Keith "Matt" Maupin- A moment of silence

They that love beyond the world cannot be separated by it. Death cannot kill what never dies.

- William Penn

 

May his family eventually find peace in knowing the truth, though this truth is not what we all prayed for.

The Movie Meme

Borrowed from Russ: The Mosie Movie Meme

 

Here are the rules of the meme:

* Pick 15 of your favorite movies.
* Go to IMDB (imdb.com) and find a quote from each movie.
* Post them on your blog for everyone to guess.
* Fill in the film title once it’s been guessed.

These are the rules, people!

* Leave guesses in the comments.
* No Googling or using IMDB search functions. Don’t cheat!
* Know-it-alls, limit your guesses to three movies. Save some for others!

1. I feel like a defective typewriter. (Grease)

2. A little more caution from you, that is no trinket you carry.

3.Thirty years from now, when you're sitting around your fireside with your grandson on your knee and he asks you, "What did you do in the great World War II," you won't have to say, "Well... I shoveled shit in Louisiana."    

 4. After all, the wool from the black sheep is just as warm.

5. You're gonna need a bigger boat.  (Jaws)

6. He's ruining the play! He's ruining the whole play! 

 

7. Hallo. Vould you like a roll in ze hay?  

 

8. I love this internet. It's part fantasy, part community, and you get to pay your bills naked.

 

9. You are not special enough to overcome a bad marriage.  (Terms of Endearment)

 

10.  It's spooky! She knows more about you than you do! 

 

11. My secret weapon is PMS. 

 

12. Boy, it sure would be nice if we had some grenades, don't you think? 

 

13. You think a sweater vest would look good on me? 

 

14.  I'm adjusted.  I eat all four food groups, and look both ways before crossing the street... and take long naps... 

15. Come back to me.

Tags: Movie Meme

Meme from Joann

I got this one from Joann  ANOTHER MEME!! wo got it from Krissy who got it from Dawn, and now you can get it from me and do it, too!!!!

Your best friend tells you she is pregnant. What is your reaction? Complete and utter joy for her, if this is what she wants.

When is the last time you wanted to punch someone in their face?  The last time I heard about the latest in a long running drama in my friend's life. I wanted to punch the idiot that can't leave her alone.

What is the last thing you spent money on? Kleenix, papertowels, toiletpaper, and machine dish soap.

Do you think you gained or lost weight this past month?  Started out gaining, but I lost all that.

Crunchy or Puffy Cheetos? If you see me eating Cheetos, you know I've become a pod person. I hate Cheetos!

Congratulations! You just had a son. What's his name? Thomas Carpenter- named for both grandfathers

Congratulations! You just had a daughter. What's her name? Kyra Joy

What are you craving right now?  Nothing I can think of.

What was the last thing you cried about? This is going to seem silly, but here goes. Yesterday Paul, Kim and I went to the Air Show at Tyndall AFB. One of the Vendors had a T-shirt that commemorated the 9/11 attacks.  It was so moving it made me cry.

When you buy something and your change is 2 cents, do you keep it or tell the cashier to keep it?  I put it in the "free change" thing if there is one, or I take it.

What color is your tissue box?Beigy brown

Do you have a ceiling fan in your room, and if so, is there dust on that fan? No fan, so no dust.

Scariest thing you've experienced in the last year? Again, I'm embarrassed to admit this. .. Kendra was out with friends very late, and I could not reach her on her cell phone.  I began panicking over what could have gone wrong that she hadn't called me.

Do you wear a name tag at work? No work, so no name tag :)

Have you ever had a garage sale? Yep!!  Would love to have another one soon.

What color is your iPod? I don't HAVE one!!!!  I do have an MP3 player though and it's dark blue

What is the last alcoholic beverage you had? A glass of wine with my sister, back in February.

Are you happy right now? Yes, at the moment life is good.

Who came over last? The gas man to mark the gas lines since we are getting ready to put up a fence.

Do you drink beer? Not as often as I used to drink it. My favorite is a German Beer called Weissen.

