*Joke for Today

Why do women wear panties?

It's a law to cover all man holes!

*Courtesy of DJ Jeff Diamond of 107.9 WNCT in Greenville NC>

Golden Sunlight of Thanksgiving

I saw one of the most beautiful autumn foliage visions of the year. A huge tree in someone's yard on Walnut Street. Every leaf on it is golden yellow...and the yard is covered in a carpet of golden leaves. I drove by it this morning and the beauty of the morning sun filtering through the foliage was awesome. My breath caught in my throat and I had to drive by the house at least 3 times this morning. I wondered if anyone else has noticed the beauty of this tree.

I did and I thank God for showing it to me. The miracles we ignore daily amazes me. Give thanks this year for the forgetten beauty of the world and for the things we have, like love, friendship and family & friends.

I know I will.

Panthers Suck

I am so tired of the Carolina Panthers losing. I know they've got people out with injuries but ... that's no excuse. I watched part of the game Sunday, and after the other team scored their 3rd touchdown, I left the room and went to the bedroom and read a romantic gothic novel.

Didn't do much this weekend. Worked till 2 Saturday. Stopped at Target to get a toy but they were out...got some other stuff instead. Cooked some great food and hung out mostly.

Feeling out of sorts today...guess it's the upcoming holidays and I'm worried about the business. Things are slow. I just hope that things start popping after T-day.

And..we had some vandalism at a few of the stores down from me. I don't understand what joys these hoodlums get out of tearing up property! we were spared but one business had to shut down today because those losers cut lines to her electricity.

I guess I should post this and get back to fun stuff like...dreaming of pumpkin pie.

Autum Calls

Everywhere I look I see gold, orange, red and green leaves flying around. I love this time of year. It inspires the artist within me. I love watching the leaves dance with the wind. The soft delicate whirls they employ as they fall to the ground. I want to pick them up and keep them safe...to hide them away so I can look at them during the dismal cold of winter, when the trees are bare and naked--exposed to the harsh anger of silence.



I want to dance with the leaves, to embrace their vibrance essence. I am autumn born, fairy of sunsets and dreams.

The year is coming to an end fast, the days of my youth almost spent and I keep thinking that somewhere in the falling of these words, there blooms color in the form of poetry. I guess you'll have to sort through the weeds to find it.

Evil Pure Evil....

Sandspurs are!


If you've ever walked barefoot through any sandy terrain like the beach, you've probably stepped on a few.

I hate them. I'm sure they were created right after Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. God's wrath... sandspurs.

During the Myrtle Beach trip, I stepped on one while walking back to the truck. It was right under the pier of all places. And it went in deep, in the lower part of my arch right above the heel to the outside of my foot. In other words, a blind spot. When I pulled it out, I knew there were some tips still left in.

Sure enough, 6 days later I couldn't walk without pain. Since I couldn't see it, Mom 'operated' on my foot with a sterile needle and peroxide. She thought she got it all. But wasn't sure and suggested I put a piece of raw potato on it to draw any other pieces out. "It works," she said.

Now, 5 days later my foot is sore again. I took a mirror and looked at it. Sure enough there's an angry red spot with a dark dot in it. I guess she'll have to operate again. This time I will do the raw potato thing ...because a sandspur is hell and I don't want to be its bitch.

Dum Dummy Dummy Head...Me

I was getting rid of old files in my website and with the click of a button...I deleted the magazine sub-domain portion!!!! I thought I was clicking on another sub-domain name instead. I was horrified. I even logged off for hours, upset over it.

Then I gave it some thought and realized I didn't have time for it and haven't updated my website since Jan of this year. Maybe it was time to end it. SO I did. I plan to do a true business site next year with my restoration work, so I guess it's best to end the vanity site.

I hate to do it but... sometimes it's best to move on with. I loved doing the magazine and thank all that helped with submissions. It means so much to know that so many enjoyed the site.

I was in the Dollar Tree store over the weekend. Might have mentioned it already. Anyways, they were playing old 70's music. I love that store because they never play the same thing every day. One day it might be country music, another day pop songs from the 80's and 90's...one day they even played reggae... I loved that day because one of the songs that was played was a Reggae version of Johnny Be Good. But the best song was 'Day old Banana Pudding.' I sang that song for days.

Anyway... this song came on from Sly and The Family Stone...I sang along...(continued after the song)

Lyrics for: Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)

Lookin' at the devil
Grinnin' at his gun
Fingers start shakin'
I begin to run
Bullets start chasin'
I begin to stop
We begin to wrestle
I was on the top

I want to thank you falettinme
Be mice elf agin
Thank you falettinme
Be mice elf agin

Stiff all in the collar
Fluffy in the face
Chit chat chatter tryin'
Stuffy in the place
Thank you for the party
But I could never stay
Many thangs is on my mind
Words in the way

I want to thank you falettinme
Be mice elf agin
Thank you falettinme
Be mice elf agin

Dance to the music
All nite long
Everyday people
Sing a simple song
Mama's so happy
Mama start to cry
Papa still singin'
You can make it if you try

I want to thank you falettinme
Be mice elf agin
(Different strokes for different folks, yeah)
Thank you falettinme
Be mice elf agin

Flamin' eyes of people fear
Burnin' into you
Many men are missin' much
Hatin' what they do
Youth and truth are makin' love
Dig it for a starter, now
Dyin' young is hard to take
Sellin' out is harder

