Christmas in Hillbilly Land

The girls and Scooby relax after a busy Christmas morning .

I don't know what the problem is, I grabbed one of the pictures that you sent me in an e-mail and posted it just to see if I could. (It worked.) Keep trying, I'm pretty sure that you will get it figured out.

He's Rockin' and Rollin' now...

Ryan rolled over yesterday!!! Yippeee!!!!
Okay, I shouldn't be this excited about this, but aside from cooing/smiling, this is the only accomplishment he's had so far. He did it while I was at work and Laura called me all excited because she managed to capture it on tape for me (Laura's Parents/Grandparents got us a video camera for Christmas). Ryan did make out pretty well for Christmas, got some toys, some music, some clothes. I'll talk more about Christmas when I get a chance to upload some pictures (and get the pictures off of Grandpa's camera that I need).
Happy New Years everyone!

Multiple Choice #6 - Sports

It's that time again... This time the category is Sports. I chose one question for each of the following sports and will probably do a Sports - Football, Sports - Baseball, etc. type quiz later on. Again, good luck all and dont' forget to e-mail me the answers by January 6th, 2006.

1. NFL - Who was the first player in history to receive 20,000 passing yards in their career?

a. Jerry Rice
b. Lance Rentzel
c. Bob Hayes
d. Dick Bass

2. MLB - What was Babe Ruth's lifetime homerun record?

a. 657 home runs
b. 602 home runs
c. 714 home runs
d. 752 home runs

3. NHL - Who has won the most Stanley Cups as of 2005?

a. Toronto Maple Leafs
b. Detroit Red Wings
c. Montreal Canadiens
d. Vancouver Canucks

4. PGA - What is Arnold Palmer's nickname?

a. The Golden Bear
b. The Patriot
c. The Emperor
d. The King

5. NBA - Which team has won the most NBA titles?

a. Philadelphia 76ers
b. Boston Celtics
c. Los Angeles Lakers
d. Chicago Bulls

The Big picture

For those who don't know (or haven't tried it)you can double click on a picture in an article and will get a larger image. If you put the cursor on the larger picture, a symbol appears in the lower right-hand corner and if you click on that, you get a full-screen picture. Click on the symbol again to make the image small again (or click on "back").

Image Uploading Tutorial

Okay first and foremost, you must disable any pop-up blockers. This seems to cause most of the problems. Also, I would suggest making the image a jpg instead of a gif or bmp as the load time for this type is quicker. I have made a quick little tutorial for posting images below if that does not solve the issue...

Select the image icon and a window should pop up which looks like this...

I suggest selecting the "None" option for the layout as the blog tends to get confused if there is a lot of text near it if you select one of the other options. Clicking on browse should open up this window...

Select the image you want.

Choose your sizing (medium and small work best on this blog layout) and click Upload Image. It should tell you it is uploading the image and then it will tell you it is complete, see following images...

1st screen...

2nd screen...

Then, voila!!! Your image is there.

If you want to get fancy you can play with the HTML in the Edit Html section, but it's a bit flaky so edit at your own risk... have fun and I look forward to some more Christmas pictures... Oh, and before I forget... Happy New Year!!!

Christmas

We had a great Christmas. Debbie and I went to Jennifer's house to see Samantha open her presents. Glen and Laura brought Ryan a little later and I cooked breakfast for everyone. (Ham and cheese omelets, hash browns, biscuits, bacon and pancakes.) Glen, Laura and Ryan went to her parents for the rest of the day but they were at my house on Christmas Eve to get their presents. Ryan was dressed to the nines for church on Christmas Eve. John, Jennifer and Samantha came to my house around noon on Christmas to open presents with Debbie and me. They spent the afternoon with John's parents and then came back for Christmas dinner around 6:00. Very busy day but very enjoyable. I gave Samantha a little "Princess" bicycle for Christmas and she loves it. I was helping her ride it yesterday while I was babysitting and Debbie took some pix. It was a little chilly so we didn't stay out too long. She did pretty well, although steering and pedaling at the same time is a bit of a challenge.

