Monday, July 31, 2006

Muy Late MI-5

This one is brought to you by the number 5! (and the color orange). (And, of course, Amy and her Bad Groove!)

1. What are five things about you that people might be surprised to find out?

1) I thought I wanted to play trombone.
2) I have as many snare drums as I do fingers and toes.
3) Of those, I'd be willing to sell all but one. (Which one could I absolutely not sell? Guess!)
4) I really like asparagus, and that thing many people complain about doesn't happen with me.
5) I still get ear infections, and I've had three in the last year.

2. Name five favorite ____________ (fill in the blank and then answer).

FLOWERS!
1) Lilacs
2) Lupine
3) Daffodils (Cheap in season, and pretty hardy. We have them in the house all spring.)
4) Salt sea roses
5) Daisys

3. Name five favorite songs.

Oh, man! That's tough. Like Lisa and Jim said, these are subject to change.
1) "Perfect Blue Buildings," Counting Crows
2) "Julia," The Beatles
3) "My Funny Valentine" (I like Chet Baker's vocal version, and Miles Davis's instrumental from Cookin'.)
4) "Family Affair," Sly & the Family Stone
5) "Let's Stay Together," Al Green

4. Five favorite TV shows, Songs, or Books (you pick).

1) Chinese Poems Written in Prose
2) The books of "Poetry" from the Bible. (Job the patient, Psalms of David, then the Proverbs of a wise one, and then Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon. That's some Sunday School humor there. There's a little song to help you remember the books.)
3) Richard Brautigan's "Revenge of the Lawn."
4) Sylvia Plath's complete poems
5) The Unabridged Edgar Allen Poe

5. Name five of your least favorite ______________ (fill in the blank and then answer).

TV Shows!
1) Wife Swap
2) American Idol
3) Judge Judy
4) Dr, Phil
5) Barney

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Saturday Morning

Hi, all! I'm feeling much better, thank you. This morning, I can really feel the goop in my chest starting to break up. I've been on Zithromax for three days now, and it's working.

(Insert, real time) Nathaniel just walked up to me, and said "Outside!" And I told him "No, not yet. You're going to the church scrapbooking with Mommy. And Auntie Lisa, Great Ma, Grammy Nan, and Aunt Ginny will be there. Does that sound like fun?" And his reply? "Yeah! Presents?" Sorry Nat, you don't get presents every time you get together with an adult female member of the family!

So lots of stuff on the agenda today. And quite a bit of it involves going to the dump. What fun! And we've decided we're going out to supper today at Rockland's newest Italian restaurant. Hey, who designed that site? It's not bad! In fact, I spent an hour on it already this morning, putting some photos of their menu up.

OK, off to the office for the morning shift!


Listening to: Various MP3s

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Not Feeling Well

Whatever that thing was I woke up with on Saturday has decdided to get nasty. I've got this dry cough now, and sore throat. This morning, my head was full. I got to the office, and felt nasty. I called the doctor, even. I had some stuff I had to get done today, so I took care of that, and then came home. I even canceled the gig I was supopsed to play tonight. I took sick time and called the doctor and canceled a gig; you know I don't feel well. And I've got so much stuff to do. I've got one website that's 90% done that I should finish, and another that's brand new. I've got a gig tomorrow night I haven't packed for. My lawn's needed to have been mowed since Monday. The kid's pool is uncovered. There's construction debris on the front lawn from the installation of the new door--and that new door needs to be painted. And I'm sick. Nice.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Monday, July 24, 2006

The Weekend: A Wrap-Up Thereof

So, as I usually do, we'll start with Friday night. After I left the office, I came home. My mom was here already, as she was going to watch the boys so we could head to Julia's Vacation Bible School closing program. It was very nice, and both Julia and next-door nieghbor Taylor did a great job singing. JP and Alison were there, as was someone from my old school, who just had twins. I think we ended up at home around 8:30.

Saturday morning, and, well, you have some details of that. Matt and Nat had their birthday party, and Julia took in quite a few presents from family. It was like a mini-Christmas here in the Batty household. And with so many other kids running around at the party, and with so many adults who didn't want to make the other kids without birthdays feel bad, and with so many presents bought for those said kids from those said adults, well, there plenty of presents to be had by all.

