My First Album

This is a fun meme! Follow the instructions and then post your first album.

1. The name of the first random article is the name of your band.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random

2. The last 3-5 words of the last quote at the bottom of the page is the name of the album.
http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3

3. The third picture is the album cover.
http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days

After finding everything you need for your first album, put it together in PhotoShop or similar photo editing software.

I can't wait to see yours!!! Here's mine:

The Agony & The Ecstasy

Last night, I finally managed to watch one of the movies I had saved on our DVR. (I mean, seriously, I have to get busy watching some of these old movies so I can delete them and free up some space on there for more! lol)

I love Charlton Heston movies. He has such a "presence" onscreen. But, when I saw this one listed on TCM, I had to see it!

When I was in college and taking art classes, I took an art history class called Survey of Art. It encompassed everything from primitive cave drawings to Greek architecture to the Renaissance painters...and more. It was one of my favorite classes! Through that class, I fell in love with the art of Michelangelo. He has always been my favorite artist.

His sculptures are so lifelike and "real". One of my favorites is his "David". That's an obvious one because that's usually the one people think of when they hear his name. I like it because Michelangelo captured David right at the moment that he decided he was going to fight Goliath. You can see the determination and resolve in his face! How he captured that is just incredible!

But one of my other favorites is his Pieta at St. Peter's Basilica...Mary receiving Jesus' body off of the cross.


I couldn't find a picture of the Pieta that showed Jesus' face, but Michelangelo was able to capture very human emotions and expressions in his sculptures. How did he make marble look so soft? It's amazing! I could look at his sculptures all day. Just amazing!

Anyway, here's a clip from the film when Pope Julius II (Rex Harrison) commissions Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. (The Pope addresses him by his first name, Buonarotti, throughout the film.)

Enjoy!

The Breakfast Club Quiz

Ok. I just made this up. lol I was playing on FaceBook this morning and one of my friends took 'The Breakfast Club' quiz and, since it's always been a favorite of mine, I took it too. The only question I missed was what year it was released. I thought it came out while I was still in high school. Apparently, it probably did, but the last semester of my senior year. lol

The question is this: which member of the Breakfast Club best fits who you are?

Are you:

Bender - the "Criminal"
Andy - the "Jock"
Allison - the "Basket Case"
Claire - the "Princess"
Brian - the "Brain"

The next question is: which character best described your personality while you were in high school? Is it the same one?

Personally, I think it's harder to pick out a personality that fits who I am now. I don't think any of them really fit now.

But, I can pick out which I would've been in high school. I probably would've hung out with Brian and his friends...that's where I mostly would've fit in. Although, some of my friends were Allisons...so I probably would've fit in there too. lol

The first 3 years of high school, this would've been a given. I was on Honor Roll every semester and was a member of National Honor Society. I was also on the Brain Bowl team and won a regional spelling bee. I was also painfully shy and let my friends dictate alot of what I did outside of those boundaries.

My senior year, however, I was determined to shatter that image that others had of me of being "scholastic" and "academic". I was working, so I had money of my own to buy the kinds of clothes I wanted to. I cut my hair in an "alternative" style. Bear in mind this was in the mid-80s, so ALL of the girls had big hair. I didn't. I cut it short with long bangs and a rat tail. I didn't dress "preppy" like everyone else in our school dressed, I started dressing "edgier". Nothing super extreme...but in a high school of only 100 students TOTAL, ANYthing was edgy if it was outside the accepted standards of the preps and jocks.

My circle of friends started expanding too, once I started coming out of my shell more. I had several friends who would've hung out with Andy the Jock. Most of my friends WERE jocks, in fact. I didn't have as many girl friends as I did before. So, by senior year, even though I myself was not athletic, I would've hung out with "Andy" more than I would've hung out with "Brian".

Muftak, on the other hand. He was Bender all the way. Hard to believe, isn't it? lol

Why Did I Ever Quit?

Journaling, that is. Granted, blogging is similar, but not quite the same...at least for me.

