Potter Pals

Okay, so I just found these little puppet videos called Potter Pals. I watched a few, and some of them are quite disturbing, but this one is friggin hysterical! Since most of my small viewership are Potter fans, I thought I would share. Enjoy! (Turn up the sound!)




Love & Shipoopies!
Les

Ahhh, the joy

Well, folks, it's official! We are moving back to Georgia!!! Yipee!!! Drew got THE job at Milton High School in Alpharetta and we will be moving there sometime this summer.

Sometime in May, we'll be visiting to look for a house. It's all so very exciting!!!

Yipee Skippy!!!

Love & Shipoopies,

Leslie

Phrases I hate

So, as most of you probably know, I am a total English dork. I'm one of those people that has favorite words, despised words, and I occassionally even congratulate folks on the use of a good word. I enjoy grammar and its uses. I love word play. I'm just a goob in that way. So along that thread, here are a few language-related preferences...

1.) I hate the word "engorged". What a disgusting sounding word!! That's not to say that I never use it because sometimes it's the only word that truly fits, but it's still a repulsive word.

2.) I hate when people say, "I could care less." Well, if you COULD care less, then your feelings on the topic aren't really strong enough to be worth commentary, now are they?!? The phrase is "I COULDN'T CARE LESS"!!!!! It drives me nuts that the incorrect way has become acceptable. Even very educated people use it incorrectly. Drives me nutters!!! (Admitedly, this is not a trip for which you need to fill your tank.)

3.) I think "over top of" is one of the strangest, most awkward phrases I have ever heard. It's either "OVER" or "ON top of". I don't understand the need to combine the two to make this modern marvel of awkward language. "It's those things that make ya go hmmmm..." (Who remembers this song? Anyone? Anyone? Beuller?)

4.) One of my new favorite phrases is "Less Worse". Now, I understand that this is a bit hypocritical, since I dislike other phrases based almost solely on their gramatical incorrectness. However, I have a reason for liking this one so much. Drew's graduate Orchestral Conducting professor is Chinese and has a delightful way of expressing things. This is the man who, when Drew wasn't conducting emphatically enough, told him, "You captain, maybe Colonel. I need (and I will spell phonetically here) Fie Stah Genrah!!!" (That's Five Star General for those of you not as random in the head as I am.) Anyway, when he's trying to get a student to fix a problem in their conducting and they change something, but it's still not what he wants, he tells them that it is "Less worse". I LOVE IT!!!

Ahhh, the English language! What a grand thing!!!

Love & Shipoopies!
Les

Fascinating Stuff

So, here's what I learned from a student of a teacher whose sister is a nurse. (That's totally not related, just sounds funny.) Apparently the thing we've been taught to do all of our lives to pop our ears - namely, hold your nose and blow - actually pumps more liquid into your ear. The correct way to pop your ears is to hold your nose and sniff as hard as you can. All of these years... really makes ya think....

Love & Shipoopies,
Les

AAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The new Harry Potter book now has an official date -- July 21!!! I'm so excited!!!!! I may wet myself!!!
(Okay, maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but I am so excited that my stomach is flipping over and over like I'm about to go on a first date with someone or something.)

Yipee!!!
Love & Shapoopies!
Me

Check, one, two... Is this thing on?

Just wanted to let you guys know that I am INDEED still alive and kicking. I will be back to blogger world VERY SOON!!! I promise. The holidays were a blast, but they swallowed me. Still trying to dig my way back out. (Not stressed, just busy.) Heck, I was so busy I even forgot to read my daily blogs, much less write my own. :-)

In the meantime, for your very much viewing pleasure, here are two 3-generation pictures taken at the reception after Drew's Graduate recital. We didn't intentionally take them in such an identical manner, but here we are in the same places and everything. :-)

Enjoy!




Love & Shapoopies,
Leslie

Could it REALLY happen?!?

Do you remember these?










Some time ago, I posted some pictures of rooms I have painted and shared that this is what I LOVE to do. Some of my paintings are bright and boisterous. Some are muted and sophisticated. Either way, I find peace in creating them and joy in their completion.

Well, a friend from high school saw them on MySpace, sent them to a friend at Southern Living who sent them to a friend who is doing a book on Windows and Walls. She finally sent her contact information to me and said that she would be interested in using some of MY STUFF in her "bookazine". Of course, there are many ifs and maybes in between now and it actually happening, but it is getting closer to reality and I am VERY excited!

I thought I would share this blessing and prayer request with you all!

Love & Shipoopies,
Leslie

What we're made of

I find that at 2:30 am, you discover what you are really made of -- good and bad. For if you are awake at this time in the morning, it is almost certain that it is because your heart is being tested in some way -- either because you are still awake pondering the workings of your life, life in general, God -- the big stuff, OR because you have been called on by someone.

