The Weekend

* Alyssa and I started the college shopping yesterday. We bought all her bedding supplies yesterday at Bed, Bath & Beyond. It almost didn't happen, though. Apparently all college beds are XL's and XL sheets are not very plentiful. The woman at BB&B informed us that their college sales begin the beginning of July. That's a problem for us, with Alyssa needing to be at PSU on July 1st! Fortunately, they had clearance items leftover from this past summer, plus we got terrific bargains on everything!

* Adam's Scout Court of Honor was last evening. After a Mexican dinner, the scouts played a few games, then received the badges they had earned since the last Court of Honor which was in July.

* This afternoon, Kurt left for a week in Denmark and my mom, Adam, a buddy of his and I took a trip up to Bear Creek Camp near Wilkes Barre, PA. Just as we were arriving, it began snowing; by the time we left, it was like a blizzard. About five miles down the turnpike it stopped and you would have never known it had been snowing!! BCC is the Lutheran church camp and if each Lutheran church appoints a representative, known as an Ambassador, to attend a meeting once a year, each child from their church who attends camp in the summer receives a $10 discount on their week at camp. I have served as the Ambassador for the last five years. Your responsibility as Ambassador is to be the liason between the camp and the church and to keep the church up to date on all the activities of the camp.

Celebrity Look-A-Likes

The disadvantages to no hair....

Celebrity Look-A-Likes

The disadvantages to short hair.....

Celebrity Look-A-Likes

The disadvantages to long hair....

Who Do You Look Like?

Thanks Steph!!

Not-So-Newlywed

Last night we had a family game night at church that included the Not-So-Newlywed game and Family Feud. We are still married after taking our chances with the newlywed game! I thought I would share some of the questions that each of us got, with the responses given by the opposite spouse.

Kurt's Questions:

1. Where will your wife say was your first date?
Kurt: Your Place Restaurant
Michele: Your Place Restaurant

2. What is the color of your wife's toothbrush?
Kurt: Blue
Michele: Orange

3. What time will your wife say it is after she leaves the house: Party time, Sleep time or Cleaning time?
Kurt: Sleep time
Michele: Sleep time (DEFINITELY)


4. Who would your wife says hogs the covers:
Kurt: She does
Michele: I do (But only because I knew that was what he was going to say. For the record, I DO NOT hog the covers!)


5. What candy bar best describes your whoopie-making?
Kurt: Nutrageous
Michele: Mounds


Michele's Questions:

1. What was the worst gift you ever received from your husband:
Michele: Turkey fryer
Kurt: Carpet cleaner

2. What percentage of the housework does your husband do?
Michele: 25%
Kurt: 10%

3. What would your husband say is his favorite comfort food?
Michele: Roast Beef
Kurt: Pretzels

4. What feature did your husband first notice about you on your first date?
Michele: Sense of humor
Kurt: Glasses (???)

5. When will your husband say was your last long, passionate kiss?
Michele: Two years ago (not really)
Kurt: Two weeks ago (not really)


As you can see, we haven't been married long enough or need to learn a little more about each other...LOL!! The pastors announced this morning in church that they will be offering marriage counseling sessions for any of the couples who participated last evening!!

Finally, one of the questions for Family Feud was name the top 7 imported beers (100 members from Emmanuel's were polled). Three of the top 7 answers were Yuengling, Coors and Sam Adams!! The pastor also announced that there will be Remedial Beer sessions beginning, as well, for those people who don't know where their beer comes from!!

Update

Here's an update on the death of the woman who participated in the water drinking/holding contest.

Nittany Proud

Alyssa received her acceptance letter today to Pennsylvania State University at University Park to begin in the summer session! This is exactly what she wanted-she is ecstatic and on cloud nine!

We really didn't expect the letter for another week or so, based on what the memo said on the web site. She saw the mail lady shoving a big envelope in the mailbox earlier today. Excitedly, she dropped everything, ran to the mailbox and ripped open the big white Penn State envelope!

Adam and I were out running some errands and were at Red Robin when my cell phone rang about 1230 p.m. It was Alyssa, she was crying, the connection wasn't the greatest and I couldn't understand what she was saying. I knew she had been out to lunch with her friends and I thought she was trying to tell me she had been in an accident! She was screaming so loud, Adam could hear her across the table. He, too, thought something terrible had happened. I kept saying, "Alyssa, are you OK? What happened?" She kept trying to tell me that she had been accepted to PSU and I still couldn't understand what she was saying! I could have sworn she was telling me that she hit a Grand Prix! I finally asked her to calm down and talk as clearly as she could.

