"The Good Ol' Hockey Game...

... Is the Best Game you can name.
And the best game you can name,
Is the good ol' hockey game"
-Stompin' Tom Connors

That song has been going through my head all morning. Why, you ask? Well, we're going to a Nashville Predators game tonight. I can't friggin' wait! It's been years since I've been to an NHL game and these boys are really on their game this year and kicking some royal ass so it should be a fast paced game with lots of scoring. Maybe we'll get to see some blood shed but the crazy new rules have really put the kaibash on that. It's a great chance to tease the Americans (Cindi's fiance in particular) about seeing a live game and how the puck's not going to be hilited. Remember that? If you have to watch the game and have the object of the game hilited, it might be time for you to find a new game to watch. They'll be playing Boston which is a team that's also up in the standings so it should be great. I haven't seen a live game since Vancouver which was so many years ago I can't remember. Hopefully they'll let me bring in my new camera.

Speaking of new camera, that brings me to what everyone got for Christmas... eventually! Merry Belated Christmas, BTW! Things have been so busy around here, running the roads daily, that updates have been slow coming, my apologies.

Everyone seems to have done pretty well for goodies and Santa was good to us all. So good that we may have to borrow a suitcase of Cindi's to get it all home. The kids got lots of things, they're in to Star Wars now and of course, you can never go wrong with crafty things. The biggest thing this year though was to get them some games for their, "Playboy Advance," - Me. Hey, I might as well include that friggin' quote of mine since I'll never hear the end of it anyways even though it's not even on the list. Made even worse when you're telling clients what you're getting the kids for Christmas and it slips out. Why does that sound so right?

I know I'm going to be a nightmare going through security at the airport as I'm going home with a lot more electronics than I left with. I've stocked up on hairstyling implements as there were things here that I just can't get around home. My blowdryer that I got in Miami is now being held together by nail glue and on it's last leg. Tourmaline and far infrared technology's big in hairstyling now and literally cuts your styling time in half. So with my new blow dryer, flat iron, blow brush iron and 1" iron, all of which I plan on carrying on... security won't be happy. I'm not chancing it with the way they throw your luggage around. Hey, I've gone through three sets of luggage in about as many years, I've learned from experience.

The biggest thing that has been keeping me occupied though this Christmas has been my new camera! I'm so thrilled, particularly with all that's gone on with my cameras in the last few weeks. My sister had picked this one up (a Kodak Z650 w/manual controls and a killer lens which can be changed) in april. I wanted a dock that makes transferring/charging a breeze. I found a kit I wanted and after a trip to Staples, got my latest addition to my technology family. Upon finding out it didn't work, returning to Staples and trying another off the shelf and it not working, it became apparent that the problem was with the camera... not the dock. I was devastated 'cause of course, the receipt was long gone.

I have however made a new best friend at Staples. They said they could do a straight exchange but of course, they no longer had any left for sale. My new best friend came to my rescue though and pulled a camera out of a bundle package they have, exchanged it with that one and even gave me a receipt which would make my warranty good from this date, as opposed to april. Cripes, Cindi didn't even buy it there! It was funny too as Dad and I had gone in to that same store earlier in our trip. He wanted a printer dock for his camera (my Christmas present to him) and gave us a really great deal. Someone had forgotten to take a price tag off the shelf. Hah, I told him I could kiss the floor clerk for forgetting it. He mumbled something about it being him. Not sure if it really was him or was looking to score a kiss. Either way, I definately owe him one now. He's really cute too. Wonder what he's doing for New Year's?

We also got to go on a limousine tour last night to look at Christmas lights, some of which were stars like George Jones, Jo Dee Messina and Little Jimmy Dickens. We were mostly in an area known as Brentwood where the really posh people of TN live. Wow, I can't get over the size of some of those homes let alone the Christmas lights. I must say though, George Jones' lights kicked ass! He even had a huge rocking chair out front (most might remember that song, "I don't need your rocking chair") that we could all pile on. I was also somewhat disappointed at first as I thought I'd finally get to get a tour in a limo. Around the corner came this big black bus. Somewhat despondent but always the one to try to make the best of a situation, we persevered. We weren't disappointed. Brad, our limo driver, hops out, dressed in his tux and we piled on to the bus. Inside it was just like a limo. Posh leather seats, a bar, tinted windows and light fixtures just like in a limo. Apparently it was a limo party bus. Party we did, well me and a few others anyways. It was arranged through co-workers of Cindi's so lots of them were there too. I forgot how cool the people she worked with were. I even got to hear an accent from Manchester, England (picked up on it too and asked them if that's where they were from) which I hadn't heard in quite a few years. We had a great time!

