Awwwwwww.....

They really do go in threes, don't they?

Ray Charles is gone. Wow. And I'm really kicking myself for not seeing him out at Floores Country Store a few years ago. I remember saying to myself at the time, "I need to go see him just to say I did before he dies..." Waaaaah.

Thanks to AlphaPatriot for this:

"Talk about coincidence, here's a bit of trivia you won't read in the mainstream press:

Charles performed at Republican national conventions during Ronald Reagan's years as the party's leader."

From BBC NEWS | Singer snubs Lopez wedding query:

Anthony reportedly married Lopez in a ceremony at the actress's Beverly Hills home on Saturday.

But Anthony refused to confirm the reports during an appearance on NBC's Today show on Tuesday, saying his personal life was off-limits.

I couldn't care less about Marc Anthony or J-Lo, but I did happen to have the Today Show on this morning and saw this ridiculous exchange between Matt Lauer and Anthony.

And I walked away thinking, "Who do these morons think they are?" Do they honestly think that I care whether or not he and J-Lo tied the knot? And that they are so dang important that us "commoners" don't deserve to know? Because their personal life is so sacred? Dude, just say "yes" or "no" and quit acting like a pompous idiot who is too high up the food chain to act like a human being. As if Marc Anthony is anything to write home about (well, I'm writing about him, but it's out of disgust). We're all going to find out eventually that you're married, so let's just all quit with the poser Hollywood thing and move on.

Well, maybe it's all about perception. Maybe if I start walking around and acting like I'm a big-shot star and, "Oh, I've really got to protect my privacy... these media types are just destroying my life..." then maybe people will believe that I'm actually very cool and important. I had a random guy walk up to me yesterday at Fire Wok and tell me that he likes our music -- I thought it was cool to actually get recognized! -- but maybe I should have screamed at him and thrown my Tofu Stir-Fry with ginger-curry sauce on him and told him to leave me alone. That's apparently how I'm supposed to act, if I follow Marc Anthony's lead. Then I'll be cool.

Culture: Watched an intolerably long portion of 7th Heaven last night with Punky. That show, I think, is the worst show on TV right now. It is so poorly written, so spoon-fed, so predictable, so lame... and the mother and that whiney little brat of a daughter need to be hit. Oh, and the twins who always speak in tandem. Apparently the twins (who are like 4) are robots that cannot function apart from one another since one is always needed to finish the other's sentences. Why is this show on? Can you think of a worse way to spend an hour of TV viewing? Man, I need 24 in my life.........

Politik: In May, Kerry Said He Would Support $25 Billion In Emergency Funds For Our Troops. Kerry: ''I will support the Administration's request for emergency funds for our troops. The situation in Iraq has deteriorated far beyond what the Administration anticipated. This money is urgently needed, and it is completely focused on the needs of our troops. We must give our troops the equipment and support to carry out their missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.'' ('Statement from John Kerry on the Administration's Request for $25 Billion in Emergency Funding to Support the Troops,' U.S. Newswire, 5/13/04)

Well, Mr. Kerry, if the money is "urgently needed," why did you skip the vote last week? Good one.........

Weather: It's raining. Of course, we just watered our lawn for two days over the weekend because it was looking dry. Yes. I'm glad I'm going to have a higher water bill now. Yaaay.

Cuisine: Haven't had my coffee yet... but I'm going to go make it and some Spongebob Eggo Waffles. There are innumerable benefits to having a seven-year-old.....

cotton candy

I had a very busy weekend. Lots of things to write about.

Friday night I went back to Hill Country Chapel to do the music for the women's retreat. That was fun... getting to see everyone again was bittersweet. I actually had one person come up to me as I was talking to the youth pastor's wife and say, "Well, I really wish y'all could have been the youth ministers here!" Hello? Hi. I'm sure that made the youth pastor's wife feel nice. I explained that there's a reason for everything and that we know that we're where we're supposed to be.

So then I went home and tried to sleep, but couldn't. It was one of those nights where I woke up 87 times, all wide awake, my body saying to me, "No, really, I'm done sleeping now." I don't like that.

But the last time I woke up that night was around 5:50 AM, and I was in the process of dreaming some really wacky things (well, for one thing, the aliens from the X-Files that don't have any faces were there, along with a baby whose bottom eyelashes were so long that they were braided in a braid that reached her chest)... and thoroughly enjoying this weird dream, when I was awakened by the sound of our car horn honking outside. It totally freaked me out. I looked out the window and couldn't see anything, but as my heart was pounding I ran through several scenarios: a) someone's out there and is jacking with the car, or b) the car horn has a short in it (highly unlikely), or c), well, I didn't have a "c". So in my sleepy reasoning, "a" made the most sense and I wasn't very excited about that prospect. But I went back to sleep nonetheless.

