TALENT

I had a wonderful, lazy weekend. I did NOTHING - so how did my house get so dirty? Anyway...

Someone sent me this video last week. I love it! I think it takes a lot of talent to do something this creative. I hope you enjoy it!

Chicken Salad and Religious Blogs

I was chewing a marinated cucumber & some chicken salad at lunch while punching the Next Blog button when I came across this web site. These girls all have a minimum of 10 kids in their families! What kind of a community is this? I guess it takes all kinds, but people like this really freak me out.

Are you KIDDING me?

How cool is this? My good friends from High School and I were Def Leppard JUNKIES. I mean borderline obsessive. We're talking Hallmark cards on their birthdays and bedrooms wallpapered with pictures of the band ... BIG fans.

Well cut to 17 years later, Jenni had an opportunity this weekend to go BACKSTAGE at the Def Leppard concert in Virginia Beach. This is Jenni with the two Ricks - Savage and Allen (who many of you know as the 'one-armed drummer guy.')

Jenni called me on Saturday and said "I'm standing right next to Rick Allen - do you want to talk to him?" I felt like I was 18 again! I said "Yes! No! Yes!" SERIOUS decision making disorder going on. She took this picture (albeit illegally) with her iPhone. It is of her friend Debbie with the Ricks. I was impressed!

I was so excited for her but SOOOOO bummed not to be there! This is a dream come true!

Workin' for the Weekend!

Hey there folks! I've has a busy but fun week. On Monday, my brother went with me to hang out with the Luals. (It's not really tutoring when school is out, but we did do flash cards!) Lest I forget that this family is not only a family of refugees but also regular ol' kids, when we opening my car doors to drive away, Awut (the 13 year old) opens the door of their town house and screams "Bill you are HOT!" Haaaaa! Billy was partially mortified and partially flattered. Girls will be girls!

On Tuesday, my Mom, cousin Kathy and Kathy's son Chuck came over for dinner. It was great to catch up! On Wednesday I was supposed to go belly dancing with my friends Susan and Kristen, but our instructor bailed at the last minute! That turned out FINE because we just hung out, ate pizza, drank wine, and watched my latest addiction (and character flaw), The Girls Next Door. Kristen was already a fan, but I think I'm going to make Susan a junkie, as well. We also did our best to convince her to record Bret Michael's Rock of Love - another show with few redeeming qualities but MASSIVE amounts of entertainment value.

I relaxed and packed last night because tonight I go to my sister's house in North Carolina. I get to see the nieces again!! Unfortunately, this means I sacrificed an opportunity to join my High School friend Jenni at Def Leppard tomorrow in Virginia Beach. I can't believe she scored backstage passes! She's taking friends from the radio station. I can't WAIT to hear how that goes.

Have a great weekend everyone!
- Aunt Crazy

Pittsburgh is a great town!

I had a fabulous time in The Pitt this weekend. I drank pop, pulled my hair back with a gum-band, and even went on the Incline. For those who know me, I have mild acrophobia but I didn't get the jitters even once all weekend ... then again, the incline is attached to a mountain and the rest of the weekend, I wasn't driving. I was safe.

It was fun hanging out with the gang. We went to a sushi restaurant, shopped, took walks, and saw Jen's parents. Eliza loved taking movies with my camera and her 'signature phrase' (as you will see as you watch her Documentary Shorts) is "What do you think you're doing?" Ellie's signature phrase is, of course, "Lemme see it."

Last night Mo and I volunteered for the YMCA program "Bright Beginnings." Really this is just an excuse to shop, the best part being that we didn't actually have to spend any money! The YMCA busses in children of low-income families and give us volunteers a budget of $100 to take them around Target and shop for a couple of outfits. Our boy's name was Jayden, and he was so cute you just wanted to bottle the kid. He knew what he wanted and even though he couldn't have been more than 40 pounds, he ate like a horse.

Not much new to say ... Until today!

I am sorry I haven't updated the blog in a while. I honestly haven't done too much in the last week! The highlight was going with my friend Susan to Sur la Table on Saturday for a Tapas Class. We made all kinds of awesome stuff. At least I think it was awesome. I'd had a couple of glasses of chianti before the class, so it might have tasted like dog food. All I know is that I enjoyed it!

Now today, on the other hand, I saw something on my lunch break that I couldn't resist posting. I think this is so cool ... I don't know if the inmates in this prison in the Phillipines enjoyed doing this or not, but I think they should be VERY proud of the result!!

This weekend I get to see my friend Jenna and her family. This is a photo of them from their trip to Florida in July. Too bad these girls don't resemble their parents in any way, don't you think???

PS - Eloise was born on my birthday. Isn't that cool? Now she was actually born 33 years later, but who's counting?