2:30 am can make or break you -- mentally AND physically (at least when you're OLD like me. :-) ha!)



As another random thought, my life is blessed with so many wonderful people to love and to love me. Friends, family, and acquaintances alike -- my days are blessed over and over with those who show affection, show appreciation, show me my strengths AND weaknesses, and show me how to be better by example. I think that ALL people are put into our lives for a reason -- sometimes to be there for us, and sometimes for us to learn about ourselves by being there for them. God is amazing and mystifying!

Cliche' as it may be, take a moment by yourself this Thanksgiving to find the small blessings in your life (not just the big, obvious ones). Find the people and situations God sent to you to challenge you -- to show you who you are deep inside. Sometimes these people show you strengths you didn't know you had, and sometimes they show you things you need to work on. Either way, they are a blessing.

If you are reading this, then chances are, you are one of my blessings that I thank God for each time I pray. Thank you for the love you show me, the courage you give me, and the things you teach me.

Have a great Thanksgiving!
Be careful, be joyful, and be full!!!

Love & Shipoopies!
Leslie

The results are in... no, not the election. Something MUCH more important!

Okay, guys! Since you helped come up with costume ideas for the "Song Title" costume party, I thought I would show you the costumes that actually showed up (some clever and some not so much). :-)




"Devil Inside"



"Always Something There to Remind Me"



"Material Girl"



"Kung Fu Fighting" (that's what her shirt says)
and
"Cat Scratch Fever"




"Yesterday" (The party happened on October 7th.)



"Hit me, Baby, One More Time"



"My Humps"



"Fire and Rain" (That's red hots glued onto her rain cap.)

White and Nerdy

Okay, I have previously seen clips from this video, but I finally saw the entire thing today (at #2 on the VH1 top 10 countdown, I might add) and it is freaking hysterical!!! You MUST listen to the words (even if you don't like rap -- which I don't). It is totally worth it. My favorite line is, "My rims never spin. To the contrary, you'll find that they are quite stationary." Classic. However, the BEST part is that Donny Osmond is dancing in the background the whole time. Weird Al is a genius!!! (and if you argue that point, then you are kidding yourself becuase deep down, we all appreciate his art.)



Love and Shipoopies!
Leslie

Something to look forward to...

Okay, guys! I realize that it has been ages since I have posted. Work is nuts. (I clocked 56.5 hours last week alone.) However, I have been stashing a list of posting updates in the back of my brain that will get posted as soon as earnings is over at work. They will include an interesting survey of books in my life for which Nolan tagged me, an update on the costume challenge (including pictures from the party), and a bit of a story of my Gazelle.

Until then --

Love & Shapoopies,
Les

A Halloween Challenge

Okay, guys and gals! I have a challenge for you!

I am hosting my Bunko group's halloween Bunko and decided to have a costume party where your costume has to be a SONG TITLE. Now I have seen a few good song title costumes before and I have a great idea for my costume. But as I got to thinking about different possibilities for costumes, I realized that the people who read my blog (and the people who read and comment on their blogs) would probably be REALLY good at coming up with ideas for this challenge.

So I am putting the challenge to you folks. And please pass on to the brilliant people who read your blogs! If you were going to a costume party where you had to be a "Song Title", what would your costume be?

The Daily Show

Okay, from now on, I am only posting YouTube video!!! :-) ha! My favorite part of YouTube at this point is discovering The Daily Show! I had heard other people say it was funny, but never actually watched it. To be perfectly honest, it doesn't matter what Jon Stewart is talking about. He is freaking HILARIOUS!!! Take, for instance, this clip about Dick Cheney's "hunting accident".

Enjoy!!



Love & Shipoopies!
Les

It's "Wicked" how funny this song is!

Now, this is one of my favorite songs EVER!!! Listen to the words! They are hilarious!!

If you don't know the show "Wicked", it's about Glenda "the good witch" and Elpheba "The wicked witch of the west" BEFORE they became who they are in "The Wizard of Oz".




Love & Shapoopies!
Les

YouTube Junkie!

Okay, so I've become (like everyone else in America, I suppose) a YouTube junkie! I decided to share a few of my favorites with you guys!

This one cracks me up!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4Z_eTJq3bY

Maybe even funnier than the first (but much shorter and alot less "white trash"):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=of0pIBxySKQ

Happy Friday!!! Laugher for everybody -- on the house!!!

Love & Shapoopies!
Les

Underoos and the like

Ahhh, Snoopy Underoos! Those were the days!