Thank you falettinme
Be mice elf agin
I want to thank you falettinme
Be mice elf agin
Thank you falettinme
Be mice elf agin
Thank you falettinme
Be mice elf agin
I want to thank you falettinme
Be mice elf agin


~~~~~~
As I was going down aisles singing, I came across two black American kids... playing with foam swords. The oldest was about 9 ...the other was around 5. The oldest was singing along with the chorus as loud as he could..

and he sang:

Shaggy and Scooby
Be your self...good friends...

I stopped to listen ...covered my laugh and thought... dude, those are the best misunderstood lyrics I've heard in ages.

Scoob and the Family Stone...

Viva Viagra

When I first heard that comerical...I was horrified! Come on ..this is Elvis. Couldn't they have used some other song?

But after hearing it about 100 times, I realized that as much as Elvis loved Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll, he would have really dug Viagra. Probably would have went as far as to do a Viva Viagra World Tour!

Thank ya...thank ya very much Viagra!

I always wanted to be a Super Hero!

I go crazy at least once a day!

Monday Monday

Downtown L'ton is deserted. I think 99.9% of the stores are closed. I've had a few customers in today. They were all amazed at how dead the area is. I sort of like the quiet. I can get a lot done today.

Had an ok weekend. Feeling a lot better today. Got to Al's house at around 5:30. He was watching ACC basketball. Pissed that NC State won over UNC. I cooked up some of my delicous sage porkchops, some Asian noodles with a honey sauce and sesame seeds, steamed broccoli and... corn. Al dove on it like it was a life line. Slept in Sunday. Al had to work for a few hours, so the cat and I took a long coffee break. I slipped over to the Dollar Tree store. Found some things like Xmas gift wrap, some stocking stuffers for the nephews...and fuzzy socks. I'm addicted to them. They can line my coffin with them when I depart this sad ole world.

For lunch I cooked some Calzones. For supper I cooked a London Broil in burgandy wine with mushrooms, onions and garlic cloves and some wild rice and brussel sprouts in butter sauce. It was all so good. Al was happy.

We watched the Panthers choke at their home stadium. I swear they need a complete new team. Get rid of the whole freaking lot. I'm so disgusted with them. Al and I tried to watch the Colts game. I couldn't watch all of it...Poor Peyton Manning.... what a nightmare game for him. I hope this doesn't ruin the mood of his commericals. I have to admit I enjoy them.

Well, I'm behind on my novel. Knew it would happen. Luckily I wrote the next few chapters in my head this weekend while I cooked and goofed off with the cat. She's a great sounding board. I'll have to dedicate it to her.

Kleenex, Kleenex...everywhere

I have 8 semi-used Kleenex on my computer desk and nary a box in sight. Sniffles R Me and I am sick of this. My head is fuzzy. I sat at a stop sign for 5 mins, waiting for it to turn green. I'm listening with extra care to customers today for fear that I'll agree to something amoral. This cold is kicking my ass.

On a different note... I thought the CSI/Without a Trace cross-over sucked. Next week looks like a weeper with Sara leaving the show.

A Great American

Wednesday night William and I were watching some kid movie called Everyone's Hero. An animated movie about a loser kid, a talking baseball, Babe Ruth and his bat. William said, "Babe Ruth was a great White American. And Jackie Robinson was a great Black American. I hope I'm a great White American one day." lol.. white American..cracked me up. Never thought of it that way, ya know...

Society harps onsome of us as being a minority and doing great stuff that we forget that there should be no division among races. That all should be honored the same no matter what background. William is struggling to understand this. He thinks because at school they've divided the minorities from all the races that non-minorities should have a tag as well.

Sadly, there will never be recognition as Just plain Americans to everyone who lives under the American flag.

Spooning not Forking

A few months ago I found a spoon on the counter. It was yellow and very thick and sturdy. Not like the thin flimsy kind you get when you order take-out. So it became my favorite spoon to stir my coffee with or to eat soup with. I love this spoon and call it 'Old Yeller."

Last night, William was over and we were in the kitchen discussing his medicine. (He's got Streph throat and is taking pills and not liquid antibotics. He says he's 'growing up now.' I say, 'not so fast, dude.') Anyways, he saw me using the spoon to stir my chicken broth soup and said, "Sherrie, that's one of Ben's toy spoons. He's been looking for it."

I didn't believe him and said, "It's mine now. He can play with one of these." I reached in the silverware drawer and pulled out a white plastic spoon.

"But it doesn't match," said William. "Ben's going to be sad if you take his spoon away."

"He'll get over it. And if he doesn't. I've got kleenex."

The thing is... Ben hasn't played with his plastic food, pots, plates and spoonware since Spring. He can make due without "old Yeller."

Sniff...Sniff...HONK!

I'm fighting a freaking cold. It started last Friday and immediately I began to take the above medicine. My symptons haven't gotten worse nor better. I'm at a stalemate with them. I feel bad enough not to be as productive as I usually am and good enough not to stay home in the bed.

I'm a bit loopy but happy. It sounds nuts I know. So tonight, I'll lay around on the couch and catch Survivor and CSI...and also Without a Trace since CSI spills over to their show.

Survivor has been ok. I am rooting for James or Amanda. I think Todd is gonna flake out this episode.

As for CSI... I am amazed at how it continues to hold my attention year after year. The new girl Ronny is gonna fit in nicely. I hate to see Sara go but I don't think it will impact the show as much as some think. She's never been my favorite but I like her and Grissom together. They really fit.

Bigfoot Picture Mystery

This is the photo that I was talking about. I cropped the image and lightened it up. Then went and did a photo search for a bear with mange and found the one below. I think the mystery photo is really a bear with mange. Look at how the legs are. A bigfoot wouldn't stoop like that.


Mystery Solved by Sherrielock Holmes

The ones that got away

Here's a closer shot of a Pompano. Cute little thing.



I hooked one of these red drums at a fueling dock on the intracostal waterway but it threw my hook when it surfaced. Al was totally shocked. He thought I had hooked a phantom fish--probably because I reeled in whenever I felt the slightest touch on my hook.


Al tossed out a few crab traps but we didn't catch any. A guy a few feet away kept catching them with his rod and reel... they would fall off and attack his shoe.

Fishey Fishey ...

Here we are on Saturday afternoon, casting our rod into the Atlantic Ocean. The water was cold and Al cast the rods. I didn't have to get wet.

We each caught a Pompano. They were to small to keep.

I'm baaa-accc-kkkk

We stayed at the Hilton and our view was ocean front/ocean view, although it was more of a side shot. This was the view from the bed beside the balcony. While Al snored away, I laid there and looked at the lights and wondered what everyone was doing. I slept really well after the long drive there. We took a round-about way because Al thought it was shorter. I think he took a wrong turn that waylaid us a few miles off course.

That night we ate at Bimini's Oyster bar. Talk about some killer seafood. It's a local joint that had few tourists. A guy was in the corner playing Jimmy Buffet songs and crooning the tunes. He sounded remarkably like JB. I was totally impressed. We got a seat and ordered some good food. I had conch fritters, homemade chips and cole slaw. Yummy. I forgot what Al ordered. But mine was good and the price wasn't too bad. We stayed a while and listened to the guy sing. A few locals came over and invited us to join them later at the 2001 night club that was just around the corner. I was too tired and declined. After we ate we went back to the room and chilled out.

I caught the sunrise the next morning. It was so beautiful off the ocean. We drove around for awhile after a delicious breakfast at Dino's House of Pancakes. Another yummy meal! Eventually we ended up at the beach...fishing!

Happy Weekend

Well, I'm off to Myrtle Beach. I really hope all of you have a great weekend. It's suppose to be mild and not too cold. I don't mind cool weather though. I love walking down the strand when it's cool. Feels as if the ocean speaks slowly in my ear, because so few are there to distract from the calmness of the sea.

Be safe. Be well and see you Monday!

This is pretty much on Track!

What Your Handwriting Says About You

