best speak to them....so I really can't take much credit for it. I am glad that it spoke to you. :o) Just know, that THAT was God! :o) "

Now how do you feel now?

Debs xo

SPH - Action

This weeks theme is Action

Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Grab the Scavenger Hunt code.

~If you play and visit, don't forget to tell TNChick which ones are your favourites~

Batgirl at the Ballyheigue Beach

County Kerry, Ireland

Batgirl and her cousin playing at the beach

Happy Weekend Everyone!

The animal in me

This is all I got folks! You Are: 50% Dog, 50% Cat

You are a nice blend of cat and dog. You're playful but not too needy. And you're friendly but careful. And while you have your moody moments, you're too happy to stay upset for long.

Are You More Cat or Dog?

Not playing SPF today. No time to get pictures of

Stuff Unnoticed
Your Wish
and…(blech) The Stuff Under Your Sink.

Oh ya, TGIF! Oh yeah Oh yeah!

Doin' the dance

First week back after holidays is always tough,

but especially when you pick up a new assignment

and find out it's behind. BTW as of yesterday I am

more than 7 solid days of work behind in this project

to catch it back up by next Friday the 28th.

Ain't gonna happen.

No way am I werking all weekend.

They always do this, not properly assign resources

(because there are none available - not my problem)

from the beginning of the project

(the poor guy doing it was only 50% booked on this project and projects

always need 100% at the beginning).

My boss is back from holidays next week.

She's gonna hear about it, oh and BTW, I still have 19 days of work

from my last project to complete. I have until the end of August to do this

but it will add risk if it's all left until the end because of the impacts on other people.

This new project is supposed to go until the end of October.

Just found out yesterday that another project which I really want to work on

may start in September.

This is a project that I feel I should have first dibs on because I worked on the

first part of the project and so I have the knowledge and I also feel

deeply interested and committed to this other project.

I ramble!

Thanks for listening.

Happy Friday everyone!

TT - What's bugging me?

Get the T13 code or view other Thursday Thirteen players :)

What's bugging me?

1. There are 40,000 Lebanese Canadians living in Lebanon and they are being transported back to Canada by boat as we speak at taxpayers expense. Some of these are Lebanon nationals, who emigrated to Canada, took out citizenship and then retreated back to Lebanon to live where it's warm, planning to return to Canada as senior citizen's when they could benefit more from the national health care system. Sponges. I don't begrudge their hardships right now because of what is going on in Lebanon. I don't think they should be allowed to become Canadian citizens to begin with because their motives are not right. How to prevent this? Hire intuitive, inquisitive, detective like, detail oriented spys people like me. I'll sniff 'em out. 'nuff said.
2. I saw a bug run into the corner of my kitchen last night.
3. I just inherited a fairly new project at work and it is already behind. I have yet to start a project at the beginning and have it fall behind at my own peril! It's usually because they double book PM's on more than one project and you are expected to wrap one up while starting another which is nuts. I already have at least a full week's worth of stuff to do to get it caught up by next week and I am only supposed to be working 50% on this project. PeeNuts!
4. My holidays spirit is quickly being sucked outa me after on three days at werk.
5. I have to pay my professional fees and I can't find the bill and they are already late. My mail, paperwork, bills suck are not nice.
6. My granddog completely chewed a new pair of me undies last night that didn't quite make it into the hamper in the bathroom. I wouldn't care if the were old ones. They are tossed.
7. I bombed today in the exercise department. No biking to work and no run. Too tired and muscles sore this morning, no time to run at lunch due to meetings scheduled over the lunch period due to people's already full schedules (it's summer people!), and too cranky tonight to go and tired of getting home too late from work. Just called me Pool Boy and said get me outa here!
8. I'm sad for Gracie. She's having a bad week. And Pupster, but she'll be okay. She told us.
9. My dining room table is still covered with dishes from my Mum's place. Things I can't bear to get rid of but no place to put them. I want to give some of them to my daughters when they move out. I need to get my a$$ in gear and organize everything to put away, soon!
10. Sometimes I kill bugs and sometimes I save them. What's bugging me about this is I discriminate. Spiders skating across the pool get saved. Spiders found inside get put outside. Drowning earwigs, bees, centipedes in the pool stay drowned. Ants in the pool running up my leg get drowned.
11. I don't consider myself to be racist or biggoted at all, but when I read what I write about discriminating against certain species of bugs and not wanting freeloading immigrants in my country I start to wonder.
12. Time goes too fast. I didn't get to play Way Back Wednesday though I think I had a picture of the inside of my parents old house where I grew up with the really red carpet that needed vacuuming every day and sometimes twice a day. Golly we hated the carpet. It showed every spec of dust.
13. My girl did not win on Canada's next top model finale tonight. OK well it's not really bugging me but I'm running out of things to say which is a good thing, right?

