I hate things

A few things I hate. Today is a crappy day, and we should all hate things because it make us feel better.

1. People who reply to all in emails. Why? Are you talking to the 7,550 other people who got the message about the bathroom being closed for cleaning?

2. People who forward emails (especially from AOL) with, like, a bazillion other email addresses at the top. It takes a day to scroll down to see the one paragraph message.

3. Bumper stickers. All of them. Why does this make you happy, people? Get a blog or something.

4. The prices of food at the movies. Look at this. They should be wearing masks because they are robbers!

5. When you buy a new toy/gadget/thingamabop and bring it home, all fired up - and it doesn't work right. I just installed a 40 gigabyte external hard drive on my desktop to backup my files, and it doesn't recognize it!! AKJAKJH(*)*(&*(&&&*^!^!^AHDSFJ!!!! Of course, Western Digital is closed today. Why would they be open when you NEED them?

6. Gas prices. Who the hell is setting these prices? Why do I pay $34.00 to fill my rice burner? I want to talk to someone, but they wouldn't speak English anyway.

7. People who live in this country, and they don't speak English. GET OUT. I know this is the melting pot of the world - I DON'T CARE. Read a book, watch the TV learn the language- if you are in business and you want MY MONEY: Speak English and be just a little bit happy when I order my coffee or buy gas from you.

8. Katrina, she is such a bitch. Doesn't she have anything better to do? Good luck to everyone and Goodspeed.

Holy low gas!

Why do you think I do this stuff? I felt like Jeremy Mayfield at Michigan... If you look closely at the pic, you can see that I am still in "D4" while talking the shot with my Treo 600 camera.

I was on the NJ Turnpike and the next rest stop was 12 miles away. Off went the AC and I started talking to the car: "You can do it little girl, I know you can. You are an Accord!"

I made it with fumes left, but not before being 100% certain I was going to be out of gas on the turnpike, stranded.

OK, stress over, car filled. Move on.

Is this a guy thing?

NEW! Google Talk

Anyone who knows me is aware that I am pretty obsessed with Google. I simply think that Google is one awesome company, no nonsense, with great products.

A few examples of my obsession:

Google Satellite
Google Blog
Google Maps With a UFO
Gmail
Google "Your Name"
Googlewhacking


Back to Google Talk, Google Talk enables you to call or send instant messages to your friends for free - –anytime, anywhere in the world.

What's better that free? (besides this blog)

This kid is a genius!

Proof positive that my readership grows every single day. I love my blog.

New Parents

Look at the proud new parents! It's amazing to think that they created a person... little Boom has been born unto the world!

I would like to analize this shot with you for a moment:

-Notice Anastasia, she's not looking at the camera, where the hell is she looking? Is there more then one photographer? Can't they wait a minute until this one is taken?

-Notice Ray, he has never been more tired in his entire life. As a matter of fact, he is so sleepy, he is holding on to his wife's arm just to stay upright. What else could he be doing with his hand? Pushing on her elbow to support little Ray?

-Notice little Ray, they must have taken a multitude of pictures becuase he has sloooowly slipped backwords into Anastasia's arms and if this session isn't over soon - he's going to do a 180! On second thought - good job Ray holding her arm.

I guess you can get here from there. Hmm

As a follow up to this post about how folks got this blog, I decided to be a little detective and find out where they were when they found me.

Did that make any sense? Good.

If you click here, you will be taken to a map of the world. It has a "thumb tack" at each location in the world where my visitors have come from. I have a visitor from ROTTENBURG, BADEN-WURTTEMBERG - which is in Germany - not far from the border of Switzerland and France.

But my favorite you ask? So far it has to be the person from Lewiston, Idaho - which, incidentally, is a stone's throw across the river from where Dad Storholt grew up.

What is that you call it? Serendipitous.

A colony of penguins

I was reading the news today and saw a headline that we are celebrating the 100th anniversary of E=MC2. Happy birthday! Now, I didn’t actually read the article – but I did get all fired up to post a little trivia on the blog tonight.

This whole “phenomenon*” of calling groups of animals totally random words: Who the hell decided it was an unkindness of ravens? I won’t call them that. As Beck would say: “You’d be wrong.” Love that girl.

So, as of today I decided to start calling other groups of nouns by completely random names. You won’t know if I am wrong because the real ones are completely ridiculous..

“Hey, butcher – can you give me a number 2 pencil of top round?”
“Beck, there is a freckle of toys that need to be cleaned up in here!”
“Boss, I have a gasteroententinal of sales this month.”
“I’m going to Home Depot to pick up a floccinaucinihilipilification of things for my home improvements.” (real word, by the way)

*I understand it’s not a phenomenon, I just like to use big words, OK? God.

So with out further ado, what do you call a group of...

Antelope: A herd of antelope
Ant: A colony or An army of ants
Ape: A shrewdness of apes
Baboons: A troop of baboons
Bacteria: A culture of bacteria
Badger: A cete of badgers
Bass: A shoal of bass
Bear: A sleuth or sloth of bears
Beaver: A colony of beavers
Bee: A swarm, grist or hive of bees
Bird: A flock, flight, congregation or volery of birds
Boar: A sounder of boars
Buffalo: A herd of buffalo
Buck: A brace or clash of bucks
Caterpillar: An army of caterpillars
Cat: A clowder or clutter of cats
Cattle: A herd or drove of cattle
Chicken: A brood or peep of chickens
Chicks: A clutch or chattering of chicks
Clam: A bed of clams
Cobra: A quiver of cobras
Colt: A rag of colts
Cow: A kine of cows (twelve cows are A flink)
Coyote: A band of coyote
Crane: A sedge or siege of cranes
Crocodile: A float of crocodiles
Crow: A murder of crows
Cub: A litter of cubs
Curlew: A herd of curlews
Cur: A cowardice of curs
Deer: A herd of deer
Dog: A pack of dogs
Donkey: A herd or pace of asses
Dove: A dule of doves
Duck: A brace, paddling or team of ducks
Elephant: A herd of elephants
Seal: A pod of elephant seals
Elk: A gang of elks
Emus: A mob of emus
Ferret: A business or fesnyng of ferrets
Finches: A charm of finches
Fish: A school, shoal, run, haul, catch of fish
Fly: A swarm of flies
Fox: A skulk or leash of foxes
Frog: An army or colony of frogs
Geese: A flock, gaggle or skein (in flight) of geese
Gnat: A cloud or horde of gnats
Goat: A herd, tribe or trip goats
Goldfince: A charm of goldfinches
Gorilla: A band of gorillas
Greyhound: A leash of greyhounds
Hare: A down or husk of hares
Hawk: A cast or kettle of hawks
Hen: A brood of hens
Heron: A hedge of herons
Hog: A drift, or parcel of hogs
Horse: A team, pair or harras of horses
Hound: A pack, mute or cry of hounds
Jellyfish: A smack of jellyfish
Kangaroo: A troop or mob of kangaroos
Kitten: A kindle or litter of kittens
Lark: An ascension or exaultation of larks
Leopard: A leap (leep) of leopards
Lion: A pride of lions
Locust: A plague of locusts
Magpie: A tiding of magpies
Mallard: A sord of mallards
Mare: A stud of mares
Marten: A richness of martens
Mole: A labour of moles
Monkey: A troop of monkeys
Mule: A barren or span of mules
Owls: A parliament of owls
Oxen: A yoke, drove, team or herd of oxen
Oyster: A bed of oysters
Parrot: A company of parrots
Partridge: A covey of partridges
Peacock: A muster or ostentation of peacocks
Peep: A litter of peeps
Penguin: A colony of penguins
Pheasant: A nest, nide (nye) or bouquet of pheasants
Pigeon: A flock or flight of pigeons
Pig: A litter of pigs
Plover: A wing or congregation of plovers
Pony: A string of ponies
Porpoise: A pod of porpoises
Quail: A covey or bevy of quail
Rabbit: A nest of rabbits
Rat: A pack or swarm of rats
Rattlesnake: A rhumba of rattlesnakes
Raven: An unkindness of ravens
Rhino: A crash or herd of rhinos
Roebuck: A bevy of roebucks
Rook: A building or clamour of rooks
Seal: A herd or pod of seals
Sheep: A drove or flock of sheep
Snake: A nest of snakes
Snipe: A walk or wisp of snipe
Sparrow: A host of sparrows
Squirrel: A dray of squirrels
Starling: A murmuration of starlings
Stork: A mustering of storks
Swallow: A flight of swallows
Swan: A bevy, herd, lamentation or wedge of swans
Swift: A flock of swifts
Swine: A sounder or drift of swine
Teal: A spring of teal
Toad: A knot of toads
Trout: A hover of trout
Turkey: A rafter of turkeys
Turtledove: A pitying or dule of turtledoves
Turtle: A bale of turtles
Walrus: A pod of walrus
Whale: A school, gam or pod of whales
Viper: A nest of vipers
Wolf: A pack or route of wolves
Woodcock: A fall of woodcocks
Woodpecker: A descent of woodpeckers