You are a fairly energetic person. You know how do pace yourself, and you deal well with stress. You are somewhat outgoing, but you're not a natural extrovert. You think first before you act. You tend to be independent, rational, and logical. You are balanced and grounded. You know how to get along well with others. You need a bit of space in your life, but you're not a recluse. You expect people to give you a small amount of privacy, and you respect their privacy as well. You are somewhat traditional, but you are also open to change. You listen to your head and your heart. You are a decent communicator. You eventually get your point across, but sometimes you leave things a bit ambiguous.

What Does Your Handwriting Say About You?

Nov 1st Hits and Misses

My nephews make great vampires. The picture isn't the best. They wouldn't pose for another. Nor would they sit still while I applied make-up.

Halloween was fun. We went to a carnival hosted by my Uncle Jerry's church. It's only 5 miles away and they did a great job. I saw a few old high school mates I haven't seen in ages. The boys loved it. They had lots of activities and every kid got a prize no matter how badly they performed. The boys got more booty than they do when they go house to house. My devil wig/horns were a hit. One kid asked "What's your devil name?" I didn't have an answer. William said I was "Devil's Snare." I guess that's as close to a name as I got.

The church served hot dogs and soda. I think the lady at the window thought I was a total nut when I asked for a plain hot dog bun, because William won't eat hot dogs but he likes the bun. He took a bite while she watched and then said to her, "Hmmm, that's a tasty bun."

Ben ask half of his hot dog on the drive home. When we got to my house, he told me he was finished with it. My sister was going to toss it away but I said I would eat it. (I forgot to get some supper before our venture). After his bath, he came looking for his hot dog. And cried when he found out it was in my tummy. The only excuse I could think of was telling him that the 'devil' made me do it. I hate the humor was lost on him. I felt really bad for him until he realized that he could eat candy instead.

And so another Halloween is gone. Now November looms overhead like an ugly ear of corn and I've promised myself that I would write another novel. I've got one in mind and actually have a list of characters and a plot, but... a kid adventure is in my head...one I tell the nephews--it's a series of adventures about them and I wonder if maybe I shouldn't write that instead. I guess later on today when I sit down in front of the PC, I'll let whichever one wins the battle to find its way to paper.

Al informed me that we're off to Myrtle beach Friday. HE wanted to leave early ...like 8 am but I have to drop my brother off at work at 9 and I have a few things to do at the studio. It kills me how people think because I work for myself that I can drop everything and just go... I'm no different that those of you who slave for any boss. I have a job that needs to get done...no one but me can do it and when I have deadlines, everything has to wait.

Anyone look at the photo of a 'maybe' bigfoot. It was on yahoo's homepage yesterday. Some authorities say it's a bear with mange. I saved a copy to my PC... I may check it out later and give my own thoughts on it. Wouldn't there be a magnitude of non-believers eating crow if there turns out to be a real bigfoot???

And supernatural activity draining electronics? Mainly digital cameras. I say that the real reason behind this is that these ghost hunters are using standard batteries that don't have the power to run the camera for more than 5 or 6 shots. I know...I had to use standard batteries last night instead of my usual ones made just for digital cameras. I went through an 8 pack and...got only 7 shots of the boys. The batteries can still work on other things like my gameboy but they don't have to pull to work a digital camera. So that mystery is uncovered... use batteries made for digital gadgets, Ghost Hunters.

A Letter from Tom Robbins

Dear NaNoWriMo participant,

When you sit down to begin that novel of yours, the first thing you might want to do is toss a handful of powdered napalm over both shoulders---so as to dispense with any and all of your old writing teachers, the ones whose ghosts surely will be hovering there, saying such things as, "Adverbs should never be...", or "A novel is supposed to convey...", et cetera. Enough! Ye literary bureaucrats, vamoose!

Rules such as "Write what you know," and "Show, don't tell," while doubtlessly grounded in good sense, can be ignored with impunity by any novelist nimble enough to get away with it. There is, in fact, only one rule in writing fiction: Whatever works, works.

Ah, but how can you know if it's working? The truth is, you can't always know (I nearly burned my first novel a dozen times, and it's still in print after 35 years), you just have to sense it, feel it, trust it. It's intu itive, and that peculiar brand of intuition is a gift from the gods. Obviously, most people have received a different package altogether, but until you undo the ribbons you can never be sure.

As the great Nelson Algren once said, “Any writer who knows what he's doing isn't doing very much.” Most really good fiction is compelled into being. It comes from a kind of uncalculated innocence. You need not have your ending in mind before you commence. Indeed, you need not be certain of exactly what's going to transpire on page 2. If you know the whole story in advance, your novel is probably dead before you begin it. Give it some room to breathe, to change direction, to surprise you. Writing a novel is not so much a project as a journey, a voyage, an adventure.

A topic is necessary, of course; a theme, a general sense of the nexus of effects you'd like your narrative to ultimately produce. Beyond that, you simply pack your imagination, your sense of humor, a character or two, and your personal world view into a little canoe, push it out onto the vast dark river, and see where the currents take you. And should you ever think you hear the sound of dangerous rapids around the next bend, hey, hang on, tighten your focus, and keep paddling---because now you're really writing, baby! This is the best part.

It's a bit like being out of control and totally in charge, simultaneously. If that seems tricky, well, it's a tricky business. Try it. It'll drive you crazy. And you'll love it.

Tom Robbins

--
Tom Robbins is the author of eight novels, including Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Jitterbug Perfume, and his latest, Villa Incognito.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And so it begins! Wish me luck as I travel down writer's lane, never knowing exactly where my journey of words takes me.

Happy Halloweenie!

BOOOOoooOOOoooo!

You Are An Attention Seeker

You're only human, so you can't help but want a little attention every now and then. You love the spotlight, but only when it's well deserved. You'd hate to be known for the wrong thing. And you also don't mind sharing the spotlight. You can easily give someone else credit or a compliment. You know there's enough attention to go around, and it makes you happy when your friends shine. You come across as: Friendly and interesting People may wrongly think you're: A little more modest than you actually are!

Are You An Attention Whore?

Box

Thursday night William and I were working on his math homework. I was trying my best to explain how to do one of the hardest problems and William kept playing with his pencil or staring off into space. Exasperated I said, "William, you've got to pay attention."

Still no results. Finally I threw my hands up in dispair and said, "I wish I could find a huge box to put you and your homework in, so you wouldn't have anything to distract you from it."

He sighed heavily and said, "I would say to the walls, 'Help me.'"

I bit my lip to keep from laughing and thought, "help me too."

The Weekend in Review

My head's much better. I didn't have any headache Saturday or Sunday...nor Monday or Today. I guess it's not cracked up after all.

I worked extra hard on Friday and was able to take the day off on Saturday. When I got home Friday to change and get my things together, the boys were excited to see me. William made a 100 on his project. I'm so proud of him. And Ben... he didn't get a good conduct sticker...but I'll write more about that later.

I changed into a pair of black slacks and a black short sleeve sweater. Ben asked me why I was wearing 'different' stuff...because he didn't see me wear it earlier. lol...the logic of kids. When I told them I was going to Al's, William said, "But I'll miss you." I hugged him, and explained that I needed 'grown-up time.'

