Camera Critters (#85)

I caught Weasley watching TV on Thursday.  Good Morning America was showing just a little about the huge cruise ship they were planning to show the next day.  Wow is that ship huge!  Did you see any of the GMA story on Friday?

Weasley, are you planning to go on a cruise? 

Who, me?

He looks a little guilty, don’t you think?  Maybe I better check my credit cards and be sure nothing’s missing.

Camera Critters is a fun weekend meme hosted by Misty Dawn.Visit the Camera Critters headquarters and join in.

Looking at the Sky on Friday - 36

I’m so glad there’s a meme like Looking at the Sky on Friday, because it means all the time I spend looking at the sky, and taking pictures of it, has a purpose! Click the badge for more info.

I went to get the mail.  I don’t remember what we got in the mail, probably just some credit card offers, bills, something from a store trying to sell us a ps3 and some games we don’t really need, something like that.  What I do remember is the sky.  I grabbed the mail from the box and hurried inside for my camera.

If you enjoy skies as much as I do, be sure to check out Looking at the Sky on Friday.

Does Movie Theater Popcorn Have to Be So Bad?

Image by Kaptain Kobold via Flickr

Did you hear on the news this morning about all the fat in movie theater popcorn? No wonder I always feel sick after I eat it! Of course the fact that we always buy the large and get the free refill, and I always seem to eat most of it myself has absolutely nothing to do with it. Why is it that I just can't stop eating that stuff until the bucket is empty?

I'm just trying to figure out why they think they need to add all that fat. On its own, popcorn is a healthy, whole grain, low-fat snack. It's all the oil they pop it in and then the butter (or butter flavoring) that is drizzled on top. I never get added butter because that's just too greasy, but apparently the popcorn is about as bad for you even without it. The news report said that some of the theater chains tried selling air popped popcorn, but the customers didn't like it. I personally love air pop, but I know a lot of people don't, and I'm pretty sure the theater had to know that too. Of course the customers weren't going to buy it - well, except for me if I'd known.

But anyway, customers weren't buying the air popped stuff, so they went back to using lots of oil and fat. After all, they tried, right? But my question is - isn't there somewhere we can meet in the middle? Use less oil, don't cut it out altogether. And for the theaters that give free refills - if they're like the theaters we go to, free refills are only available on the largest popcorn size. So, to get our money's worth, we usually buy the large combo - a large popcorn and two large sodas. How about making 1 free refill available no matter what size you buy? If people start out with a smaller size, even if they get the refill, the end result is less popcorn. Oh, and did I say use less oil?

Luckily going to the movies is just a once in a while thing.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Popcorn - The Good, The Bad, and The VERY BAD (fooducate.com)
• America's Favorite Movie Snacks Get Two Thumbs Down (abcnews.go.com)

Never Run Out of Toilet Paper

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Alice.com. All opinions are 100% mine.

A friend once asked, "What one thing have you never run out of or would never want to run out of?" My first thought was something like flour or onions, but then she said for her the answer was toilet paper. No one wants to run out of toilet paper! I have to agree with her. Of course, there are lots of basic things we need around the house - laundry detergent, dish soap, shampoo, deodorant, etc. It would be pretty inconvenient to run out of any of them. Maybe not as inconvenient as having no toilet paper, but...

I tend to stock up on all these basics when they're on sale, so I have quite a stockpile, and I don't think we're in danger of running out of anything for a good long time. That didn't stop me from signing up for a free account at Alice.com about a month ago, or maybe that's why I signed up. I don't just stockpile stuff because it's on sale. I stockpile because I don't want to run out and then have to make a special trip to the store and probably pay a higher price. Now, with Alice.com I can actually use stuff up and let the supplies dwindle a little, which will make my husband happy. He says we have too much stuff around here.

You see, Alice.com is a site where you can shop for and buy all your household essentials. They have tons to choose from, so chances are you can find the brands and products you usually use. The prices are very competitive, and they even find and apply coupons to get you the best deal possible, and there's no clipping involved. And, shipping is FREE. So, you can sit back, log onto your computer, and do all your shopping for household essentials from the comfort of your own home, and have everything delivered to your door for FREE. How cool is that? Now I'm wishing we were almost out of something so I could actually order something.

What I am doing is looking through the products available in all the different categories and adding things I know I will need eventually, the body wash Cory likes, hand lotion, facial tissue, etc. That way it will be quick and easy to find when I need it. It also looks like Alice.com pays attention to my choices and uses them to offer me special deals or suggest products I might like, which I really like. Also, as you add things to your products, you can tell Alice how often you need to buy each item, and Alice will remind you when it's time to buy, so you won't run out!

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Oh, and what one thing would you never want to run out of?

I Keep Coughing

I woke up Saturday morning with a sore throat. Yes, I'm perfectly fine, spend a few nights around other people, and I wake up sick! I had some hot honey-lemon water, drank a packet of Emergen-C, and took some Vitamin D - and stopped eating the chocolate that is always at the sound table. After Saturday night's performance I had some hot tea and took it easy, though we stayed up way too late because we had a basement full of cast members, crew, and friends.

Sunday wasn't too bad, more tea, Emergen-C, Vitamin D, etc, but, by the time the performance and clean-up was finished, my legs ached and I could tell my voice was leaving me. More tea, more vitamins, etc. Monday and Tuesday I couldn't really talk, and if I moved around too much or tried to talk, it made me cough. I didn't feel too bad, just overall tired.

