I'm not sure how I feel about this

Ok, you know Ski loves the mouse. You also know that I can't play a chordal instrument and therefore can't compose awesome tuneages for my Savior or my sweet B. *sigh*

BUT WAIT!! Now Disney has come out with PC software called "Disney Star Guitarist" which is like a cross between Guitar Hero (which I've never played) and playing real chords on a (IMHO) slightly girly-looking 3/4 scale guitar. (maybe they'll put out a black one with flames on it--or a pirate skull)

Oh, and it's for $200. Ouch.

I will be keeping my mind's eye on this since it seems pretty cool and would probably help me learn some chords (or at least some Disney songs to annoy people with). I think, depending on what the price does, it still falls behind a GPS, a Flip Video camera and an HD TV on the "techie lifestyle upgrade" priority list. I'm still pretty much a slow adapter. We don't have Facebook, Netflix or a camera phone in our house either. *sarcastic gasp!!*

Anyway, check out the video from this year's Consumer Electronics show. It's pretty cool:



Oh, and they also have similar software for keyboard. Hmmmm...

14 Songs

Today's post is a listing of 14 random songs on my Ipod that remind me of Ski....

1) No Ship Coming In by The Lost Dogs -- "By Grace we remain, with hands in the flame, but I will love you forever!!"


2) Twenty-four by Switchfoot --
"Life is not what I thought it was, 24 hours ago....
There's twenty-four reasons
To admit that I'm wrong
With all my excuses
Still twenty-four strong"

3) The Best Thing by Relient K
I'll go back to before we met
Try and erase the past
Try harder to forget cause
Nothing will ever be as good as here and now

Cause when I looked into your eyes
And you dared to stare right back
You should've said "Nice to meet you, I'm your other half"

4) Goldfish by The Wiggles
Bbbbb bbbb bbbb bbbb bbbb bbbb

5) What's Happened to You? by The Call
Don't take this lyric too personally. The Call just make me think of Ski.
What's happened to you
You used to be so unkind
You used to curse at this poor world
So what changed your mind

What stirred such compassion
Is a mystery to me
I don't know what happened
Oh, but I like what I see

6)Beautiful Scandalous Night by The Choir
This song just kills me. Not sure if I can quote part of it. Awesome, awesome song....

7) Fivetweezy by KJ52
WoooWooo!!

8) Any Time at All by T-Bone Burnett
I don't want to save you, rescue or enslave you
I only want to hear you, consider and be near you
No sorrow is too big, no feelin' is too small
I pledge to you my love, forever isn't any time at all
Isn't any time at all

9) Hallelujah by The O.C. Supertones
Happy horns -- makes me wanna spin!!

10) Farther Along by Lost Dogs
When we see Jesus comin' in glory
When He comes from His home in the sky
Then we shall meet Him in that bright mansion
And we'll understand it all by and by

Farther along we'll know all about it
Farther along we'll understand why
Cheer up my brother, live in the sunshine
We'll understand it all by and by

11) If the Bomb Fall by Larry Norman
Still a winner after all these years....
And through the years and all the long hard miles,
We'll shed some tears, but we will share the smiles.
Don't cry, I want you to know I love you.

If the bombs fall, baby I love you,
If they end it all, baby I love you
Through it all, I want you to know I love you.

12) Leprechaun by The Choir
For love of life and chlorophyll my favourite light is green.
And now I hope you're diggin' this way I dance a jig.
Honey, turn the porch light on.
High steppin' across your lawn.
If your thinkin' it's a leprechaun.
Well, it's only me living free tonight.

13) Diggin' Your Style by Steve Hindalong
Sincerely diggin' your style....

14) Nuts for You by 77s
Gotta put the ole 77s in there.

14 Memorable Date Nights

Since Valentine's Day is coming up, I thought I would post some things with 14.
My first installment is date nights...

1) I guess I should begin with our first date. For us, we call it our first "official date." We were friends for several years and did a few things before we were actually dating. So, our first official date was on Halloween and if I remember correctly, it was a DeGarmo & Key concert in Lancaster. (ski: It was Geoff Moore and Petra) It was very fun. I don't remember much about it, really. I think this was the concert where Farrell and Farrell opened and the female half slipped on stage during the first number and injured herself. But this could have been on another occasion entirely. (ski: yep, that was WhiteHeart--see item 6 below)

2)One year, right before Christmas, Ski came to my house to visit. He then took me to Peddler's Village in Lahaska where we wandered around the shops and looked at the gingerbread houses. In the parking lot, he gave me his class ring. It was such a fun day that we had together. The parking lot was a gigantic sheet of ice and my mother fretted about us going out, but we had a safe trip and Ski made it home to NJ with not trouble at all. (ski: I remember eating a VERY late lunch at Burger King and NOT being hungry for your Mom's dinner--oops.)

