Jimmy Jet and His TV Set - by Shel Silverstein

I'll tell you the story of Jimmy Jet-
And you know what I tell you is true.
He loved to watch his TV set
Almost as much as you.

He watched all day, he watched all night
Till he grew pale and lean,
From "The Early Show" to "The Late Late Show"
And all the shows between.

He watched till his eyes were frozen wide,
And his bottom grew into his chair.
And his chin turned into a tuning dial,
And antennae grew out of his hair.

And his brains turned into TV tubes,
And his face to a TV screen.
And two knobs saying "vert." and "horiz."
Grew where his ears had been.

And he grew a plug that looked like a tail
So we plugged in little Jim.
And now instead of him watching TV
We all sit around and watch him.

--------
now how can a school challenge & ban an author who so obviously teaches children the risks involved with watching too much tv? c'mon... shel silverstein is obviously good for our kids.

ruining our children's minds

My Hobby - by Shel Silverstein
When you spit from the twenty-sixth floor,
And it floats on the breeze to the ground,
Does it fall upon hats
Or on white Persian cats
Or on heads, with a pitty-pat sound?
I used to think life was a bore,
But I don't feel that way anymore,
As I count up the hits,
As I smile as I sit,
As I spit from the twenty-sixth floor.


thanks for the recommendation, jean! :)

how many have you read?

yesterday was day 1 of Banned Books Week. a few of the challenged & banned books on forbidden library's site:

> 1984 (george orwell)- "pro-communist"

> anne frank: the diary of a young girl (anne frank) - "sexually offensive" and a "real downer"

> brave new work (aldous huxley) - "centered around negative activity"

> charlie and the chocolate factory (roald dahl) - espoused a poor philosphy of life

> a light in the attic (shel silverstein) - "encourages children to break dishes so they won't have to dry them"

> the lorax (dr. seuss) - "criminalizes the foresting industry"

> the rolling stone illustrated history of rock and roll (jim miller) - "will cause our children to become immoral and indecent"


we may celebrate with some shel silverstein poems later this week. :)

good things

- not having a dog in the house anymore.

- having a sister-in-law.

- upcoming roadtrip to louisville.

- upcoming roadtrip to colorado with my mom. honestly, a big thank you to jonathan & laure for deciding there were things they would rather not ship to their house. i am really excited to drive out there.

- heating pads on cringing backs.

- upcoming costume party with the girls.

- holding little tyler in all his 9-day-old goodness.

- talking bed & breakfast over ham-n-cheese omelettes & freezer jam.

- bigger than 4-day-roadtrip dreaming.

thank you cards

for those of you *ehem*april*ehem* curious as to this evening's productivity...



the background color is simulated - they're printed on that same lavender paper as everything else for the wedding.

for elizabeth & jean

for a full 23 days in the year 2008 i will be 28 years old. so while that would kill the idea of a hog roast on the shores of lake michigan - it could happen that both patterns hold true.

now check this out - if it were to happen that i got back together with the first guy i dated. and we got married within the first 23 days of january 2008... ALL 4 PATTERNS WOULD BE TRUE. because in the year 2008, we will have known each other for 9 years.

creepy. and highly unlikely.

yo. :)

new rules for the office

rule #1 - you cannot stress me out, unless i let you. if i stress out, it is my own fault. i have a choice, and i choose to not take your stress. you'll have to keep it yourself and take it back to your desk with you.

rule #2 - you cannot take advantage of me, unless i let you. i will do everything i can to help you out and do what you need to have done. however, i will not roll over and allow you to walk all over me. i really have too much to do to take time out for that.

rule #3 - the words "for real" and "cool" will be responded to with a "yo" by either jeff or myself. we are gangsters, and we do know where you work.

pattern possibility #4

4. my sister knew her husband for 1 year before marrying. my brother knew his wife for 5 years before marrying. it would then follow that i would know my husband 9 years before marrying.

unless the pattern isn't an addition of 4 years, but rather the multiplication of 5... in which case it would follow that i would know my husband 25 years before marrying. i'm 25 now... that could happen, i suppose.

patterns may be forming...

i love patterns. if i put bread or rolls in a basket for dinner - they make a pattern. i follow a pattern when i take my stamps off their backing sheet. i love those "which would come next in the pattern?" questions on tests and in game books. i'm a pattern dork. and i'm okay with that.

now that both of my siblings are married, i can see the following possible patterns forming:

1. my sister dated 2 guys, then married the third. my brother dated 1 gal, then married the 2nd. it would then follow that i would marry the first guy i dated. hmmm...

2. my sister married at age 26. my brother married at age 27. it would then follow that i would marry at age 28.