Little Boom

If you haven't noticed the pictures of the newborn on the right side of this blog, they are of Raymond Attisano III, the son of Raymond "Boom" Attisano Jr., who is the son of Raymond "Butch" Attisano, who is the son of his father. Duh.

Little Boom, Ray Ray, Scooters, Skipper, Short Stuff, Three, Third, Buddy, III (pronounced eye, eye, eye) was born on August 15. I came across a list of people who were also born unto the world on that same day, and I think Eye Eye Eye should be proud to share the same birthday with Ben Affleck and Napoleon.

It's not as cool as Oleg Cassini, who shares April 11th with me, but it's cool - I won't bust him. Yet.

See, little eye eye eye came a little early. (Get it? See - eye. Never mind) Anastasia was due the second week of September, but Third has his own ideas. Did anyone tell him that we just closed on a day care and his Mommy is going to run it? Did anyone BOTHER THE EXPLAIN THE RAMIFICATIONS OF HIS ACTIONS?

Sorry, sorry - I am getting a little worked up about nothing. I mean, after all we PUT OUR LIFE SAVINGS INTO... wait breath, exhale, inhale, put down that cigarette - this is supposed to be healthy!

In all seriousness - you can't plan on anything and we are so happy and excited to be able to share in their joy with them. Especially me, I get to be jealous of the boy Becky never gave me. (I know I decide the sex of the child - I don't care. It's still her fault) And Boom and Stais are our best friends and we get to watch their child grow up. We are lucky.

Things to do before I die

An avid* reader of the blog, Paige (not my Paige – this Paige), posted an enticing little ditty on “Things to do before I die” today.

It reminded me of a few months ago we sat down (at Becky’s request) and each wrote a list of 50 things we want to do before we die.

Now, being the awesome and creative writer that I am, you would think: This is going to be a fan-damn-tastic list! WRONG.

I struggled to get about 30 things down, and at the end I was just writing things like: Be a millionaire, sleep until naptime, and drive for Jack Rousch.

Seriously, when we were done, we compared our lists and found many similar things that we had NEVER talked about with each other. It was emotional and fun and exciting and exhilarating to compare.

Top on both of our lists: See a NASCAR race at Daytona and Bristol, go to Ireland, and vacation in Australia.

We started to actually plan some of these trips and I look forward to crossing them off together. (Especially the Rousch one now that the 97 car needs a driver)

P.S. Do this list before kids if you plan on having them. Basically, 99% of our list is on hold until Kaitlyn is in college.





