Halloween was fun. Each year we get less kids at the door than the last year, but we seemed to have a good amount this time.
Alex had 8 of his friends from school come over. Yes, 9 14- & 15-yr old boys. They played football for a while (in the wet grass), then basketball in the driveway, then they walked around the neighborhood with Lewis. Lewis got them 5 extra large pepperoni pizzas, soda & those ice cream drumsticks. They’re nice kids. Seemed like they all had fun.
The next morning I took Alex to get a haircut. He finally got it cut as short as he wanted it. Looks good. Then he spent the night at a friend’s house. When Lewis & I dropped him off we stopped at Eddie V’s Edgewater Grille for something to eat. Early dinner. We always seem to be the first ones in any restaurant because we go out early.
On Sunday I went to lunch & a movie with my mom & sisters. We saw that Chihuahua movie. “Beverly Hills Chihuahua”. Really cute. Sort of a modern day “Lady & the Tramp.” While I was at the movie, Lewis & Alex went somewhere & bought the Nintendo. Lewis was outbid on the one he was trying for on eBay on Fri night – at the very last minute. When I got home Lewis took Alex to a friend’s house to work on his biology project. This is the project that requires 200 gumballs. After work on Fri I went to the candy store in PV Mall & got the gumballs. They are supposed to make a cross-section of a cell using household items. I don’t know where the gumballs come in. Are gumballs considered a household item?
Speaking of household items, I am looking for someplace to recycle my prescription bottles. They are the Walgreen’s brown / amber ones. The Scottsdale & Phoenix recycling programs won’t take them. They are a different (harder) kind of plastic than the water bottles. They are a #5 plastic. The pharmacy won’t take them back. Neither will a couple other pharmacies I’ve contacted. I have about 200 of them. I’ve been saving them for a while in the hope of being able to recycle them somehow. I recently contacted a homeless shelter to see if they want them. Sometimes they use small containers for individual shampoos, conditioners, soaps, etc. But I haven’t had a response yet. I am willing to send them or take them to anyone who can use them. Suggestions? I found an article about making Christmas ornaments out of prescription bottles. Using cotton, ribbon, glue, & googley eyes you can make a snowman out of it. If I don’t find a way to recycle them soon, I will start calling pre-schools to see if they can use them to do Christmas crafts with their classes. Either that or I’ll glue them all to some board, paint them different colors, & hang it in my family room. “Candace art.” Won’t Lewis love that ! Trash as art. I’d probably make a million bucks. What kind of paint sticks to plastic & doesn’t flake off?
No longer eating the CranMango Cashew Crunch. I’m back to the delicious dried mangoes. But I need a Baby Ruth or something like that now.
Lori very kindly offered to untangle my pink & white tank top the next time we go to lunch. I really miss that shirt. It’s so comfortable. Lori is an amazing real estate agent, so if you are ever considering moving – even in this economic climate – she will be able to help you more than you think. It’s not as bad as it seems. Let me know if you need her number. (No, I don’t get a commission; She’s my friend.)
My mom’s 75th birthday is coming up. We’re having a party for her soon. It’s a surprise so don’t tell her. She does not have a computer and/or email so she will not read this. My sisters & I are having trouble deciding what to get her. What do you get a 75 yr old mom who has everything she wants?
I ate a 100 Grand bar. Once again, the inside of the wrapper told me I am STILL not a winner of whatever prize they are offering. Why do I even bother to read it? I mean, is there even the slightest chance in this lifetime that I would win? And if I did, it would probably be something like a trip to a NASCAR event. Something I would not want. Doesn’t even matter if it’s a game system because we have them all now. All except the Sony one, but Lewis & Alex don’t want that one. They don’t think the games are good enough.
This whole wk & next wk Alex has basketball try-outs at the school. Try-outs start at 6:00 pm & school ends at 3:00 pm, so he will go home on the bus with his friend, Dakota. Then Dakota’s mom will take them back to the school after they eat. Then Lewis or I will pick them up to go home. Dakota lives pretty close to us, but we won’t be able to get him to the school on time, so this works out very well. It’s about a half hr drive from our house. We thought he might be able to stay at school from 3:00 to 6:00, but not only is that a long time, but they don’t allow it. They close & lock up the school until 6:00 when try-outs begin. Also, he would be hungry.