The anniversary dinner was great. We went to the 360 seafood restaurant. I had the grilled flounder. Very yumilicous! Everyone had a nice time. The husband of the celebrating couple tripped me out a bit. I sat across from him and watched him eat after I was finished. He ordered a huge plate of steamed, crab legs, oysters, clams and shrimp. He was talking to Al and I watched him pick up a shrimp, dipping it in sauce without shelling it first. I thought that maybe he was involved in talking and didn't pay attention to what he was doing. But...he bit into the shrimp--shell and all. I figured he swallowed it because he didn't want anyone to notice he had made a mistake. But I was wrong... he ate all his shrimp with the shells on. And... he buttered and sour creamed his baked potato and picked it up with his hands as if it were corn on the cob and ate across the top of it like it was an ear of corn. I wanted to ask him about his shrimp but didn't know how to approach him. He has lived in the Asian world on and off during his Air Force years and I wonder if that's where he learned to eat shrimp shells.

Saturday-- Al had to work and I hung out with the cat. We did some housework and read. I watched some football. The Georgia Tech/Gators game and the Wake Forest/Carolina game. My ECU Pirtes kicked ass but I didn't get to see them. I had dinner ready when he got home. We stayed up a while and then hit the hay.

Sunday--was football day. The Panthers totally wig out after the first quarter or two. I knew Peyton Manning's crew would kill them but I hoped they would have made it tougher. I cooked some great food. Chuck eye steaks grilled on the George Foreman for lunch and for din...Chicken and veggies baked in white wine. And I made brownies. Al was a happy guy.

I felt very relaxed and rested Monday morning. Ah...the comforts of a lazy weekend.

Course I wasn't prepared for Fall when I walked outside yesterday...I didn't have any long pants or long sleeved shirts... talk about hard nipples! All day long!

And another..

she devil

my evil twin

(what I'm wearing tomorrow night when I take the nephews Trick-or-Treating)

Friday

I'm feeling some better today. Probably because it's Friday and that means I can escape for the weekend. It's been a long week of school, homework, headaches and rutabagas.

My mind is so fried today. All week I've been helping William with his homework. He's had a project to do, which we did. It was on Lumberton, NC. We did a poster. Then we had to practice multiplication tables and his math superstars (practice word problems like, "Ricardo is 4 years older than his sister Rosa. If you combine their ages the sum is 14. How old is Ricardo and Rosa?" I can figure it out, but he's having a hard time with math. Plus we had to do his spelling words and other homework, like reading his library book and assigned story from his reading book.

And Ben... his homework is easy. After all he's in the first grade. We have his done in a span of 10 mins.

With Lisa being at the house, I'm having to do more cooking. She tries to help but her idea of washing dishes is to run them under hot water and scrub them with my bottle brush.

Her wound is healing nicely. She still can't move her head any. The incision is clear and not red. I help her put ointment on it in the mornings and at night. I think she's getting the stitches out Tuesday.

And... Monday...there's teachers' workday and that means I don't have to drive the kids to school and can stay over at Al's Sunday night. Yay!

I'm going there tonight. He and I are invited to an anniversary dinner. If I get all my work done today, I'll probably stay until Monday morning. I could use an extended break from my house. Mom will stay with Lisa and the boys so I can get a break. Gotta love Moms!

To those of you whom I haven't emailed or sent offlines...well, I'm sorry and hope that I can catch up next week.

Love ya guys and have a safe weekend.

I wanted to be a Super Hero!!!!!

You Should Be a Social Worker

You are deeply caring and empathetic. You are able to take on other people's problems as if they were your own. Sensitive and intuitive, you understand human emotions well. Helping others gives you the most joy in life. You feel like it's your purpose in life. You do best when you: - Have a lot of responsibility - Greatly impact someone's life with your work You would also be a good philanthropist or stay at home parent.

What Should You Be When You Grow Up?

Birthday Aftermaths and headaches

I wasn't around much yesterday due to a severe headache that I got from hitting my head on something. It almost knocked my lights out.

My birthday wasn't too bad. The highlight was chatting with J. And Ben's birthday drawing --he and I as pumpkin king and queen.

Al and I had a huge argument later that night...so bad that he actually hung up on me. It was one of those s/he said things. Funny how different the sexes communicate and how extreme the interpretations. I actually cried myself to sleep.

He drove down yesterday to apologize in person, but the damage was done and hard to fix. I was almost at the point of saying that I can't do this anymore, but he didn't give up until he made things better. Something he has never done in the past.

Love isn't about fuzzy romantic things--it's about working out differences and finding a sane middle ground to work together on.

My head is still achy and the bump is still there but my heart doesn't hurt. I'll take a headache over heartache any day.

A Quote By Martha Beck, O Magazine, February 2003

Every instance of heartbreak can teach us powerful lessons about creating the kind of love we really want.

Happy Birthday...to me...

A girl can wish....

Thanks Bob, Sarah HB and John...for the birthday wishes.

My friend Jeff asked if I could blow out 45 candles... all I know is that I can blow one...really good.

;)

Oh yea...b' fore I forget

Tomorrow is my birthday.. I'll be accepting presents between 11 am and 4 pm. If you need an after hour delivery, let me know...and it better be mighty good.

;)

Monday is fun day

Sorry I haven't had time to blog. My sister's surgery went well. She went in at 10 am and was out of the operating room at 1 pm. We had her home by 4. She did great. The tumor turned out to be a thryoglossal cyst, something that is rare in adults. It was almost the size of a ping-pong ball. She's got a mean cut across her throat and can't chew very well for now. Since she can't do much, she's staying with me and I'm taking care of the mini me's.

Getting them to school on time Friday was a trick but we had our act together this morning and they were there before the first bell rang.

A bunch of people came by yesterday to see Lisa. They asked some nutty questions;

"Will the stitches melt on their own or does the doctor have to remove them?"

"Did you wear underwear during the surgery?"

"Did your doctor stay for the whole surgery?"

"Will you wear turtlenecks now?"

"Does it hurt?"

and my favorite: "Why did they cut your throat when they could have gone down your throat and cut there?"

To cut or not to cut

... Lisa's surgery is scheduled for tomorrow morning. Please say a prayer or two.

Thanks.

You Are a Witch (or Warlock)

You are deviously brilliant and a perfect manipulator. You somehow always end up getting what you want - without anyone knowing you're working behind the scenes. Crafty and cunning, you can work your way out of any jam. And it's easy for you to get people to do what you want, whether you're working for good or evil. Your greatest power: Mind control Your greatest weakness: Making people your puppets You play well with: Ghosts

What Kind of Monster Are You?

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

Description

Judas Coyne is a collector of the macabre: a cookbook for cannibals . . . a used hangman's noose . . . a snuff film. An aging death-metal rock god, his taste for the unnatural is as widely known to his legions of fans as the notorious excesses of his youth. But nothing he possesses is as unlikely or as dreadful as his latest discovery, an item for sale on the Internet, a thing so terribly strange, Jude can't help but reach for his wallet.

"I will "sell" my stepfather's ghost to the highest bidder. . . ."

For a thousand dollars, Jude will become the proud owner of a dead man's suit, said to be haunted by a restless spirit. He isn't afraid. He has spent a lifetime coping with ghosts--of an abusive father, of the lovers he callously abandoned, of the bandmates he betrayed. What's one more?

But what UPS delivers to his door in a black heart-shaped box is no imaginary or metaphorical ghost, no benign conversation piece. It's the real thing.

And suddenly the suit's previous owner is everywhere: behind the bedroom door . . . seated in Jude's restored vintage Mustang . . . standing outside his window . . . staring out from his widescreen TV. Waiting--with a gleaming razor blade on a chain dangling from one bony hand. . . .

A multiple-award winner for his short fiction, author Joe Hill immediately vaults into the top echelon of dark fantasists with a blood-chilling roller-coaster ride of a novel, a masterwork brimming with relentless thrills and acid terror.