Okay, so sometime last August I told my mother that if she would give me all of her old family photographs (boxes and boxes of them), I would get them organized and into albums for her. It only took me around a month to get them all organized -- (If I've never explained to you how I MUST do things like scrapbook, knit, and sort pictures while I work to remain awake, I'll explain that part later. I'm not REALLY just a glutton for punishment.) -- but then I had this BRILLIANT idea (read: more work for me) that in the year of 2006 and all of it's technology for preserving history, that I would also SCAN all of the pictures in an organized fashion so that they wouldn't get any more faded than they already were, PLUS this way, I get a copy; Scott gets a copy; Munner can have a copy, etc. Great plan in theory, but I discovered that the actual scanning will take me much longer than just getting them into albums becuase I can't SCAN while I'm working. Needless to say, that even though the pictures have been "organized" since September-ish, I'm just now starting to scan them. I finished scanning the "Scott" seciton, got them into an album, and am about halfway through the "Leslie" section. After that, I have "Ricki and Sheri before kids", "Our family (McKee)", "West Family", "McKee (extended) Family", "McKee/West families together", and "CCHS/Friends" left to go. :-) [Should be done by the time Drew finishes his doctorate. :-) ha!] Anyway, it has been tremendously entertaining to sort through the old pics of Scott and me and so I thought I would share just a couple of the "gems" to provide you all with a laugh break. :-) Enjoy!




Paris, look out because "That's hot!"



First of all, note that this is a SUPER-COOL Polaroid pic. :-D
Secondly, I ask you, should 3 year olds really be giving "come hither" looks? :-D ha!



In the realm of really cool things, this would be my brother and cousin Robby playing their horns as part of the "entertainment" at one of Scott's birthday parties -- and his friends are ENJOYING IT! That is some serious fabulousness right there!



Words can't express... :-D

Love & Shipoopies,
Leslie

Advice to clueless men (not relationship related)

Men,
I understand that you live in a world where most things are not truly threatening to you -- and I don't mean threatening in an "I must prove my manhood and increase my testosterone" kind of way, but in a "my life might just be in danger" sort of way. I think that's great for you! Really, I do. Yea, men!
The thing I think you DON'T understand is that most women feel threatened WAY more often in life. If a strange man starts approaching us (even if the real intent is to innocently pass by) while we are at the ATM, getting into our car, going into our house/apartment, etc. we feel threatened. Our brains (or at least most females I know) are genetically formed to flash warning signs in any of these situations. Now, that's just the normal woman. Add to that that some women have TRULY been injured or violated by a man in some similar situation like this - whether it be rape, stalking, or just serious aggressiveness. For these women (and they are a larger percentage than you would probably think), these events don't just send off a chorus of "Danger, Will Robinson! Danger! Danger" in our head. For these women, these "innocent" moments can instill TRUE PANIC!!! Irrational though you may think such a fear is, it's there and for pretty good reason. Women are attacked DAILY at ATMs, while getting in to cars and apartments, etc. by random men who appear to be simply walking by.
PLEASE keep this in mind ANYTIME you see a woman alone. Don't walk right beside her. Don't walk right past her car door or her apartment door. Don't approach her at the ATM -- even if you are TRULY just trying to get a deposit envelope to save some time or trying to get to the other side of her car or apartment door. WALK AROUND. Pass through the cars a couple of cars over. WAIT until she is done to get the deposit slip. Go another way past her apartment door or wait out of the way until she is safely inside. You may think that you are just passing by her, but to her, you may be the guy who is fixing to force his way into her car/apartment/bank account/life and that is NOT good.
This all comes from the fact that I truly believe some guy was fixing to force his way into my apartment as I unlocked the door to go in and something made him not. I don't know what. Of course, for all I know (even though he did about 8 fishy things before this moment that I saw), he could just be Joe Schmo trying to get to his apartment 3 doors down.

Just a tip from a lady to men that I know don't mean to frighten strangers.

Love & Shipoopies,
Leslie

One Year

This Sunday, it will be a year since my sweet Anna Banana died. There are things that make me feel it must have been just yesterday, like when I do something stupid and want to call and tell her about it and other things that make it seem like 10 years, like when I try to think of the last things we did together or the sound of her voice.

What an angel. Man, I miss that smile. I even miss the 17-year-oldness that used to drive me crazy.

Those of you who are prayers, please pray for our family -- especially the Withams -- this coming week. I'm sure this entire spring has been hard for them with all of her friends going through senior activities and graduation, but there's something about marking a year that makes it hard to believe. I know it is a hard thought for me to wrap my head around and she was only my "pretend child", friend, "sister", cousin. I can only imagine the sorrow of marking a year without your child.

Love & Shipoopies,
Leslie

Respect Are Country!!!

Ahhh, it has been a while since I have imparted my wisdom upon the few of you who are worthy. One can easily fall into the drudgery of life and begin to find nothing worth commenting upon. HOWEVER, in the past week, another delightful aspect of the "American people", if you will, has been brought to my attention more readily than usual (becuase it has certainly been brought to my attention before as an English teacher and just walking down the street).

I will preface my thoughts on the great intelligence that the general public possesses by saying that I am NOT expressing my views on the immigration issue (or "migration issue" as many of our bright citizens have called it). My thoughts on the immigration issue and requiring English to be spoken by all are so deep, complicated, and filled with "if"s, "but"s, "only"s, and "except for"s, that I couldn't begin to type long enough to express them. The one thing I will express my feelings on today, however, is the irritation it causes me when people who will argue that they shouldn't have to speak CORRECTLY when using English becuase "You unnerstud whut I said, din ya? Then it don't matter none," begin arguing that it is somehow a disrespect to our country or the English language for immigrants (or "them Mexicans" as they are widely known by these people) to speak anything other than English when they are inside the borders of the United States. Case in point --


In a public news conference given by the President of this great country earlier this week, in the one sentence I listened to (because when I hear his voice or see his face, I immediately change the channel since, as a "retired" English teacher, he makes my skin crawl) he used the "word" (I use the term lightly) "hisself" three times. The man, who is the PRESIDENT OF THE FREAKING UNITED STATES, used a word that is NOT A WORD three times IN ONE SENTENCE!!! Now, I know this is not surprising coming from Dubya, but (and I remind you that I am NOT in any way trying to express my opinions on whether or not immigrants should speak, sing, write, or spit in English or their native tongue) this is the man who is arguing that IMMIGRANTS should only be able to sing the National Anthem in English. It makes me wonder, could Dubya, 'hisself', sing the ENTIRE National Anthem in correct English? I mean, do you think he can actually pronounce ALL of those "BIG words"? I doubt it.

Now, as if that wasn't bad enough, then I saw THIS GUY during "Headlines" on Leno the other night.


Now, I'm not even talking about the fact that he wants us to boycot MEXICO -- not the Mexicans in our country, but the ACTUAL country of Mexico. I mean, is any of our immigration problem REALLY their fault? I think if someone were angry about the immigration problem, one would be better served to boycott Mexican establishments -- or protest at the White House, but that's not even my problem with his sign!!! (and let's not even get into the fact that so many of the "Mexicans" aren't even FROM Mexico, but other Latin and South American countries.)

My problem lies in the second of his two signs. I don't know that I can even express my frustration with this man and his sign. I think the picture really speaks volumes for itself. If you can't look at that second sign and figure out why I HAD to blog about it, then you probably don't enjoy most of my rants.

I guesss my point here is not to try and impress upon anyone that immigrants should be able to speak whatever language they want OR that they should all have to speak English all of the time. MY point is shouldn't we worry about getting the people in our country who "speak English" to ACTUALLY speak English before we worry about anything else? I mean, the majority of the people who are arguing publically that it's a travesty (though they would NEVER use that word because they've never heard it) for "all them Mexicans" to speak "Mexican" rather than "American" are the ones who say things like "Them Mexicans ain't got no sense if they can't speak American rather than Mexican. I can't understand nothing they say." REALLY!!!!!!!!!

Whooo, I feel MUCH better now. :-)

Love & Shipoopies!

Leslie

A few observations...

For those of you who have been following Cosmo's journey, I thought I would make a few observations for you. The first is that Cosmo loves to help. His favorite thing to "help" with is my work. This began with his pacing across my lap in my chair while I was working. It then progressed to sleeping in my lap. It became lying in my lap for a few minutes, onto the desk, pace to the window, sit and look out the window for a few, then back to my lap. However, I was not giving him "ample" attention today during the pacing route, and this is what it became...


He actually plopped down ONTO my hand while it was on the mouse -- paws outstretched to the keyboard. What a crazy cat!!!

My second observation is this -- Cos is a bit of a klepto. He has tried to steal a number of pieces of paper off of my desk. We've also found him with some of my hair clips and a quarter. However, the BEST of the thefts was early Friday morning when I stepped out of the kitchen and looked toward the living room looking for Cosmo and I saw a Mardi Gras mask walking towards me. It was literally floating above the ground moving towards me. I, of course, could not get to the camera fast enough, but Drew held the mask so you can see what this would look like (without his hand, of course).



Cosmo had stealthily removed the mask from the shelf upon which it rested and got it into his mouth JUST RIGHT so that it looked like he was actually WEARING the mask. Below is a picture of the guilty party trying to look innocent right after dropping the mask. :-D



He cracks us up more and more each day. And also, just for Nolan's knowledge, he made it into the bedroom by Thursday night (2 whole nights later). Drew actually calls him to bed when he's heading that way now! :-) Drew's loving him.

Love & Shipoopies,
Les