Some BP Bashing and A Linktastic Announcements

 If you haven't seen this yet, it's funny in a weep-into-your-glass, shake-your-fist-at-the-sky kinda way.

Irony as seen at a BP Station

In other news, thanks to the generosity of so many, Duckfest raised $1186 for the JD Scholarship Fund.

Using Random Number Generator, the winner of From the Heart: A Collection of Stories and Poems from the Front Lines of Parenting (featuring an essay from yours truly) is.....


adrienzgirl, aka Think Tank Momma! Whoo-hoo! Enjoy it!

Also, I have to brag that I won this incredible homemade apron from June at 3! A Charm.

I will be making something amazing in this for sure. Maybe Sonya's Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake.  Just typing the words leaves me woozy with cake lust. 

Lacking a proper conclusion, I will simply end with this: I love Jane Lynch. 

I know, I know!

1. There's a certain cable company (that rhymes with Bombast) that is on my On Notice list, because my computer became glacially slow over the weekend. Meaning, I wasn't able to post my blogs, check Facebook or email. I came to realize that I don't just "like" my computer these days. I was getting jittery, needing my digital fix. It could have been ugly if it didn't magically correct itself. So yes, all three of my readers, everything is okay. My computer just became prehistoric.

2. I know that the bedtime prayer is "Now, I lay me," not "Down, I lay me" thanks to your watchful eyes. What can I say? I'm specific about how I sleep. I don't stand up, hang upside down, or hover when I sleep. I recline, dammit. And I want to make sure God knows it.

3. I went to a baptism of two boys (sons of good friends), and, once again, I'm struck by the fact that it's such a holy event. I get teary eyed whenever I see a group of loving people commit to teach the next generation about love, hope, justice, forgiveness, and peace--God's commission for us all. If I was a pastor, baptisms would be my favorite part of my job. That, and budget meetings.

4. The AZ Cardinals, a state joke for as long as I lived in AZ, are going to the Super Bowl. So, I'm struck. Should I pretend to be a Cardinals fan, even though I can't name a single member of the roster, since they "come" from my home state? Or, should I be a Steelers fan because I have tons of friends from the Pittsburgh area that bleed yellow and black? I know the name of the Steelers's quarterback (Ben Rothesberger--although I don't know if I know how to spell his name). I even know that Steelers fans have something called a Terrible Towel. The Cardinals have no towels, terrible or otherwise.

So, here's how I'll make my decision: A Contest! The first person that can tell me the names of 1) The three rivers in the Pittsburgh area OR 2) The name of the AZ governor impeached from office in the mid-eighties wins my support and devotion. I'll be loud and obnoxious about it. If you can name both, then you'll force me to make up my own mind.

You can either comment here on the blog or send responses to my Facebook page or email (camp1974@yahoo.com).

Until then, Go Steelials.

A post and a prize (!)

Yet another reason I'm happy to have boys:

Today's Post talked about one of the "hot toys" of this Christmas season: Baby Alive Learns to Potty. To quote, "The doll talks, eats and answers nature's call. Mistakes can happen, though. 'Uh, oh, I had an accident' is in her repertoire of programmed phrases, along with 'I'm hungry,' 'Mmmm good,' and 'I made a stinky.' Critics of such realistic toys wonder if some things are best left to the imagination."

Ya think? What's next? Baby Alive Has That "Not So Fresh" Feeling?

Ewwww...

In other, important news:
School's out, which means one thing for those without digital cable or a dish: Nickelodeon preempts "Go, Diego, Go" for shows geared to the preteen (or "tween") viewing audience. So, instead of our regularly scheduled adventures of Diego, the animal rescuer and his sidekick Baby Jaguar, something called "iCarly" is on.

This is completely unacceptable. Thanks a lot, Nickelodeon. You've forced me to spend the half hour that I normally shower reading books to my toddler. I hope you're ashamed of yourself.

In my defense:
Thanks to Diego, and his cousin, Dora the Explorer, Owen is a bilingual whiner. When something is challenging for him, he either bellows, "Help!", or Ayudame! (By the way, I would put the upside down exclamation point in if I knew how to do that on a keyboard. Anyone?)

Time's Running Out
I still need to put together the Airplane! trivia questions for the annual family movie trivia contest.

A sample: Air traffic controller Steve McCroskey (played by Lloyd Bridges) was under severe stress trying to bring the airplane in safely. Each time he was placed under stress, he would medicate himself and exclaim, that he had picked the wrong week to quit his various addictions. Name the four addictions.

The first person to send the correct answer to me at my email address: camp1974@yahoo.com wins a yet-unspecified prize.

Also, feel free to provide more questions for me, just for the sheer thrill of it.

Surely, that's all I have to post today.

Oh, and don't call me Shirley.