It's really hard (not to mention sad) to believe that our trip's days from being over. Tuesday we'll be heading back to the mystical magical. Barring all unforseen circumstances, we should be home some time tuesday evening so Skidd's, expect a visit if it's not too late.

I've been taking pictures just about non-stop since Christmas morning but didn't install any software so I'll update with tons of pictures when I get back. Hopefully I'll be able to get my camera in the Predators game tonight. I love you and miss you all. Hope everyone had a holly, jolly Christmas and Festivus. Can't wait to see all y'all. Sorry for the Southern euphamism slip there but hey, when in Rome (or Tennessee in this case)...

Special thanks to Liss for helping keep me entertained with the games for the few moments I did get to check in on the computer. The boys are going to be so far behind in the points that there's no way they'll have a chance winning those rounds... muwahahahaha! Don't think we're keeping score now anyhow. Check out the comments for the next game! After the next few days, everyone should be back to the grind.

'Til next time...

Take 'Er Away Matt...

I told Matt he could have the honours of starting this one since I cut him off in the comments and he's (as well as the rest) been chomping at the bit for something a little more challenging. I'm not much of a movie buff as I rarely watch them but I'll try. If nothing else, I'm sure it'll be highly entertaining, as usual.

We'll do the movie one this go round. This one has endless possibilities so I'd say there's no need to do round limits. As for the rules, we figured it out in the last comments. Let's go with quotes for this one and we can mix it up for future ones. If you guys do have other game ideas, feel free to post them in the last post so that way I can keep track of them.

Have fun, 'til next time...

What Day's Today...?

This is day who knows what of vacation (4 or 5) and I think it's thursday. The joys of vacation and not having to worry about what day it is. Hopefully we'll figure it out by the time we need to catch a plane home. I fear it's only going to get worse.

We've had the kids home with us for the last two days and so far so good, they're still alive, fed, clean and entertained. Guess I haven't lost my touch. The routine's coming back faster than I expected. It's really nice to not feel obligated to be the Molly Maid but some habits are hard to break, particularly when your sister's a slob.

She's not going to have to worry about her pack rat ways for much longer though as she told us some great news the other day. Her new boyfriend (not so new now, about 2yrs.) is soon to be her husband and they're buying a beautiful new home in a neighbourhood not too far from here. They'll be eloping to somewhere warm and getting married on the beach, most likely. I really like her new husband to be (also a Steve which is really strange) and the kids love him (and vice versa) which is the most important. Mom and Dad will finally get to meet him over the holidays which is awesome as we never got to meet her ex until she was already married and it was too late. I never liked that guy. Another marriage and another chance for me not to be a maid of honour. Ah well!

Christmas shopping's going swimmingly well considering it's only a few days a way. Heck, there was no way I was going to be lugging all the stuff with me. It'd be just the time my luggage got lost particularly with how my luck has been going lately.

I've been getting caught up with lots of old friends with drop ins so not even having to run the roads. Plus getting to spend lots of time with my buddies Cathy and Jim across the street. We always manage to have lots of fun and endless laughs. No set date for when we're going to go to the Double E (biker bar I love down the road) or Coyote Ugly but I will persevere. We also want to go to the Opryland Hotel which is always incredibly decorated for Christmas and they're supposed to have changed alot this year so it'll be a great way to kick the mood in to gear. It's really hard getting in to Christmas when there's no snow on the ground and temperatures anywhere between 15-20 degrees. The kids are extremely excited so that's helping immensely.