Longwood Gardens

Debbie and I went to Longwood Gardens Wednesday night to see the Christmas lights, all 420,000 of them. It was too cold for the fountain show (which is beautiful) but it was below freezing so the fountains were shut off. We toured the "Conservatory" which has thousands of gorgeous flowers, including roses, orchids, birds of paradise and lots of poinsettias. We walked about the grounds and saw the many trees decorated with colored lights, including some that had giant snowflakes way up high. Here are a few of the pictures but they really don't do it justice, you have to be there to get the full effect.

Multiple Choice #5 - Christmas!

First and foremost, Merry Christmas everyone. I hope your travels are safe and your presents abundant. Okay, in the spirit of the holidays... here is a quiz about Christmas (answers due to me by the 29th of December). Good Luck!

1. In 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas', what was the name of the Grinch's dog?

A) Mitch
B) Mike
C) Max
D) Marx

2. Many movies about Christmas have been made for television and the cinema over the years, including dozens of versions of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Which of the following films has NOT yet been made?

A) The Jetsons' Christmas Carol
B) Popeye's Christmas Carol
C) Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol
D) Mickey's Christmas Carol

3. When are the '12 Days of Christmas'?

A) The 12 days after Christmas: December 26 to January 6
B) The 12 days around Christmas: Christmas Eve to January 4
C) The 12 days before Christmas: December 14 to December 25
D) The 12 days beginning with the winter solstice:
December 21 to January 1

4. Who was the first English monarch to have a Christmas tree?

A) Queen Elizabeth
B) King James VI
C) Queen Victoria
D) King George II

5. How did the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe develop?

A) Eating it makes your mouth pucker
B) It was associated with the Scandinavian love goddess
C) The Druids used it in marriage ceremonies
D) It was used to make love potion in ancient times

Oh and just for fun... If you were to buy everything from the 12 Days of Christmas song, it would cost you a total of $18,348.87! Click on each of the items (pear, bird, maid, etc.) to see the change in price over the last 21 years.

Ryan and Santa

Laura took Ryan to get his picture taken with Santa the other day... Thought you might like to see it. Merry Christmas!!!!

Multiple Choice #4 - Movies

It's that time again... This time the category is Movies. I have chosen five movies, one from each of the past 5 decades. The 60s (Midnight Cowboy), the 70s (Star Wars), the 80s (Steel Magnolias), the 90s (The Silence of the Lambs), and the 2000s (Shrek). I picked highly popular movies (award winning, top grossing, etc.) so the odds of you seeing most if not all of these movies is pretty good. You know the drill, you don't know the answer just guess. Also, not that I have to remind you, but e-mail me the answers. Good Luck all!

1. Midnight Cowboy - The majority of this movie takes place in NYC, but after Ratso gets sick they decide to leave for warmer weather. What city did they leave for?

a. Dallas
b. New Orleans
c. Atlanta
d. Miami

2. Star Wars - "May the Force be with you!", is probably the most famous line from all of the Star Wars movies. Who is the first person to tell Luke about "the Force"?

a. Darth Vader
b. Ben Kenobi
c. Yoda
d. C-3PO

3. Steel Magnolias - Julia Roberts' character Shelby ultimately gave her life to have a child. What was his nickname?

a. Joe Jr.
b. John Jr.
c. Jack Jr.
d. Jim Jr.

4. The Silence of the Lambs - Clarice's meetings with Dr. Lector throughout this movie are aiding her in catching a killer named Jame Gumb. What was he called through most of the movie?

a. Billy Boy
b. Wild Bill
c. Billy the Kid
d. Buffalo Bill

5. Shrek - Many fairy tale characters wind up in Shrek's swamp, who was NOT there?

a. Baby Bear (Goldilocks and the Three Bears)
b. Pinocchio (Pinocchio)
c. The Muffin Man (Do You Know the Muffin Man?)
d. The Big Bad Wolf (Three Little Pigs)

Multiple Choice #3 - Television

Okay, seeing as Grandpa and Mom tied on the last round, I decided to pick this round's category - Television. Okay... same rules, different round and don't forget to e-mail me the answers by December 17th.