I guess that finished up around noon-ish. I ate some lunch, and did nothing in particular until I left for my gig around 1:30. I stopped into NKM, and got a great deal on some sticks from Harv. I got gas at Maritime, where I witnessed a drive off. (The guy stuck them for $65. Green Isuzu SUV with Vermont plates.) I got to the gig around 3pm, I guess. It was a "little weird" gig. Nothing major, mind, but enough little things to make you go "Hmmm, this is a weird gig." Rain, a crowded room, a power failure, crazy dancing, and all the events crammed right at the end. Oh, and HOT! Whew, those zoots get warm. And, due to the weirdness, I forgot to snap photos. Sorry everyone.

Sunday morning, and Susan needed some stuff at the grocery store, so I picked some muffins up for the fam. Then we headed to church. Susan had nursery, and I went down and spelled her at the 1/2 point. I figured she'd been around a lot of kids for a lot of time on Saturday, so maybe she would enjoy a break. After church, we rushed home and got some lunch ready. I had a 2pm gig in Cushing, so I didn't stick around for the chicken Caesar salad. The gig went well, but it was HOT! And LOUD too! Those steel drums inside a gymnasium will take your ears out right quick! After the concert I headed straight for evening church. We had the monthly birthday cake for the July people afterwards (to include all three Batty kids), and after that I had a pulpit committee meeting. I guess it was about 9pm before I finally got home.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Good Morning, it's Birthday Time

Mornin', everyone. How are you doing. Mentally I'm feeling much better today. Physically, something strange is up, though. I feel like I've got mucus stuck in the back of my throat, and that it's closing off. It was real bad when I first woke up; it was a chore to swallow. It's better now, but it still feels weird.

Short post, this morning. The boys' are celebrating their second birthday today. They actually turn two tomorrow, but the party is today. We're also doing Julia's family party today. She had a party with her friends earlier this month, but family is showing up today. We're having a breakfast party! Instead of cake, we're serving Munchkins! I'm just about to run out to buy them and some coffee.

I'm playing drums for a wedding this afternoon, so this (I'm sure) will be all from me today. I'll try and get some photos of us at the wedding.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Friday, July 21, 2006

Try a Happy Thought on a Weary Day

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

I need to remember to ask this every day. I asked today. I should've asked twice, apparently.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

What did you say you had for supper?

Can I tell you about supper last night? I probably shouldn't, but it will make my mother proud.

The other night, after the Blues Festival, I was watching a little tv, and this show called Scoop. It was all about how Hagen Daaz had a contest to pick their newest flavor. The finalists were Toasted Coconut Sesame Crunch, Cannoli, and Sticky Toffee Pudding. Well, I didn't stay up to watch the whole thing, but (SPOILER AHEAD) Julia , Susan and I watched it the next day. And, well, Sticky Toffee Pudding won, and that's the flavor we were pulling for. (Cannoli was our second favorite.) With my handy new laptop, I logged onto the Hagen Daaz website to see if any of the other flavors were going to be available. Sadly, it doesn't appear they're going to make Cannoli. But I did find this other flavor: Carmel Cone. Caramel ice cream with caramel swirl, with chocolate covered pieces of waffle cone hacked up in it. Susan and I thought it looked really good.

Well, yesterday Susan went shopping, and guess what was on sale? And though Sticky Toffee Pudding wasn't there, Caramel Cone was. And we dusted off the pint last night. I didn't even bother to eat supper--just ice cream! I'm following in my mother's footsteps.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Monday, July 17, 2006

New Photos in the Gallery

I've added some new photos, to include some kid photos from vacation, and some 3BD photos from Waldoboro Days.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

My Drummin' Boys

Doesn't it just warm the cockles of your heart? And just a few minutes earlier, Matt exclaimed "I love the drums!" They both had a good time with the bongos tonight. Oh, and they're fresh from the tub, so that explains the hair.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Sunday, July 16, 2006

After the Gig

Yo. It's about 1:30 in the AM. I had a gig at the Blues Fest Club Crawl We were taking our last break of the night, and at midnight, we went back on stage. Mikey, the bass player, noted there were some people rolling around on the ground outside, and cop cars. Well, it turns out that two patrons decided to take on two bouncers, and well, the bouncers won. BUt having the cops out front was enough to have the club owner pull the plug. So we were done at 12. I got home about quater to one, while other bands still had 15 minutes left to play. I came home, had a brat and some ice cream, and I'm just about to head to bed. Good night, all!