Over the weekend, Muftak and I moved a bookcase from the basement to our bedroom. It's a nice case and was just crammed full of books and other stuff while it was setting in the basement. I decided that we should bring it upstairs and sort through the books.

So we did.

It looks really nice in our bedroom now and, best of all, all of the books are organized and tidily put on the shelves. All I need to do now is to find some ornamental little "whats-its" to put on the shelves. The books look a little lonely.

But, while sorting through all the books that were just haphazardly piled on the bookcase while it was in the basement, I found an old journal...from 1997!

It was fun to sit down and read some of the things that I was thinking back then. It was also fun to read through all the mundane things that we were doing at the time. I mean, seriously, some of the entries in it were very boring...but it was also very interesting to read. For me, anyway.

I decided that I would start journaling again. Now is the perfect time. We have so many things going on this year that it will be fun to keep a record of visits and talks and plans. I just wish I would've kept up with it way back then...

The next project that I'm looking forward to having several hours to finish is going through all of the letters and packages that my Japanese penpal sent me during jr. high and high school. I still have ALL of them in a box in our bedroom. Now to organize them...

Speaking of Valentine's....

Sometimes husbands end up with their feet in their mouths....way up to the ankles!!!

Muftak and I were both hanging at my computer last night. There was a video that I wanted to show him and, somehow we ended up at FaceBook and he saw the ad along the side (one of 1000s) about how celebrities stay so skinny.

Well, the pic on this one was of Angelina Jolie.

He said, "She's not skinny!"

I said, "Yes, she is!"

He said, "I saw a recent picture of her and she was looking really poochy and thick."

I looked at him and said, "So what does that make ME? Fat and tubby?"

We both laughed, but he was speechless...

I guess he couldn't talk with those size 12 appendages crammed down his throat...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Recently, I participated in a valentine's swap with some blog friends. Becca hosted this one and I'm so glad I said I would be a part of it.

The precious blogger who got my name was Stacy! She sent so many wonderful things!

Chicken Soup for the Soul - Love Stories
The stories in this book are so much fun to read!!! I love hearing how people end up together!

Bath & Body Works body splash - raspberry
The funny thing is I don't like food that's raspberry flavored, but I LOVE anything raspberry scented!!! Great choice!

Home & Garden Party candle - Rain
I have gotten so many candles as gifts this year for various reasons, but I like to think that you can never have too many candles!!!

Daffin's chocolates
I had never heard of this, but it is oooooooooohhhh sooooooooooo creamy!!! Yummy!

Cookies 'n' Cream Kisses and Cheesecake Kisses
The Cookies 'n' Cream Kisses were gone before I got the picture taken, but I grabbed the others before they disappeared! lol

Thank you, Stacy, for all the FUN things you put into my package!!! And thank you, Becca, for organizing and hosting this fun swap! You're both precious!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

A Valentine's Day Thought-Fest

I'm not going to name names in this entry, but I think I'm going to have to remove a couple of "friends" from my FaceBook. Sometimes when I log in and see some of their messages to one another pop up on my home page there, I just want to gag. Things like this:

"Honey, I love love love you!"

"Ditto to you, baby! You're a sexy thing!"

"You are just the sweetest husband in the whole world!"

"I'm so lucky to be married to such a wonderful, precious woman as you!"

Ok. Now, don't get me wrong and judge my opinions based solely on these 4 examples.

I think it's WONDERFUL that two people can be so much in love after almost 20 years of marriage. But, PLEASE, seriously...why all the sappy, sugary, sickening sweet stuff all over FaceBook??? (And there are a LOT of them...EVERY DAY!)

Ugh. Gag.

Here are the two thoughts that race through my mind when I see their sappy, sugary comments to one another:

1. They really honestly do feel this way about one another...ALL the TIME.

OR

2. They want everyone to THINK they feel this way about one another...ALL the TIME.

Either way, it drives me batty.

But, then I think, "Why does it bother me so much?" Because it just totally rubs me wrong and gets on my nerves...but WHY?

Honestly, who cares??? Good for them, you know?

The alternative is not so pleasant to think about....

am I jealous?

