Last night I couldn't sleep and ended up being up til about 1:30 - 2am watching tv downstairs.
There was a program on that utterly scared me. At first I thought it was one of those gameshows like Balderdash for celebrities -- there was a roomful of people, most of them on couches, with one or two people standing up telling the rest of the group things, while on the screen they flashed a name of something. I was convinced it was a version of Balderdash, the Movie selection where they give you a movie title and you have to make up what the plot would be about.
Scary thing is -- it was real and these people had written scripts for tv series!! Oh my word what rubbish it all was. These four people, one of which was Sean Hayes (Jack from Will & Grace), had to decide which five scripts out of 12 were going to be doing their pitch to NBC for a chance at having their show be on!
All I can say is that NBC must be really HURTING for shows if it even considers any of the scripts that made it through from last night's program. Oh man...
scary. Just plain scary.
Yesterday we had fantastic thunderstorms in the middle of the afternoon -- much to the dismay of my parents' dog who hates thunder and fireworks and will lean on you well in advance of the first booms and well after. He gets very clingy and will reach out a paw and try and kind of grab your leg (only succeeding in scratching the heck out of your leg because of his too-long nails) so that you will pet him and console him.
So I was doing that -- and then the thunder really got going so I wanted to go out onto the screened in porch to listen to it (I really missed thunder and lightning when I was in England -- I think we had maybe six or seven thunderstorms the whole time I was there, and I remembered a lot more storms here -- in the summer we tend to have at least one storm a week! But it comes after beautiful blue skies and after the storm is over the skies clear again... only rarely do we have the days where the rain is like England and stays most of the day with grey skies).
Alpine decided he was coming with me outside. He clung to my leg for a while, then thought he saw a squirrel or something so he needed to go outside onto the decking area. So I let him and he jumped off after whatever he thought he saw, then went and did a bit of sniffing and came back quickly after and wanted to come back in -- so I let him into the porch and then back into the house. I shut the door behind him because I wanted to stay out and listen more to the storm.
Less than 20 seconds later, I'd barely sat back down again and he's tapping on the glass door to come back out again. I let the first few taps go unheeded because I knew that he didn't really want to come out -- but because he was persistent, I went over and opened the door and said to him "You don't really want to come back out here..." and his lil face and big brown eyes said back "no... but I want you to come back IN!".
He's so cute and I'm a big softie... so I missed the best part of the storm because I was being leaned on in the safety of the family room.
We went to Harrisburg this weekend for my Aunt Sue's (my mom's sister) funeral service. We left on Thursday after Andy went to a job fair in Columbus ... drove to my Aunt Maria's house (she's my dad's sister) in Uniontown and stayed the night there.
It was strange for me, because it was the first family funeral I'd ever been to. My grandmother passed away 2 months after I married and moved to England and we couldn't afford to come back for the funeral, so I missed that one.
One thing is certain -- I am glad I was here instead of in England when this happened. I don't think I could have coped with missing this.
The time with family was wonderful -- I hadn't seen my uncle and most of my cousins since September 2000. And since all three of my cousins have married since I last saw them, I hadn't met 2 of their spouses either! I met Joe in Sept. 2000 because Jen brought him to Dave's wedding, but they've also since had a little boy called Aiden -- who is adorable. I think Andy may have gotten a photo of him, but not sure! He's so fast, you have to be really quick to get his attention and get a picture!
The funeral service was interesting but nice -- a Catholic funeral mass. Brian and I did the readings for it. They asked me if I would read and I said yes straightaway. The reading they gave me was from Thessalonians and was about the dead in Christ rising first and us meeting them in the air (at Christ's second coming). Apparently I read well -- I was really nervous and trying not to cry.
I can't say enough though, how good it was just to be around family -- to recount the funny stories of the stupid things we got up to when we were young. Andy said it was really good for him too -- to get all the dirt on me from when I was young and to re-meet "the Cousins" and to get to know them better.
Here's a pic of all of us --
Just to let folks know all at once rather than write dozens of emails...
My aunt Sue has passed away last weekend -- my Mom's sister. So we're all headed to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania this weekend for the funeral (which is on Saturday at 11am).
