Visit to Mom and Dad T......

We took a little drive up to M&D T's over the weekend. It was sunny when we left. A little storm blew up while we were there and it just poured for about 10 minutes straight. Then the sun came out again. Dad T and I caught some fish out of the pond to give to my friend Shelley. (As of today they are still alive!).

Oh. Did I tell you? (no of course not) Took the kids to Superman Returns Wednesday. It was really good! I might have to see it a second time. We had the big pop where you get the free refill, but none of us could bear to leave the movie! So, we were thirsty. Oh well. The movie was WOW! Great effects, but more importantly, good story. Also Kevin Spacey makes an EXCELLENT Lex Luther!

Here are a couple of pictures from Sunday.

"The Warm Fire"

"What is the Warm Fire?" you may ask. In early June lightening sparked a fire in north central Arizona. The fire has subsequently been named "The Warm Fire". It started small, but has subsquently spread over tens of thousands of acres.

"Why does Annette care about this fire?" you may ask. In mid July I have a reservation for the Grand Canyon Lodge on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The Warm Fire is blocking the only access to the North Rim, highway 67. I will be disappointed if we are not able to make this. The 1000 people at the North Rim were evacuated over the past few days.

I was attracted to the North Rim because it is wilder, not as touristy, farther from the big cities and far from an airport, thus less crowded, more natural.

Being practical of course, and having never been to the Grand Canyon, if the road is still closed, we will visit the South Rim and I am sure it will be fabulous too.

Do you think fires are interesting? The Northern Arizona management team has a very cool website with maps of The Warm Fire, press releases and even photos! Here is the link if you find this all as fascinating as I do. There are some AWESOME PICTURES.

http://www.nazteam.com/assignments/index.html

De Train, De Train......

Visiting the folks yesterday. Had a nice dinner, courtesy of grill-meister Pa. We played some train dominos. I won. (TOO BAD FOR THE LOSERS). Mom made banana pudding with vanilla wafers. MMMMM. I haven't had that for a long, long time. It was delicious. The dog Missy is really learning to behave better. They have started squirting her with a water squirter when she does bad and she was a changed creature. Not nearly the jumping crazed fool! Until she was outside of course. Then she tore around the yard like a wild woman. We got a look at how the train set is coming along in the basement. They have really come a long, long way from where the train set started. I took a few pictures.

Here we are playing dominos

Some of mom's flowers

Missy jumping for joy, and her toy
Dad and Missy

The Train

"I've been working on the railroad"

Hurricaine Katrina - 9 months later

My dad went to the gulf for a couple of weeks in June to do some counseling. We actually lived in Biloxi when I was a baby. I think this picture pretty much says it all. This was taken in the 9th ward - New Orleans.

Do sunshine and blues go together?

I just feel ick today for some reason. Unmotivated, bored, and hungry all at the same time. John has meetings tonight with a couple of CUs and his boss. Maybe I just miss him. Could be lack of sleep. I started a new shift and now just get 6 to 7 hours of sleep instead of my usual 8. This will last until August. I don't even feel like scrapping, so that's pretty bad. Maybe I will perk up tomorrow. I can't believe the sun is shining and I'm not ecstatic. Freaky.

Blog Challenge....What if I won the jackpot?

"If you were to win the PowerBall jackpot, what would you do with it......and why?? (assume it's a big one!) "

The jackpot is $100 million dollars (after taxes). Here is where that money would go, and why.

• $15 million - set up income generating funds for immediate family members. So I/we can "take this job and shove it..." travel and have time for philanthropy, visiting family, and hire a MAID.
• $5 million - one time gifts for other family members. Just to be nice.
• $30 million - Gifts to churches and other organizations. Just to be nice.
• $30 million - Create a scholarship fund. Just to be nice.
• $10 million - Build a community center. Just to be nice.
• $50,000 - Home improvements. Because I desperately need some new flooring and would dearly love a bathroom in my basement.
• $1 million - Rainy Day fund for things I was too freaked out to think about.
• $8,950,000 - Get this in $100 bills a little at a time, and walk around a few times a year and hand out $100 bills to people that look like they need it.

Craziness I say! Is it band hair?

So, the youth group leader sent me this wild picture of some of the kids that went on the mission trip last week. (Mine is in the red shirt). Now I REALLY wonder what was going on! Those smiles say it all! As in, "we're up to something and we ain't tellin'".

Darleen's party

Here are some exciting pictures from Darleen's party. Her birthday was 6-6-6 so she had to do something wild and outlandish. It was crazy!

This is Darleen and her brother who was visiting from out of town.

These are some crazy people


This lady had a few too many..
Oh, I actually wore some FALSE eyelashes for the very first time. That was so fun. Trying to get them on was interesting. But, since there was no camera around, you'll never know BWAHAHA...