#1. In the show 'ER', Dr. Mark Greene died in the 1992 season. What was the cause of his death?

a. Automobile Accident
b. Helicopter Accident
c. Brain Tumor
d. Lung Cancer

#2. In 'The Cosby Show', how many children did Mr. and Mrs. Huxtable have?

a. 3
b. 4
c. 5
d. 6

#3. Dick Van Dyke's character (Rob Petrie) in the 'Dick Van Dyke Show', did what for a living?

a. Author of best selling novels
b. Writer for a television show
c. Star of a hit television show
d. Reporter for a television news show

#4. What year did 'The Simpsons' begin?

a. 1987
b. 1989
c. 1991
d. 1993

#5. In the show 'Friends', what was name of Chandler's on again off again obnoxious girlfriend?

a. Janet
b. Judith
c. Janice
d. Jackie

Remember, use your own knowledge and good luck!

Christmas Lights

This is a link to some guys who decorate their homes with lights and then time the lights to music to make some very obnoxious neighbors. Go to the video section and get into the holiday spirit. I like the Wizards of Winter one near the bottom of the list (this one has been circulating the internet this year). Have fun and don't let the holidays get ya down!

Pictures of Ryan

Hey, I know I've been slacking with the pictures of Ryan, so here ya go!

Nighttime Adventures
I think it's snack time...	Perhaps you didn't understand me... I said SNACK TIME!!!

Halloween!
Uh... I'm a pumpkin?!?	I wanted to be Darth Vader!!!

Time for Football!
Go Eagles!!!	Watching football is such hard work...

Thanksgiving
No turkey for Ryan :(	I know it's not Ryan, but she looked so cute in her little dress.

Adventures in Boredom
Look ma! No hands!	Hands! Hands! Haaaands!!!!

Smile!!!

Ryan learned to smile...

...from both ends?!?

Multiple Choice #2 - History

Grandpa won the last of these quizzes so he picked from a list of categories for a quiz, and he selected... History (yeah, not my cup 'o tea either). Due to the fact that not all of us are history buffs, I copied three questions from a 9th grade high school history quiz (and yes, I got them all right), the other two questions were taken from a 200 level (mostly sophomores and freshman) college history quiz.

#1. On what religious holiday was Abraham Lincoln shot?

a. Christmas
b. Easter Sunday
c. Yom Kippur
d. Good Friday

#2. Who first said, "All we have to fear is fear itself"?

a. Winston Churchill
b. Franklin Roosevelt
c. John F. Kennedy
d. Martin Luther King, Jr.

#3. What was the name of the plane which dropped the SECOND nuclear bomb on Japan?

a. Enola Gay
b. Memphis Belle
c. Big Boy
d. Bock's Car

#4. The President whose election depended upon the decision of an Electoral Commission was?

a. Rutherford B. Hayes
b. Richard Nixon
c. Benjamin Harrison
d. Andrew Jackson
e. Grover Cleveland

#5. In what city was the treaty ending the Russo-Japanese War signed?

a. San Francisco, CA
b. Portsmouth, NH
c. Washington D.C.
d. Herndon, VA

Same rules apply... e-mail me the answers by the end of this week (12-03-05). Good luck all!

Turkey Day is Coming!

This is a copy of an article that I found to be humorous...

Key to the celebration of Thanksgiving is gathering with family and friends to partake of a sumptuous feast prepared in honor of the day. Central to that feast (or at least to our common mental image of it) is a roasted turkey laid on a platter before the hungry guests, the bird presented in all its mouthwatering crispy-skinned perfection.

Yet not every aspiring Thanksgiving-maker knows how to properly roast a turkey. The bird proves an utter mystery to some, resulting in many a holiday mishap of a culinary nature.

Luckily, those confounded by the fowl can access a great deal of help by calling a number of turkey preparation hotlines. While some offer only recorded tips on how to prepare and roast the bird, others provide live assistance from trained experts well experienced not only with poultry but with nervous and overwhelmed cooks. Over the years, these talk line mavens have fielded all manner of queries from those bewildered by the fickle bird.

One of the more unusual questions handled by Butterball's Turkey Talk-Line (1-800-BUTTERBALL) comes from those who have mistaken a well-traveled joke for an actual recipe: They call to ask if they can pop popcorn in the turkey's cavity during the roasting process. (The joke's punch line is: "You know the turkey is done when the popcorn pops and blows the rear off the bird.").
And no, you can't.

