#61: Eight years of freakishly fun tours...and yes, he's still the one!

[shortyjill]

Boy did we get some rain last night..poured for at least an hour, but looks like the sun will be out today.

aikim, dress for the weather in Champaign! The "storm" blew through here about an hour ago. We just had lots of rain and a bit of wind, but just north of us they are reporting lots of power outages.

I'm sooooo sick of rain!!! I'm ready to head down to west Texas, I hear they're hot and dry. I would welcome that in an instant!

And we're supposed to get those storms that just hit you.... thanks a lot, Chicago. LOL

Going to see Bridesmaids tonight instead of the new Pirates movie. I hear it's really good, but I'll be missing that little bit of eye candy (Johnny Depp).

[FearofH2O]

Aikim, hope the weather stays nice and sunny. It's gorgeous here today so we washed up the grill to get it ready for the season. I'm also changing over my clothes as the expected temperature here next week is 94. Looks like ironing the linen clothing is in my future.

Ladyj enjoy the concert. Good music to clean house to.

Caro, what a nice blog. Sounds like you worked really hard.

[Desertrose]

So I'm finally changing to U verse from Direct TV. They are coming out next Thursday and the only thing I'm trying to debate is whether to watch the 20 episodes of True Blood that's been sitting here forever. I guess I could do it if I started today.

Since most of our customers are foreign ships we rarely have any holidays off. We always have a small staff working and since I'm the JUNIOR food buyer I never really get any holidays off but Xmas and Thanksgiving. Those are the only days we seem to totally close down for. We do try to close down early though..usually around 1 or 2.

I don't understand our weather. We've had some nice warm sunny days this week and today it's cold and dreary again. I hope we get a real summer.

I'm finally going to break down and add some music to this shuffle. I didn't want to because I wanted another "real" ipod LOL. I miss having Clay in my ear though.

And as I posted this it starts freaking RAINING hard!

I think you will like Uverse. I changed from Comcast to Uverse a year ago, and I really like it. Only negative is that I lost everything I had recorded on the Comcast DVR. I hope that you like Uverse enough to make up for the 20 episodes of True Blood if you don't get to watch them!

Edited May 29, 2011 by ldyjocelyn
Edited to reduce white space...ldyj

[treenuts]

FCA

I'm with you on the weather here, couchie! It freaking sucks!!

Happy Memorial Day weekend, all!

[ausdon]

I too love hearing what everyone is up to. I guess we have lots of gardeners here. I have all that ahead of me but I have the proverbial "brown thumbs" so maybe I should get some quotes for landscapers in case its all too much for me!!

(it probably is ).

We have a handover date at last!! 14th July yay!!

I have dates and timelines and to do lists swirling around my head but I suppose it will all just get done over time.

I might go and google Chris Colfer, love him on Glee.

[luckiest1]

ausdon, I can't keep house plants alive to save my life, but I'm doing quite well with starting veggies from seed and then transplanting them out to the garden when they are big enough.

We got our thunderstorms yesterday evening, as predicted. So now they are predicting a week of sunny, hot and humid temperatures. No sign of rain. That will be different! With the pugs, I will have no choice but to put the AC on, as they can't handle the heat.

[aikim]

Had a nice day at my MIL yesterday and we did get to see the sun..started the drive in rain and by the time we got there, it was sunny and warm.

The sun is shining! Such a nice sight to see. Going to be 92 here today..I plan on planting my butt in a lawn chair and just enjoying the day.

55 Days until Clay is on DDD!

Happy Birthday to all celebrating!

Everyone have a great day!

Kim

[ldyjocelyn]

ausdon, glad the house thing is working out for you!

luckiest, I know nothing about pugs, but I know that I personally need AC, or I get very cranky. Your weather is our weather today too. I think I'll stay in the house today.

Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day!

[aikim]

Potato Salad and pasta salad done..chocolate cake in the oven...later we will do the rest of the food. Warm, but there is a lovely breeze and I have the windows open, but still turned on the fans.

Now I need to wash up some dishes and then probably go back outside and sit for a while.

Kim

[shortyjill]

Happy Memorial Day! Hope everyone's having a good one!

Much too hot here for open windows.... 87 and it's still not quite the hottest part of the day. Very thankful for having a/c! We never had it at the house, I'd be dying if we were still there...

It's just me and my mom for this Memorial Day, but we'll have a few of the regular dishes: corn on the cob, baked beans, BBQ pulled pork, potato salad. Can't wait!

[FearofH2O]

I hope everyone is having a great Memorial Day! We went out last night to our old neighborsretirement place to have dinner.(They never went back to their home after the fire.) Food was good. Loved the Chocolate Genache Cheesecake, but the prime rib was too well done. Today we are grilling and chilling. I did get to the gym and vacuum a little but other than that I'm doing paper work.

