Cosmo enjoying the new bookcase-think he wants a bed there? 

Oh joy! I found a good tutorial for making blinkies and here is my first one!

It was a little more complicated as you have to paint in the little squares (pull the grid up) around the border on three gifs and then merge them in animation wizard, but then it worked for me while others failed. I was happy. I’m not crazy in love for it, but it may be replaced down the road. Another ‘toy’ to play with. : )

We’re getting drenched with rain today, thanks to Ivan. The next Hurricane was Jeanne, but now she’s a tropical depression. The funny thing is my mom’s name is Jeanne and spelled the same way! And then we all had a good chuckle as the next Hurricane is Karl and mom’s ex and my father is Carl. That spawned a few jokes, believe me.
And of course my furniture is expected in all this mess too. I sure hope they have it wrapped well. It is only a few steps from the drive, up the sideway and into the house.
My older brother Dave and his family are in Florida as I write this. That’s if the weather didn’t hold them up. This is my brother’s favorite place on the face of the earth. He is going in celebration of his 50th birthday which was this past July 4th. His wife Mary Anne had a scare when her mammogram found a few lumps that had to be biopsied. She is fine though.
I am on the verge on understanding the makings of Blinkies. I printed out tutorials and almost had one made and it wasn’t quite right. When I pasted it into the animation shop, the lettering went away. It’s gotta be easier than I’m making it.

FOUR FOR FRIDAY
Q1: Breakfast: Do you eat breakfast every morning? If so, do you generally tend to eat the same thing each morning, or do you try to mix it up on a daily basis?
I must have my real tea with Splenda and lemon to start off with. Generally what I eat depends on how hungry I am and how late it is. Today I had two pieces of Aunt Jemina french toast as it was a little later and I am having a light lunch. I like peanut butter granola bars, Hot Pocket egg and bacon ‘sandwiches’ (and they are light too), pancakes and good old toast too. The breads have to have margarine and syrup or jam on them too. I can’t eat cereal anymore as cold stuff bothers my tummy in the morning.
Q2: Lunch: If you could have lunch today with any two or three people you wanted (dead or alive), who would you have lunch with? Also, if you were able to eat that lunch at any location on the face of the planet, where would that be? And finally, if you could choose to eat anything you wanted, what would you have?
Most people would say Jesus for a lunch companion. I would be ‘blessed’ to be in his presence. I think I would like to eat with my grandfather who passed away when I was a few months old. Any relative who passed on before I really knew them would be neat. I have heard so much about them all. Where to eat-some beautiful beach resort with a nice lobster dinner of course!
Q3: Dinner: On average, how many nights per week can you be found cooking dinner for yourself or for yourself and others at home in your own kitchen?
I try to cook 4-5 nights a week. I am quick to burn out after 3 days. So if I cooked for 3 nights, we ate pizza the next and then I cooked another few days, that would be fine. As you know (if you read my posts) I hate my kitchen as there is no counter space, so cooking is really a chore for me. Also my husband and son are really not into me trying new foods on them.
Q4: Generally speaking, which do you feel you have more of in your life… control or influence?
I think as long as your parents are still around and involved in your life its control. I feel that my mom helps to generate how I feel that day. If she is upset or stressed, then that follows me around the rest of the day. I hope I am a good influence on my son, but I know I still have control over him too. He’s living under my roof.

These are two of my favorite shows. The cool thing is my younger brother Don watches Survivor too and we can chat about it.
Speak about living in a primitive way! It was interesting that the men got separated from the women and were treated with greater respect. Watch that viewer mail. And then the black pig was carried out tied upside down to poles and it was like he knew what was going to happen to him. Thank goodness they spared us the hatchet job. It didn’t seem to bother the woman who was the sheep farmer. I guess they didn’t have a pig roast later.
The women won the first challenge as Chris the one fellow couldn’t get across the balance beam. They all basically crawled across-ouch! Hey, did anyone try to walk sideways on it? That may have been easier. I’m not sure why Brooke was voted off-maybe he had too much to say. Looks like an interesting season with some fiesty characters.
Now here is a cool thing. I was reading our local paper The Kennett Paper-and Wes Moss who is one of the candidates for The Apprentice is from nearby Unionville, PA. He now lives in Atlanta, GA with his wife.

Here is my nightmare of books! The other bookcase will hopefully sit side by side with the old one. 

I didn’t think I would like this show because of what I know about the Amish, but it’s really an interesting hour. I also didn’t know that much about the Amish people letting their kids go through a ‘right of passage’ into adulthood called ‘rumspringa’-or ‘running around’. It was very surprising for me to see them being photographed and all, but if they aren’t in their community, they can pretty much do as they please. Reading up on rumspringa, I think it’s a very confusing thing for these kids. They have had a strict growing up and all of a sudden they have all this glorious freedom.
I especially liked last night’s show when the city kids went back to Ohio to see what the Amish area was like. Two of the guys were such whimps when they were asked to clean out sheep do. They were holding their noses and then went inside to work with the girls!
I really like the one Amish girl named Ruth (dark hair-oldest of 13 children!). Last night they brought her boyfriend to where they were staying and she was so thrilled to see him. The boyfriend Marvin is going through the rite of passage too. He has a pierced ear to match Ruth’s pierced belly button. They were working on a farm where the family wasn’t Amish, but they followed the basic life as the Amish do. One of the city girls bought a golden retreiver pup from the family as they were dog breeders. The day before they had a pig roast at another farm and the girl who is a vegetarian puked after she smelled it cooking and saw the head of the pig on a platter!
The finale is on next Tuesday. The five Amish kids have to decide what they are going to go. I have a feeling most of them will go back to the farm. Jonas (in burgundy shirt) took his GED test and they will show the results next week. Good show with fun personalities.