~~~~~~~~~
I finished this book last night and was mildly surprised that it was pretty good. Joe Hill is actually Stephen King's son and he's been writing short stories under a pen name so he won't be writing in the shadow of his father. Someone leaked his identity though. The Wikipedia has more info on Joe Hill.

Joe jumps right in with the action and there is much blood. About a 1/3 of the way through I wondered if he wasn't going too fast with his story and if it would run out of steam midway.

At first it was hard for me to like the main character Jude, a hard-hearted death-metal rock god who called the young goth chicks he lived with by their 'birth state' and not their names. The current state "Georgia" was a goth stripper he met about 9 or more months ago. Of all the characters in the book, she's the one that really grew on me.

After the big climax where they face the evil and fight, I noticed there were about 20 pages left. Many of them were one page chapters. I think he could have tied up the aftermath without so many little chapters. I kept thinking "what a waste of paper."

I give it an A- rating. Joe Hill is a young author who will grow into a very intense horror writer one day.

Spider Vs. Sherrie

and the spider almost won! Thursday night was a total bitch! I couldn't sleep because if anything touched my right thumb it was excuricating. Plus it was really cool that night. I think the temp dipped to 41 F in the house. I put 3 blankets on my bed. Everytime I tried to put my cold right hand under them, I thought my thumb would fall off.

I slept very poorly. Woke up early so that I could pick up the magnolia cucumbers (seed ponds) out of the front yard. Mom's boyfriend was gonna come by and mow the yard for me. But when I put on my old t-shirt, I noticed that my right arm had long red streaks extending from the bite. Freaked me out.

I soaked the whole arm in Espom salt. But it pained me anyway. I barely got through the day with my work. When I got home Friday night, I soaked it some more. It felt a little better Saturday morning but the streaks were worse. So I spent all of the weekend babying my arm. It's better today. The tracks were the streaks were are still very sore, as if I bruised my arm.

Today the bite is looking good. No more pus or clear stuff leaking out (yea, don't you love to read gross stuff) and the swelling is down 80%. My arm is still a bit sore but I can type with both hands today and that's an accomplishment.

I found this quiz to be quite hysterical

...because I am prone to grammatical mistakes quite often.

You Scored an A

You got 10/10 questions correct. It's pretty obvious that you don't make basic grammatical errors. If anything, you're annoyed when people make simple mistakes on their blogs. As far as people with bad grammar go, you know they're only human. And it's humanity and its current condition that truly disturb you sometimes.

The It's Its There Their They're Quiz

What Your Halloween Habits Say About You

You're a friendly person, but not the life of the party. You like making someone else's day - and you'll dress up if you think of a really fun costume. You definitely think of yourself as someone who has a dark side. And part of having that dark side means not showing it. Your inner child is bittersweet, thoughtful, and never too greedy. You truly fear the dark side of humanity. You are a true misanthrope. You're prone to be quite emotional and over dramatic. Deep down, you enjoy being scared out of your mind... even if you don't admit it. You are a traditionalist with most aspects of your life. You like your Halloween costume to be basic, well made, and conventional enough to wear another year.