[gbmifan]

Day to ourselves, kids have other plans. Went out for a 53 mile bike ride this am and it was really hot and humid. Got two new toys for my bike. The first a bottle that sprays and has a fan for these very hot day. It fits into my bottle holder. I usually wear a camelback for more water. Then my hubby got me a device that measures the % of our hill climbing. It has been fun watching what it is telling us on some of our climbs.

I putting the potatoes in the oven and stir frying some veggies and hubby is cooking the chicken on the grill.

[Couch Tomato]

Day to ourselves, kids have other plans. Went out for a 53 mile bike ride this am and it was really hot and humid. Got two new toys for my bike. The first a bottle that sprays and has a fan for these very hot day. It fits into my bottle holder. I usually wear a camelback for more water. Then my hubby got me a device that measures the % of our hill climbing. It has been fun watching what it is telling us on some of our climbs.

I putting the potatoes in the oven and stir frying some veggies and hubby is cooking the chicken on the grill.

Am I the only one that worked? I'm dog tired and too lazy to even cook anything. Everybody else out at the little league park.

[treenuts]

Nope, you're not the only one. Unfortunatley when I got home mom informed me she had thawed ground sirloin and wanted meatloaf but she didn't feel up to making it... so guess who is cooking dinner? It is baking in the oven as I type this and then the scallop potatoes go in. I'm hungry but my feet, legs and back are killing me from being on them all day and now this! UGH

Oh well, the weather has been so crappy I guess working didn't bother me so much. LOL

[luckiest1]

It's not a holiday here couchie, just a regular old Monday. I generally dislike AC but with the humidity and heat today, even I am enjoying it tonight. It'll definitely make for easier sleeping conditions for both pug and human.

I didn't want to heat up the house tonight, so this morning I had the sense to boil some eggs before work, so that I could devil them later. To go along with them for dinner, I made a spinach salad and BBQed some burgers for the kids, shrimp for me. Yum yum.

[Couch Tomato]

Sooooooo I'm cleaning and that means Clay cleaning too. I could have sworn I did this a couple of years ago and I think I did. But I still have so much stuff. Well today -- all residual VHS tapes are gone. At one point I think I thought I had to download every Clay clip. I had all these DVDs which were just Clay files... a huge box of them. Out. I also had a million duplicates home made CDs. All tv shows that first couple years, also gone. I kept Salamander's DVDs because she documented everything really well. I kept all professional recordings. AI 2 DVDs. All DVDs that were full concerts made by some very talented folks. I still have a nice collection to take to the old folks home.

Still have some boxes to go through. I may have some things that people might want. I'll post when I get to them.

Treenuts..I called home twice to ask my mom to take some chicken out of the freezer. The second time she was talking to her boyfriend because she said "of course I took it out" then got me off the phone real quick. LOL. Of course when I get home, chicken not out. She felt all guilty and brought me food home from the game. I guess they had a party at the ballpark today.

[aikim]

Back to work today, it was nice having 3 days off and school starts tonight; going to be a hassle getting their because they are doing construction on the only expressway to get there and alternate routes will also be backed up as everyone is trying to find different ways to get around. Class starts at 6:00 which means we will be driving right around rush hour. Going with another girl from work who is taking the course.

54 Days until Clay is on DDD!

Happy Birthday to all celebrating!

Everyone have a great day!

Kim

[treenuts]

OMG this efffing rain is THE PITS! When will summer come????

All I can say, couchie, is if it's still like this when go to the ballgame in a few weeks I'm gonna

Hey,when is the FoD thingy suppose to happen? Did Tori never respond?

this post brought to you by the ever questioning "?"

[Carolina Clay]

I spent the morning casually paying bills and catching up on RL. I didn't even know about SueReu's neat new montage until after lunch, but my afternoon was a little more Clay-productive.

The new Carolina On My Mind blog highlights SueReu's new Retrospective montage -- Clay Aiken: Knights on Broadway -- and incorporates other videos from the series, Spamalot graphics by AmazingCA and cindilu2, and MIX 96.5's feature, "Musicians' Real Names," with a visual by Ashes.

Thank you for your blog comments, tweets, Facebook posts, links, etc., all of which help us spread the word on the Internet. Btw, I included links to all the Retrospective montages.

One other thing I did this morning was move the OFC comments for the Student Recital entry to the Carolina site so my young musicians and their parents can read the remarks. I'm going to send a fall/summer enrollment reminder tomorrow and include the link. One mother has already said how nice the comments are. Thnx to those who dropped by this entry that does not even mention "Clay Aiken" at all.

I saw this posted at CV by Playbiller of the CH:

Here is an interesting blog using American Idols as examples of things Flutists need to do or not do as technique

http://terrisanchez.blogspot.com/2011/05/a...erformance.html

The Clay excerpt.

