Finally Friday Fun - A Bit Different

https://ssl.charityweb.net/lesturnerals/Walk4Life/awingandachair.htm

I am new to blogging, so if this violates the social rules to blogging, I am sorry.  But my heart hurts for a friend today, and I want to appeal to anyone who may want to do something nice for someone else to help my friend too.

A few years back, I took a job that was a bit out of my comfort zone, in an area and a location where I knew no one, and most people had an inside connection.  One of the first people to welcome me and make me feel at home was my friend Shelly.  She took me to lunch at all the local haunts, shared computing tips with me, and was even the one who encouraged me the most to go ahead and get my motorcycle license, as she had been riding bikes since she was small.

A few months ago Shelly needed a walker for a pain in her leg.  A few months after that, she IM’d me to tell me that she had just been diagnosed with ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease.  I can’t imagine what my friend is going through, and the emotions for me are so intense that I just hurt for her. . .deeply.  There is also so very little that I can do for her, but one thing has come up and I am giving it my all, and that is where my blog comes in.

If you can donate to the walk in a couple of weeks, please click on the link above and do so.  If you can’t, can you pray for my friend?  She needs your thoughts and prayers and it takes so little time to lift up another.  Part of what makes us human is our ability to sympathize with others, and lend a hand to those in need.

Finally Friday Fun - Stephen King’s N.

I am not sure exactly how I stumbled upon it, but I  have found another site that I just HAVE to check daily;  the nishere site.  If you are a Stephen King fan at all, you really should check it out.  It seems he has written a bunch of short stories that will be available in September, and in what can only be described as marketing geneous, he has released one of those stories in a short mini-series comic book video format.  You really have to see it to believe it, but it is really well done and actually quite captivating.

For more information on this series, you can check out the Press Release here.  The series began on July 28 and will continue to realease at the one per weekday rate until August 29.  Be warned, if you like Stephen King, this will be quite addicting.

Finally Friday Fun - How to Jump Start Your Car

Ok, so it is not much fun, but we girls had to jump one of our cars today, and not a one of us really knew how.  We had all seen it done before, but that didn’t seem like enough information to do it.  So being the tech nut of the group, I googled it and found this site.  Not only are there printable instructions, but a nice little video too. 

We have all now printed out a copy of this article and placed it with our cables for next time. . happy driving!

Finally Friday Fun - Summer Movies

Boy oh boy is it ever going to be tough today to decide which of the new summer movies we will go to tonight, the family and I! There are so many I want to see right now that it will be difficult.

DS wants to go see Speed Racer tonight. He and his Dad have been catching up on all the old cartoons and he is just busting at the seams to go and see the feature film. I have to admit that I am a bit anxious for this one too. DH though refuses to go, he thinks it looks terrible. Hard to believe, seeing as he is the biggest Speed Racer fan over 20 that I know.

DD wants to go see Made of Honor. Although I don’t think this will be great cinema or anything, who am I to pass up an opportunity to see McDreamy on the big screen?

And finally, I really want to see Ironman. I have always been a big Robert Downey Jr fan, and I have heard from so many people that this is a great movie. This may be the one time that I invite my kids friends along just so I can go see the movie I really want to see.

 

Finally Friday Fun - Road Trip

I am taking a road trip home today.  I am packing up DD and DS and we are headed to Michigan.  I have been anticipating our trip all week and can’t wait to stop by The Stray Dog tonight for dinner.  As I have mentioned before, DD and I have been there recently, but DS has not yet and he will love it.

Along the road home are some other sites and fun things, and since I am thinking about them all, I thought I would blog about them in case you ever happen upon the road from Chicago to Michigan.

There are a few fun little wineries springing up along the Michigan West Coast that I think are fun to try.  Of the three I have tried; FennValley, Tabor Hill, and St. Julian, I like Tabor Hill the best.  It is no California, but for a nice little weekend trip I recommend you reserve a seat on one of the tours at either FennValley or Tabor Hill.

Another fun place to stop along the road from Chicago to Michigan is The Chocolate Garden.  As their website states, they have been featured a few times now on the Food Network, so you know it has to be good.  This time, since Mother’s Day is right around the corner and I need some gifts, I can justify a visit.

Kalamazoo is also along this road home, and it hosts a few attractions that are worth noticing.  First, there is Wings Statdium, home to the K Wings.  If you are more of a history buff than a sports fan, there is the Air Zoo that looks absolutely amazing.  Like the outdoors better?  How about a trip to the Binder Park Zoo?

All this between here and there, I just can’t wait to get on the road!

Finally Friday Fun - Vacations

I have started saving for a vacation. I am planning to go sometime next spring I think and will be taking DH, DD, DS and a DB. Now that I have put my savings plan in place, we need to decide on a location and go about getting passports. 

I originally thought that Paris, France was at the top of our list, but it changes for me from moment to moment. I read one article yesterday on the top 10 cities to visit and I think that after considering Paris, I have decided on some where in Italy in Tuscany.  I think we are going to rent a house for a week, one with a pool close to a little village.