What's bugging you?

Foto Pherrets

Another week of hunting is here for all of the pherret friends!

What shall we seek today? It's not true that bigger is always better.

Our word for this week is:Small

Can you find Mr. Lizard?

OMG I need to blog!

Oh hello! I am back to work this week and missing my daily blogging so much already! I told Pool Boy as soon as I saw him tonight that I had to blog as soon as I got home. He was a mite disappointed because he just wanted to jump in the sack to which I gently smiled and laughed and said nothing. So yesterday, first day back to work and I had planned to blog in the evening but I made the mistake (yes a horrible mistake) of going for a run at lunch in the m&%$e@f&^!ing heat (first time in 3 weeks!). Werked (that's a stronger version of work, means worked my a$$ off) until 7 p.m., got home, ate (I was famished) and died on the LAY-Z-BOY. Came to consciousness around 10:30 p.m. just long enough to drag my a$$ upstairs, brush but not floss and collapse in my comfy snuggly bed.

So I didn't get to play

yet or

so here goes 'kay?

From Fleur de Lisa at http://manicmondaymeme.blogspot.com/

In hindsight, what particular class in school do you wish you would have paid more attention to or taken more seriously?
woodworking, I could be making beautiful things now with my hands instead of working at this m&%$e@f&^!ing project management job where you have to wipe noses and spills a little more frequently than what I would do if I were a carpenter

If your tastebuds could be altered so that the taste of any one food would be dramatically intensified whenever you ate it, what food would you choose?
shit - then I wouldn't eat it as much.

If you were an entry in the dictionary, under which word would people find you?
crack - don't mess with me

Hey CandyCoated (aka Lizzie) got a new way kool TMI blogspot. Go see it @ http://tmituesday.blogspot.com/

This week's questions:

Have you ever...

1. had sex with someone ten years older or younger than you?

2. drawn from a nude model?

3. had sex at a company Christmas party?

4. had a blind date?

5. slept with a teacher?

Bonus (as in optional): had sex with someone within an hour of meeting them?

I don't play here, are you nuts?! I play over there so check it out if you dare! Now gotta go play TMI and then check out all my fav sites so toodle-loo!

Affectionately with Kissies,
ICL

It's time to name the kids

So periodically I blog (brag) about my kids and I may have to dis them from time to time (unfortunately they're not perfect like their mother). Usually I refer to them by birth order and /or sex. It's time to give them quirky names that reflect their personalities like so many bloggers do. I also want to tell you why I like their given names so much and then they will never be referred to as such again.


First I should let you know that I did not name three of them. They are my 'step' children (ew I hate that word) but it is a fact. I have mothered them though since they were all young. Their mother died (RIP) when they were 5,2, 6 mos. (from cancer). She did not know she had cancer when she was pregnant. Her pregnancy symptoms kinda disguised the cancer symptoms and she was diagnosed when the baby was 3 months old. She died 3 months later. I did not know her, only now through stories and pictures. I came into the picture 3 years later. I married my husband (aka Pool Boy) after a short courtship (5 months) - we were engaged after 5 weeks. He was not looking for a mother for his kids, he wanted a wife. He let me assume the role slowly (TG). This was a good and very important thing for our relationship and my relationship with the kids. They of course were delighted to have a mom. They started calling me mom even before we were married. This made me feel special and helped me to assume my mothering role with ease. I'm not saying I am / was a good mother, but it helped me to be one to the best of my ability. I digress.