Now, this comment suggestion's going to be dedicated to games but in a different sense. I'm hearing mention of a movie trivia game and a few other things. Liss mentioned one in one of the comments but do you think I can find it now? I'm at a bit of a brain freeze for new ideas so what I'd like you guys to do is leave a comment on what you'd like to see, how to do it and rules, if any. Matt had mentioned something about a 2 round limit which is probably good for most but if you look at the games like song or movie titles, they should be endless so we can always adjust that accordingly and make that part of the rules. Movie trivia I'd think could be endless. A big rule I would like to add and I know I've only been using it if we're absolutely stuck, (like the now finally dead slash pusher) is the google. It just makes it more fair that way. So please, feel free to throw out any ideas that you have and we'll go from here, k?

Please leave suggestions for different games we can use for future posts and we'll continue the games in the next post.

Now, it's time I got my butt in the shower as Cindi left Dad and I the van today and Dad's looking to run the roads which estimated time of departure is, "Less than an hour by alot," - Scott. It's been a long time since I ran these road, here's hoping I can remember where everything is. Geez this place is growing in leaps and bounds. All part of that being only 20min. East of Nashville. The burbs are no longer the burbs.

'Til next time...

I'm Alive...

Here I am, my first morning in TN, fighting with a laptop that has a key pad as opposed to a mouse but man it's great to be here. Everything went smoothly, got to show Mom and Dad the camp road on our way through the Plaster Rock, ran in to a little bit of snow and had some unnerving moments with Dad in the wrong lanes once we got to Presque Isle but eventually found the hotel room. If I see one more thing on CNN about those poor guys lost on Mt. Hood, I'm gonna scream. Gotta love the fear base in America.

All the connecting flights went amazingly well. We had about enough time to get to our next gate, plunk our butts down and then they boarded. Thank goodness there were no late flights even though the first flight was 10min. late leaving. He musta had a wicked tailwind as we made it up in the air. We even got to be on a final flight with a retiring pilot who had 40+ years and 25,000hrs. flight time. They came on the intercom forewarning us about our arrival that there'd be water bombers waiting for us and to not fear, there's no emergency, it's tradition to spray the plane with these things (glorified fire truck) of the retiree. I expected a smoother landing with all that experience. ;) This is the first time I've flown with anybody since I can't remember when and I'll tell ya, my parents weren't the best to start out with. Thank goodness for the smoking section in Charlotte, NC or I'd have been walking to TN.

Once we got to the airport, we had a brief panic as we couldn't find Cin and the kids. I called her cell phone and after finding out she was at one gate and us at another, we found each other and I'll tell you, I wish I had videod this moment. I hung up the phone and came around the corner (they weren't very far away) and Cole saw me. We might as well of been the only two in the airport. He sprinted about as fast as I've ever seen a 6yr. old's legs move, blew past Mom at 100mph (American conversion) and flew in to my arms. Needless to say, I started bawling.

We made it back to the house and as is tradition, I'm good with riling up animals (eh Jake) and small kids and pretty much had the kids screaming and running through the house, driving everyone crazy. It didn't matter, I was so glad to see them. Nobody said anything.

I got to go to Darla and Bruce's wedding this weekend. Darla walked hand in hand with Grace (their 5yr. old little girl) to, "Oh Holy Night." Can you say tears, boys and girls? And I thought I'd be strong. They all looked fabulous and other than a few chuckles and forgotten rings (which kept it very Darla and Bruce) the sermon was made about Grace, not only their child but the Grace of God. It was so personal and beautiful, any wonder I was a wreck.

Ok, this post has been interrupted a gazillion times with turning on the satellite, (to find CNN to find out about the climbers, sheesh) finding oats, butter, frying pans and toaster, not to mention a million questions, this is all I'm going to have time for. We're going to the kids school for their Christmas parties in less than 2hrs. I need to be getting my butt in the shower.

Check out the comments for the latest game and hopefully I'll be back on before too long. Miss you all. Try not to have too much Festivus fun without me.

'Til next time...

The Movie Game...

"It's officiable" - Liss... we have a request and it sounds like a great idea. Check the comments, details inside.

Adopted Family shopping's still not totally done but we've managed to scrounge some money up and got to finish some bigger (but not necessary) items on the list.

It's been extremely busy at work but I'm loving every minute of it. It's good to be back and loving what I'm doing again. I really gotta start wearing more sensible shoes. I actually had a colour cancel at 3pm. on saturday so I'll get to go to Darla's wedding... big bonus.

