Today is March 2nd and it's snow-showering here this afternoon, and still cold. There are some signs of spring in the yard - daffodils finally poking their noses out, birds at the feeder getting their "dance" colors on, and at the mall brightly colored Spring clothes and shoes (Horray). This has been one of North Carolina's snowiest winters for about 25 years. Since we haven't lived here that long - this winter is more like the midwest winters we grew up with and left. brrrrrr! Happy March to all my readers.
And four to go - going out gives me the shivers.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Snow in North Carolina Tomorrow -
We ended up with a little more than an inch of snow and 5 inches of sleet - all in all this made for a great hill in front of our house for sledding, a huge mess on the roads, and schools closed for three days. Another wintry mix is expected today. All in all North Carolina has had an extremely cold winter, lots of precipitation, and bone Chilling winds. Spring needs to hurry to NC and the whole Eastern seaboard.
Scrabble Slam - Our New Favorite Family Card Game
Our family, like most others, seldom has or takes time to sit down and play old fashioned games. While we do take turns playing video games like Shaun White's Snowboarding game for Playstation 2, it's still fun just to sit around the kitchen table and play board and card games.
We had a stocking stuffed with Scrabble Slam at Christmas. We were playing during breakfast that morning. It's quick paced, ya gotta think fast, and everyone laughs and groans (when their next play gets messed up).
The guidelines are everyone get dealt a card until all stack cards are gone. A 4-letter word is posted by the dealer as the starter word. Game play moves round the table, and the next player has to make a new word,by changing just one letter. Sounds too easy - well it's harder that it sounds. Luckily as in real Scrabble there are some "blank"cards that can be used to get the game started again - in a whole different direction.
We love this game. It can be played in around ten minutes. It also serves as a de-stresser when daughter's homework gets overwhelming.
Scrabble Slam - You Gotta Try it. Around $7.00 almost everywhere board games and card games are sold.
Fout to go - going to set up the card table right now! That's what made me remember to post on this game.
We had a stocking stuffed with Scrabble Slam at Christmas. We were playing during breakfast that morning. It's quick paced, ya gotta think fast, and everyone laughs and groans (when their next play gets messed up).
The guidelines are everyone get dealt a card until all stack cards are gone. A 4-letter word is posted by the dealer as the starter word. Game play moves round the table, and the next player has to make a new word,by changing just one letter. Sounds too easy - well it's harder that it sounds. Luckily as in real Scrabble there are some "blank"cards that can be used to get the game started again - in a whole different direction.
We love this game. It can be played in around ten minutes. It also serves as a de-stresser when daughter's homework gets overwhelming.
Scrabble Slam - You Gotta Try it. Around $7.00 almost everywhere board games and card games are sold.
Fout to go - going to set up the card table right now! That's what made me remember to post on this game.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
My America Now - Where Did They Put It?
Haiti- We've certainly had enough stories, donations, political posturing by not only countries, but relief groups for all the big dollars, and enough cable and Broadcast News stories, as each channel will be sending their footage and stories in for golden news awards. CNN certainly wins for minute-to-minute coverage day-into night reports - long diatribes.
Healthcare - supposedly the people has spoken by choosing a Republican Senator in Massachusetts. We spoke and spoke before that election. No one wants the costs, taxes, government power, and business costs associated with Obamacare. Forced healthcare did not work out so good in that great state of Massachusetts. People want what they have, what they know, what they can either buy themselves, or what they buy through their employer. It's worked for years - not perfectly. What we do need is emergency gap coverage in our healthcare to cover the "what ifs" of life.
Food- What's scary is my pineapple comes from Costa Rica, my apples from New Zealand, my grapes from Chile, my fish come from overcrowded fish farms in Thailand, Argentina and even U.S. - nasty cage raised fish. I won't even buy fish like Mrs. Paul, Grotons - most frozen products say made from minced white fish...what parts are that??? Worse, produce is so expensive and of such low quality now - I'm buying as little as I can get by with. Fresh lettuce - Target now only sells bagged salad lettuce (no leaf lettuce, fresh spinach. And what's that smell and taste in bagged carrots and lettuce. Young folks today are going to grow up thinking that carrots are supposed to taste cellar stored musty, and that salad is supposed to taste slightly like preservative (bleach and baking soda wash), and have a distinctive funky smell when you open the cello bag. America could not reverse engineer farming and agriculture in time to feed our throngs if a global war or chemical warfare cut off our food chain.
Clothing - comes from strange countries, China (okay we've grown used to that one), Viet Nam, India, Hondurus. All poorer Countries. What are the new fabrics made from, what about the dyes (certainly not regulated by US standards), and what do they final wash them in- dirty reused chemicals, local water, When you wear them, they make you itch, break out in a rash. One man even claimed he had what looked like larvae from something when he handwashed his tidy whities in the sink, little black specks from maybe cotton boll bugs came to surface.
News, even bad news drones on and on for 10 days (Haiti disaster) - 2 months (Michael Jackson's self demise), each little morsel od news is pored over by countess analysts, pundits, and celebrities.
My America - I feel that while I slept and grew older, I was accidently put on a transport ship and shuttled out to a different planet. One where my goals, dreams and happy days was my price to ride the transport off into my sunset.
Healthcare - supposedly the people has spoken by choosing a Republican Senator in Massachusetts. We spoke and spoke before that election. No one wants the costs, taxes, government power, and business costs associated with Obamacare. Forced healthcare did not work out so good in that great state of Massachusetts. People want what they have, what they know, what they can either buy themselves, or what they buy through their employer. It's worked for years - not perfectly. What we do need is emergency gap coverage in our healthcare to cover the "what ifs" of life.
Food- What's scary is my pineapple comes from Costa Rica, my apples from New Zealand, my grapes from Chile, my fish come from overcrowded fish farms in Thailand, Argentina and even U.S. - nasty cage raised fish. I won't even buy fish like Mrs. Paul, Grotons - most frozen products say made from minced white fish...what parts are that??? Worse, produce is so expensive and of such low quality now - I'm buying as little as I can get by with. Fresh lettuce - Target now only sells bagged salad lettuce (no leaf lettuce, fresh spinach. And what's that smell and taste in bagged carrots and lettuce. Young folks today are going to grow up thinking that carrots are supposed to taste cellar stored musty, and that salad is supposed to taste slightly like preservative (bleach and baking soda wash), and have a distinctive funky smell when you open the cello bag. America could not reverse engineer farming and agriculture in time to feed our throngs if a global war or chemical warfare cut off our food chain.
Clothing - comes from strange countries, China (okay we've grown used to that one), Viet Nam, India, Hondurus. All poorer Countries. What are the new fabrics made from, what about the dyes (certainly not regulated by US standards), and what do they final wash them in- dirty reused chemicals, local water, When you wear them, they make you itch, break out in a rash. One man even claimed he had what looked like larvae from something when he handwashed his tidy whities in the sink, little black specks from maybe cotton boll bugs came to surface.
News, even bad news drones on and on for 10 days (Haiti disaster) - 2 months (Michael Jackson's self demise), each little morsel od news is pored over by countess analysts, pundits, and celebrities.
My America - I feel that while I slept and grew older, I was accidently put on a transport ship and shuttled out to a different planet. One where my goals, dreams and happy days was my price to ride the transport off into my sunset.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Shen Yun Performing Arts Classical Chinese Dance Tour
The Shen Yun performing arts program under the disguise of beautiful Chinese dancing actually was a socio-political-religious sort of call to arms for human rights activists for the Falun Dafa - a new "Cultivation" regime starting in China and spreading it's message to "vow an oath" to Falun, as a sort of "saviour" of the Chinese People. As they started weaving this into the story, and at the end a sort of "Invitation to the Dafa's Altar" the political message made attendees visibly uncomfortable. Just to think there is a Chinese Anti Communist organization in Cary, NC spreading their message using the "Arts" public arts venue is wrong, wrong on so many levels. The fact that organization may have access to my personal information (name, address, etc.) from the ticket purchase logs, gives me further pause.
From Mayor Charles Meeker's endorsement on down, this show, while beautifully choregraphed, costumed, and performed - its overpowering political message was not welcomed by this theatre goer. I would have preferred it stick to the beautiful dancing, costumes, music and virtual backdrops.
From Mayor Charles Meeker's endorsement on down, this show, while beautifully choregraphed, costumed, and performed - its overpowering political message was not welcomed by this theatre goer. I would have preferred it stick to the beautiful dancing, costumes, music and virtual backdrops.
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