She took a deep breath, calmed down and slowly proceeded to tell me she had been accepted to Penn State. At that point, I think everyone at Red Robin thought that I was nuts. I got a little crazy and then proceeded to begin crying! Even Adam was excited. In addition to not having just had an accident, she had just been accepted to the college and campus of her choice!

Minutes later, after we were off the phone, it hit me all of a sudden- OMG, I'm losing her and it's gonna be several weeks after graduation. Then I couldn't stop crying. Poor Adam was just sitting there, not knowing what to say or do.

These next few months are gonna fly by. After reviewing the packet that came, I found that the arrival date for the summer students is July 1, 2007 and classes begin July 3, 2007. That'll be here before we know it!

Unrelated Pics

Friends

Christmas stitchery I did many years ago

Close-up view

PSU Decision Made

OK, so it's not quite that easy...darn! There was finally a different message on the Check Application Status page today on Penn State's web site. It has been saying for months that Alyssa's application had been received and was being reviewed. Today it said, "A decision on your admission has been made as of 1/15/07. You will receive the decision in the mail in approximately two weeks."

Bummer...

I even called them to see if we could get the answer over the phone. They said it's a university policy that they only inform applicants via the mail. (Isn't it time for them to move into the 21st century?!?!?)

So now it's a waiting game for the next two weeks...

Keep your fingers and toes crossed!

Uberly Proud

This evening from 5-8 p.m. the Friendly's Restaurant on MacArthur Rd. in Whitehall donated 10% of all their profits to Northampton High School's Big-N-Band to help defray the cost of the April trip to Disney World in Orlando, FL. Alyssa and a few friends had made plans to meet there for dinner tonite to support the fundraiser. Til it was all said and done, only Alyssa and her friend Karlie were going to be able to go. They planned on meeting there at 5:30 p.m.

Alyssa called me at about 5:15 p.m., which concerned me, because I knew she should have been on her way to Friendly's. That meant she was either calling me while she was driving (which she knows she's not to do...) or she had pulled off the road to make the call.

Here she said she got about five miles from home and realized that it was fairly foggy and was afraid it would worsen by the time she would be leaving Friendly's. She decided it would be best to just come back home and not chance it. She called me when she got home to let me know what she had decided. I praised her for making the decision that she did. I know she was excited about going...she could have just continued on and just chanced it.

So instead of having a Happy Ending sundae, she had lite Polska Kielbasa and macaroni and cheese (from the box)! Just that in itself would have made me keep driving....LOL!!

A Tragedy

This story is so sad. I'm sure most people wouldn't even think that someone could die of water intoxication. There seems to be a big debate as to whether the radio station should be blamed for this woman's death or if it was the woman's fault herself for choosing to participate without knowing the possible ramifications. I generally get frustrated at people who won't take responsibility for their own actions, but in this situation, a water drinking contest seemed so innocent, that I imagine most people were naive to the fact that complications could occur. I place the fault for this one on the radio station for not investigating what could come of this seemingly innocent contest.

Free Afternoon

I had a $75 gift certificate to the Lehigh Valley Mall that I got back in April for Secretary's Day at work (Don't ask!). I rarely go to the Lehigh Valley Mall, thus the reason I still had the GC. I've had a certain person I know offer to take it off my hands, but I knew there would come a time that it would come to good use.

Today was that time! Alyssa and I headed to the mall this morning after church. All of our purchases, plus our lunch, were covered by the GC. She got a pair of sneaks at Payless and the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelly (for her English class, it wasn't her choice of reading material!!). I got 6 new washcloths at JCPenney's and three shower gels at Bath and Body Works. Plus we had a nice lunch at Pasta Bella (It's our new favorite Olive Garden...LOL!!).

I think we had some change to spare besides! Plus we got in some daughter-mom bonding time, which is worth more than any old gift certificate!

Brief update on Adam: There was no snow (surprise!), but he said they had a good time, nonetheless. There were 47 teams that competed in events. His troop was broken down into two teams. The team Adam was on finished in 24th place out of 47. The other team in his troop finished 47th! They competed in such events as knot tying, first aid, compass reading, ax chopping, sled races, etc.

Guess

So, guess where Adam is this weekend? I know, I know....my contests are getting boring! Yes, you got it...he's camping with scouts. This annual camping weekend is called Snowbound! I think we need to re-name the weekend to Rainbound!

The purpose of the trip is to have contests in the snow! Ha! I think they need to come up with a different plan....