Hmmm...I wonder sometimes. Maybe that's it. Not that I would want Muftak to set up an account on FaceBook just so he could leave me sappy messages, because, heaven knows, I wouldn't leave syrupy messages on his FaceBook!

But maybe I'm just a little jealous to see that level of "sweet nothings" in a marriage that's almost as long as mine and Muftak's.

That got my mind detouring WAY off the beaten track, and I started thinking about relationships in general.

Did you ever notice that there are some relationships out there where the two people involved never seem to have to work at making it work? They're always supportive of one another. Always sugary sweet with one another. Always holding hands or putting their arms around one another....

???

Then there are others that WORK all the time on the relationship...and you can tell they work on it all time. And I'm not talking, they worked on it for the first 10 years and not things have kind of levelled off. I mean, they've been married for years and years and years and every day is work.

Which would you rather be in?

And here's a hint for the guys since it's Valentine's Day tomorrow:

You don't have to spend an arm and a leg on roses or whatever else for your significant other. Seriously. The best gifts I have ever gotten from Muftak involve very little in the way of $$$, but a lot in the way of thought...which is more important anyway.

One year, he bought me some Hershey's kisses and made new tags for them on the computer. Each tag started with "I love you because..." Simple and cheap!!! But it made me cry.

So, remember, guys, if you treat HER like a princess, she'll treat YOU like a king!

I Think They're Trying to Kill Me...

...or scare me away.

For some time now, Muftak has been asking me if I'm going to play paintball with his team from work. The IT dept. is putting a team together to go paintballing soon and the spouses are invited. He's been anxious for me to participate since he's the one really pushing for it and the one who's organizing it.

Well, I have been saying that I don't know if I could do that or not. I mean, seriously, doesn't it hurt when those hard little balls of paint hit you???

He and Nitro both reassured me that they sting a little bit, but with some layered clothing on, I would be fine.

Muftak also assured me that we could do a "test run" before I committed to actually getting out there on the field with everyone else. That meant that today I put a heavy weight jacket on over my sweatshirt and headed outside to be shot with a paintball.

He and Nitro assured me over and over that I had on sufficient padding...but that I should wear the face guard...just in case.

So there I stood...

in our backyard...

in almost 70 degree weather with a quilted jacket on...

and a face guard that made me feel like Darth Vader.

Muftak aimed.

Nitro smiled.

Muftak fired.

And I squealed like a girl, i.e. wimp, when I was hit in the arm by the paintball.

OUCH!!!!!!

I jumped and yelled, "OW!!! That freakin' HURT!!!"

And how did the two men in my life react? The two men who should be most concerned with my welfare?

They said, "Oops!", covered their mouths, and LAUGHED at me!

The ball hit me on the bicep about in the middle...on the inside of my arm. You know, the most sensitive area on your whole arm!!! I have a purple bruise about the size of a half dollar where the stinkin' paintball hit me!

I had to laugh after the initial sting started to wear off, but SHEESH!!! That really HURT!!!

I just walked past both of them into the house and said, "Yeah....that's a big NO on playing paintball with all you guys."

I'm such a wimp.

I'm Seriously Worried...

...about myself.

I have got to have the shortest memory...EVER!

Yesterday afternoon, when I got home from work (Muftak stayed home sick), neither of the kids was home. Nitro had gone over to a friend's house to hang out until Shelby got off work. And Aravis...? Hmmm....

Hadn't a clue where she was! Muftak didn't know either.

So, I texted her: Where r u?

No answer.

Tried calling.

Straight to voice mail.

Ok. Great. Her phone is either turned off or dead.

Next strategy was to call our pastor's wife, who gives Aravis a ride to school everyday. Maybe she might have an insight...esp. considering her oldest daughter is also one of Aravis' friends.

We were able to determine that Aravis had told her that she didn't need a ride home and that she was with Cherish (name changed), one of her best friends.

Ok....rusty gears turning....flipping through files....throwing other things I needed to remember helter skelter....

Ok...very foggy...I do remember something about Cherish and Tuesday.

Think....think....think....