Have your brothers or sisters ever told you that you were adopted? Not at a time when I would believe it.  :)

What is your favorite key on your key chain? HUH???

What was the last movie you watched at home? <FONTCOLOR=#CC33CC>Knocked up.

What is in your pocket? No pockets today.

Where do you hurt?My face was sunburned yesterday at the Air show, in spite of the sun block I put on (obviously not enough), so my cheeks and chin really hurt right now.

Has someone ever made you a Build-A-Bear? No, but I gave my two grand-nieces gift cards to Build a Bear for Christmas.

What's something fun you did today? Went to lunch with my fab husband.

What is your favorite aisle at Wal-Mart? the Craft aisles

When is your birthday? June 13

Is there anything hanging from your rear view mirror? Nope.

What kind of milk do you drink?  skim or non-fat

What is something you need to go shopping for? A new bed spread... I'm tired of the one we've been using for the last bazillion years.  Time for something new and fresh.

Easter Bunny wakes up early & updates

Strange as it may seem, we still make Easter baskets for our big kids. LOL.  Of course they are much smaller than when they were kids.  They each get a new movie, a small chocolate bunny, an egg full of m&m's , and one full of skittles. Should be all gone by the end of the week. We never did do a lot of candy for them, but there were always new card games, etc.  Now that they are older and don't break, tear, destroy "toys" as easily as when they were kids, it's less necessary to replace past gifts... The only item I  left out this year is a stuffed animal (they each have one plastic bin full of the stuffed animals from past holidays... I'm hoping they won't notice the lack of a new one).

Paul laughs at me because he says I'll probably be sending them Easter baskets long after they move away from home.  I probably will... but in my defense.. my mother did the same for us until we were about 30 or so.  I like planning surprises for them that they will enjoy. Silly, I know... but there you have it.

Our holidays have always been easy because our kids love to sleep.  It allows me to wake up at my normal time and put out the baskets (or presents at Christmas time) before they wake up.  They also sleep soundly enough so I can sneak into and out of their rooms without disturbing them.  It's certainly made these "early" deliveries easier.

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Now for some updates:

glitter-graphics.comSmokey cat is completely recovered from her illness. Her liver function tests are all normal.  She's started something new here at this house. Every morning she wakes up with me.  This part has been going on for years. After I finish up getting ready for the day, I head out the bedroom, and she always makes sure she gets out ahead of me. She walks in front, meowing, and looks back every so often to be sure I'm still following. She does this all the way to the kitchen.  We call it "The Cat Parade".  And it usually ends with her letting us know that the food dish is empty. Funny stuff.

So her new trick starts up after she's had her breakfast. We have big windows in the living room. The windows are covered by vertical blinds. Our sectional L's onto the wall with the window. Smokey jumps up onto the back of the couch and taps the blinds. Then she turns and looks at me.  She waits... then she taps the blinds again and looks at me again.  She continues this until it dawns on me she wants the blinds open so she can watch outside.  So... at this point, it usually only takes one tap on the blinds. I do learn quickly.

Needless to say, she's back to being Queen of the roost.

My friend, Lisa, finally got over her fears and met one of the guys off e-Harmony. It was a good meeting and they have plans for more dates. She is working hard on not trying to read between the lines with this guy.  I keep telling her that guys are pretty simple (no offense meant) and they usually do say what they mean (for the most part).  Men are less subject to talking in code than women are. Sorry, gals.. but you know it's the truth.

So that's all the updates and hoopla going on here for now.  Hope everyone has a good Easter Sunday.

 

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How do you mend a broken spirit?

Last night I spent an hour on the phone with a friend of mine. Lisa is 42, and a single mother. She has spent many years after her divorce in one dead end relationship after another.

I have my own theories about that. I am no shrink, so I could be wrong....but I believe a lot of her man troubles stem from her childhood.  Her dad was an alcoholic for many years.  And he was one of those mean drunks that beat the wife when he'd had too much to drink.  Finally her mother became fed up and told her dad that he either got help or he got out... he couldn't come home drunk anymore.

