More Monday Monday Musings

Happy last Monday in March -- the eve of April Fool's Day.

Another new month starts up tomorrow. Wow! The year's flying by already.

An eventful weekend in our household. Edward got his new glasses on Saturday and has spent the past two days looking very dapper. They'll take some getting used to, I think, but he's pleased with them (he cleans them every few seconds) and happy to be able to see far away.

So we're 4 for 4 in the glasses department now. Edward wonders if the new baby will need them, too. Let's hope not.

Emily is spending the today and tomorrow at the Goggleworks for her PSSA tests. She was extremely nervous beforehand, but as we went in one of her best school buddies, Madeline, ran up behind her and gave her a big hug. The nervousness evaporated. Quite an answer to our prayers!

So the countdown continues for Season 7 of 24. Let's see...only 9 1/2 months until it starts. Yeehaw! Sigh. Still, we have the other "Kiefer" items to look forward to, including his new movie and the 2-hour prequel for Season 7.

In other news...

Hmm...there's not much other news happening.

Stuart and I started to watch a movie I picked up at the dollar store last week. There was a definite reason this movie was only $1...and even then I was overcharged... I've never ever destroyed a DVD -- it was actually very interesting and fun to see how a disc is made -- but this movie was so insulting and vulgar that I took great pleasure in wrecking it and shredding the DVD inserts and promotional postcards "to send to friends" (as if! *snort*) that came with it. The movie's title? E-mail me, and I'll tell you. I'm not giving it any more presstime than it deserves...which is none.

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5 THINGS TO BE HAPPY ABOUT

• Guernsey cows

• Nova Scotia’s seacoast

• having your caricature drawn

• dancing with your moon-shadow

• a personal note

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Emily just finished a unit on embryology in her homeschool learning group science class. The course was taught by a woman who works with our county's 4-H educational program.

It brought back memories of my four years of agriculture class in high school when I was also a member of our school's FFA. It was a great experience to be a part of this group even though I didn't grow up/live on a farm. My rabbits were my project...not that I ever made any money with them.

Still, even though I wasn't a farmer per se, I had to do many of the farming lessons, learning about the various types of cows, sheep, chickens...and attending the annual Pennsylvania Farm Show. (I was even a member of the Farm Show's FFA band for two years.)

I enjoyed seeing all the animals and petting them. Among my favorite cow breeds is the Guernsey. They are one of the breeds that makes the best milk. And for cows, they are almost pretty.

You learn a lot about the actual technical stuff from books, like the size of the animals, their markings, lifespans, etc.

But my farmer classmates taught me all the other "unknown" stuff, like the fact that cows like to have their tongues pulled.

Okay. Okay. I'm normally a natural-born skeptic, but on stuff that I'm not completely sure of I cave and get a bit gullible...which tells you the rest of this story, right?

...

Let's just say that cows aren't really that keen on having their tongues pulled.

If you don't believe me...give it a try. *wink*

Monday Be"muse"ments

Happy Monday to you!

It's been a week since my birthday, and I am typing this with my new spectacles on my face.

Wow! I never knew how much better I'd see with glasses -- though they'll take some getting used to. I can still see without them, but I liken it to the HDTV display I saw in a store recently. HDTV versus analogue...what a difference.

I think the craziness of recent weeks is finally coming to an end. We finish soccer this week and have only two appointments. Phew! My head is still spinning from all the busyness.

Edward's soccer team won their game yesterday against the "best" team in the Wyomissing U8 league. They came alive in the last quarter. It was certainly something to behold! Their record now stands at 4-2. Not bad, not bad at all. He was psyched, though a bit tired from the Benedryl we'd given him earlier in the day.

My kids gave me Season 2 of The Closer for my birthday. And while we're looking forward to watching it, we've been too tired at night to make it through an episode. I used some birthday money to buy Season 2 of How I Met Your Mother so we've been enjoying that instead. (Somehow it's easier to stay awake with comedy.) We're looking forward to another new episode of Prison Break tonight.

My favorite-most show in the world is showing its annual season preview this coming Thursday. You can catch it online or on the big screen in Times Square. Less than 3 months until the new season begins!!

*Warning: Soapbox Monologue to Follow*

As a former card-carrying member of the news media and someone who has studied and observed it, I find it increasingly frustrating that reporters/writers cannot refrain from speculation. When a magazine has to use "unnamed sources" or "family friends" to give proof of something, we should all be a bit skeptical...

Okay, okay. I tried to resist, but my curiosity got the best of me... I broke down and read the People magazine article about Kiefer's "alcoholism." *sigh* My hubby warned me...

My question after reading it is this: If a person is pulled over for four DUIs in 18 years, why is it assumed that he is "struggling with alcohol?" Why isn't it more likely that he's struggling with poor judgment? That he needs to learn a bit of common sense? (You don't see rehabs for that sort of thing, do you?)

I'm not saying Kiefer doesn't have a problem with alcohol. I'm just saying that we don't know, and it isn't fair to automatically link DUI convictions with alcoholism and a "bad childhood" and "competition with his father's career" and on and on and on. Maybe all of that is true, but give the guy a break. People never prints anything nice about him. They don't even include him in the "Sexy Man" issue.

And in this same-said issue -- on the pages immediately following the Kiefer article -- they printed an article about how "fab" Julia Roberts is at 40...right after the article about "poor ol' Kiefer." Talk about kicking a guy when he's down.

I'm guessing Kiefer's having some regrets about his honesty and openness in a few recent articles, as well as the I Trust You to Kill Me rockumentary.

A-hem...stepping down now...

Moving right along...

And in other news, one of our county commissioners said this "gem" at a news conference about farmland preservation: "Without farmland, we couldn't farm." And future events such as these will happen in the future.... Thank you, Ed Wood!

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5 THINGS TO BE HAPPY ABOUT

• a gospel choir singing its heart out

• tiny sugar pumpkins, Indian corn, and gourds

• donating books to the library

• a CLOSED sign flipped to OPEN

• words of encouragement

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I don't have any real comments or stories to add to the above list. Each one made me smile because each one is definitely something to be happy about.

But in a day and age when there's so much negativity going around, words of encouragement are especially welcome.

Practice acts of random kindness. In fact, why not practice kindness in general?

That may well be an answer to "world peace."

Latest Addition...

Ugh! Here is the newest addition...to my face...for all of blogdom to see... (Pardon the lighting. The flash didn't go off, and it was the best of the self-timed bunch.)

Still...I can see much better now. (Who knew I couldn't see well before now?) But how many months until I can get contacts??