3) Our worst Valentine's Day by far was the year that we went to Inner Harbor in Baltimore. It was ice cold and we had a huge argument. I can't recall what the problem was, but we ended up splitting up and wandering in through the shops by ourselves. I remember we somehow managed to meet in the middle and resolve our conflict. I presented him with a bouquet of flowers and he had bought himself a boxful of fudge. Somehow, we made it through ok. I don't know how. We used to have the worst arguments when we went out together. All I remember about that night is that I ate pizza with asparagus and crab meat which was absolutely delicious.

4)I love birds of prey. So, when Ski proposed, he took me to a high cliff that overlooked a river where hawks were soaring. There, he gave me a bouquet of flowers and nestled in a rose was an engagement ring. I was completely speechless. I didn't even give him an answer until about 10 minutes later. I had no idea because he had picked the ring out all by himself. Unfortunately, I had to work that afternoon so we couldn't spend the entire day together. But it was the most romantic thing Ski has ever done for me.

5) My dear Ski loves trains so one year I decided to take him to the Horseshoe Curve for his birthday. This place is an engineering feet in the world of trains. Unfortunately, they were doing some renovations so we were not allowed to go there. We had a huge lunch at Ponderosa and then made our way to my second stop of the day. There is a cool little park in Altoona, PA called Lakemont. I had planned to stop here and then perhaps a state park for some swimming. Since we had just eaten, we decided to go on simple rides like the train and paddle boats. We were having a grand time. Then, we walked past The Monster. I am not much for amusement park rides, but when I did like them, The Monster was one of my favorites. I begged Ski to go on it, so off we went. All went well, but the entire time I was spinning in circles, I felt a bit queasy. I kept telling Ski that I was going to be sick. He assured me that I would be fine. The ride ended without an incident. However, we happened to be the VERY last car that they let down. So, there we were stuck up in the air and suddenly, I couldn't take it anymore. I lost my lunch all over the place. When they finally let us out, the guy opened the bar and let out a huge "WHOOOAAA!!!" I scurried to the bathroom and Ski ran to the car to get my clothes. While I waited for him to return, I tried to be inconspicuous in a pavilion. Not far away from me, I heard a kid exclaim "Ewwww!!" while the guy at the ride hosed my seat down with a giant hose. I cannot tell you how grateful I was that I had packed extra clothes to change into. I don't think we ever ate at Ponderosa again after that and I don't think I have been on The Monster again, either.

BTW, the pic above is actually from Lakemont Park. Cool, huh?!?!

6) Once, before we were dating, Ski asked me if I wanted to go to an signing party at a bookstore an hour away from our college. I happily agreed and as it turned out, I was the only one who went with him. We drove down there and went to the party. It was a good time and fairly unmemorable. When we went to leave, we got in the car and at the first stop we made, the car died. Now, this was in the late 80s and Ski had a big old '72 Pontiac. The thing was a beast, but it always needed fixing. We figured out it was the carburetor. So, Ski went into the mall and bought some spray starter stuff in a can. We managed to go about a mile more with me spraying and him starting. It was indeed a comical scene. Then, it finally died -- the first car at a stoplight. You can imagine the honks, stares and angry drivers. We called AAA and a friend. It took an eternity for the tow truck to get there. The friend who was available to come get us just happened to be the son of my aunt's co-worker. He gave us a ride back to campus, but the people that we were going to go to a concert with had already left and we didn't have a card. Ski finally borrowed a little VW Rabbit or something and we chugged back to Lancaster. We ended up sitting by ourselves and talking a lot. Despite all of the drama, we had a really fun time, I think. At Thanksgiving, my Aunt asked me about dating Ski since her friend's ds told his mom that we had something going on. My mom was not too pleased that I had been stuck with a boy in Lancaster.