Her father changed.  He went to AA, got clean and never came home drunk again.  Now, I think that's great... but I don't for a minute think that he straightened up just for his wife.  I believe to kick an addiction you have to want to kick it for yourself.... the other folks in your life are just "bonus".

Unfortunately, how young Lisa interpretted that is "My dad loved my mom so much, he was willing to give up the drinking for her."  And she has spent her adult life trying to "fix" drunks and druggies... believing that if he (the current drunk/druggie) loved her enough he would mend his ways for her.

She's finally beginning to realize that she deserves someone that doesn't need fixing. Her last relationship ended very badly about two years ago.  She has spent the last year losing the weight she gained during the worst parts of that relationship. She is doing great and looks fabulous.  She has taken (in my opinion) a very positive step in that she has signed up for E-Harmony, in hopes of meeting some men that are interested in the same kind of unbroken life.

She has been corresponding with a few guys and now she is going out on a date with one of them on Friday.  And all she can worry about is how he is going to perceive her. "What if he thinks I'm too fat?" (she's not).  Lisa has, and has always had, a certain vunerability about her that makes you want to take care of her.  Even women want to take care of her.  Funny thing is... she's 5 ft 9 inches, and very capable.... but you still just want to take care of her.

Anyway, last night as we were talking she mentioned all these things that happened while she was growing up that made her think that she wasn't very attractive.  Even when she was a young adult and guys would leave their phone numbers on her car, she couldn't think why anyone would do that except to tease or hurt her. 

I don't know how to help her. I've told her it could just as easily go the other way when she meets this guy.  That she might not like what she sees.  And.. that if it comes to it.. it is nothing personal if he isn't attracted to her in person.  She has to be okay with the idea that this date will end up being a one time thing. 

But I don't think I'm getting through

Tags: self image

OH Yeah, he's in Texas (and rant on DirecTV)

All that weather that is happening in the middle of the country is keeping Paul "grounded".  He's hoping they will be able to take off today and be home by tomorrow. He's ferrying aircraft back to the Mesa plant and then he'll return here by airline.

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I have spent the last two... almost three months trying to get DirecTV to pick up their dang receivers.  By default we had DirecTV in Maryland.  Our reception SUCKED!!!  I can't tell you how many times we'd lose the satellite signal early on Thursday evenings (my must see TV night) and have it remain out the rest of the night. GRRRR.  Repeated attempts at trying to fix the problem didn't help the situation at all. Needless to say, my view (as well as Paul's) of satellite TV is dim.

But... to add insult to injury... when it was time for us to move, the rigmarole that DirecTV expects its customers to go through is ridiculous. Because they don't have local offices for the return of their receivers, I had to wait until we had a physical address here in Alabama before I could cancel my service. Then when I gave them this information, they sent the boxes (for us to return the receivers) to our old address in Maryland.

glitter-graphics.comWaiting for the boxes, time passed and I suddenly receive a bill from DirecTV for non-returned receivers. After numerous phone calls, we discovered the problem was the address.  The boxes finally showed up here last week, the day before we went to S.A.

I called that day to arrange pick up of the boxes on Monday... but FEDEX doesn't' make schedules that far out in advance.... I had to call again when I got back from vacation to arrange pick up.  FINALLY... FINALLY ... they are out of my house.

It's been more trouble than it's worth and if anyone ever asks me.. I will emphatically say that DirecTV is not my number one choice for receiving my TV programming.

It's been busy

Paul is gone again this week. I swear to goodness he tells me exactly where he's going and what he's doing, usually at least twice... but then I'm sitting here and I can't remember exactly what it is this particular trip is about.  I know it involves the Apache, and that they may take a day longer than planned, but other than that.. I don't remember.  LOL.

I'm focusing on things like grocery lists, having Kim at school early so she can make up her test from last week, being sure that Kendra has money for gas, making out the next few weeks of Mac's school schedule, laundry, cleaning, etc, etc, etc... so needless to say... what stood out during our conversation last night was "I may be back a day later than planned."