What's Your Halloween Personality?

Spidey to the Rescue

While in my little storage barn, I think I got bitten by a spider. There's a funny looking swell of blisters on my right thumb. They are a little painful but not as painful as last night. Before I went to sleep I took a sterile needle and popped them. When I woke up this morning I immediately felt the sting from the bite. So I popped the blisters again to relieve the pressure, took a hot shower and then added some anti-fungus lotion to the blisters. A few years ago my sister had a bad spider bite and her doctor said to use anti-fungus lotion and the bite healed faster.

So I'm digging in the medicine cabinet for a band aid and all I have are spiderman and Spongebob band aids. I picked the lesser of two evils--Spiderman. It's colorful and blends in with my red top and denim shorts.

But I did make a mental note to buy some adult band aids.

Hmmm wonder if I have any spidey super powers?

Fair Photos

William wouldn't get on a horse. But Ben did--the one right behind the seats. I couldn't get a shot of Ben looking at me. William grinned at me everytime he rode by. There's a little chubby kid in the seat behind Will. I watched as he tried to climb onto a horse but couldn't get his leg over. When his Dad, who was just as chubby saw him sitting in the seat, he asked, "Son, don't you want to ride a horse?" The boy gave a resigned shrug. I felt for him.


Cowboy Ben on the pony right before we left. William declined a ride. The grin on Ben's face is his mischievious grin. The one that he gives right before he gets into trouble.

This Mondy he didn't get a sticker because he wrote on the floor at school. I laughed but not out loud. This kid has balls of steel for a 6-yr-old. His desk is right smack in front of the teacher's. What he wrote... remains a mystery.

Back to the fair. It was fun. Next year I think I'll buy get on some of the more adult rides with William... live alittle, be young again.

Lump in the Throat

Well, when it rains it freaking pours! My sister has to have major surgery to remove a tumor that's in the muscle of her throat. It's grown rapidly in the last 3 weeks, going from a pea size to the size of a golf ball. Her surgery will be schedule within the next week. It's not gonna be easy. Her lower jaw bone and part of her tongue must be removed so the surgical team can get to it. Once the tumor's out, they will replace the parts removed.

It's totally freaked me out. So much can go wrong... I know, put my faith in the Lord. I do, but I also am practical.

She's more worried about her sons that she is about herself. With all my heart, I'll help her out and take care of them if she needs me to while she recovers.

Those of you that pray...please remember her.

I hope I don't sound like those people who always have something major going on...like this person dying, or this person is sick, etc. I try to have mostly sunshine in my blog...but on occassion there are major rainstorms that can't be ignored.

Thanks for listening.

Fair is as Fair does

Somehow I got wang-dangled into going to the County Fair with my sister and the nephews Saturday. We had fun. I'll post a few photos after I upload them to my pc at home. William rode a lot more rides than last year. We got some cotton candy and lemon-ade at a price that was beyond ridiculous. I think what got me the most was how rude the carnies were. Geeezzzz. Come on Guys, act like you like the job even if you don't.

I drove up to Al's later. He worked until 7 pm. I cooked some chuck eye steaks and made a large salad. We turned in early. He worked Sunday until almost 4. I watched the Panthers game and wondered out loud many times if we would pull it off. And we did.

I was happy to see that ECU won. Made my day.


It was sort of a quiet weekend. I guess we all need them sometimes.

Boi...wee

Man, it's gonna take a while to get used to the new glasses. My eyes got really tired last night after wearing them for 12 hours. I don't want to run to the Dr. Office with a complaint until I give my eyes time to adjust. The new prescription is stronger. I need to remember that.


I'm beginning to get into the groove of Survivor. I dislike more of the contestants than usual. I really liked James the Grave digger until him and that stupid poker player guy John-Robert showed how arrogent they were while looking for clams or snails or whatever they were looking for. They said plenty of sexist stuff in hearing range of topic--Courtney, the skinny chick from NYC.

And CSI... poor Sara. She has never seemed to really fit in with the crew. Since it's out that she and Grissom are an item, she's moving to swing shift. I felt tears well in my eyes, watching that last scene where all the gang is at a go-kart track and she's standing on the side with arm in a cast, watching them. Her battle to keep tears back and the song playing really moved me. And on another note, I hope they don't put Warwick and Catherine together. I know there's always been a bit of flirtation between them...but one intra-CSI romance is enough.

Haven't caught any of the new shows. I know, my bad. I'm ready for Nip/Tuck to return. And am enjoying the antics of Larry David on Curb.

I did catch a neat show at 7 pm on the Animal Planet channel. "After the Attack"-- people who have been attacked by Grizzlies, cougars, etc relive the event and face 'tamed/trained' animals to put their fears to rest. It was really interesting. I will keep an eye out for that show.

Gosh...came on to write about my glasses and somehow ended up on television shows.

and now... on to porn...

The Original Idols

I found the link to their myspace page.

Talk about walking down memory lane!! I had a huge crush of Rex Smith. Still considering going to the concert. Just depends on who I can convince to go with me.

New EYES

I've got my new glasses and thank heavens they're not like these! Flashback to the 70's! And the good news is that I can see again. Though it will take a little time to adjust, I can tell a big difference.

On the drive there two things made me laugh:

1) A radio promo for The Real American Idols (70's icons like the Bay City Rollers, The group that sang "Billy Don't be a hero, I can't remember all the bands--there were a load of them but the last name flashed cracked me up--Danny Bonaduce! I'll have to look up the link to the Crown. The tickets are only $20. I think it would be fun to see the show. What made me laugh was the idea of asking various friends or Al to go...and the looks I would get from them. It would be a hoot to see Danny I think.

2) I pass this sign all the time and can't read it until I get up close. Today I rode by and said, "The next time you see me, I'll see you first." As I kept driving, I imagined its reply, probably something like "That's the way it's suppose to be, babe."

When I got walked in the doctor's office, I was smiling really big, thinking of Danny Bonaduce and talking signs. They called me to the eyeglass showcase room and Thurman the eyefitter (my nickname for him) said, "I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but do you always go around smiling so much. Every time I see you, you're smiling. Even when Doctor Masters gave you the grave news about possibly developing angle closure glaucoma, you still could smile at all of us. So...what's your secret?"

