Even Funnier Saddam Photos

Read this on MedicMom's site. Here are even funnier Saddam photos. My sister and I died laughing. I loved the second one the most.

Doctored Saddam Photos

My Daughter's Birthday is Today

She is 22 today. I am so proud of her. In her younger years, she was a volunteer, working two summers as a candy striper at the hospital. She worked hard several summers in high school, earning money to help pay for much of her education instead of wasting it away on a new car (which she would have liked very much). When she graduated from high school, she started college and attended year round -- in summers, too.

She set a goal to become a nurse.  It was not simple for her. She was not one of these types who find it easy to concentrate and study. There were times when she thought she might have to change her major, but she stayed with it and used all the resources she could get -- study groups, extra books, tutoring, conferences with teachers and former students, etc.

I am extra proud because it was not easy for her, but she succeeded inspite of it. Congratulations on becoming 22 with a career and the promise of greater things to come, Jenny!

Funny Photos

Leo Laporte has a message board where funny photos can be posted by anyone -- these are pretty amusing.

Ten Windows Utilities

Two hosts on TechTV list their favorite Windows utilities. You've probably heard of several of these such as TweakUI. I didn't realize that Winamp 5 came out -- so many folks hated Winamp 3 that they skipped producing a Winamp 4.

O'Charley's

My husband and I ate at O'Charley's yesterday. (He says they have the best hamburgers in the world.) I was pleasantly surprised to hear Christmas music and see their trees still up. To me, the tree should stay up until well into January (like the 12 Days of Christmas). Today is the 6th day -- six geese a laying.  We are still playing Christmas music and turning on our outside lights.

Trimming the Hedges

My husband is outside right now, trimming the hedges. He hates those hedges. A previous neighbor planted them, but the new neighbors think the hedges are ours since they follow the property line exactly. My husband is allergic to the pollen they give off in the summer so he asked the neighbors if he could trim them every year. Last year, he trimmed them down to small stumps. They grew back to a very large size. I was amazed.

This year, he trimmed them back even further. They are little bitty stumps now. I expect they will grow 6 feet high again. Next year, maybe he will trim them down to the roots. Ha!

Alabama was First

According to R.H. over in our local newsgroup, Alabama was the first state to declare Christmas a legal holiday (in 1836). Good for us!

Shop Till You Drop ... and We Did

Little Sister and I went shopping yesterday. It was fun. I loved having the time alone to chat with her. We went into the middle of big crowds and heavy traffic -- the most crowded stores in town, even. We ate at my favorite restaurant (Meteor Buffet) and visited nearly EVERY store in town. Well, okay, not nearly EVERY store, but both malls (walking through them thoroughly), a Wal-Mart, a Target, Best Buy, CompUSA, a PETsMart, the grocery store (twice), a restaurant, my daughter's apartment, visiting at the hospital ... whew! It was fun. I came home with sore feet. My husband rubbed lotion into them. I bless his name.

The traffic was as bad as before Christmas. I am glad we weren't returning anything.

This morning, I got up and walked 6 miles. I was dragging by the time I came home. My husband jokingly said he had planned a hiking trip today. I think he wanted me to slap him. Ha!

Random Website

Bored with the Internet? Try Random Website. This site monitors its links. Each site that comes up has been preapproved and should be safe to visit. Hopefully, it will be interesting, too. My first try took me to a Warner Brothers page which was fun to explore.

Family Sings (Heaven Help Us)

Here's a short video clip of my family singing Jingle Bells on Christmas Day. We were a motley crew. My father led the singing, my brother and his baby daughter may have had the flu. (They are the ones clinging to each other with their eyes closed.) My husband was tired (he's the one singing with his head thrown back on the sofa). One nephew was singing with great enthusiasm while the other one sitting next to him was playing his Game Boy so he's looking down during the whole song. My identical twin sisters in the red shirts are talking to each other and ignoring me while my brother-in-law (a minister) gives me a nice smile. I had to chuckle at the whole thing -- and I see a lot of ways I can improve videos. I passed over each face too quickly -- but I wanted to get everyone in before the song ended. I don't know the size limit my host requires.

The translation from mpg format (that my digital camera does) to 3gp (which a cell phone does) is not a smooth operation. The sound stutters a few times. Still, the resulting movie is usually better than a cell phone would do. (The host site provides free space for cell phone videos and images, but allows postings from other sources as long as they keep the video in the same format as cell phones would use.)

Family Sings Jingle Bells

P.S. If the video does not come up, try the newest version of the free QuickTime Player (at Quicktime.com).

Genealogist's Christmas Poem

Got this from D. P. (thanks!)

Merry Christmas!

Hope all of you are having a good holiday. One sister and her husband, parents of 5 children, said they plan to hit every movie worth seeing before school starts back up. Another sister is from out of town and plans to go to the sales here afterwards, "Shop Till Your Drop" would be her motto. I am meeting her for lunch, tomorrow.

Otherwise, today we are all eating, unwrapping, talking, taking photos (I am going to post a short video on the photo blog of us all singing a Christmas Carol) and enjoying life today. May we all remember the true meaning of Christmas, those who are not so fortunate and Jesus Christ who lived and died for us.

Christmas Carol Puzzle

J.C. sent this cute puzzle. Each clue leads to a well-known Christmas Carol. Answers here.

Christmas Eve

Yay! I love this day - almost better than Christmas. Anticipation is half of the fun. I am going to be baking today, visiting, and enjoying the Christmas music. What is your favorite holiday music? This year, my favorite song is from "Christmas Remixed" titled The First Noel (Attaboy House Party Mix). It's a combination of Bing Crosby and techno -- so good!! I also love a Star to Follow by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and the deeply beautiful Il Est Ne (He is Born) by Micheal Gettel from the Narada Christmas collection.

Saddam Cartoons

Thanks to L.B. for these -- here's a link to editorial cartoons printed about Saddam's capture. These are hilarious. Don't miss the NEXT arrow at the bottom of the page to see more.

http://cagle.slate.msn.com//news/SaddamCaptured/main.asp

Christmas Eve's Eve

The days are very enjoyable now. I can bake, listen to holiday music (I will never get tired of holiday music), look forward to being with relatives, enjoying having a little more time now that the shopping is done, etc. I hate for it to end.

My daughter and I ate at Cracker Barrel yesterday. I had forgotten what a nice place it is -- with a fire going in the fireplace and a "down-home country" feel to the place. The shop was fun, too, with homemade-type jams, candies  -- and lots of atmosphere.

Afterwards, we went the Parkway Place Mall. I was glad to have had all my shopping done. The place was very busy. I like malls, though, and watching the people and the decorations -- always a busy place, it seems.

We were going to go grocery shopping at Wal-Mart, but I begged off. I knew Wal-Mart would not be pleasurable -- more like torture right now. Instead, I visited with my daughter and her grandkitty (that's what my husband calls my daughter's cat), taking several photos.

It was an enjoyable day and probably the last time I will see her until after Christmas. She is working on Christmas and the day after - hospital nurses don't rest. Actually, she doesn't mind working those days because her birthday is New Year's Eve (she will be 22) and she badly wanted those days off to celebrate and recover -- so it is all working out.

Today, I get to see Lord of the Rings. I know it will be fantastic. I want to buy the complete DVD set when it comes out next year. I hope the coming rainstorm does not do more than add interestng sound effects to the theater.

My husband and I are going to get the largest size popcorn and drinks and pork out at the movie. I love that greasy stuff.

Finally, if the rain is not too bad, we want to drive around the Botanical Gardens. They do an amazing light display for the holidays. Life is good.

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