Last week Kendra had her spring break.  Kim didn't... but we pulled her out of school for two days and all of us went to San Antonio for a long weekend.  I had no idea that St. Patrick's day is such a big deal in S.A.! They dye the river green, there is a parade, a party, a big "to-do" in the park.. it's just a crazy four day celebration of all things Irish.

Hard to believe that we didn't go there for that, when one considers the number of folks that were there exactly for the celebrations.

Our focus was to spend some time with Kendra's friend, Alex.  He's currently serving in the Air Force and is stationed in S.A. We grabbed him up on Friday and dragged him along with all of us to Sea World.  I think that the five of us can be kind of overwhelming to people at times, but I give Alex a lot of credit.. He could hang.. LOL.  He was a real trooper when it came to the serious interrogation he received from me. 

And he passed.  Which means he's either really experienced with the whole Parent Interview.... or he has really thought about where he'd like to be in the next few years.  I am impressed either way.

Saturday we let Kendra and Alex find their own fun. The rest of us explored the many shopping  opportunities in S.A. We also managed to catch a movie. We saw "Horton Hears a Who".  I did not have any particular interest in this movie.. but it was really good.  I was afraid Paul was going to hurt himself he was laughing so much!

Sunday was spent driving and listening to THE HOBBIT on CD. We use these long drives to hear a lot of "books on tape".  Helps keep the driver awake.  Didn't help me though, I think I slept 8 of the 14 hours we were on the road.

I'm So Excited!

 

I am sure this is going to seem so very mundane to the rest of you.  But I am so excited!  I have one box left to open and disperse the insides to their appropriate places.  I am one to two days away from having this house unpacked.

Of course, then the fine-tuning has to start.

 

But for now, I'm reveling in the last box.

Sister Weekend

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One of my Christmas gifts from my sister was a ticket to the Billy Joel concert in Denver.  I arranged my travel plans so we could have some time to enjoy.

I arrived on Wednesday. That night we went to a wine tasting/Fondue pot dinner at a local restaurant.  We met up with some of my sister's co-workers to do this event. Three courses... cheese, meat and chocolate. 7 wines, two with each course and a dessert wine at the end. Not a single one was very good to me. But the event itself was a lot of fun. Susan works with a good group of gals.  I liked the chocolate course the best, with the white chocolate with amaretto sauce being my favorite. YUMMY!

My sister is single, but has a new man in her life.  This was my chance to meet him as well. I really liked him.  More importantly I think.... I couldn't believe how really happy my sister is.  It's been a long time since I've seen her so relaxed and enjoying life. 

We met up with him for lunch on Thursday.  Now as the big sister, I had to ask all the hard questions... LOL. I figured if I didn't ask him directly, my sister would share anything I said to her anyway.. so I might as well be straightforward about my concerns.  It went well.  He was very nice about it all and really helped me to feel better about the whole thing.

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Thursday night we went to the concert which was really good.  Problem is that Billy has a huge catalog of songs, it was impossible for him to hit all my favorites.  But.. he did get the majority of them.  I can't believe he still sounds as good as he does. I also realized (after a good look at the age of the audience) that I must have been an infant when I started listening to Billy Joel. LOL.

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Friday was "shopapalooza".  We hit all the cool shopping spots and I grabbed up some neat trinkets for the trio back home.  Friday night and Saturday morning we vegged out and watched "Grey's Anatomy"... seasons 1 &2.

Saturday night was pay-per-view of some Ultimate fight or other.  Noah's son and grandson came over to enjoy that with us.  I really liked Noah's son too.  Nice guy.. seems to have his head on straight (he's about 24, I think).. and his son was the typical five year old.. too funny for words.

Sunday I flew home and met up with Paul for lunch.   So that was the end of the Sister weekend.

I'm hoping she and Noah will come out this way in the fall for Talladega.

Best part of this trip, getting to meet the guy and feeling pretty good about it all.