Packing's getting done... or at least starting to resemble an organised pile. Wow, this time next week, I'll be in TN.

Other than that, not much excitement going on. Don't think I'll be getting another post in before I go and I'll do my dangdest to get some in while I'm gone.

'Til next time... :)

Penises, Birds And Adopted Family Shopping...

Well what a weekend! It never ceases to amaze me how much entertainment one can cram in a two day period on the 'Chi. This weekend was crammed in to 24hrs. I literally finally crashed last evening and barely stirred 'til this am. I think my body was trying to tell me something. I'm gonna need those two weeks in Tennessee just to recupe from the month of december, particularly with how busy it has been at work. One more week to go!

After a long day of work on saturday I had 1.5hrs. to come home, eat, wrap, get ready then off to pick up Kelly to head up to Darla's engagement/bachelorette party. Hey, she's trying to do this in 3wks. so we have to combine events by this point. Shopping for this event was very interesting as I was on a mission and I'll tell you, shopping on this river really leaves something to be desired. Who would have thought that finding a wedding guest book would be so challenging. I did manage to find one however so that was the engagement thing. But there had to be naughty as well as nice, right? Being that we have so much lingerie selection on the river, (insert sarcasm here) believe it or not, I found a lovely little teddy number for her at Zellers. It gets really tough shopping around here as I try to keep it on the river. Now if we could only do something about the selection maybe everyone wouldn't leave to shop in Moncton!

Kelly and I knew the street we had to go to (by Newcastle Tim Horton's) but not the specific address as the houses weren't marked. We just figured we'd look for the cars, forgetting that there was a Timberwolves game on the same night! We ditched the car in the vicinity of and started walking. We eventually found it (thanks to a cat and an obliging neighbour), found Sonia and Brenda along the way and we were off. It was a fabulous time as it was a collection of old and new Glamour Girls and I'll tell ya, we always knew how to have a good time. I got to meet the new blood there and even got to see Sonia and Brenda whom I haven't seen in years. Everyone was worried we'd be late (it was at 7pm. and was now pushing 8pm.) but they seemed to forget that this was a party for Darla... she showed up at 8:30pm. :D Also, the Glamour Girls were infamous for being late. The party never started 'til we got there.

I just went through all my pictures of the evening and it's going to be hard to decide which ones to put in as they're all hilarious, even if you don't know these people. Dawn has to be the best bachelorette party thrower I've ever seen and I don't think I've ever seen a future bride get picked on as bad as Darla did but she hadled it like the trooper she is. I couldln't help but laugh when she made the comment, "I always used to hate these things and never wanted one done for me!" She had a great time. I think the Fireball really helped ease the pain though.

Darla came in dressed to kill which surprised me, did she really think she wouldn't get a new wardrobe? She's even re-arranging her new penis like most men do on a regular basis.

Now, before anyone gets the wrong idea, Darla's not a Ho but the girls found this cute Bachelorette poem and re-arranged it accordingly...

A picture with her penis cake...

The arrival of her, "Penisata," the look on her face (not to mention Libby's) says it all. What a great idea for anyone looking for a different idea for a bachelorette party. Dawn made it with papier mache. That's Dawn with her creation. She hung it off her ceiling fan. Don't worry, no ceiling fans were harmed in the smashing of the penisata...

The, "Penisata," in all it's glory...

Another couple of pictures that totally sum up the moment. "I need another drink," "Penis bashing," and, "The Fallout." Who said penis envy's lost...

The evening also progressed in another very surprising way. It seems that Dawn and I may have been separated at birth. Darla has talked about her lots, mentioning she's, "One of us." It's rare that you can find female friends in today's world. They're a catty lot and would claw your eyes out as quick as they look at you for the most part and if they're not able to look at you, they're stabbing you in the back. I feel very lucky to have some normal, not overly estrogeny females as friends. Dawn being the latest addition.

I'd heard that she was in to birds (primarily parrots) but had forgotten all about it. I was sitting there yik yakking when all of a sudden this loud screech pierces the air. Needless to say, I then remembered. It was really cool as she's not one of those people that sticks them in cages and shoves them in a corner. When her daughter moved out, she converted a whole room for them. It was really hard to get a picture of said room as the lighting wasn't the best for my camera but it was filled with big rope nets, lotsa hangy play toys and three parrots. One of which was a beautiful Macaw named Sydney, you'll see her in later pictures. She also had a parrot named Casper who loves to have his picture taken and as soon as he saw my flash, was instantly in my face. He also got a hold of my lens and smeared it so excuse the bluriness of the following pictures. The downfalls of macro, heehee.