My friend, Rosalie & I are always seeing signs that bother us. Right on a main road, a big sign that says: Condo’s For Lease or something else written by someone who has no respect for the English language. Not only did the person who initiated the sign use the apostrophe incorrectly, but the printer went along with it. Also, I’m thinking the comma just doesn’t have any rules anymore. I read about 4 books a month, & it seems the newer ones (the ones written in the ‘90s & later) use the comma a whole different way than the way I learned. I’ve even attended Comma seminars. Yes, I know, I lead an exciting life, but stuff like that really DOES interest me. (I also have several books on word origins). Everything I read about grammar & the comma, everything I hear & then everything I read which includes the comma confuses me to no end. Where are the rules? Whatever I read contradicts the last thing I read. Of course when I was in grade school I learned you were never to start a sentence with “and” or “but”. Also, you were never to end a sentence with a preposition. Sentences should be sentences, NOT fragments, but novels use fragments all the time. The rules of grammar don’t seem to apply anymore. Maybe there aren’t any rules anymore.
Here are just a few regional differences in the English language that I’ve noticed:
AZ vs NY (the first line is AZ)
I am going to have a party
I am going to make a party
She was standing in line
She was standing on line
We have to go shopping today
We have to do a shop OR I just did a shop
Director (der rector)
Die rector (dye rector)
Either ( ee ther )
Either ( i ther )
May I have a fudgecycle ?
May I have a fudge ekl ? (all one word, no “cycle” )
When you are at your home you would say:
I need to take my car to the dealer (me)
I need to bring my car to the dealer (Lewis)
I don’t know if this is a regional difference.
I will have to check on this. I'll get back to you.
But if you are at the dealer without your car you would say:
I need to bring my car in (me)
AZ vs PA (the first line is AZ)
Did you eat? (3 words)
Jeet? (didjaeat) (1 word)
Clean up your room
Redd up your room
Would you like a wash cloth?
Would you like a warsh rag?
Washing machine in PA is
warsher
I need a rubber band
I need a gum band
We need clean towels (2 syllables – tow els)
We need clean tiles (1 syllable – towls )
Use the vacuum cleaner
Use the sweeper
I’m going to take a shower now
I’m going to get my shower now (& usually get is pronounced “git”)
In PA a bath towel is a tile (towl)
& a floor tile (ty el – 2 syllables) is a tile (towl)
In PA, the word “get” is pronounced “git”.
Oh, & let’s not forget how some people in ANY region pronounce nuclear (even Bush & McCain). Nucular. The word is nuclear ! Why is that so hard?
This is not regional, just awful:
It doesn’t matter (correct)
It don’t matter (WAY incorrect)
This is one of the worst travesties of the English language I’ve ever heard. I actually cringe when someone uses “don’t” instead of “doesn’t.” It’s like listening to fingernails scratching a blackboard. Even listening to someone use “ain’t” isn’t as bad as hearing “don’t” used in place of “doesn’t.”
Irregardless - - Let’s not even go there ! I don't think that's even a word!
Bi-weekly: Shouldn’t that mean twice a wk? Instead, it’s used to refer to every other wk in the month.
According to Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (10th edition), bi-weekly means: 1) occurring twice a week; & 2) occurring every 2 wks.
Okay, so how can that be? But there it is, right in the dictionary. In essence, bi-weekly means whatever you want it to mean, & the person you’re speaking with had better know which way you are using it.
Also, a publication issued every 2 wks is semiweekly. Wouldn’t that be the same as bi-weekly? These 3 definitions came from the same dictionary.
11/4 (Tues) Election Day - - Hope you voted!
Went out the day after Halloween & got lots more decorations for next year. I’m really happy with my new supply. But I forgot to buy another couple of those huge Rubbermaid bins to store the stuff in.
Alex & his friend worked on their biology project & used the gumballs, but there is more than half of them left over. What are we going to do with all of those gumballs? I guess I could put them back in the gumball machine & have them sit there another 20 yrs.
I am finished with the Dean Koontz book & have started the James Patterson book in the Womens’ Murder Club series. It grabs you right from page 1. Inbetween I am continuing to read “A Good Boy.”
Rosalie, you’ll be happy to know I just picked up another book about synchronicity. You can read it when I’m finished.