What kind of bird is this?

I have no clue. I don't have my own bird book 'cause I'm *cheep*. If any of you know what the heck this bird is, let me know. Three views, one front, one back, and one side view. Click on the picture if you want to make it larger, but they are not very good quality pics. I was too far away from the sign.

***ADDENDUM*** It is a barn swallow!

Brokeback Mountain.....

I saw this movie over the weekend. I loved it.

Blog challenge times 10.....

Here it is! I actually haven't answered it myself. I plan to in the morning...

1. Last 3 books you borrowed from the library or bought at the store that we should read.

1. DaVinci Code
2. Compassion - A reflection on the Christian Life
3. The Count of Monte Cristo (Penguin Classics) (Paperback) by Alexandre Dumas pere, Robin Buss (Translator) I read this over and over and over and never get tired of it.

2. Preferred time to wake up and start the day and what you would PREFER to be doing.

• Perfect time to start the day is 5:00 am sharp. Get up, make some hot chocolate or some hot tea, sit on the patio with my beverage and listen to the world waking up. Watch the sunrise.

3. Name 4 songs that have special memories attached to them, and what those memories are.

1. "All of Me" a Mosie Lister song from a musical we performed at church when I was a teen. This song really brings back a lot of teen memories, some would've, could've and should've thoughts, and lots of affection for my dad who directed our youth groups in various places through many a musical production.
2. "All Creatures of our God and King" This is my favorite hymn. I have loved this song since I was itty bitty. It was #1 in the Salvation Army Songbook and it is just beautiful. I am sure you all know how much I love nature, and this really speaks to my love of this physical world we live in.
3. "Everybody wants to rule the World" Tears for Fears. Well, things are not much different now than they were in the 80s when that song came out, and it is just plain sad. Will there ever be Peace on Earth?
4. "One Will Fall By The Way" WG Snuffy Walden from "The Stand" (Stephen King) movie soundtrack. A beautiful instrumental number that I have managed to transpose into piano to play for myself (you can't buy this sheet music *grr*). It really is in this list just to represent all the really beautiful movie soundtracks that take me somewhere marvelous, fantastic, other-worldy, or around the corner.

4. Tell me about one dream you seem to have over and over and remember. OR, tell me about the last dream you remember.

• Funny you should mention that. Just last night I dreamed about a cow. Yesirree. A nice brown cow. I (riding the cow) was travelling all over the place on some kind of a quest. (In my dreams I am always on some kind of adventurous quest!) My friend Jean K. was following on foot for some reason. We had to go through a house that was blocking the path we had to follow, and I had to get off the cow so the cow could carefully traverse some downward steps. But the cow made it down safely and then I got back on and continued my quest. (Sorry, I have no idea what the quest was but it did involve a LONG journey! and such a nice cow she was too!)

5. Whose is your favorite blog (or 2 or 3...) out there at this time and why? (I know my choice changes with the wind.) I am just too new at this to really have a favorite.

6. Share a favorite picture you’ve taken. Why is it a favorite?

I just entered this photo in a contest. Hope you like it. Why do I like it? Well 1st - it is just gorgeous. 2nd - it reminds me of my Washington D.C. trip. and 3rd - I finally figured out how to do "silky water" pictures!

7. Write a Haiku about any subject you choose.

My book is a thought-
provoking way to spend time.
Keep reading, read more

8. Your ‘last supper’… What would be your most favorite drink, appetizer, salad, dinner & dessert if you could have anything in the world?

• Blue cheese stuffed baked mushrooms
• That old bottle of Sterling Merlot I have been saving for a special occasion
• Ribeye steak, cooked medium
• Texas Toast with garlic parmesan butter
• Macaroni and cheese
• Corn on the Cob
• Chocolate bundt cake with homemake cocoa butter frosting

9. What are you looking forward to most, this summer? Going somewhere? Buying something exciting? Seeing a movie or play you love? Share!

2 week ROAD TRIP

I am really looking forward to this one. This may be the last year I am able to take my teenagers on a trip like this. They will probably have jobs and stuff next time the opportunity comes around. So I am excited that we are taking advantage this year and not waiting.

• Colorado Springs
• Mesa Verde
• Four Corners
• Grand Canyon
• Delta Utah (fossil digging)
• Great Salt Lake
• Yellowstone
• Rocky Mountain National Park

10. Tell me a couple habits that you had as a child that you now continue to repeat, and possibly see your children (if you have them) copying as well? ( I personally lick all the inside of an Oreo before I eat the cookies, so do my DDs.)

Thank goodness nobody copies this one, but I like to lick off the powdery substance on Nacho Cheese Doritos. Weird huh. Then the spit makes the chip kind of soft, and it is a whole different texture chewing it up! (is this gross or what! ?)