The bird room, that's Sydney in the back...

Up close and personal with Casper...

Here's Sydney in all her glory. It's truly amazing how gentle she can be with her beak around your face, considering she could break a finger with it. She's like me, distracted by shiny and pretty and loved my nose ring while perched on my shoulder...

Dawn now has 7 parrots in total. As of about a month ago, she rescued a breeding pair of macaws (a different kind than Sydney and even bigger again) that were badly neglected. They arrived with all their feathers pulled out. It's pretty sad to think that someone could let an animal get to that state, thinking it's ok. This was not an overnight occurence. They both arrived in a single rubbermaid container with airholes punched in the top. The human race absolutely sickens me by times. She didn't think they'd live through the first night. One month later, they're starting to regrow their feathers, produced two eggs and are still going strong. I would have gotten pictures of them but they're still very reclusive to everyone else but Dawn. She's quite exceptional with them.

It was funny 'cause it's another case of not being able to go anywhere for any length of time without a responsible sitter. Being Kelly's official barn sitter, she mentioned to Dawn that I could do the chore. I suppose if I can handle 7 - 1000lb.+ horses, I could manage 7 parrots, right? They asked me what I'd do with them all? I laughed because I can see it now. There's three of them now that already get along really well in the bird room. I'd be camped out on the couch with one on my head, one on my toe and another one at some point in between. Now wouldln't that be a picture?

Apparently mornings are quite the event in her house. One wakes up singing opera while another likes to make the sound of her doorbell. That's just a few of the many sounds, as you can imagine. Top that off with a cat that screams like a kid and you got a regular zoo. Yeah right, screams like a kid you say. If I hadn't heard it with my own ears, I wouldn't have believed it either. It was that cat that helped Kelly and I find the place as he was climbing up on his neighbours step when I heard him. I was looking for a kid too... very strange indeed!

It was also a great weekend in the sense that I got to get the shopping done for our adopted family. Surprise, surprise... have I not learned to stop organising things? Apparently not, as it started out as being three shoppers but after new boyfriends intervening and the other losing one, I was on my own. I tossed around the idea of still going to Moncton as one of the girls was going anyways and thought that it'd make for a fun adventure but since I was now on my own and like to keep my shopping local, that got nixxed.

As I was pulling up to Tim Horton's (yeah yeah, can't shop without it) I pulled up behind Ashley at the lights. Her plans had changed as well so we teamed up and hit Wal-Mart. They didn't seem too obliging to give us a discount as I'd heard they would be but I'm going back today to speak with the manager. Hey, we dropped dang near $250 dollars there and it's for a good cause.

There were a lot of things the family needed (17yr. old girl w/ 1mth. old baby) and it sounds like the girl's trying to move out on her own. She's from a very rough family and it's remarkable she turned out as well as she did. I got to get a little more details on her as her Interventionist was in for a hair-do on saturday and of course, you go through the, "Where do you work," thing and it turns out she deals with our family. I wish I had the chance to do her but I was booked but Ashley did and she was beside me so I still got to pick her brain a bit.

So needless to say, a 17yr. old girl trying to get her own place... she needed everything. We got her pots and pans, dish set, utensil set, glasses, etc. It's very tough buying for a 1 mth. old baby as there's really nothing you can get them for toys so we got necessities like formula, diapers, pj's, socks and the one thing she asked for which was $60 alone was an activity play center, jumper kind of thing. It was worth it though 'cause I know if I was a baby, that's exactly where I'd want to be! So all that stuff plus things like boots and a winter coat for the Mom, our money didn't get to go as far as I'd hoped. I'd still like to get baby bottle stuff, bedding and towels... I'm going to have to do more fund raising. It gets extremely hard when you have to budget and pick what's needed most for a family who needs absolutely everything. Good thing they weren't looking for, "Any Pacific Brand," - Darcy. As for the wrapping, the girls will soon find themselves wrapping at our Christmas party next weekend even though most don't know it yet. I literally shopped 'til I dropped. Any wonder I slept for as long as I did.