3. my sister marrried in the year 2000. my brother married in the year 2004. it would then follow that i would marry in the year 2008.

well, i'm pretty sure #1 is out of the question. but the other two may hold up. i'll let you know.

my brother got married!

my brother is now a husband. it's like he's all grown up or something. :)

goals accomplished

i should write my goals down more often. i totally just beat level 4. now my goal is to beat level 5. or score over 20,000 points. preferably both.

other achievement posts will follow as warrented

yes, folks, i do have goals

- beat level 4 in awexome cross 98

- make a purse from old neck ties

- make a cd holder book for my car

- make a journal using my new found techniques for sewing covers and stitching signatures

- have a booth in a local craft show to test market some of my handmade goodies

celebrate the end of september!

alright, so i know that september is half over (half over? ugh.), but just in case you're looking for a good reason to celebrate during the next couple of weeks:

- september is: fall hat month, library card sign-up month, and update your resume month.

- september is also national: biscuit month, chicken month, honey month, mushroom month, piano month, potato month, and rice month.

- september is also NATIONAL SEWING MONTH! yay!

- the week of september 19th is nation farm animal awareness week. be aware of all the farm animals folks. you know the saying - no farms, no food.

- september 22nd is elephant appreciation day. no, i don't make this stuff up. appreciate an elephant everyone!

- september 22nd is also the ice cream cone's birthday and the anniversary of the emancipation proclamation.

lots of goodies coming your way for october! a little sneak peek - national cookie month AND national pizza month!

achoo!

things i learned this weekend

1. the crown point high school band plays hanover's fight song everytime cphs scores at their football games.

2. baskin robbins has a super yummy chocolate truffle ice cream flavor.

3. i'm a sucker for a cute cake pan. (okay, i may have already known that)

4. i'm a bit allergic to dog hair.

5. i can fit 25 dubble bubble bubble gum balls in my mouth - resulting in a sore jaw and streched-out feeling cheeks.

photo of the day

dog-proofing

so tomorrow my brother comes home. he'll be here for a full week before the wedding to do things like get a marriage license. sounds like a good idea to me. his dog, however, not quite so exciting to have in the house. don't get me wrong, i like dogs. but i'm more of a small dog person. and gemini is not a small dog. she's very sweet. and she's very friendly. and she's very energetic. and she's very big. and she's very much full of shedding fur.

so tonight i'm doing a bit of dog-proofing. the centerpieces for the reception are now hidden away where gemini can't run through and smash them all with one swoop of her tail. important things that were in the spare bedroom (which will become, in part, gemini's bedroom)are safely tucked away in my own room (which will have closed doors for the next two weeks). oh yeah, did i mention she'll be here for two weeks? the week before the wedding and the week after the wedding while jonathan & laure are on their honeymoon. this is gonna be swell.

and really, like my mom isn't dealing with enough right now - she's gotta take care of a dog all day, too?

gold stars for the day

tonight i re-worked the handles for my juice pouch bag. now they (a)stand up on their own (2)have color and (c)are much more solid & sturdy. although re-working handles on a bag that's already made isn't so easy to do. gold star to my mother for having the winning solution.

and a gold star to oriental trading for shipping out my order o' goodies. wait... make that a silver star. it's shipping out of nebraska. sheesh.

for real

yo.

the fruits of my labor (day)

my newest bag. i do wish the handles stood up on their own. i made them out of the straws that came with the juice drinks. the next one will be better. :)

wedding sweat shop

- centerpieces: done.
- maps to reception: done. (and really cute!)
- m&m bundles for reception: done.

costumes are out!

it seems a little early to me... i mean, it's only the beginning of september. but so long as stores are gonna be selling 'em, i figured i might as well get mine early.

random thoughts for friday

- the ragin' cajun chicken burger at red robin is superb.

- i've only been to one football game in my life. but it was more for an alibi than to actually see the game.

- God is an awesome healer.

- paint, paint, paint. almost half of the center pieces are completely finished.

- "pas autour" sounds like a very americanized way of saying "not around" in french.

- i neither want to make rash, impulsive decisions nor miss opportunities set before me.

- 3 day weekends are a beautiful thing.

- God is good.

wait on the Lord

you know how you have those days... and then you open yourself up to God at the end of it all, and He sets before you the perfect verses...

"i would have lost heart, unless i had believed that i would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, i say, on the Lord!" - Psalm 27:13-14

how many times do i lose heart? and each & every one of those times - is it not because i lose sight of the goodness of the Lord? wait on the Lord, david says. He will strengthen my heart. how often do i seek to strengthen my heart through other means? i look to my family, to my friends, to my work, to my ministery. but strength for my heart is not in those things.

wait on the Lord. be of good courage. and He shall strengthen your heart.

alone

if you had two days alone - alone alone, no friends, no spouse, no kids, no parents, no anyone - what would you do?

i would sew. i would turn on some music, and sew up a storm. a new york city bag. a juice drink bag. a mary's garden bag. yes, i would sew.

i would read and re-read my sabrina book. i would allow myself to get lost in her colors and textures.

i would sit outside. i would see animals in the clouds and creepy hands in the tree branches. i would meditate on God's goodness and sing of His mercy & grace. i would daydream about the future. i would thank God for saving me from my past. and i would embrace every moment of the present. savoring the smell of the air, the feel of the grass, the still of the day. yes, i would spend a lot of my time sitting outside.

does alone mean the pizza delivery guy doesn't exist? i wanna try the new pizza place in town...