*avid = has seen this blog at least once

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

(yes, I took this photo. Click to enlarge)

Our Ruby-throated Hummingbird visited tonight... since we have been seeing them so much, we decided to read up on them. As you can see above, I was able to get pretty darn close without her getting spooked. A few facts for those who are interested:

From http://www.hummingbirds.net/rubythroated.html :

-They quickly become accustomed to human presence, and will swoop down to investigate red articles of clothing, possibly as potential food sources. Feeders hung at windows attract as many visitors as ones farther from structures, and the bird that claims a feeder as its territory may spend much of the day perched nearby, guarding the food source against intruders.

-Average length: 3.5 inches
-Average weight: 1/8 ounce
-Body temperature: 105°-108°F
-Wing beats: 40-80 per second, average about 52
-Respiration: 250 per minute
-Heart rate: 250 beats/min resting; 1200 beats/min feeding
-Flight speed: 30 mph normal; 50 mph escape; 63 mph dive

Look Kaiten, a duck!

Paige teaching "Kaiten" what colors the duck is. "Yellow, Orange, DUCK!" Kaitlyn LOVES Paige - she seems to be an endless source of entertainment.

What movie or famous leader are you most like?

I saw this site somewhere and though you may get a kick out of it, like Beck did. (more on that below)

After taking a grueling multiple-question exam, I was told that I was Easy Rider for the movie and Gandhi for a leader.

Now, I never saw Easy Rider - but Ganghi? This made me sit up a little straighter in my sofa - so I proudly told Beck and she laughed pretty hard.

Casual Friday

A new blog I am reading... this guy is pretty dern funny. A few of my favorites from the highlights of his day:

-Hot glue gunned a bunch of my old trophies into one huge trophy
-Watched the Weather Channel for 12 hours in a row...memorized the weekend outlook for 15 major cities
- In a crowded elevator, started yelling, "I think my water just broke!"
- Yelled "Mission accomplished!" after stopping to tie my shoes on a busy sidewalk


http://thecasualfriday.blogspot.com/

You can't make this stuff up

This is a picture of Becky's mom at three months old. Doesn't Kaitlyn look exactly like her? It's amazing!

Kaitlyn

Miss Personality, already!

Hummingbird Visits

(click to picture to enlarge)

We wish to express our sincere thanks to Mom and Dad for buying us the hummingbird feeder!

Becky kept the faith - religiously (well at least biweekly) changing the sugar water. This past week, there have been three female hummingbirds fighting over the feeder and it's been amazing watching them perch all around the deck.

Paige's first haircut

Paige got her first hair cut last weekend! She was mesmerized at her beautiful self in the mirror and this caused her to really relax. Thank god - we were ready for a battle.

All photos here

You can't get there from here

If you look closely, somewhere on this page is a tracker that watches how visitors made it to the blog. I thought I would post a few searches here and share a comment or six. The entries below were typed into google, yahoo, and alta vista - this site came up in the search results - then they visited the blog. (lucky people)

Ok, here we go:

1. Bar Harbor Inn

Where Becky and I got married. It was the best day of her life.

2. what's better xm or sirius

In a word, XM. Opie and Anthony are so damn funny! There is a replay of them at 2:00 pm after their morning show ends, and since I hardly ever hear the whole show I listen to the replay. I laugh all day long!

3. PATRICK KAINE

I apparently have a stalker. I hope she's cute.

4. Becky Walters

My first kiss - was she "googling " herself like I do every day to see where I show up? Then she saw that I posted this on my blog and quickly shut off the computer.

5. that's gonna leave a mark origin

I just love that someone actually wanted to know the origin of this! What were they going to do with this information? Win a bet? Not here, skipper.

6. elliott sadler on vacation 2005

Back to the stalker comment - what person wants to know where Elliot Sadler went on vacation? Stalker, no doubt.

P.S. If you know the answer to this - I MUST KNOW leave a comment.

7. pretty painted toes

Did they search just for painted toes first and get some ugly results - then change it to "pretty painted toes"? There, THAT will solve it.