Here's a picture of Ashley with all the goodies. Man, we make a good team. I can't believe we managed to get all that we did get! We had two carts full and that was at Wal-mart alone. My trunk and backseat were full! :D

Looks like I'm still going to have to clean my lens too as that one even still looks a little blurry. I guess I can be thankful that I still have my lens, considering the beaks on those birds.

Hope everyone had a fabulous week. Make sure you check out this entry's comments as there's going to be a new game to play in there as well.

'Til next time...

An Eagle and Game Filled Day...

As I was scrolling through the, "Next Blog," option I noticed most were updating daily. I also noticed they were primarily boring. I worked/went to school today. Hello, welcome to the rest of the world. I see no point in re-hashing those details. I have days and days where nothing particularly exciting happens (this is the 'Chi after all) but then there's days where a whole bunch of stuff goes on. Today was one of those days.

It all started innocently enough, tuesdays are my late days at work so that gives me the day to kill... and kill it I did! Got money exchanged for the trip, got Mitch's birthday present (had to give it to him right away too, as is tradition) and even had a totally unexpected surprise to start all of the above with. Answering a question Dean, Winston and I have been pondering.

I often take the shore road because it's surprising how there always seems to be something exciting going on down there. Just as I come around the turn I noticed some birds along top of the cliff. Next thing you know, in comes a gimungous wing span soaring as fast as I've ever seen a bird soar, being chased by the now dwarved crows (and we grow them big around here)flapping madly along behind it. I've heard of this happening before but had yet to see it, the crows were bullying and chasing a bald eagle! :D

They flew off out of sight but not for long. Apparently the eagle figured out how much bigger she was than the crows (with crazy beaks and talons too) because within seconds they were back but this time the roles were reversed. Lost her prize (fish?) mebbe or she'd had enough? They flew back down the river so I, now with new destination in mind and in the completely opposite direction, proceeded to try to find them again. It wasn't hard as she perched on a pine tree not far down the road. Man they're huge even when perched.

I tried getting a picture of her perched but had to crawl over a guardrail (in 4" heels and full length coat yet) to get a better shot. Of course, bull in a china shop made a clunk on the guardrail and that set her flying again. One of these days, I will get my eagle shot. In the meantime, all I got was this...

She's the blob in the middle of the shot, behind the pine. Moral of this story... dress more appropriately when chasing eagles. At least the nest stood still.

I guess we can surmise that snow definately doesn't deter them around here and they're still active. Was it ever cool (not to mention hilarious) to watch that turn of events. It must be like you said Dean, they just follow the river freeze out. I noticed today that it's starting to freeze too. I wish I could see the pair courting, seems they should be too. Hopefully there is a pair and nothing happened to her mate.

We've been getting a fair amount of snow here lately and that's sure made for loads of fun. Already had my first wipe out. I came down the front stairs at work after closing and whoosh, right flat out on my ass. Thank goodness there wasn't any witnesses. Hmmm, still had the same heels on too... I'm starting to see a pattern.

I really like the mood of this picture (while taking and now) and makes me feel like snuggling up next to a fire. Oddly enough, this was taken about 50ft. from the eagle shot, different times obviously.

As I'm sitting here contemplating how to work in the fact that these games have become such an addiction for me, Rogers notifies me that I just got a message from Brian from here. Gotta love the notification option. Now I know I can play when this is done! I'm also glad to see that I'm not the only one addicted. :D There'll be a new one going in this comments too, feel free to join in all! I'm having a great time and thanks for making it so much fun. It has been a trip down memory lane, (not to mention 80's lane) cheating and chuckling. Wouldn't have it any other way and we'll continue to see how far along we can push this slash that is, "Comments." Surely there has to be a limit, doesn't there?

Ya know, looking at our list and trying to work in some dyslexia, one comment got me thinking as it likely relates to the eagles as well. It's also a comment that I forgot all about (would be on the original list, if I could find it) but it came to me the other day as I was looking at those rings that hold cans of beer together. All birds that are in any way associated with water can be affected by this so please, "Rip this apart so the ducks won't die." - Coll

'Til we meet again...