I sat thinking about it... and said, "Well, the secret is to get someone to tell you a joke so funny that you can't stop smiling. I'm pretty lucky. Someone told me a great joke in my teens."

It took him a minute before he realized I was joking. But now that I think about it. Life is good, even if you have to eat sour grapes once in a while.

I hope to get some good photos of me and my new glasses.

Cooking Sherrie

hey Robert...

I started a cooking blog

Cooking Sherrie

DJ Jeff Diamond's Blog

My buddy DJ Jeff Diamond of WNCT 107.9 in Greenville NC has created a blog on his page at the radio's website. Check him out and listen to him live from 9 am-2 pm. The link's on the homepage.

(I shamelessly plug people if I really really like them. So if you can convince me that I like you, I'll plug your site or cause for free, too.)

Xherrie, Warrior Princess

We've got misty weather today. Just enough misty rain to mar me glasses, mateys. Speaking of which, I wish my new ones would get here. I am having a horrible time reading and working on the PC. At night my eyes ache from strain. They ache so badly right now, all I want to do is close them for a few hours.

Yesterday was battle day. I battled with Dad over studio issues. I battled with William over doing his home work. I told him that his new name was "Chore" because he makes everything so hard. I battled with Al last night--mainly because he demanded me to do something for him, instead of asking. I hate when he's in that frame of mind. Usually I can turn down his volume with a soft word, but after battling all day and evening, I reacted to his demand with oil and water. This may sound like I'm making excuses for him. For the last 2 weeks, he's been working 14 hours and hasn't had enough sleep. I can understand that he's tired, but what I won't tolerate is him taking it out on me. So I guess there will be another battle tonight until we reach an accord.

October Begins

I loooove this time of year. Cool at night, warm during the day!

My weekend wasn't that bad. Drove over to Al's Saturday afternoon. He had to work until about 7:00 pm. I think I got there at 4:30. So I went to the grocery store and encountered racism. But that's for another post. For some crazy reason I was in a cooking mood, so I looked up some recipes I've been wanting to try, wrote down the ingredients and went to the store.

And boy, I did ever manage some excellent cooking. Friday night, we had kiwi chicken, curried rice and lentils and a salad made with iceburg lettuce, avocoda slices, shrooms, tomatoes and shredded cheddar cheese. I even created an Asian flavored dressing. For dessert, we had raspberry chocolate brownies.

Al loved it. We turned in early, because he had to work yesterday. I slept in a bit, and would have slept longer but the durn cat kept jumping on me. She's so spoiled. All she wanted was for me to fetch her balls.

For Sunday's dinner, I tossed together a burgandy beef recipe for the slow cooker. The beef was so tender that you could cut it with a fork. It was served over elbow noodles. I whipped up some steamed brocolli and another salad. It so turns me on when Al makes all these yummy sounds when he's devouring the meals I make.

He got home around 4 and we watched part of the Panthers game. What the heck has happened to them??? I swear they are pretending to play football. They've got the talent to win. I just don't know. It's disheartening to watch. I actually took a long nap after half-time.

oh....

(singing off-key)

1 2 3 4
I forgot what I came here for...

5 6 7 8
got to put my mind on straight...

Ohh...yea-heah
I came to blo-0og...