The jewelry store called. Two of the items I took in are done. They gave me an estimate on the 2 larger diamonds I want to have put in my wedding ring. I am not happy with that estimate. I think I will check with my friend, Jonathan’s friend who is a wholesale jeweler. I always intended to check with him anyway, but I figured since I was in the jewelry store to get some stuff done, I might as well get an estimate. I want to have my large diamond moved to the side, put another one on the other side the same size as that one, then put a larger one in the middle. This will require removing all of the smaller diamonds on the band. Probably rebuilding the whole ring.
Nov 5 (Weds) The DOW is down 400 points. I was sure it would be up the day after the election. Most of the people & propositions I voted for have won.
Alex is still in the running for the basketball team. The first group was cut this morning. He’s still in. I think he may be a little worried because most of the kids trying out are SO TALL. Alex is not a little guy, but he’s not 6’3” either!
Yesterday after work Lewis & I went to the Tealight Café for dinner. Nice little place. We haven’t been there in a long time.
Well, the princess has her own blog now. It’s sort of a Facebook for pets. Here’s the web address: YouPet.com
When you open the page, go to dogs, & then Westies (West Highland White Terriers) & you will be able to find Sparky & the 2 pictures of her & her little blog if you click on her name or picture. You can even put your own pet on there.
Here is a picture of Miss Sparkelstein, incognito, with a little bling.
Seems like most of the running around has stopped. We’re just picking Alex up from basketball try-outs every night & from tennis once a wk. Once try-outs are over we’ll either be picking him up from practice every night or not picking him up at all.
Darn candy wrapper still won’t allow me to be a winner. I hate seeing that “Sorry” when I open it up.
I guess I should get my wedding ring back from the jewelry store. My left hand feels naked without it.
It’s about time to take down the outside Halloween decorations. I will do that tonight when I get home.
Nov 6 (Thurs) - Tonight would be Alex’s last tennis lesson of the session, but he will miss it because he’s still in basketball try-outs. I feel like I don’t see him anymore – and he doesn’t even drive yet. He’s at try-outs for something or at practice for something else or lessons for something else or at someone’s house working on a project. I start wondering what kind of a mother I am when I see my son so infrequently. We do seem to have some good talks in the car, though. And there are plenty of times when a kid is at our house working on a project. Of course when they’re working on a project, they’re holed up in a room so I don’t see him anyway.
I accidentally grabbed the conditioner for my hair this morning when I meant to grab the shampoo. This was the morning I was going to rush & NOT use conditioner after the shampoo so when I was finished & working on my hair right after I got dressed, I noticed it felt kind of gloopy. I thought I didn’t rinse the shampoo out enough, so I did more rinsing. But it was still not like it should be. I then noticed the conditioner bottle was where I keep the shampoo bottle. I washed my hair with conditioner. And then I was out of time & had to leave for work. So my hair looks kind of scrungy today. Is scrungy a word? If it isn’t, it should be, because that would describe my hair perfectly for today. It’s limp & kind of shiny looking. And not the good kind of shiny. So I had to go through an entire day looking like I never wash my hair. I tried to stay at my desk as much as I could & not get up & run into anyone.
We’ve talked about elevators before: You get on, you get off, but inbetween, if you’re not on with anyone you know, you most likely aren’t talking. If other people know each other & are talking, you listen. What else could you do? I prefer looking at people’s shoes & purses. I’ve seen some very nice purses & shoes in elevators. Then, the elevator stops on your floor which happens to be the last one. Who takes a teeny step forward first – just waiting for the doors to open? Usually the person closest to the doors, but sometimes it’s the very rude person in the back who smashes his way through. This is not a person who knows good elevator etiquette. Even less so if that smashing person is a male. I try to tell myself he’s not really rude, maybe he just has to go to the bathroom & is in a hurry.
Another day, another candy wrapper that insists on rubbing in the fact that I am, once again, not a winner. One of these days I’m going to look at one of the wrappers & see what it is I might win. Or maybe I shouldn’t do that, because if it’s something good, I might be disappointed every time I open a wrapper. Not knowing is better because I can still convince myself that the prize is a trip to a NASCAR race somewhere so if I lose again, I don’t care. I would actually be happy to lose, if that’s what the prize is.
The DOW closed down almost 450 points today. One of Alex’s college funds lost a LOT of money. We only have 3 yrs to recoup that amount.
Sparky is doing her little “pay attention to me” dance, so I’d better go & do some tummy-rubbing & then get the green ball out of her toybox.
Hugs,
Candace
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