7) Once, we decided to go on a hike and have a picnic. This used to be one of our favorite things to do. This particular park had lovely falls throughout. We had a lovely afternoon walking and talking. Unfortunately, we didn't time our hike very well and it began to get dark. I thought that we would have to spend the night in the woods. The only way that we made it back to our car was by looking up at the sky as we walked. This wass no easy task and involved lots of bumping into things.

8)"The Athens," "The Landmark," and "The William Penn." Let's just call these bad culinary experiences. Thanks to "The Athens," any time we see free jello listed on a menu, we head for the hills!!!

9) Most recently, bowling. I think I never laughed so much in my life. It was hysterical and I think I bowled my best ever. I actually HIT pins!!!

10) Once, in the dead of winter, we drove 4 1/2 hours one way to the Eastern Shore of MD, found everything closed, ate dinner and drove all the way home.

11) NYC on Memorial Day. We had big plans, but everything was closed. We went a few places -- like the rest rooms in Trump Towers. We heard "music" on the subway and walked until our feet were numb. It still was great fun just being together. (ski: the Bronx Zoo was the only thing open)

12) Every Christmas in PA, we went to Hershey's Christmas Candy Lane. Afterward, we would stop in the shops and buy fresh chocolate chip cookies. So many fond memories we had there.

13) Trying to find every covered bridge still in existence in PA.

14)When I broke my leg, Ski started a fire, baked brownies, and we snuggled watching movies.

I could go on and on, but as I said....only 14. :D

Uh.....Was that a Date Night?!?!?

It seems that the only time we have something odd happen it is when we go out on our own.

A week or so ago, I had therapy and Ski had a men's meeting. We had talked briefly about the kids fending for themselves for dinner and I meeting him at the place where he had his meeting and us grabbing something afterward. I got out of my appointment later than I thought, so I gave him a call. Well, silly guy forgot to turn his phone on. So, since I was only a few blocks away, I thought I would drop by the restaurant he had his meeting at. When I walked in, he looked surprised and I was also a bit astonished. There he was having soup, a sandwich (ski: it was technically HALF a sandwich), and a drink. Since I can never resist temptation, I said...

"But I thought we were going out?!?!"

The guys he was with thought that this was going to get interesting, but seriously, we banter a lot and it was nothing out of the ordinary. He said he would have dessert if we went out. So, I told him I would go shopping and he should call me when it was over.

A little later, one of the guys dropped Ski at the mall. After a little discussion, we decided that we would stop by a neat little diner we had been to a few years back. It had been a long time since we had been there and I joked that it had probably closed down. Well, we drove way over there and couldn't seem to find it. We saw a guy on the street and Ski asked him. He looked at us kind of funny and then said, "They're closed--out of business." What a shame. It was a cool place!!

Well, I was driving and I took a wrong turn and ended up on a little "highway" that took us way out into the middle of nowhere. This was the curviest and most rutted road I think I have been on since being in PA. After what seemed to be an eternity, we ended up in a town called Cherryville. Now, there is hardly any name down here pronounced like a yankee would say it and Cherryville is no exception. You say this like that seldom used herb, chervil. So there we were in podunk NC and I was STARVING. Luckily, we found an Italian place so we took a chance.

Upon entering, we should have known it would be pretty good. There were lots of tables and almost every one had at least one very large man sitting at it. And the food was good. But the funniest thing was our waiter. I think he was only 16yo or something. No, he was probably older, but he looked very young. He appeared to be so very scared of us. I am not sure why. He was really nice and polite, but it seemed like his first day. (ski: He reminded me of "Bleeker" from Juno) These were some of our interactions:

me: What are the specials? (I noticed a board out front....)
the waiter: Ummm......Well, there is salmon, trout, chicken and ravioli.
me (thinking): uh, that was about all I could remember from that board. Hey....it isn't Carabba's and I guess he's not trying to sell the entrees.

me: What kind of salad dressing do you have?
Waiter: Oh, you know...ummmmm
me: Do you have French?
Waiter: Sure!!

later....
Waiter: Is the food ok? (this he said like he was afraid to ask)
Ski: Yes, it's great. Thank you.
Waiter: Oh.....(huge sigh of relief) Great!! (ski: maybe the chef was putting fake bugs in the food that night (= )

still later...
waiter: Would you like a box?
Ski: Yes. That would be great!
waiter: What about dessert?
Ski: No, I don't think so.
Waiter: Oh.....ok

Then he brought us our check and boxes, but we sat there a little longer. At one point, he directed us to the front where the check out was. Maybe he got to go home after we left. IDK. It was open later and no one was waiting for a seat. It was kind of funny. Anyway, his tentative demeanor really made me giggle. The funniest thing was less than five minutes after we left this culinary adventure, we came upon a bunch of different restraunts that we could have selected from. But, all in all, getting lost gave us plenty of time to talk and laugh. All I can say is that it was so much better than The Athens and free jello experience.