Got nothin' else.

I manage to find Cherish's home number...no answer. Ok....hmmm...

I finally just started assuring myself that, yes, Aravis had mentioned something to me over the weekend about her and Cherish doing something on Tuesday. But, you know how it is, when you're not 100% sure, it's hard not to worry.

About 7:45, my cell rings. It's a Nebraska number I don't recognize.

Cherish lives in Omaha....so....

I answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hi. Mom? I just wanted to let you know that we're on our way home now."

"Ok. See you in a bit."

HUGE sigh of relief.

When Aravis got home...about 10 mins. later, I didn't lecture her. BUT, I did remind her that she needs to tell me what her plans are the day of the event. I said, "You know how my memory is!" She giggled, rolled her eyes and said, "Yeah. I should know better than not to remind you!" lol

The worst part is that the kids always tell me their plans, then expect me to remember them. So, if I don't, Muftak is even more in the dark than I am!

Luckily, thankfully, she got home fine....and had a great time with her friends.

Trials of Parenting an 18-Year-Old

This weekend has probably been the most stressful weekend we've encountered in a long time. We went around and around with Nitro. The result was his being grounded until today.

We never ground the kids.

I'm serious.

We've taken things away from them in the past, but never grounded them.

Nitro and Aravis have a handful of responsibilities at home. We have 2 laundry days a week and they're each responsible for one of them. Nitro has Tuesdays, Aravis has Saturdays (sometimes Fridays now instead because of her work schedule). But, for several weeks in a row, it's taken Nitro from Tuesday afternoon to Friday evening to get 5 loads of laundry washed, dried, and delivered to the appropriate bedrooms. We also have a guideline for them: if, for whatever reason, you are unable to complete the laundry on the assigned laundry day, you can ask for help from Mom or you can request an extension. Not a big deal.

After many frustrating conversations, Aravis has finally "gotten" this. If she can't get it all done on Sat. and knows it ahead of time, she always asks if she can finish it on Sunday afternoon or if I will finish it up for her. No biggie.

Nitro simply refuses to ask for help.

It's soooo frustrating.

We finally learned that his definition of responsibility is that if you are asked to do something, you do it when you can and you don't ask for help. He said that asking for help is the same as whining.

Hmmm...

Nice thought, but that kind of thinking gets you in trouble in the real world.

Well, between not doing what he was supposed to with the laundry and copping a bad attitude about it, he got grounded Friday night.

On Sat., he did something else he's been told NOT to do...repeatedly. He was working on his car and spread out all the greasy tools he was using on the chest freezer in the garage.

Problem 1: He's been told not spread tools out on the freezer...OVER and OVER again. There is an old buffet out there that we've kept specifically so he has a place to spread them out when he's working. (In fact, said buffet is going to the dump once he moves out of the house. lol)

Problem 2: We are in the process of trying to sell the freezer. We would prefer that the finish on it be in as pristine condition as possible if we find a potential buyer.

Problem 3: Even after going over this with him, he still insisted that he hadn't done anything wrong. And that it was a "stupid" rule.

*SIGH*

The most interesting thing that I learned from this weekend was that I am living the "Ultimate Parent Curse". You remember the one: "When you grow up and have kids, I hope they act just like you!"

Yep.

Nitro is my son....through and through. When Muftak gets frustrated with him, he always says, "I don't get it. I was rebellious when I was a kid, but nothing like this!" I just smile and say, "Yeah, but I was." :o\

It's hard to believe, but I was a holy terror my senior year of high school. I was soooooooo rebellious. Some of it was normal...but, most of it.....wow.

When I think back to some of the things that I said to my parents, I get embarrassed! I had such a horrible attitude!

The best part of growing up, though, is learning that you're NOT all that and a bag of chips. lol

Several years ago, I apologized to my parents for how I acted when I lived at home...esp. during my senior year. My dad just smiled at me and said, "So you finally learned we're not so stupid after all?" lol

I'm just looking forward to the day when our kids realize that we aren't so stupid after all. I know it'll happen...whether they tell us or not.