Merry Christmas

(Thanks to Hugh at gapingvoid.com)

Because today I am having a boring day

I stole this from another blog today. You can play as well....cut and paste into your own blog posting. BOLD the items you've done! Mine are bolded and italicized.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland or Disney World
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood or platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle (but not driving it)
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby (3x!)
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Totally copied a post from someone else's blog to your own

My Turkey Day Menu

So today in new Chez LDSM this is what we will be having:

A 15-lb fresh turkey from Liberty, NC that we got at Cliff's Meat Market in Carrboro, NC, cooked like this.

Honeybaked Ham (thanks, Lou!)

Stuffing

Green Bean Casserole

Mashed Potatoes with the skins on (waiting for the complaints from the "new" people?)

Sweet Potatoes with brown sugar and marshmallows

Stouffer's Mac & Cheese (a special request)

Fresh-cooked cranberry sauce

Rolls

Three kinds of pie with a choice of ice cream or whipped cream: cherry, pumpkin or pecan.

While cooking, lots of coffee with Bailey's and/or beer will be consumed. Yum.

How I've Been Feeling Lately

Bands I was forced to listen to last night

We (ED and I) went to Tremont Music Hall in Charlotte last night to see the "Sassyback" tour, and this is who we saw, along with a lot of heavily pierced girls and young Emo men in skinny jeans with hair that looked like this.

1. Sing It Loud. No fair when guys have prettier hair than most girls do.
2. Hit the Lights. This is actually the second time I have been "forced" to see them, the first being in Greensboro last summer. The lead singer (Nick) is a cutie and he let ED have a picture taken with him after the show. One of the other band members (Omar) came up to ED also and told her he liked her shirt (she was wearing a HTL one, of course...) which also made her day. I actually recognized one of their songs!
   
3. Forever The Sickest Kids. I'm a little ill with this band as they said they would come out after their set and do a meet and greet. ED was very pumped up about this and waited a long time. Finally Jonathan came out and looked like he couldn't wait to get away fast enough, signed a couple of autographs, and bolted ASAP, promising he would come back. He never did. I also knew a few of their songs, too, due to non-stop CD playing on the way to soccer practice and back.
   
4. Cobra Starship. I agree with ED--their lead singer, Gabe, is a cutie. Though a bit too fond of the F word in general. I knew all of their songs except for one. And they didn't play this one, too bad! I wanted to see ED and all the little Emo kids do the goofy dance.
   

Keith says it all

Please DO Vote, k??

Asheville is...different...

Wait, wha...?

A rarity these days

ACC Men's Soccer 9/21/08:
Clemson 3
Va Tech 2

Club soccer 9/21/08:
Triangle FC 93 White G 4
Jamestown 1

Congrats, TD and ED. Now if only T can score a few goals this year...

Google doesn't love me, again.

What do I need to write about to make the ads come back at the top of my blog? Why does Google hate me? How come I'm still at work right now? Where is my beer? :)

What My Friends Are Getting For Christmas, Maybe?

I'm published! Well, sort of. This blog has been listed in "The White Trash Mom Handbook", which will be in stores on Tuesday, August 5th. We're listed in the section "White Trash Mom's Favorite Blogs and Websites." I'll have to get some copies for my friends, for sure.

I guess I actually have to start posting again now that I'm semi-famous, hmmmm?

Once a month...

...is not enough to post, I know. And I'm sorry again for the lack of content. There are 4,237 and a half things going on in my life right now (give or take 8 or 9) and I just haven't had the time, or the internet access half the time for that matter. Next week might be catch-up time. Stay tuned!

Where has this year gone?

Really? It's July tomorrow? WTF have I been doing all year? Besides losing a parent, getting 2 new jobs, buying a car, and registering a soccer team for Regionals? I promise to post more soon for the other 3 of you who read this!

In Memoriam: Edward G Welenc, August 1928- May 2008

Sorry we didn't make it in time...We tried. I hope they told you we were coming.

It's About Time, Guys!

Triangle Futbol Club Navy U19 Men, the new State Champions of North Carolina 2008.

(Mine's the one with the trophy.)

My new favorite music

Norwegian Recycling. This guy is genius. Seamless mashups.

Watch this one, but be sure to watch the rest, as well:

How I Spent My Saturday

I took my daughter and her friends to see Panic at the Disco in Atlanta this weekend. I am much too old for this stuff! But here are some pictures I took, once it stopped raining. The first is of the Honda Civic they are giving away, and what I assume is their tour bus. My daughter would love me forever if I won this car. She thinks I would give it to her. Ha :)

The second is of me and a guy from the band Phantom Planet. The sing that "California" song from the O.C. show, and some other stuff that I had never heard before. (I didn't actually take this picture, since I'm in it, duh. ) Anyway he was very sweet (and cute) and is probably young enough to be my son. He was probably horrified that he had to stand there and have his picture taken with someone's mommy. I apologized to him for that.