When I finally dragged my sleepy (and sleepless) butt out of bed and was getting my stuff together to go hiking with Flo, I walked out to the car and noticed that the car windows had been left open all night. I peered into the car, and lo and behold, there were paw prints all over the place... on the dashboard, on the seats, and yes, my friend, one lonely pawprint on the horn. A cat, you ask? No, they were not cat prints. We have a family of raccoons that live in our yard, and I guess one of them was after the empty granola bar package in the car. Sneaky sonofagun. What's humorous is the fact that these coons are so dadgum fat that they can barely walk, much less climb anything. Watching him get into the car would have been really funny... and I'm sure the horn scared the crap out of him........

Started rehearsals for "Annie Get Your Gun" with FTC. It's a fun score, despite several numbers that have many flats (playing in all flats sucks). I love Irving Berlin, though, so I can't wait to see how this show comes together.

We practiced in the band hall of Fredericksburg High School, and being in that band hall brought back a flood of memories. It has been almost 20 years since I've been in a band hall, and I remember sitting in mine at Nichols Jr. High and looking around at those big framed band/orchestra yearly roster pictures and thinking that the classes from the years before me looked so dorky and stale. Yesterday they had the photos going back to 1988, and that was my era... now they look dorky and stale. I am old.

Oh, today I ate lunch at Fire Wok and it was fabulous. I am wondering if they are related to (or owned by the same company as) Chipotle. Same concept, different ethnicity. Actually, for me, it was a toss-up today between Chipotle and Fire Wok, but since David doesn't really like Fire Wok and I alone today, I figured I'd take advantage of the opportunity.

I must go do housework now. The life of a domestic goddess, you know.

swimming as exercise

This is becoming a morning ritual: Krispy Kreme Coffee (sans the donuts), blogging, then getting ready for work. I'm liking it. David and Punky are home all day now, so I don't have anyone to get ready and get out the door. This will continue indefinitely, as David keeps very loose office hours at the church (basically whenever he wants to go in) and mainly offices at home. Punky will probably be homeschooled next school year as well. Aaaaaah. A return to freedom........

Punky's cousin Dylan spent the night last night. They are 4 months apart in age and have always been the best of friends. How cool to grow up with an identical cousin! They have never not known each other....... as close as brothers, mostly. Which is good for Punky, being an only child.

We took them swimming yesterday, and since I didn't run yesterday, I swam many laps in the pool. What fabulous exercise... it's the best, I tell you! Not only do you get amazingly tired, but you don't get sore later, it's both cardio and strenghtening, and you don't sweat! Man, why didn't I discover this sooner? Maybe because I've never had a pool at my disposal.

Gotta go download something from microsoft... I'm finally getting with the 21st century and installing RSS Reader......

bluelikethat quiz - Which Chronicles of Narnia book are you?

bluelikethat quiz - Which Chronicles of Narnia book are you?: "

The sixth book written, you're nevertheless the first chronologically. You not only describe the creation of Narnia and tell where the White Witch, the lampost and the wardrobe came from, you get to bounce between worlds with the help of Uncle Andrew's weird magic rings.


Find out which Chronicles of Narnia book you are."

veggie tales

I have 20 minutes to kill before I have to put my running shoes on, so I decided to make some coffee, eat a banana, and blog. Have to run early if I'm going to do it.... it's so dang humid and I have no pool to look forward to (pool doesn't open till 9, I found out).

So I finished my Ted Dekker book last week just in time for Red.... and then I read Red over the weekend. Red is more obviously allegorical than Black; actually, I think it's just that the story is coming together a little more. I'm just hacked off that I've finished the second book and now have to wait till October to get going again! Darn you, Ted Dekker! I am addicted to you!

I just may have to pick up C.S. Lewis' sci-fi trilogy now. Been meaning to do that for decades. Maybe I just need to dive in.... I'm just afraid that my expectations of him will be dashed. Narnia changed my life, and how can anything compare? Still, it's Lewis and I love him and his writing.

Yesterday I went to the grocery store and loaded up on fruits and veggies. When it gets to be this hot outside, I only want raw veggies and fruit. So we feasted last night: Morningstar Farms Veggie "chicken" patties (which taste remarkably like real chicken, much to the delight of David and Punky), stuffed celery, carrots, baby spinach salad (with sunflower seeds), tomato and cucumber salad (which I dressed with this great soy plain yogurt... finally found some... Silk rocks, by the way), and seedless watermelon for dessert. I love being a vegetarian, especially in the summertime. Don't feel all weighted down with meat. Ugh.

Alright. Gotta go post to my other blog and then go running. Yaaay running!