Please keep us in your prayers -- my Mom is obviously upset and the whole family is going through a bit of guilty "what ifs" about what has happened.
Thank you.
because they're not yet in the CML ordering system yet!!
Predator by Patricia Cornwell
Faithless by Karin Slaughter
Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon
Just above a whisper by Lori Wick
When I got my first few games, I accidentally bought 2 versions of the same game. Plus when I got it from the garage sale, it had a Pokemon game in it.
I'm not a huge fan of Pokemon, so I knew I would eventually trade that one in. So the other night when Andy and I went over to Tuttle Crossings Mall to buy Dad's birthday pressies, I wanted to pop in and see if I could trade the game for a light for the Gameboy or something (because you have to have light shining directly on it -- it's really difficult to play at night).
The shop was really crowded and it looked like only one guy was working -- so I had a look at the games they had, and walked around a bit. Andy had been looking at magazines in a different shop, so when he turned up, he was ready to go! So I got in the queue and waited my turn for the guy's attention. He told me what the trade-in games were worth and I said okay and went to look for a light and/or pick a new game (depending on how expensive the light was!)
Andy found a light for me -- only 2.99. But I had a question about a game -- from my youth, with having a Nintendo 64, we always loved the Mario Bros games (in fact that's the game I accidentally duplicated) so I wanted to know if the one called Super Mario Bros Advance was going to be the same as what I already had! The guy was serving another lady (taking all these games etc out of a big Macy's bag and totalling up her trade-in value) but he could still answer my question so I asked it and he wasn't sure -- he thought they were different but wasn't sure. Then the lady lit up and said "Oh! My son can tell you -- he's trading in that game -- he LOVED that game! It was the first game he ever had to have -- he was 8 and he played it constantly!" So she drags her poor son off the Playstation game he was trying out and he can't remember what it's about or whether it's different than what I already have. So the guy takes the trade-in console that they're trading and pops it in (because they're trading it as well) and gives it to me to have a look to see if it's different. It was and I was thrilled.
That's not where the cool part is though....
Then I'm waiting for my turn to pay for my light and get that game. He's totalled up her trade-in and tells her the amount. She asks "Even with the light and all the other pieces?" He tells her they aren't worth much because they're not games. So she turns to me and asks if I want the light! I said yes please!! So guy behind the counter hands me the light. She asks me if I want the rest of the bits and pieces and I say "YES PLEASE!!" -- so she gets the bag of goodies back from the guy and has her son explain what each of the things does -- I got two ac/dc adaptors (so I can play it without using batteries!!) and a light and a case and a cable to connect up to any other people if I should care to!) I asked if she was sure she wanted to and she said yes -- so I thanked her profusely. She then said she was sorry it was too late to give me the game I was after too -- because the guy probably gave her $2 in trade and charged me lots more. I said it's okay and thanked her again.
Then the funny bit -- she asks me how old my child is...
you know, the one that has the Gameboy...
and I fess up -- and say it's for me -- reliving my childhood! :)
She laughs and says "You go girl! Reclaim that youth!"
Too funny -- so now I've got all the gadgets for the thing... for free... and had the Gameboy Advance for $1. Bargain!!
Last night was the biggest display that happens in Columbus -- it's called Red White and Boom and it takes place in Downtown Columbus -- bazillions of people turn up for the fireworks each year.
This was a special one -- they were calling it Red White and Boom 25! -- and I don't know when they started doing this, but it was televised -- which was excellent, because otherwise I never would have gotten to see it!! They were doing a special salute to all the veterans and soldiers who fought and are fighting and have died to give America its freedoms.
I sobbed like a baby. I got so stinking emotional I could barely see the TV!! They started with the National Anthem which always gets me choked up anyhow because of living in England -- the homesickness used to be terrible especially on the Fourth of July -- there's me walking around on the verge of tears that day and to every other person walking down the street it's just any other day! Anyhow, this being my first Fourth of July home, it's been very emotional. I just hope I don't sob through the fireworks on Monday night as well!! Oy vey.