You’ve just been hired to write, cast, direct and produce your own movie. You’ve been given $75 million to hire a cast and crew, and 90 days to shoot. The film is scheduled to open a year and 1/2 from today.
1) What is the name of your movie? The Reunion
2) Who are the stars you hire? Holly Hunter (woman), Jeff Daniels (husband), Christopher Walken (father) Swoosie Kurtz (ex-wife to father)
3) What is the general plot/style/theme of your dream movie?Feel free to dream – what movie would you, Gentle Reader, like to make yourself with all those resources? It can be autobiographical, historical, or completely fictional. Be careful and don’t go overbudget (Getting Harrison Ford, Julia Roberts, and Robin Williams all in the same film won’t leave you enough money to actually shoot, nor will on-location filming on Mars likely leave anything for actors).BONUS) What’s one obstacle you see that could prevent you from achieving this dream movie?Roll ’em….Action!
This is semi-autobiographical but it hasn’t happened and probably never will. I brainstormed about this once and thought it would make an interesting story. The plot is: A women and her family move into a beautiful old Victorian ‘fixer upper’ in Lancaster, PA area (think great shots like ‘Witness’). They want to do the fixing up themselves but soon realize they should hire some help. The next scene is out on the west coast in Oregon. An older gentleman is looking for work to make ends meet. He has a family in Penna. that he hasn’t seen for years and something is pulling him to see them again. His Penna. family doesn’t care for him since he practically abandoned them growing up. The father is really a great handyman, craftsman. He hears from his cousin(who the daughter writes to) that his only daughter just bought a home and it needs work. He decides to go to Lancaster incognito to help her. Next scene is him knocking on her door. He has somewhat of a beard and since the daughter hasn’t seen her father since she’s been young, she assumes he is a man answering the ad she put in the paper. She has a connection with him she doesn’t understand and they get along well, while she is impressed with his work. I think the climax of the story would be when the woman’s mother meets ‘her ex’ and then all hell would break loose. Or maybe not have the woman’s mom around anymore and she herself figures out that the man is her father. Anyway, it will have somewhat of a happy ending as the man has mellowed over the years and even still had old photos of his kids that he carried around with him. It would be healing for his kids as not having their dad around left them a bit scarred. The father ends up moving in with one of his kids because he has cancer and they will take care of him in the end.
I don’t see any obstacle except there being a lot of traveling involved and casting may be a problem. Although Holly Hunter is an Oscar winner, she may not be a draw to the movie, but she’s good and can play a woman in her 30s-40s.. I think Christopher Walken would be a draw.

…though I try to be. I may have a tummy like him, but I have completely run out of steam-change my blasted batteries! I was painting again today. I use a small roller with a long handle, so it takes a little longer, but it’s easier on my arm joints. I have 2 walls left and the ceiling (Brian does that). I am thinking about doing one small wall a darker color from the paint chip just to be a little different. I could get some decent artwork and put a light over it. I am thinking about medium gold for that wall. Red was a slight option (the new sofa), but that may be a bit too dramatic for the guys to stomach.
It occurred to me that painting rooms definitely marks the passage of time. I was thinking back on my mom’s house and all the colors that graced the walls in the 21 yrs that I lived there. She had the 60s gold (hmm, see above) and dark avocado green in her living room. Then she went for an 80s peach color when I got married in ’84. About 6 yrs ago she went to a minty green. I have had a minty green in my living room and switched to a grayish light blue. I love blue in rooms. Some people think it looks cold, but it a relaxing color and it’s in my bedroom too. The family room is a buttery light gold. It was that color before. I was going darker, but in the same color family. I stood at the wall of colors at Sherwin Williams and picked almost the same shade we’ve been looking at for 12 yrs! I have a sunnier yellow in the guest bedroom and didn’t Sean pick an avocado mossy green (geez) for his room last year! My 1960s kitchen in a peachy apricot (think 80s) and I want it to be my Van Gogh sunflower kitchen someday with light yellow cabinets and maybe a blue counter. Still figuring that one out.

I love a good ‘pot’ roast. My mom-mom use to make the best. I try to cook a roast a few times a month. I usually buy a rump roast or a cheaper cut of meat. This all depends on the price and beef has been so high. It seems to have gone down a bit and chicken is now high. Now here is the secret ingredient-V8 juice!!!! No kidding. Most of the time I use those oven bags that Reynolds makes. You add some flour to the bag-shake it around; put your meat in the bag; add the little can of tomato juice and whatever else you like to use. I use carrots, onion, some tops of celery and my spices are usually salt, pepper, rosemary and garlic. You tie the bag up, cut a few holes in it and pop it in the oven inside my oval corning ware dish (I love that dish!) for a few hours (check out cooking guide that comes with the oven bag). Yummy! And your gravy will be a rich tomato based one that you thicken up with a little cornstarch and water. I usually add more seasonings-esp s&p and rosemary. I serve the meat with mashed potatoes and green beans.