The hotline has heard from a gal who couldn't find the turkey she buried in a snowbank, a guy who wanted to know how to carve his bird with a chain saw, and a mechanic who worried about using motor oil as a baste.

Then there was the young mother who failed to notice her children playing near the oven-ready bird. The kids decided the turkey's cavity was a good place to park toy cars. Their mom didn't discover Ol' Tom was doubling as a garage until after the turkey had been roasted.

Another confused cook called the Butterball line after cleaning her turkey because she wanted to know how to get the metal pieces out. "Apparently," said one of the Butterball economists, "she had scrubbed her bird with a steel scouring pad." A West Coast woman who had taken anti-bacterial precautions too far called Butterball to find out how to get the bleach she'd used off her bird.

Butterball turkey experts still talk about the Kentucky woman who called in 1993 to ask how to get her dog out of her turkey. It seems the woman's Chihuahua had dived into the bird's cavity and become trapped there. The woman tried pulling the pooch and shaking the bird, all to no avail. A Butterball economist finally suggested the woman carefully cut the opening in the turkey wider to release the captive canine.

The Reynolds Wrap Turkey Tips Line (800-745-4000) took a query from a woman who wanted to know if she could cook her turkey by placing it in a Reynolds Oven Bag, putting it in the window in the back of her car, and letting the heat from the sun bake the turkey. (She was told that would be an uncontrolled heat source and was instructed to use an oven instead.)

The folks at Butterball have also dealt with cooks determined to roast turkeys on the back ledges of their cars. And they've had people call to ask if they could cook their holiday birds on radiators. Then there was the bride who had a small, apartment-size range and was worried the turkey would get larger as it cooked (similar to a loaf of bread rising) — she was fretting she wouldn't be able to get it out of the oven after it was done.

There are those whose problems are not how to get the turkey out of the oven, but when. Said Nancy Rodriguez, coordinator of the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line in 1985, "One lady in Arkansas had her five-pound turkey in the oven 24 hours — did we think it was done? Another caller wanted to know the best method for reattaching the thighs and drumsticks when they fall off. His 12-pound turkey had been in the oven since 8 a.m. the day before."

The self-cleaning option offered on a number of ranges has caused its share of Thanksgiving troubles when confused cooks have inadvertently started its cycle while their birds were in the oven. Others have different range-related questions, such as: "Your directions say to roast the turkey, but my oven says only bake or broil; how do I set it?"

We'll leave it to others to provide the more mundane advice regarding thawing and cooking times, how to prepare the bird for roasting and how to prepare stuffing, and instead offer these useful tips, as gleaned from the experiences of turkey hot line counsellors:

• Do not leave your turkey on your back porch, either to slow thaw it or to keep it chilled until the big day. Those who have failed to heed this advice have discovered themselves birdless on Thanksgiving morning. Their loss was the local raccoons' gain — those masked marauders celebrated the day in fine style.
• If you choose to bring home your frozen bird within the car proper rather than in the trunk, do take care to seatbelt the fowlsicle lest a sudden stop transform the star of the upcoming dinner into a weighty frozen projectile. One woman who failed to belt down her bird was rewarded for her lack of foresight with a broken toe when a sharp tap of the brakes caused the iced fowl to slide off the seat and onto her foot.

More Site Updates

Over the last few weeks I have tweaked the site a bit... here's a rundown of what's goin' on:

Google Search Engine

This has been added to the top of the sidebar for those of us who tend to keep this page up for easy searches.

Scoreboard

I have put up two scoreboards - one for the football 'pool' and one for the trivia questions contest. These are located just above the icon that you use to log in. These scoreboards will be updated weekly.

Word of the Day

I have also added a little 'word of the day' generator near the bottom of the sidebar. This is just for fun (a.k.a. Movie Quotes), but I also figured that learning something can't hurt too much (especially when we 'help' Grandpa with his crosswords).

Recent Comments

This has been complicated since I started working on it right after starting this page. I've finally fixed all the bugs except for one. "Mama's House" comments will not show up. This is due to the fact that she has an apostrophe in her name. This generator can only handle numbers and letters so any comments by her will NOT show up. So, Mom if you would like to have your name show up when you post a comment you will have to edit your user name to not include any symbols or punctuation marks... Recent comments should also now show on all pages which means that if you click on an Archive link the "Recent Comments" section will show the most recent comments for that archived page.