This of course will all cost a small fortune, but it is a once in a lifetime trip for my husband and kids that I want to take before they fly off and are on their own.  I also wonder if DS won’t think this is all a bit too slow and will want more of an adventure, in which case I will have to consider another option I heard about this morning.  

There is a place in sunny Puerto Vallarta, Mexico  where you can swim with dolphins, go whale watching, or even do a canopy tour.  I think DH and DS would actually like this option much better, but I am gonna go for Italy first.

Of course, I will probably be outvoted and we will end up in Florida, again, but I will get to Europe and Mexico . . .eventually.

Finally Friday Fun - With the Flu?

I have the flu today, and it is really kicking my behind!  I got it last night after I got home from work and it had me in my bed by 6:30 pm.  I felt like a truck hit me!  I did not have any stomache trouble, it just started with a scratchy throat and by 6:30 had progressed to full body aches and a pounding head and feeling like I needed an ice shower.

I quickly took some medicine and went to bed.  One dose didn’t do it, but after taking another dose this morning and a nap I am much better.  I feel like I have a head cold now, but the debilitating body aches are gone.    What medicine did I use?  The one that always seems to cure me within 24 hours, Vicks NiQuel Cold and Flu.  I have been using it for years and it has never let me down.

A friend of mine wanted me to try some of her Colloidal Silver, but I was a bit skeptical.  Even more so after reading about Paul Karason, you know, the blue guy, on some news sites.

How about you?  How do you fight colds and the flu?

Finally Friday Fun - Book Review

I picked up the book Deja Dead, by Kathy Reichs, because of its affiliation with one of my favorite TV shows; Bones on Fox. I had read that the book is not much like the show, and I will have to agree. Other than the main character’s name and the fact that she is a forensic anthropologist, there aren’t too many similarities.Having said that, I admit that I did like this book and I really liked the main character Temperance Brennan . I liked this original Tempe much better than her TV version. I find the made for TV Tempe a bit shallow, and pretty unbelievable.  I found the Tempe in the book, however, to be all too real. As with many really well done protagonists, this one comes complete with a fatal flaw that she realistically struggles with throughout the book. Not only does she possess this flaw, but I find that she struggles with it much the way I think a real person would.

If I have a complaint about this book, it would have to be the setting. I have only been to Canada once in my life and it was not Quebec that I visited, so it was very hard for me to relate to the scene the author setup. Luckily, much of this book takes place in the lab and in an apartment, so I was able to place Tempe in a more familiar place in my mind.

Let me also note that this book is not for the squeamish or faint of heart. It is a murder mystery, and actually, this particular book has to do with a serial killer and many of the scenes are pretty gruesome. I didn’t find the gore to be gratuitous in any way, and the story would have been much less real without it.

I find that in my two favorite pastimes, TV and reading, that I am looking for escape. I am not interested in real crimes, or reality TV . . . I want fiction baby. This book probably won’t win any awards, but then, not many of my favorite reads have. If you are looking for a CSI like read for a long winters day, this just may be your book.

Finally Friday Fun - Snow Day!

I made it.  I am alive and the car is in one piece.

Today in Chicago the weather is treacherous, and the snow is coming down too fast for the plows to keep the roads clear.  On a normal day I have a 30 minute commute to work, however, today that commute took 90 minutes.  Luckily, I came in early to work on some computers so when I was slipping and sliding all over the road I was all by myself.  But, I was all by myself on the road so I was mighty thankful when I got to work without getting stuck anywhere.

I will be heading on out early this afternoon, in hopes that I can get home before the rest of the people get on the road.  I am also headed home early to enjoy a snow day with the kids.  If you are going to live in Chicago, you may as well enjoy the weather when it is as crazy as this.  Know any good hills?

Finally Friday Fun - On Saturday

Friday came and went and I didn’t update the blog.  I was too busy.

Here is a picture of what I was too busy with.  I am knitting!  Anyone who knows me knows that this is not something that I would normally do, but I am actually enjoying it.

I included on my bucket list a couple of days ago that I wanted to learn to sew, and I do.  But in order for me to learn to sew, I am going to have to run into the local JoAnn Fabric Store and take some actual lessons or someone (most likely me) could really get seriously injured.  It looks like February will be my month to learn to sew, as that is when the night classes are.  However, if I get too  into this knitting thing, I may just be too busy to making matching hats, mittens and scarves to sew until a bit later in the year.

This all started when I was shopping for stocking stuffers over at the Escape Adulthood site and saw this cute scarf kit and thought my DD may like it.  She was less than impressed, and not wanting the kit to go to waste, I thought I may as well dig in.  Worse thing that can happen is I get a funny looking new scarf.

I think this kit is a good one, but I did need to visit two other very helpful sites to get some videos of just what I needed to do with my hands and needles to make the scarf.  First, I was able to do a Long Tail Cast-On by watching the featured video at KnittingHelp.com, and then I was able to continue with the knit stitch by watching this video over at VideoJug.  What fun.