8. "parent directory" AND ("disney") AND (mp3 OR wma OR ogg) AND NOT("dow

What in tarnation were they searching for? A Disney video not on the dow jones?


I'd like to ask you readers a favor: Leave Comments!

According to the powers that be - this is how many of you come here:

Total
2,028

Average Per Day
10

Average Visit Length
4:11

Last Hour
0

Today
8

This Week
72

So, 10 people a day come here - and do you know how many comments are left? Like less then 3 ever. What the heck, jack? I beg of you - comment!

I write: Because I am an amazing journalist, becuase I make myself laugh, becuase I have a huge ego, becuase I want to enteratain you, my readers. How will I know how I am doing unless you TELL ME?

I beg, I plead, I ask as nicely: Leave a comment, and leave one often.

Bird vs. F14

This video is unreal! It is a video taken from the cockpit of an F14 just before a bird meets it's maker.

Millions of dollars gone in a few seconds... take a look.

Score now stands at: Bird - 1, F14 - 0

Miss Kaitlyn Kaine

Just thought that I would share this amazing picture of littlie Kaitlyn. She just turned 3 months on the 6th.

Here is an album that I forgot to post from a few weeks ago.

Hope everyone had a great weekend and congrats to Tony for winning the Brick Yard.

Next Level Development

It's been about 4 months since we toured the newly for-sale day care center in Whitehall, PA. Now, it appears, the time has come to actually close on the building and the business and make it ours!

The closing is scheduled for this Friday August 12th and we are working feverishly to make sure all details have been cared for. Licensing, insurance, schedules, teachers, kids, deposit money, checking accounts, inspections, corporation names, partnership names, deeds, title work, payroll, easements, and about a thousand other details.

Visit our new website at http://www.next-level-development.com

Anastasia's last day at her job was two Friday's ago - and thank god! She had to drive to Scranton this week for an 8:00 AM meeting with the department of child services to personally deliver our licensing paperwork. They were impressed with it's completeness and accuracy! (did they expect any less?)

So, this upcoming week is both exciting and busy... I found out some great news at work: I will be transferred to the Easton-Phillipsburg territory in two short weeks. I need to wrap up anything that is going on in Reading and train the new rep there while going out with the former rep in the new territory (are you following this?) and meeting her key contacts.

Needless to say, I will sleep when I am dead.

Click on the logo to visit the web site. Here are some pictures of the center I took for the insurance company.

Free, Amazing Secrets, Household Hints, Saving Money

I thought that this site would interest a few of my "regular readers". You know who you are - that one person that keeps asking me what the hell a clickjack is.

Anyway did you know that if you got water in your wristwatch, you should strap it to a light bulb and wait for water droplets to form on the glass, then open and wipe off.

For all you criminals out there, you can remove blood stains from carpet by sponging immediately with cold water, then use a bit of soap, rinse and dry.

Did you know that there's a way to freshen stale nuts? (no jokes from the peanut gallery - hahahahahahahah)

This one's good for raceday: Eliminate popcorn duds -fast: Freeze the corn first then it will all pop. ( I need a report back from a loyal reader if this works) The truth be told, I really like the half popped soldiers... Beck saves them for me when we pop corn at the ranch.

For those Mennonite readers who want to lengthen the life of their wooden clothespins: Boil them in salt solution.

Now, if there were just a way to feed the girls, mow the lawn, and go to work all from home - I'd buy that for a dollar!

Free, Amazing Secrets, Household Hints, Saving Money

Warren County Farmers Fair Balloon Festival

Beck, Paige & Kaitlyn enjoyed to Balloon Festival at the Warren County Farmer's Fair.

Pictures here

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

It seems that we pulled it off. We were able to get Mom and Dad to our house on the premise that Jim, Kathe and Walt were going to be visiting Kaitlyn for the first time - so why not have a BBQ?

Well, of couse it was all a sinister plan to get them here to celebrate 5 decades of marraige!

All photos here