Sidebar

After all these little changes the sidebar began to look messy. I rearranged things a bit to make it more pleasing to the eye and added some more seperator lines.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Something else you would like added? Let me know.
Later!

Multiple Choice #1 - States

How well do you know your state?

Okay, I know that all of you could answer these questions by looking them up online, but I trust that you will use your own knowledge...

#1. The cardinal is the state bird of several states, but only one of the states that we live in has it for it's state bird.

a. Delaware
b. Florida
c. New Jersey
d. North Carolina

#2. Which of these states is the state flower the violet?

a. Delaware
b. Florida
c. New Jersey
d. North Carolina

#3. The mockingbird is the state bird for which of these states (like the cardinal it is the state bird of many states but only one of the ones we live in)?

a. Delaware
b. Florida
c. New Jersey
d. North Carolina

#4. The Longleaf Pine is the state tree for which of these states?

a. Delaware
b. Florida
c. New Jersey
d. North Carolina

#5. As of the 2004 Population Density report by the Census Bureau, which state has the highest population density (population per square mile)?

a. Delaware
b. Florida
c. New Jersey
d. North Carolina

Bonus Question (additional 1 point):

Bud Abbott, Jon Bon Jovi, Aaron Burr, David Copperfield, Lou Costello, Whitney Houston, Jerry Lewis, Jack Nicholson, Joe Piscopo, Norman Schwarzkopf, Frank Sinatra, Kevin Spacey, Bruce Springsteen, Meryl Streep, and Dave Thomas all called one of our states home, which was was it?

a. Delaware
b. Florida
c. New Jersey
d. North Carolina

There... general knowledge and hell, you might learn something... Good luck all... And for those of you who need it here is my e-mail.

Questions #1

This will be a list of 5 questions (hint: most are trick questions). Same point system applies as before. Good luck all.

#1	A man and his son were in an automobile accident. The man died on the way to the hospital, but the boy was rushed into surgery. The emergency room surgeon said "I can't operate, that's my son!" How is this possible?
#2	A 10 foot rope ladder hangs over the side of a boat with the bottom rung on the surface of the water. The rungs are one foot apart, and the tide goes up at the rate of 6 inches per hour. How long will it be until three rungs are covered?
#3	Is it legal for a man to marry his widow's sister?
#4	If the Vice President of the United States should die, who would be President?
#5	A light-tight wooden box has three switches on the outside that control three light bulbs on the inside. When the box is closed you can turn the switches on or off but when you open the box how can you tell which switch controls each bulb without touching the switches (the box can only be opened once)?

Basic HTML Commands

I was over at Grandpa's on Sunday for dinner and he asked me for some information about fixing some posts. I gave him a few pointers last night and when I arrived at work this morning I thought that for those of you who want to do a bit more with your posts and need some basic knowledge of HTML I'd provide a link, so... here's a link. C-ya!

Hallowe'en

I carved a couple of pumpkins for display on Hallowe'en for the trick or treaters. I had about 75 kids, from toddlers with their parents, to teens, in costumes ranging from a Power Ranger to witches, goblins and, cutest of all, Samantha in a pixie costume. I think she was supposed to be a ballerina, but since she had wings, I thought she looked like a pixie. I was going to be lazy and not carve pumpkins but Debbie said I had to uphold my tradition, so I played golf in the morning and carved pumpkins in the afternoon. I finished about 30 minutes before the first trick or treaters showed up. Here they are with a picture of Samantha in her costume. It is pretty dark but you can see the wings.

Word Puzzles #1

Okay I am going to post 5 puzzles (they will vary in difficulty from fairly easy ones to head scratchers). Do NOT reply your answers to the post, but instead E-Mail me your guesses.

This is how the points will be assigned:

• 1 point for every right answer
• 1 additional point for getting them all right
• 1 more additional point for being the first to e-mail me all 5 right answers
• 1 point will be assigned to me for every one guessed incorrectly or not at all
  

#1	operation
#2	ch poorri
#3	knee light light
#4	Beating Beating Bush Beating Beating
#5	long do

Remember to E-Mail me your guesses. I will post the correct answers and the totals on the 7th so you have until then. Oh, and no fair looking the answers up online either... Good Luck.