Ohh ...yea-heah
I'm slaughtering this song-ong

~~~~~~~

Now that I've got THAT out of my systm, on with the show. I spent the greater part of the morning at the eye doctor. It's been 4 years since my last visit and yes, I got chewed out about it, mainly because Glaucoma runs in our family and I have ocular hypertension (meaning high eye pressure ... 18 in my left, 20 in my right eye). So I had to go through loads of tests and I was amazed at how many new machines they have that do all the hard work for them.

Everything went peachy for a while. I need stronger bifocals, and my left eye hasn't changed any but my right eye has increased in near-sightedness while the stigmatism has decreased. I was sort of happy until Dr. Masters looked in my eyes with her bright light. I saw a change in her demeanor; she did a double-take with the light and then rushed out of the room to see if another maching (test) was available. She wanted "One more test, Sherrie and I promise that's it." So I did it and boy was it uncomfortable. I had to hold my eye open and not blink while a red light did an erotic dance across my pupils.

The end of it all... I could be developing angle closure glaucoma. My 'angle' is getting smaller which causes the fluid in my eye to build up and not drain. I have to go back next summer for testing and if the angle is smaller, I will have laser surgery immediately-- a small hole burned into my Iris.

I can't fuck around with this. It will cause blindness if I ignore it. She gave me some information on it and then sent me to the eyeglass room...where I promptly shelled out $500.

The price of vision... to me has no price, so I'm not gonna moan and gripe about all the money I spent.

Instead I'll sing....

1 2 3 4....

Little Rascals Joke

Beautiful Miss Crabtree, the greatest teacher ever, was going over the Little Rascals' spelling words one day at school. She came upon the word Dictate and asked, "Who can make a sentence using the word 'dictate?'"



Buckwheat raised his hand and eagerly said, "I tan. 'Hey Dahla, how do my dictate?'"

God Lives Under your Bed

Don't ya just love forwards??? I don't mind the funny ones. When I send one out, I always try to make sure it's funny. But not everyone does this. Some people live to send forwards. I've got one 'friend' who sends me everything from dating site spam forwards to Christian stuff. It gets so bad that I have to reply with a smart ass remark so that she'll get pissed off and won't send me anything until she 'forgives me.' I used to politely ask her not to send everything but she ignored me.

For the last few weeks, she's been slowly increasing her forwards and when I logged on at lunch I had 8 from her. The last was this: "God Lives Under your Bed."

So I clicked on 'reply to all' and wrote:

He does? Well, can he get rid of the dust bunnies that live there too?

Who Would John Wayne Vote For?

As I was driving down Hwy 87 towards I-95, I got behind a beat up old red truck that had a sign (it was too big to call a sticker) posted to the tailgate. The sign read "Who would John Wayne vote for?" It covered about a 1/3 of the tailgate. I couldn't help but wonder about this...who would he vote for?

So far I don't see any candidates that would fit the bill...or is that the boot?

Bored

Well, not really... just sorta.

I am printing photos today and goofing off online. Nothing much going on. Should be catching up on some emails but I'll do that latter...or not.

I watched Survivor last night. So far not many of the newbies are interesting enough to write about. I thought the ritual before the tribal separation was awesome. And I was amazed at how irreverant the NYC girl was... and how the Jesus girl ran out of the ceremoney even after Jeff P said it wasn't a religious ceremony.

I guess I'll pull for someone eventually. I think that the first challenge was boring. And that the tribe who went to tribal counsel shouldn't have gotten fire. In the past they've made the losing tribe earn it by winning rewards.

If Survivor goes soft this season...it will be my last one.

And I can't wait for CSI next week...will Sara live or die? I guess it depends if she signs her contract...lol

Rant Time

A few years back I joined Columbia House DVD so I could receive a free gift (The first season of Nip Tuck), plus I got X amount of DVD's for little of nothing and had to buy 4 full priced DVD's over 2 years. I did so within the time slot.

Occasionally I would forget to decline the Director's choice and it would arrive at my home. If it was a good movie, I would keep it. And if it wasn't I would send it back but it took forever to refund my credit card. Knowing how bad I can be with remembering little things like declining the Director's choice, I tried to remove my credit card from their online site. Wouldn't do. They wanted a new card number. I noticed that the card would expire in another couple of months, I kept it and never did change the expiration date.

So now when I forget, they send a note saying they need a valid card. Or ask if I want to send a money order or personal check. I usually ignore the email.

I went the paperless route and asked for email but they're still sending packages of DVd's to order from to my PO box. I usually rip them in two and trash the packets.

Well, today I got an email from them about my expired credit card. So I went to their site to cancel my membership. They have a help section and a form style letter for you to write in your request but the kicker is that you have to select a topic for the email. And if you've ever tried to cancel something before from a website where you buy things, you know that score...they make it very difficult to do so. When I clicked on the "Cancel Membership" title, and then hit submit...it returned to the form letter saying I didn't select a title. I did this 5 times and got the same result, so I decided to go a different route. I clicked on "Order Status" and it went through immediately. (In the message box I had writte: Cancel my membership ASAP.)

I knew it would take a zillion emails to get them to understand that I wanted my membership canceled, so I kept perusing the site until I found a help section that gave details on cancelation. It was a very small section and in the end you have to call an 800 #...

Oh joys! The endless automatic service or the foreign customer service rep...what a choice. But this time I got a ROBOT!!! It said, "Hi talk to me as if I were a person. Such as, 'I want to select the Director's choice for this month.'"

So I said, "Cancel my membership."

It said, "Hold for just one moment" And then there was a series of tappity taps on a key board. The voice then said, "You want to cancel the Director's choice."

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooo.... it went on for ever...and ever... finally it asked for my acct number...so I typed in and when the voice came on I kept saying over and over and over (trying to cause a glitch in his voice recognition software) "Cancelmymembershipcancelmymembership) the robot said, "I can't help you with this. I'll connect you to a customer service rep."

And I promptly got a foreign voice that said, "How can I help? You not want the director choice?"

"Cancel my membersihp."

"Pordon?"

"You understand me or you wouldn't be working here. Cancel my membership NOW."

"Why?"

"Listen lady, I just spent 15 minutes talking to a robot. I'm not going to spend another 15 minutes telling you why. Either you cancel my membership NOW or transfer me to your supervisor."

"I will cancel but keep membership so you can receive double points and fun cash for purchases..."

I lost control... she was back talking and I hate that so I said, "Cancel my membership or I will begin to use profanity."

"It is cancel. Give 48 hours to remove."

I said, "Cool.... don't make me call back."


I guess most people would have hung up and said, "Oh well, getting emails and promotional packages don't hurt. They can't charge me if the credit card has expired. I'll let it go."

That's the point... what if they start sending DVD's and demanding payment... and what if the DVD's are intercepted by another party... you would be obligated to pay.

I don't want the hassle anymore. I don't want the junk mail nor the junk emails. I just want it to be easy to cancel, easy to use automative services, easy to talk to a customer service tech who will say 'OK..it's done...problem solved.'

Am I asking too much?

Rainy Days and Thirstday

always get me.... wet...

For some crazy reason I'm really thirsty for water today. Plus it's raining. There could be a connection.

Had to take my Bro to see Dr. M for his bi-yearly eye exam. I did some errand while he was in there...and I even had a chance to set in the lounge and read some groovy cool wildlife magazines.

Life is good when you can check out a silver fox or horny owl.

Or horny anything... heh heh...

I read in my friend Robert's 360 blog a retort he gave to a person who commented negatively someplace about his poetry. And it reminded me of this. I deleted a comment a few days ago which said that my blog was so boring no one wanted to comment. It was posted on Ben's birthday post. That stupid comment ruined part of my day... why did this person have to say this. Why the negative energy? I really don't care who reads me... I went to his blog and it was all controversial crap...people blasting subjects like Brit Spears, Paris Hilton and other topics in the same vein. I almost commented but decided to ignore this perosn. Then I went back to my blog and deleted the post. Why let him ruin my tribute to Ben. Like J said in his email to me regarding the subject, "Don't let some asshole stranger ruin even a minute of your life."

He's right...why should we let negative people ruin our day, especially with crap that doesn't matter.

A woman, a bus and a baby


A woman gets onto a bus with her baby.

The bus driver says, "That's the ugliest baby that I've ever seen. Ugh!"

The woman goes to the rear of the bus and sits down, fuming. She says to a man next to her, "The driver just insulted me!"

The man says, "There's no call for that. You go right up there and tell him off. Go ahead, I'll hold your monkey for you."

What the O.J. in O.J. Simpson.. really stands for

Orange Jumpsuit

(thank DJ Jeff Diamond for the laugh)

Avast Mateys! It's Talk Like a Pirate Day..arrrrrrg

Why do pirates always have a bar of soap tied to them?
So when they are shipwrecked they can wash themselves ashore!

Why do pirates like treasure?
Because it spARRRkles!

Sherrie's Pirate Name Is...

Cannibal Sweet Waters

What's Your Pirate Name?

Ben's Doll

This is Ben and Lisa, his mom/my sister. We had a private family birthday party for him Friday night. I mentioned in the previous post about pulling a gag gift on him. So this is his expression when he pulled the doll out of the bag!