Today I actually have a voice, but I can't stop coughing sometimes. I just get this really dry tickle in my throat, and it won't stop. I watched the first video suggested by Zemanta, and I think some of it is that I haven't been drinking enough water - mostly because with all the coughing and gunk in my throat, nothing tasted good, not even water, which I normally drink a lot of. So, more water, more rest, more whiskey. Oh, I didn't mention the whiskey? Yep, very important, but after watching that 2nd Zemanta-suggested video, I think I really should have tried a Hot Toddy. I guess there's always next time, because I'm not all better yet.

Related articles by Zemanta

• How To Stop Coughing (howcast.com)
• How To Make a Hot Toddy (howcast.com)

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I Need a Script Writer

Why is it that I always think of what I should have said later, after it's too late? If only I had a script to use and always knew what to say and how to act. But no. For instance, last night we had some people coming to watch Cory in Peter Pan. A lot of the kids had already saved seats, but the front row was available so I grabbed some there, but then the girl who played Wendy needed some seats for her family. There was nothing available up close so I volunteered to move our seats, because our friends didn't really need front row. We did some rearranging of other seats to get her the ones she needed, then I went to put the tape I had peeled off the front row on some seats further back - basically the next available row on the aisle. It was a ways back, but simpler than trying to rearrange a bunch of other seats. That's when some woman I never saw before came rushing over and prevented me from putting my tape on the first seat. "Those are my seats!" Never mind that there was nothing on them. I told her that my kid is a senior, and seniors get priority, and she basically said "SO? These are my seats. I was just waiting on the tape." At that point I just got extremely frustrated and walked away. There may have been something about shoving a chair, too.

Looking back I wonder why I didn't just calmly explain to her that my kid is a senior, and he's playing one of the main parts in the play. What part is your kid playing? Not Wendy because I just moved off the front row so her family could sit there. Not Peter Pan because she has the first three rows on the other side. So, that means my kid has priority over your kid, and if I want to put my people here, you're just going to have to move back a row. But I didn't, I walked away, she got the seats and all I got was upset. Where was that script writer when I needed her?

Later I found out that this woman's child was a 3rd grader who was playing one of the Lost Boys, not even one of the main Lost Boys, just one of the extra Lost Boys, the ones that were only in the play to fill the stage or so their parents would come to the play. But, those parents did not deserve to reserve better seats than any of the kids who had actual, real roles in the play. I'm pretty sure this woman was aware of that, but she pretended not to, and I didn't explain it properly. Then again, it really frustrates me to explain the obvious to people.

Let's just face it - I am not a people person. I'm thinking I should move to a beach on oahu hawaii, make that a private beach, and avoid people altogether. Oh, and if you know more about Oahu than I do, don't disillusion me by telling me that I'd have to deal with people there, too. I just can't handle that right now.

Camera Critters (#84)

I was just thinking that I really don’t have time for Camera Critters this weekend, what with being at the school all the time for the musical.  Then I realized there’s at least one critter in the musical, and I have been taking pictures and video, so why not use one of those?

Just in case you can’t tell – it’s supposed to be an ostrich.  There’s also a rather important crocodile, but I haven’t gotten a very good picture of him.  For some reason I’ve been concentrating more on that ornery pirate, Captain Hook.  I can’t imagine why!  

Yes, I know that Captain Hook is not a critter, but I’m posting his pic anyway.  It’s my prerogative as his mom.

Camera Critters is a fun weekend meme hosted by Misty Dawn.Visit the Camera Critters headquarters and join in.

Looking at the Sky on Friday - 35

I’m so glad there’s a meme like Looking at the Sky on Friday, because it means all the time I spend looking at the sky, and taking pictures of it, has a purpose! Click the badge for more info.

Oops, I missed Looking at the Sky last Friday.  I had every intention of posting, just let the day get away from me.  How does a day go by so fast?  Time just seems to fly – a week goes by and before I know it it’s been three, a month, three months.  I don’t want to admit it, but the way time is flying, I better start looking for the best wrinkle treatments now, before I wake up, look in the mirror, and wonder where all those lines came from.

Speaking of the passage of time, I took these photos of the moon about a week and a half ago, when it was nice and full.  As of this morning, it was a fast-waning crescent, meaning another month is about over.

If you enjoy skies as much as I do, be sure to check out Looking at the Sky on Friday.

Apparently, I'm TinkerBell

Image via Wikipedia

Jeffrey went to play practice with Cory Saturday morning so he could watch and get an idea how the play goes. He called me from practice to say they have a job for me - like helping him however I can while he runs sound isn't enough. OK, I really don't do that much except try to follow along with the play and help him know when someone is coming on stage and needs his or her mic turned on. And once he's seen the play a time or two, he usually doesn't need too much help with that.

So, I get to run some laser light to represent TinkerBell. The only thing is, I know nothing about it - either running the light or how the play goes, so this should be interesting. I started reading through the script today, but don't really understand how it's supposed to work. So, tomorrow I'm going to play practice. Hopefully they will run through the whole play so I can take notes about who's on stage when, etc. - and figure out this TinkerBell thing.

Their first 'performance' is Wednesday afternoon, for the elementary school kids. The dress rehearsal is actually the next evening on Thursday. They just got the set today, and they've never run the whole thing through. It will be interesting to see how it all comes together.