The picture is so dark because we (the adults) were in a bar (no, really) at the venue, and not outside in the rain watching some other band we'd never heard of before.

This last one is an actual picture of Panic at the Disco, and it is fuzzy because (a) I was being elbowed by the teenage girls around me that were angry that I had pushed in front of them a little bit to take the photo, (b) I'm not very good at using a camera phone, and (c) Miller Lite was present in large quantities.

We had fun, though. And we got to eat at the Varsity afterward, which was a first for everyone in our group. Their onion rings are very yummy.

Gabe the Brewer

I can't stop looking...

For Your Viewing Pleasure

(I'm going to refrain from any ball-handling jokes.)

What I Got For My Birthday This Week.

A call from my mom. A card from my Nana (I'm too old for her to put a check inside anymore, darn it!) A call from my five-year-old nephew who didn't want to talk to me because I am "mean." A coupon for a free drink at Sonic. A card from my sister with a silly picture on it. A call from my oldest at college, who probably saw that it was my birthday when he logged on to Facebook that day :) A card from someone who used to be my neighbor when I was in elementary school. Hugs from my two youngest. Some cat throw-up in my favorite chair. An e-card from one of my son's old soccer coaches. Lots of spammy Happy Birthday emails from various companies. A new driver' license with a better looking photo than the old one. A coupon for a free Red Robin hamburger which I can't eat because I'm doing NutriSystem. A call from a very good friend. A fight with my husband. A new zit on my chin! And some flowers from my boss.

If Only She Knew (...and she will...)

Fourteen-year-old daughter says to me while watching The Secret Life of a Soccer Mom:
"It's a good thing YOU never had to give any dreams up for US."

I'm Still Not Ready for the 21st Century!

Two things that happened this week that made me feel OLD and out-of-it (despite the fact that I have three teens who try to make me feel that way every day):

1. Finding out a casual friend is newly pregnant with her second, by seeing her baby's ultrasound photos posted on her Facebook profile. (Congrats, A&J!)
   
2. Discovering another friend's ex had passed away last week, by reading a newsgroup dedicated to the famous music group he had once worked for. (So sorry, R.)
   

I Know a Lot of People Who Could Use This Excuse!

New Study Finds Old Forgotten Head Injuries the Source of Many Mental/Emotional Issues.

Happy Valentine's Day

I'm really sorry I haven't posted at all this month. Lots of stuff going on, though I'm still mostly jobless.

And here's the obligatory Valentine. (The only one I got in real life was from the receptionist in my old office. It had a pig on it!)


nataliedee.com

Interview with Kasey Keller

Sounds like he may be headed back to the US, sooner or later...

Q&A: Kasey Keller, Ready To Seattle Down

What I Will Be Doing This Summer.

Going to a lot of these games, apparently.

Eye Candy!

Thanks to the Red Sox Chick for these shots of Gabe Kapler in Boston recently:

YUM.and YUMMER.

What Future Soccer Stars Eat

While going through some old papers, I found a list from about 1997. Apparently my then-9-year-old son was having some issues with what we cooked for him, so he was kind enough to make us a two-page list of the only foods he would eat. And here it is, misspellings and all:

Ham-Burgers
Hot-Dogs
Fried Chicken
Lays potato chips
Brownies
pork rins
Gold fish
chili
rice
steak
subs
cokies
Doritos
crab chips
scrambled eggs
rice cacke
pizza
ice cream
Lobster
crab legg
fish ccat, found, murel (note: WHAT???)
Almons
scaloped potatos
baked potatos
potato weges
Noddles
spagetii with no sause
popsicles
vegetable soup
Macoroi and cheese
Kiwis
peaches
salad
tomatos
Apples
Twix
Snickers
bonckers
War Heads
Shock tarts
Sweet tarts
Ham
turkey
stuffing
mashed potatos
pine apples
Green beans
corn
broccolie
Jello
Lemon sorbe
bagles
gummys
cheese sticks
grape
olives
Holopinios
Alligator
toast
snail
sausig

So we fed him Twix with Holopinios and Alligator for the rest of his life. The End.

Taking a Small Break

Sorry the posts have been so sparse lately. This is due to a trio of reasons:

1. The holidays took a lot out of me this year, including some stuff that happened with my parents around Christmas,
   
2. My oldest just went back to school from break, and
   
3. I'm looking for a job as of January 1st.

Last night the youngest broke her clavicle and we ended up at the hospital until past 2am. We need to go back today and see if it needs to have a pin inserted or not. Because of this (and the need for a job search) I probably won't be posting a heck of a whole lot in the next week or two.

Get Smart. Give Rice. Waste Time.

Okay, like I needed another way to waste time online. At least this is for a good cause! And it appears to be very legit. I just found out about it this morning and have made it up to level 43.

FreeRice.com