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Friday, July 14, 2006

Laptops an WIFI

You may not have heard of it, but the State of Maine provides Mac laptops to middle school students. Of course, now those laptops are "too old," and the state is getting new laptops for them. So what do the schools do with the old ones? Well, they could purchase them, return them, or offer them for sale to their staff and students. The cost? $48. Yup. That's it, $48 for a G3 laptop. And, since I teach Adult Ed for a local school district, I ended up being able to purchase one. So I did. So I'm on the couch, postin' from a cool little G3 700mhz laptop. And it's got WIFI in it, and the next door neighbors have an unsecured WIFI router, so I'm using they're bandwidth and posting to my site! Cool, or what? Now, this laptop only has 128 megs of RAM, so that will have to be upgraded, but I can get 256 more for about $25, or 512 more for about $90. I think for that price spread, 256 will be fine!

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

MI-5

Got 'em up after all!

From my sister, Lisa.

"This weekend, we are taking our son away for a special “Birthday Weekend”. We are going to the NASCAR race in New Hampshire. So—this week’s questions are going to relate to NASCAR."

1. Describe your “relationship” with NASCAR. Are you a big fan? An occasional watcher? Never had any interest in it at all?

I have no interest in NASCAR at all. I don't know what it stands for. I know some driver's names, but I don't know who sponsor them. I have only watched a race in its entirety once, and that was a Busch league race on a Saturday. The next day, Earnhardt died. (See Feb. 19 here.)

2. Tell us about your favorite NASCAR driver. Is he/she your favorite driver because of their ability, or because of some aspect of their personality? If you didn’t even know that NASCAR involves driving, you could tell us about your favorite professional athlete.

I don't have a favorite driver. I know my sister and her family like Bobby Labonte. I don't really have a favorite athlete, as I'm not much of a sports fan. Jim Rice from the Red Sox was a favorite when I was a kid, as was catcher Rich Gedman.

3. Have you ever attended a NASCAR race? If not, would you like to go to one? Which one would you like to go to? If you didn’t even know that NASCAR involves racing, you could tell us about any professional sporting event that you have attended, or would like to attend.

Never been to a race, and could care less about going. The only professional sporting event I've ever been to is the Sea Dogs game with Julia. It was a lot of fun, and I'd like to go again. In fact, a few weekends ago when Susan and I were without the kids, I tried to get her to go to a game with me. She didn't really want to, and she lucked out--they were playing away that night.

4. My Dad’s theory was that NASCAR was rigged—that crashes were created on purpose to give the fans what they wanted to see (similar to professional wrestling). Do you agree or disagree? Why?

I don't think it's rigged. It's too dangerous.

5. If you were going to be surprised with a “getaway weekend” for your birthday, where would you like to go? While it’s fun to dream, let’s try to be somewhat realistic. (In other words, jet setting to Paris is probably out.)

How about a quick jaunt to Disneyworld? Maybe just two days at The Magic Kingdom. Or, maybe Susan and I can go to Hawaii? Or maybe a little beach in Mexico.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Patch Cables... Yowza!

I spent a good part of the day today making networking patch cables: eight tiny cables, all rolled together, that need to be separated by color, in the correct order, and then a plug crimped on. Orange/White, orange, green/white, blue, blue/white, green, brown/white, brown. Argh! I may not get to the MI-5 tonight. And, I have other stuff I want to post on too, namely Macs and EL Spear. Remind me, will you?

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Monday, July 10, 2006

Weekend Birthdays and Camp

Ok, so what happened this weekend? Well, let's start of with Friday night, as I am wont to do. Oh wait, I don't remember Friday. I think, though I'm not sure, that I made Susan and I a lovely steak dinner after the kids went to bed. Susan spent some time getting ready for...

