There are idiots out there

This has irked me for years. And for some reason it seems to be happening more and more lately. Please tell me, what is wrong with the following?

20$

Did you notice anything odd? Wrong? Completely and utterly STUPID???? No? Well then please smack yourself upside the head.

I'll tell you what's wrong... the dollar sign /$/ is on the wrong side of the number. It should be

$20

Yes, I know that when one says the phrase it is "twenty dollars" and not "dollars twenty", but isn't this a basic rule that is taught in elementary school?? So why do I see it written wrong as often as I do? Today I was shopping at Claire's with the girls and noticed the sale tags on some prominently displayed items had the dollar sign on the wrong side of the number. grrrrr.... I probably shouldn't have said anything, but I did. I probably shouldn't have made any purchases there, but I did anyway. I guess even idiots need to make money somehow.

Is this a change that's being made? Did I not get the memo??

Before we work on artificial intelligence why don't we do something about natural stupidity? ~Steve Polyak

Last day of vacation

School resumes tomorrow. I'm honestly a little worried about getting everybody up on time. We've been sleeping in a lot!

The amount of sleep required by the average person is five minutes more. ~Wilson Mizener

Let the 2009 Blogging Begin!

Did I get behind on my blogging or what?? Not that there hasn't been anything worth blogging (or maybe there hasn't), I've just not been doing it. I guess it could be a good thing since I've been rather a maudlin-blogger in the past. But this is also a way for friends and family to keep up with us, so I'd better get better at it!

2008 is over. That's probably not a bad thing. It was kind of a wonky year. Some not so good stuff and some pretty darn good stuff. I wonder what will happen in 2009? Will Justin continue to like his work? Will we complete the Mustang? Will Audrey like taking dance lessons and will we really get her a guitar? Will we find a piano teacher for Emma and will we also get her into a physical activity? Will Emma and I be ready for her to start 5th grade, have homework, etc? Will Joy's back stop hurting? Will Joy finally feel good about herself on more than a temporary basis? Will Joy actually follow Weight Watchers this time?? (whoa....are those two related??) Who knows what will happen!!

We had a very nice Christmas. We were planning on heading over to the Spokane area the day after to see family, but decided not to. Spokane has been under a very very heavy blanket of snow and half our family there was housebound! We could maybe get across the pass to them, but likely get stuck at one house and not see all the other people. So we'll wait until a 3-day weekend in January or a 4-day weekend in February. We had snow here too---upwards of 18"! I'll post some pictures of it soon. It's pretty much all gone now though. So what does that mean?? Muddy dog!!!

Our big family Christmas gifts were a Wii and big tv. Right now the girls are about to play a game that looks kind of fun to watch. We're renting some from the local video store to find some we like before we pay big bucks. So I think I'll sit and ice my back while I watch the girls play.

I made no resolutions for the New Year. The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a daily event for me. ~Anaïs Nin

Wondering what we did New Year's Eve??
The only way to spend New Year's Eve is either quietly with friends or in a brothel. Otherwise when the evening ends and people pair off, someone is bound to be left in tears. ~W.H. Auden

Don't worry, we were with friends, not in a brothel.

A Lesson Learned...

My mom gave the girls a book a while back. "Fold a Banana" It's a book of things to do when you are bored. We flipped through it a little, and I wondered about my mom's sanity a little. The girls got the book out again yesterday. Of course they got this book out just about an hour before Justin and I needed to leave for an event.



Sorry, it's hard to read this but it says "Open everything". And they did. They opened all the drawers in Emma's dresser.

Check out what happened!

See the white shards of pottery? That would be the big piggy bank. Luckily it was empty.

So the girls learned a lesson! Oh my....

I Know You Want to Know...

...what did I think of Twilight (the movie)??

Possible spoilers. I don't know what I'm going to write!!!!

Hmmmm...

OK, right now I want you to regress and think about The Flintstones. You got it? OK. Now think about when Fred drives his car--y'know, the feet on the ground and the sound it makes? Yeah. That's what I/we thought of the "special effects".

So, the "special effects" certainly leave something to be desired. I truly hope that will get much better for the second one. (yeah, I'm sure there will be a second one--did you doubt that?)

We all know that a book is highly preferable to a movie version. So I'll spare you all the "but the book was so much better" comments. But overall it was a good movie. Viewers could pretty much see what happened in the first book and be ready for the second.

Having your book turned into a movie is like seeing your oxen turned into bouillon cubes. ~John LeCarre

Las Vegas!

Chris, Chad, Heather, Holly, Justin, Laura, Joy, Bud

We enjoyed a yummy meal! Our last night together in Las Vegas.

Chris, Justin, Bud, and Chad

Our first night. Woo-hoo!

"Look Ma, no hands!"

Five boobs.

More Mudgy & Millie

Everyone enjoys Mudgy & Millie!

Why yes, I am beautiful. And yes, I did know my mother was taking this picture. So yes, I posed.

Audrey with Mudgy. This is a sight you will not often see....Audrey wearing a sweatshirt--and with the hood on even! She must have really been cold!

Mudgy & Millie

We had a great time in Coeur d'Alene with David and Hazel! We followed the path of Mudgy the Moose and Millie the Mouse. Great statues set up around town with a book (and lots of signs) as a guide. Of course we had to pose the girls on all of them!

Here's the first statue we went to. We realized later that it's actually the last one in the story. Oh well!

Mudgy, Millie, Emma, and Audrey at the lake.

I tried putting more pictures on this, but not all of them went through. I'll post the others separately...

Happy Almost Halloween

Don't worry, this blog background will go away soon. I just had to be a little witch-y for a little while.

Hold on, man. We don't go anywhere with "scary," "spooky," "haunted," or "forbidden" in the title. ~From Scooby-Doo