The Big Switch Over...

Alrighty then, this'll be my first post with the beta version so here goes. It couldn't possibly have gotten any worse than the last version. I know there's way more options for playing around with the layout (as you may have noticed) so that alone was fun but the true test'll be when I upload some pictures.

Hope y'all like the new layout and please let me know what you think about the font colours and background as I want to make sure that it's not too hard to read.

This picture was taken in Hilton Head South Carolina one day I was wandering along the beach. I love the varying shades of blue. This was one of a row of vibrantly coloured houses along the beach. Man, what a pile of money there.

Cool, it even showed me the picture in the, "Your pictures has been added," pop-up to show that it works. Still carrying on with the Hilton Head theme, this was taken from the balcony of the condo. The picture above was taken of the row of houses in the background... see the blue one? There was some fancy photoshop editing done to remove the guy on the boardwalk that would not get off long enough for me to take the picture. Betcha can't tell where he was?

Still in Hilton Head, I scoured the beach for hours looking for the perfect umbrella scene. This was the last day and I'd given up and left my camera back with my stuff and was just out looking for shells. I stumbled upon this one and had to go all the way back... it was worth it though.

Another beach wander in Hilton Head. Living in Tennessee sure did make me appreciate the ocean. You don't realise how much you miss it until you see it and smell it again.

This chick had no idea I took her picture. That's a shrimp boat in the background. There were always lots of them out there. It made me think of, "Bubba Gump Shrimp."

This is pretty much self-explanatory. Found this on one of the days I was wandering looking for my above umbrella scene.

Ok, well I must say, beta wins my vote. I'm doing it at what's usually the busiest time of day and with pictures that haven't been resized and it took them no problem and uploaded them even faster than the compressed pictures I used to put up... that was if it even took them. Alright everyone, it's a need to upgrade. I just recommend saving your HTML format of each of your posts to word perfect before upgrading because in the help forum here, there were people that lost their posts so just make sure you do that to prevent if from happening. The userface is a little more user friendly than the old version but if you could figure that one out, you should be able to figure this one out. Any questions, feel free to ask me.

Off to have coffee with Liss. Check the comments as I'll get another game going in there too. Feel free to still play the old one too as I know I will be. ;)

'Til we meet again...

It's a Festivus Miracle...

Well, it's now 12:34am., Dec.1st as I type this so it's beginning to feel like Christmas. My profile has migrated to the bottom of the page and doesn't seem to want to come back. We're supposed to be getting snow tomorrow and if the temperature drops like it's supposed to, this rainy drizzle will be flurries. Most of you aren't going to like what I have to say next... Yaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy and Yippppeeeeeeeeeeee!

I paid a visit to the Skidd household tonight and while raving, we somehow got on the topic of the Christmas song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas." You never know where our conversations are going to go or where they'll end up. Somehow we got on to the Rickard's beer and the free glass (it really doesn't take much to amuse us, does it?) and a song began. I kept Liss up way past her bedtime but we figured 'er out and for your perusal, the grand unveiling, first time in the world, never before seen (or heard), new and improved, "Twelve Days of Christmas."

Feel free to sing along, you know you know how it goes...

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The Twelve Days of Festivus

*just in case you forget... a start*

On the First Day of Festivus My True Love Gave to Me...

A Free Glass With the Case (where it all began)
Two Rum and Nog (don't forget to change to the second day)
Three Shots of Berries (the third day, a blue raspberry cocktail mix)
Four Shots Of Vodka (three + four + mountain dew = good drink mix)
Five Par - a - lyzers (oh yeah, fifth day... distracted by my favourite drink)
Six Pack of Alpine (if you don't get it by now, you never will)
Seven Days a Week (dum-de-dum-de-dum-dum)
Eight Pack of Bud Light (thank goodness for different amounts in beer)
Nine More Sips of Soju (I'll personally be passing on that one)
Ten More Grievance Airings (didn't think we'd forget Festivus, did you?)
Eleven Feats of Strength (log rolling anyone?)
Twelve Pack of Rickard's (we've now come full circle)

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Like I said, easily amused. Speaking of which, check out the comments. We were having so much fun with bananas, I thought a game might be fun and help give you guys something to do while you're at work. ;)