Football Pick'em and Trivia/Brain Teasers

Football Pick'em

As per Yahoo!'s webpage....

NOTE: This week's game between Miami and Kansas City, once scheduled to take place on Sunday, October 23, has been rescheduled. The game will now be played on Friday, October 21, at 4:00pm PT. Deadlines for picks in your Group may have changed.

Whoops... guess we should check Yahoo!'s page a bit more often, eh?

However, due to our mistakes everyone except "Eagles (wannabe) SuperBowl Champions" has missed a week, therefore, he has decided (with a little influence by Grandpa I'm sure) to not pick this week to even things up. After this... if you don't pick, too damn bad. :p

Game anyone?

I also had a question for ya'll, I was going to post some word puzzles, trivia questions, or brain teasers (nothing migraine inducing, unless of course what they prove to be too easy for 'you know who') once a week on here. I'm only going to do this if you guys want to participate and I could keep score if you'd like. Respond back if you want me to do this... good luck this week with your picks and c-ya 'round.

Baby Ryan... Finally

Okay, I couldn't wait for my CD so I decided to post some other pictures (see flickr.com for some more).

This is a picture of Ryan holding Laura's baby picture... I thought they looked quite similar.
This was after several hours of visitors at the house.

Aren't they cute!!!

The cutest baby in the nursery...

Well here's the story... We went in on Tuesday evening (about 9pm) and got Laura admitted for the induction. We went upstairs and she got poked, prodded, and slapped in a bed (so far, not so bad for me). They gave here a foli-cath (to open the cervix), a sleeping pill, and some Advil (woo-friggin'-hoo) and told her to try and sleep (yeah right), well at around 6am they removed the foli-cath and she was 3cm so they gave her the Patocin (inducing drug) and a mild pain reliever (apparently 1/2 a step above Advil as it really didn't help her too much). A couple of hours later they asked us why we hadn't gotten the epidural (which we thought we had to wait for) so Laura insisted that she get that and the doctor came and gave it to her (if we hadn't picked out a name by then she would have named the baby after him). Now she can finally sleep so I decide to go to the caffeteria and get some food. As soon as I sit down the cell phone rings and she is at 8 or 9 cm... I rush back while calling Mom, Grandpa, and Jennifer. I get upstairs and it is time for pushing (no doctor yet at this point just a nurse and a nursing student)... after 1 hour and 15 minutes of 1...2...3...4...5...breathe, a doctor arrives (not ours, he's still not there) and two pushes later a baby appears. Her Mom and my Mom walk in just after the birth and oooh and aahhh and what does Laura say during the whole thing... no complaints, just "does he have hair?"... I'm not sure what to think of that, but at least I wasn't yelled at or cursed at the entire thing. After a couple of hours of 'after labor fixing' and nursing, Grandpa and Jennifer came up to see him. All the doctors and nurses were quite surprised by how quick it went and she was told that she should have no problem having 5 or 6 kids (we'll think on that one for a bit) and that we should probably be induced in the 38th or 39th week unless we want to have a home delivery. So that's the gist... baby, mom, and dad are all doing pretty well (tired, but pretty well) and we are quite happy. C-ya'll later!

Oh and just for fun...

A boy and his dog.

Debbie and I went to visit Glen, Laura and Ryan on Sunday. We had lunch and played with Ryan and chatted for awhile. Then I watched the Cowboys beat the NY Giants (in OT) while Laura was feeding Ryan. I think every boy should have a dog and I brought Ryan one that is big enough to last awhile. (Probably until he is in college.) I think his great-grandma would approve. The dog's name is Darby (unless he gets renamed) and he is really soft and cuddly. I think he is very cute. Laura said that the quilt they are lying on is one that her aunt gave her after she lost her last baby. She told Laura "you will have another baby." She was right.

Debbie said she wasn't happy with the pictures I took of her holding Ryan at the hospital, something about no makeup, etc. So she brushed her hair and applied makeup as necessary and I took some more pictures of her holding the baby. I think these are good ones of both of them (although he doesn't have any makeup. But I don't think he needs any, he looks good just naturally.) Doesn't she look like a doting grandmother?