Even though Clay Aiken won second place in 2003, he was my favorite that season

Flutists, Clay's performance demonstrates the importance of thoughtful pacing. He is one of the few American Idol contestants that knows how to draw his audience in with effortless, easy resonance and use specific moments to heighten intensity, ultimately leading to the climax of the song.

So many young singers and flutists tend to play every moment of the piece with the same intensity level, not remembering that they are taking the audience on a journey with them. We can also learn a lot from the way Clay has a big "presence" without forcing or pushing his voice to the limit.

I visited this gal's blog. It is well researched. well written, and thorough. She doesn't have a link for comments, so I sent her an email. I also listed the blog in one of the Carolina sidebar rolls.

Have a great week, all!

Caro

[aikim]

First day of school under my belt..this is going to be an interesting class. It is Children's Library Services so we have several projects to do that involve storytelling and activities to go with the stories. I am so not good at doing things in front of a group people (granted we have a small group, only 8 people, but still...)..one of the stories has to be done from memory, no notes and we pretty much have to act it out! The class goes to July 21st so a lot packed into those 7 weeks...lots of reading to do and we have to keep a journal. The teacher is also 7 months pregnant, so lots of jokes about "birthing babies", LOL...she was looking really tired so I hope she makes it through the class!

And to add to my stress, my refrigerator has decided to stop working..the freezer temp keeps fluctuating. We have an extended warranty and will be calling for service but after reading complaints at the GE troubleshooting site, I am not hopeful. Lots of people with the same complaints and not getting very good service from GE. I really can't afford a new refrigerator right now.

53 Days until Clay is on DDD!

Happy Birthday to all celebrating!

Everyone have a great day!

Kim

[FearofH2O]

Good morning! I actually did a "to do list" to get myself going today. Mr. Fear and I agreed to start a new diet in preparation for his next surgery. In honor of this we pigged out at "Five Guys" last night. Scarlett! I'll be caging in the rest of my garden as those sneaky little critters are eating everything that pops up. Grrr!

I'm looking forward to Clay news popping up somewhere soon. Other than that I hope he is enjoying his life.

Have a great day!

[luckiest1]

Happy June 1st....I'm trying to smile, the weather is good, the humidity has broken, the sun is out, my garden is growing nicely. My daughter has been working at my company the last few weeks, in a training class for a program that was supposed to last 7 weeks before she was to go onto the phones permanently. Yesterday, just before lunch, the corporate client announced that their 'staffing needs' had changed the entire class was no longer needed. Too bad, so sad, pack your things and get out. Apparently even the trainer was bawling. I'm just so pissed off....I can't believe any company would be stupid enough to invest almost 4 weeks of training and wages into so many people just to change their minds halfway in. Makes no sense to me. Unfortunately, she had quit another job for this opportunity, so now she's left with nothing but a week's severance. Sometimes life sucks.

[aikim]

Happy June 1st....I'm trying to smile, the weather is good, the humidity has broken, the sun is out, my garden is growing nicely. My daughter has been working at my company the last few weeks, in a training class for a program that was supposed to last 7 weeks before she was to go onto the phones permanently. Yesterday, just before lunch, the corporate client announced that their 'staffing needs' had changed the entire class was no longer needed. Too bad, so sad, pack your things and get out. Apparently even the trainer was bawling. I'm just so pissed off....I can't believe any company would be stupid enough to invest almost 4 weeks of training and wages into so many people just to change their minds halfway in. Makes no sense to me. Unfortunately, she had quit another job for this opportunity, so now she's left with nothing but a week's severance. Sometimes life sucks.

That really stinks..hope she can find something soon..I think you really do have to look on the bright side of life at times to keep your sanity.

Kim

[ldyjocelyn]

aikim, good luck with the class! I'm sure you'll do fine. My college is just finishing "mini-mester" -- 3 weeks, 4 1/2 hours a day, one class. I don't think I could take that! Next week starts actual summer school.

luckiest, give a big hug to your daughter. That really sucks, but she's a bright person, and I think she'll find something!

A bit sad that FOD hasn't shown up yet, but I'll deal.

[shortyjill]

Luckiest, sorry about what happened to your daughter. Hopefully she'll find something soon.

aikim good luck with your class!

Well, I was optimistic for those last few days of May that we might see FOD before the month closed out, but now it's June. It'd be nice if they held out for at least another week, I'm insanely busy till after Sunday!

I'm hoping I hear back about the internship either today or tomorrow. Kinda getting anxious about it, although after how well everything went I feel like I'm just waiting to find out what day I start! *g* I'm waiting on a call this morning saying the tail light cover for my car is in...I got pulled over on the weekend for it being cracked and was told to fix it ASAP. I also have plans to see Kung Fu Panda 2 with some friends (yes we are total children occasionally), but I got a text from the one organizing the group that her power steering went out! So we both have car problems today. I just hope that her car and mine can be done before our meeting time.

And then of course the Stanley Cup Finals start tonight. Go Vancouver!