Okay so eldest is Lisa. She is 25 now, still lives at home (but not for much longer I suspect), is working at a full time job, is mother to a dog only (TG). (Yes we treat pets like humans in this household - the Dog Whisperer would not agree, and I agree with him but I still humanize them from time to time (ok, most of the time)). She has been referred to as Mona Lisa, Lis (often), Weeza. Lisa means Oath of God. I like her name but I especially like her second name which is Christiane. I am the Irish Church Lady, need I say more? I will now refer to her going forward as Dairy Queen Girl or DQ Girl. The story behind this is that she used to work at DQ (it was her first part-time job) when she was 16. She has recently started dating I guy that she used to work with there who I affectionately refer to as DQ Boy (he knows). When she first started seeing him there were a few other irons in the fire so to speak and they were referred to as Paramedic Boy and Joint Boy. DQ boy won out and since I like DQ boy she feels like DQ girl to me. No pressure here. I'm not ready to be a real Grandma anyways.

Next is Mathieu. I love his name because it is after the Apostle Matthew of course (ICL) but also because of how it is spelled. The French way. It is actually pronounced Mat-yeu. It means Gift of God. Mat is a deep thinker, into writing, reading, writing music. He loves to debate, fends for the little guy. He's our philosopher of the family. So I will call him Mr. Philosopher. He is soon to be 23. He is away at school about 7 hours away studying Music Production. He stayed there for the summer to work and because his lovely girlfriend lives there. (I'm being sincere, she is a very nice girl). He comes home to visit every 3 months or so (sooner if bus fare is provided by Pool Boy). He majorly stressed us out as a teen, but we're over that now. I could write a book.

The step-baby is Jenny - not Jennifer. That's what I like about it. It's kinda unique. She goes by Jenn sometimes. It means God is gracious. The celtic meaning is white wave. ha ha ha very appropriate. She can come crashing in at any time! Our Jenny has just turned 21 - yay! She is entering second year of nursing at university and is well suited for this field - her 'mui sympatico' nature and love of the human body / diagnosing illnesses etc. We are very proud of her following in her Nana's footsteps (my mum). I will call her Nurse-a-baby. She wants to get married and have kids by the time she is 25. I say focus on school first. She's very headstrong our Nurse-a-baby. Not a follower by any means. She acts first and thinks later, and I have the psychological injuries to prove it. Let's just say that Maturity agrees with her (and me). She's a good cook and baker (not like DQ Girl). She will accomplish what she puts her mind to.

The real baby is Seana - pronounced Shaw-na and means gift from God (present). The feminine form of Sean (John). It is the Irish. Kind of a funny story about the spelling of her name which is unique and for a reason. We had decided on her name before she was born and new that we wanted to spell it the Irish way so I called my uncle (my mom's BIL) to confirm the spelling. He's good with Irish / Gaelic words and meanings of stuff. He confirmed the above spelling because I wanted to ensure that I got the accent on the right letter and in the right direction. I was recently browsing a site on the Irish pronounciations of letters and words and determined that with the accent where it is placed, it probably should be pronounced Shay-na. I broke it to her gently figuring she would be mad (she gets mad) that I had made such a mistake. I told her to blame Uncle Fred (whom she knows and loves and couldn't get mad at). Of course, being very unpredictable, she thinks it's kinda kool. She's very left wing, artsy-fartsy and kinda into philosophy like her brother. She is 16 and finding it hard to get motivated about school. She is actually quite smart but does not apply herself. She thinks she wants to study Anthropology but is worried she may become bored with it. I could not for the life of me get her to get out of the car in Ireland so I could get a picture of her with this sign for Dun Seanna (Fort Seanna) which I thought was kinda kool! She will be called Bat-Girl which is better than Rabies Girl which we called her last summer after she was bitten by a bat she was trying to nurse back to health. Turned out it had rabies and she had to get shots. Run away from injured bats that fall into your pool people. Do not touch and stay away!!!