(ski: final comment--my leftover stuffed shells were MUCH more delicious the next day. Not sure if the sauce marinated more or if I was just less piggy and didn't have a meal beforehand. Urp!)

Get Me Outta HERE!!!

I have three lovely daughters who share a bedroom. One of them is a neat-nick, but the other two --- well, let's just say that they tend to be a point of frustration for the first daughter. The girls' room is hardly ever clean and I find myself repeating things I often heard come out of my mother's mouth when I was a teen. In short, their room is the bane of my existence.

Yesterday, on our arrival home from church, I noticed that one of my daughters looked flushed. I touched her face and found that she was quite warm. She is not suffering greatly. Indeed, she is only very feverish and very tired and has a nice rash on her face. We know it is not 5th disease, but other than that... I decided last night that I would bless her today by giving her the day off of school and cleaning her room for her.

Well, now I have half of it done and still need to finish the other half. I have waaay too much laundry to do and I am ready to curl up in bed next to her. I have major Spring fever and I am ready to take everything outside and start over again. But the rest of me has a major headache and wants to take a nap.

I don't think I will see daylight for a month....

It is good to know...

In these days of craziness going on all around us, it can be easy to forget that God is at work. Just last night, I heard about 23 arsons since Jan 1st in the town of Coatesville, PA. That is just loopy!! Then Ski was channel surfing and passed by the Van Impe's show. If you ever want a good scare, just listen to them. :D Seriously, the way he throws around scripture references utterly amazes me, and I know that they intend to be hopeful, but I cannot bear to listen even on a good day. Personally, I don't read or listen to much news. I stay informed, but if I get inundated too much, my temptation is to worry. Yeah....my old man likes to worry a lot -- and I am not talking about Ski. God has graciously kept me from worry and has given me great peace. But still, it is a great blessing when He gives us a glimpse of things that He is doing in the midst of our human turmoil. God is still at work. He still gives hope to the hopeless and He is still greater than all of our trials. He is bigger than the stock market, our bank account, and all of the statistics on the nightly news. And in the midst of it all and above all, He is still a good and loving Father.

A, B or C?

If I had my choice...I'd pick:

1) Duke or Carolina...Duke, due to IZ's AWESOME allergist, Dr, Wesley Burks, who works there. (though I like Florida State better)

2) Regular or decaf...Hi-test all the way baby

3) Yankees or Mets...Yankees (Andy Pettitte is my hero)

4)Burger King or McDonald's...Wendy's

5) Ford or Chevy...Chevy, though I own both right now, and my NASCAR driver drives a Toyota (#55)

5) Red sauce or White sauce...white sauce--mmm cheese

6) Coke or Pepsi...Pepsi, though Dew and Sunkist are my faves.

7) Star Wars or Star Trek...Star Wars (at least until Harrison Ford has a guest appearance in a Star Trek movie)

8) Beatles or Stones...Stones, though I have more Beatles on my iPod (McCartney is just too dang talented)

9) XBox or Play station...Wii

10) Democrat or Republican...Republican (or whoever is currently most fiscally conservative--call it a push)

11) Universal or Disney...gotta go with the Mouse, but I'm glad Universal is getting the Blue Man Group--nice move

12) Starbucks or any other inferior coffee brand...Duh

13) Walmart or Target...Tar-zhay

14) East coast or West coast...East coast, but I'm willing to learn.

15) North or South...the South--much warmer (=

16) Japanese food or Chinese food...Chinese, esp gooey sesame or orange chicken

17) Nike or Rebok...just do it

18) C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkien...a SLIGHT edge to Lewis (hey did you hear 20th Century Fox is picking up the Narnia movie franchise? YAY!!!!)

19) Boxers or briefs...boxers (I know, too much information)

20) Lowes or Home Depot...Lowes (I converted three years ago)