Julia's birthday was Saturday. She's eight, now. She had a tea party! She invited about six friends over, and we made little sandwiches with the crusts cut off. Before the party, I took the boys to buy some pool chemicals at EL Spear. Pool chemicals? Yup. Neighbors Michael and Erica bought the kids a pool for their collective (they're all in July) birthdays. They even set it up for us. So, I wasn't really involved in the purchase/set-up that much. It's one of those three foot deep, four feet wide inflatable thingys. Well, imagine my surprise when I pull of the cover one morning, and the pool is green. I had never thought about chemicals! So, we bought some chlorine and shock and that sorta stuff. In the afternoon, I met with a potential new pastor for the church. He was visiting family in MA, and said he'd come and speak to us. So I spent a couple hours with him, and took him to lunch. I had about an hour before I needed to leave for my gig, so I lied down for a bit. Then I left home around 5pm to get to Bloomfield's in Skowhegan for my gig. That went just fine, although it was a long 9pm - 1am gig, then an almost two hour ride home.

Sunday morning, we got up at eight. Julia had spent the night at Grammy Nan's: sort of a birthday sleep over. So we only had to get the boys ready for church. We were ready to go at about 8:45. Susan needed some things at Wal-Mart, and they happen to have a Dunkin' Donuts there, so we hit them up for some supplies and breakfast. Church in the morning with the potential pastor. Right after the service, we needed to book it out, as it was a 2 1/2 hour drive to take Julia to her first sleep away camp. So once we get there, we find out that Susan misread the requirements to camp. Julia was supposed to have proof of a physical within the last two years. Susan thought that if Julia had had a medical issue within the last two years, she needed to bring her records to show that she was now healthy. Since Julia has always been healthy, she didn't think she needed them. So of course, there was a bit of panic. They said "She can stay tonight, but we need this info tomorrow." Of course, Dr. Faulkingham is on vacation this week! So all the way home, Susan and I talked about what we could do. When we got home, Susan called Erika (neighbor of pool fame), and they talked. Erika gave us the last name of Dr. Faulkingham's receptionist, and Susan called her. She was willing to go into the office today, on her vacation, and fax the materials to camp! Way nice. (Susan's planning on baking her cookies.) Once that all got settled, I went to bed.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Friday, July 7, 2006

Gina's Random MI-5

1. What is under your bed?
Maybe some books, and a couple of prints I need framed. And dust bunnies.

2. What do you see when you close your eyes?
Kind of reddish and bluish dots, moving on a black screen.

3. Tell us about a news story that you really feel is over - despite the press continuous coverage. And why?
Well, nothing comes to mind right now. But there's one story that's being discussed that I wish was over. I've been feeling this way for years, apparently. Even today, I got something in the mail from the State of Maine. It was reminding us that Julia is due for shots or something. And there was this other page in there, with the whole thing printed in like 20 languages! Please. Let's do something meaningful with the borders, ok?

4. What's on top of your fridge?
A pitcher we use to make juice, a cake display plate with domed lid, and the power unit for my griddle.

5. People often don't tell us what they are really thinking. Who is the one person you would really like to know what they are thinking (as far as how they feel about you), and why?
I wonder what the guys at NKM really think of me. Some days I think they like me, other days I think they want me off the planet. On those days, I call them on it, and they say "No, it's not you, it's something else." But I frequently wonder--are they just tolerating me?

Feeling: Moody
Listening To: John Schofield

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Thursday, July 6, 2006

New Words

New words make it into the dictionary. Soul patch? Man, I've been using that for years! It's just getting in? Diz had one for years! That shoulda been in a long time ago.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Wednesday, July 5, 2006

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. That :: Thing you do
2. Fishbowl :: Neurotic
3. Church :: and State
4. All about :: Me (Eve was a close second)
5. Fist :: Tongue (I don't know, but that's what got there first)
6. Tagline :: Byline
7. Agree :: Disagree
8. Leak :: Roof
9. Jessica :: Simpson
10. Superman :: Rocks!

Stolen from Amy, who stole it from someone else.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Saturday, July 1, 2006

What Am I Doing Here?

Yup, you guessed it! At the office, working on vacation. We volunteer for Saturday shifts at the beginning of the year. It just so happens I picked last Saturday and today. So both Saturdays of vacation, I was at the office. I have a gig tonight, and I gigged last Saturday. Eh. That's what we do, I guess.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]