My love / guilt relationship with the sun

I've got it bad. I grew up sunbathing with my favourite person in the world. She is now dead. Not from skin cancer. From ovarian cancer.



We had great times together. She was like my second Mom. She was my aunt. My real Mom didn't sunbathe but Auntie Kay introduced me to the drug that I cannot quit. At that time it was considered healthy to have a nice glow, deep tan. I was probably the niece that did it most with her. In early spring, around easter, if it was warm enough we would find a sunny spot at the side of the house, sheltered from the wind, and burn baby burn. Then at the end of the day over gin and tonics (or martinis) for her and coke for me, we would marvel at our great base we had started to ready us for the glorious summer months ahead. Then all summer long, every chance we got but mostly during holidays at the cottage I swam and played with my siblings and cottage friends and sunbathed on the big floating mattress with AK. I looked great, I felt great and she gave me lots of praise.

{ICL far right}

I was hooked. It has grown into an adult pastime enjoyment. Since we installed our swimming pool I am able to feed my addiction during the summer months but I do it in fits and spurts because I feel incredibly guilty that I should not be doing that even though I do put sunscreen on. Nothing more relaxing that floating on the mattress in the pool and falling asleep. I'm much better than I was. I have cut back quite a bit.

Who knows if I would look younger now or not if I did not sunbathe throughout my life? I am told I look younger for my age but I think I look no more, no less. I'll be 47 in the fall.

Here's a recent picture of me from the end of May. I'm the one on the far left. My youngest sister is next to me (40), the oldest is next to her (51) and the other middle is at the right (44). Also a closeup. You be the judge. Tell me if I am wrinkly from sunbathing or not. Don't hold back. I need the feedback good or bad. (You don't need to comment on my double chin though. That's a separate blog hee hee!)

I probably need a big health scare or tirades from friends and bloggers to be able to quit cold turkey. Does anyone else also have a similar love / hate relationship with the sun?

How have you changed or not?

Signed
Vain ICL
xo

Sat Photo Hunt

This weeks theme is Doors

Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Grab the Scavenger Hunt code.

This is the door of an old church ruin on the largest Aran Island (Inishmore) off the west coast of Ireland. Temple Benan is only about 13 feet deep and 7 feet wide. It would accommodate maybe 20 people. People stood up for mass in those days. It originates from around 900 A.D.

That is Mum at the door taking a picture of the stone altar. I like to include any pictures I have of my mom on my blog because it brings me comfort as she passed away last year.

These islands are where the original Aran (fisherman) sweaters came from. Each sweater is knit with a different pattern, so that if the fisherman was lost at sea, his body could be identified by the pattern on the sweater.

Here is more info on the Aran Islands if you are interested

Doolin Ferries to the Islands

Irish Islands

Aran Islands

About the Islands Ireland West

Fascinating powerpoint from Prof. Dr. Christoph Reinfandt with wonderful pictures from the Islands.

For Cheeky's ears only...

For p-rated birthay greeting

Click here

Now everyone go and wish Cheeky a Happy Birthday!

Stuff Portrait Friday's - Piggies

So newlywed Kristine from Random and Odd wants us to show our piggies for todays SPF. I think it's because new hubby Shaun has a foot fetish (which they enjoyed on their Honeymoon) but that's all I'm sayin'.

So as coincidence would have it, I fortunately went for a pedi today (before I knew about the assignment). Wouldn't have mattered because I already had a picture of my toes from a previous post - here they are, colour coordinated (green) and all:


And now as of yesterday I have a new colour to coordinate with my new red shoes:
And now I remember how difficult it is to take a picture of my own feet!!

In closing, because there's so much more important things going on in the world, I pray for a satisfactory and peaceful solution to the Middle East conflict, and in doing so inform you that stuff like this stresses me out and therefore I blog about feets, piggies and other mundane but hopefully humourous things (well it is for me if it's not for you) and recite poetry to balance my inner soul.

This little piggy went to market

This little piggy stayed home

This little piggy had roast beef

This little piggy had none

This little piggy went wee, wee, wee, wee all the way home.

Go home and play nice people

(whoops did I write that out loud?)

ICL