Nice Surprise

I finally had to dispose of the flower arrangement that I received from my transplant patient. It lasted about three weeks! There was a little cottage in the middle of it. Imagine my surprise when I took it out of the arrangement and saw that there was a little on/off switch in the back. Here it lights up! Isn't that cool? A little added extra....

Give Thanks

I have had the opportunity to view several MySpace pages of some of Alyssa and Adam's classmates. It is disappointing to see their language and sexual innuendos on their pages. I'm not sure what they are trying to prove. As I was showing Kurt some of the pages the other night, I said to him we need to appreciate what we have in our kids and that they have never had interest in this stuff. I suppose these kids would call my kids nerds, but Alyssa doesn't have a MySpace and I really don't think she has any interest in having one. Adam recently created one, but the few things I have seen on it, have been very innocent, and he rarely updates it. I will be sure to keep an eye on it, and if I ever see something on it that is less than desirable, there will be repercussions.

So, yeah, I know my kids aren't perfect, but I think they at least know what's appropriate and what's not.....

Fantabulous!

I wish you all could have been with me tonite! I attended a handbell concert at a local Lutheran church near Nazareth. The Rooke Chapel Handbell Ringers performed. They are a group of college students from Bucknell University under the direction of Dr. William Payne. There are about 13 ringers from freshman to seniors, guys and gals, alike. During the Christmas break, the group travels to all the home churches of their graduating seniors and performs a concert. I can't even begin to describe how good these kids are! Most of you know that I am in our handbell choir at our church....we don't even come close to the level that this choir performs at. This year they have five members graduating, four guys and one gal. I told Kurt I had two regrets about tonite: one that I didn't insist he come with me, and two, that I hadn't brought my camera with me.

PSU Update

No word on whether Alyssa has been accepted to Penn State yet. I did read an article on their web site that they received 40,000 applications for the start of the fall 2007 year! That is for a total of 15,000 openings statewide. Of that 15,000, they accept about 7,000 at the main campus.

Over the holidays (Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, New Year's....LOL), they had a statement on their web site, that no decisions would be made thruough 3 January 2007. It also said that anyone who had applied prior to 30 November 2006, would hear by 31 January 2007. So at this point, it is just a waiting game.

Several of her friends who applied to PSU satellite campuses have heard that they have been accepted. She also knows of a few students who applied to the main campus and have NOT been accepted there.

We are patiently (or impatiently!) waiting to hear. I look on their web site every day, sometimes twice a day (I know...that's pathetic!!). I am taking it as a good sign that she hasn't heard anything, especially since we know of some people who have already been told they weren't accepted at main. I figure they must still be considering her, or she would have heard by now.

Keep your fingers crossed for her!

Happy Feet

Since Adam had plans for today, Alyssa and I went out to lunch, then went to see the movie Happy Feet. I plan on taking as many opportunities as I can to spend time with her these next few months, because come fall, I'll be losing my buddy. I'm looking forward to all this college stuff for her because I know she's excited about it, but believe me, I'm dreading the day she leaves.

Whew!

Now that it's 2 in the morning and I just about had a heart attack, all is finally well! For those individuals who know what I am talking about, I updated my template and proceeded to lose my counter, my funny quote of the day and today's birthdays. I just spent the last two hours trying to retrieve them all. I almost regretted having done this! But now that it's all there, I think I'll actually like it! Thanks, James!!

The Queen B Made Me Do It

I'll not mention any names here, but a certain individual has chided me into updating to the new version of Blogger. I don't expect you'll see too much of a difference once I've completed the task, however. Updating will now allow me to make my blog private (don't plan on doing that...) if I so choose. It will also allow me to label each entry (wasn't really excited about that either...). I guess there's other stuff that you can do that I can't do now, but that certain individual has chosen to be a bit snitty about the whole thing and not share any further information with me. So I suppose I'll just have to try it and see what else it has to offer me that I don't plan on using!!

What a Cutie Patootie

Alyssa and I visited Jamie, John and Jonathan this afternoon to deliver Jonathan's Christmas present. Jonathan isn't the most outgoing or verbal child around me...it's kind of a little joke between Jamie and me. It's not unusual for him to hide his head in the crook of her neck or her armpit anytime I am around. I checked with Jamie last night to be sure her armpit was clean, since we were going to visit them today! She assured me she would shower prior to our visit.

He was like a different little boy today...he was talking, and smiling, and playing, and waving....it was great! He and Alyssa played with his gift, Mr. Potato Head and ate cheese and crackers together. She took some adorable pics of him: