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Since I never seem to get around to sending out Christmas cards or letters, I decided to blog a bit to keep my fans updated. :-)

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Spring is really here!

My windows are open!
Birds are singing!
One tulip has bloomed!
My neighbor tilled my garden this morning!
Whitney mowed the lawn!

And so begins the season of yard tools and weed-killing. Welcome Spring!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Kids have it sooooo easy today

This just came in on email, and I laughed more than once when I read it.

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When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning... Uphill... Barefoot... BOTH ways- yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way I was going to lay a bunch of hooey like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!

But now that I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have the Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog.

There was no email -- we had to actually write somebody a letter - with a pen. Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox, and it would take like a week to get there. The good news is that stamps were only 10 cents.

Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us. As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to discipline us! Nowhere was safe!

There were no MP3's or Napsters or iTunes -- iIf you wanted to copy music you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio, and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and mess it all up. There were no CD players -- we had tape decks in our car. We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished, and then the tape would come undone rendering it useless. Cause, hey, that's how we rolled, Baby! Dig?

We didn't have fancy phone options like Call Waiting - if you were on the phone and somebody else called, they got a busy signal and had to try again later.

There weren't any cell phones either. If you left the house, you just didn't make a call or receive one. You actually had to be out of touch with your "friends". OH MY! Think of the horror... not being in touch with someone 24/7! And then there's TEXTING. Yeah, right. Didn’t have that either.

We also didn't have fancy Caller ID. When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was -- it could be your school, your parents, your boss, or a salesman... you just didn't know. You had to pick it up and take your chances.

There was no Cartoon Network either -- you could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying? We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons.

And we didn't have microwaves. If we wanted to heat something up, we had to use the stove. Imagine that!

And our parents told us to stay outside and play... all day long. Without electronics to soothe and comfort. And if you came back inside... you were drafted to do chores!

And car seats - oh, please! Mom threw you in the back seat and you hung on. If you were luckily, you got the "safety arm" across the chest at the last moment if she had to stop suddenly, and if your head hit the dashboard, well that was your fault for calling "shot gun" in the first place!

See! That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled rotten! You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980 or any time before…

Regards,
The Over 30 Crowd

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NOTE: My personal favorite is the "safety arm"!

Monday, April 12, 2010

Best Children's books

For a nice list of children's books, check out the Six boxes of Books blog. It was a countdown done by an NYPL librarian. Six boxes kindly compiled the individual posts into a single list.

I have some reading to catch up on as there are 33 of them I either have not read or am not sure I have read. Definitely lots of favorites on that list.

What would you add to the list? I would add "Understood Betsy", but I'll bet most of you have never heard of that one. Oh, and "A Girl of the Limberlost". I'm sure I will think of others. I look forward to perusing your suggestions!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Family Reunion Tshirt Question

My immediate family (parents, siblings, spouses, nieces, and nephews) are all getting together this summer to celebrate Mom and Dad's 50th wedding anniversary. It will be the first time we have ALL been together in a very long time. The last time there were only 4 grandkids...now we have 7, and the youngest is already 8 years old! So yes, it has been awhile. We've all seen each other in the meantime, we just haven't gathered everyone in one place at one time.

I think it would be cool if we had a commemorative t-shirt -- but how does one go about creating a logo for something like this? I have ZERO artistic ability in that area. Any ideas? Any volunteer artists? I'll trade you for some kitchen treats...

I thought about tie-dyeing a shirt for everyone because I can handle that kind of artistry, but if we take a group picture I don't want it to be blinding. (I have such a picture of me with the nieces - it's hard to look at straight on). Then again, perhaps a group picture should be in something nicer than a t-shirt. I still think it would be a cool souvenir.

Meanwhile, does anyone have any photographer recommendations in the Las Vegas area? I think we need to document this event -- who knows how long it will be before we gather again?

Monday, April 5, 2010

UBE Spring Concerts

It's one of the most wonderful times of the year -- CONCERT SEASON!

The Utah Baroque Ensemble is presenting three concerts this month:

Date: Sunday April 11th
Place: 1081 West 1060 North, Provo

Date: Saturday April 17th
Place: Assembly Hall on Temple Square, Salt Lake City

Date: Sunday April 18th
Place: 865 West 1000 North, Orem

Each performance begins at 7:30 and is suitable for audience members 8 years of age and older. All performances are free of charge.

For maps to the Provo and Orem locations, please go to the calendar on the UBE website, www.utahbaroque.org


Program:

Festival Jubilate / K. Lee Scott
Wash Me Throughly

Jubilate Deo
Psalm 114

Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, BWV 150 / J.S. Bach

Psalm 100 (Jauchzet dem Herrn, Alle Welt) / Mendelssohn
Beati Quorum Via / Charles Stanford

Bless the Lord / David Sargent
Praise Ye Him / David Sargent
O Clap Your Hands / David Sargent

How Firm a Foundation
Saints Bound for Heaven (shape note)
Saints Bound for Heaven / Alice Parker

Witness

The Word was God

Hope to see you there! (My favorite one, if I can only choose one, is the "The Word was God". If I can choose two, the other one is "Wash me throughly").