The Story of My Life

Visit the Troll to see all participants in Mute Mondays.

You won't see many movie reviews on this blog, well, because I am really not a movie going person. But we had a date night last night and went to a non- Pixar movie! Get Smart - starring Steve Carrell is a spy movie....a take on the old TV show. My husband had to explain the show to me beforehand, because, well, I am not as old as him and never watched it. (The movie website is pretty cool....) The movie was "cute"....had a few good one liners and funny scenes that were laugh-out-loud funny and was a good diversion for a Saturday night away from the kids. I am very hard to please when it comes to comedies and to me, there are not that many that are truly funny and hold my attention throughout without becoming silly. This one would have a few moments of me rolling my eyes, but would pick up steam with a really funny part. While not one of the best movies I have ever seen, Get Smart was clever and Steve Carrell was very good in the part of Maxwell Smart. The Rock

Five Good Things This Friday 1. I won the Gnome Photo Contest and get to guest host NO SLEEP HEWY'S ever popular blog . My son actually waded out and placed the gnome on one of the large rocks, and accidentally turned him backwards. I loved it ! Thanks again, Hewy for all the fun you give us! 2. I finished our Colorado DVD- well the rough draft. I pulled together all the 220 pictures and 30 minutes or so of video, put music and titles with Roxio Media Creator 10. A good product that does it all.... PhotoSlideShows , video editing, DVD custom chaptering and burning, imports audio formats of all kinds, 246 transitions to choose from. A great choice for your video editing needs and for the obsessive person who likes LOTS of choices. All Van Halen and Bon Jovi music....too. Could you have guessed? Turned out really cool, but a bit too long, even for me to sit through all at once...but a great way to preserve memories. I do not do scrapbooking ....so this is my alternative. 3. M

I am a techie. Sounds better than computer nerd. I have resisted the smart phone/blackberry thing. Until now. We were immersed in buying the family new cells last weekend . I AM SO happy with my choice. And can see why they are called Crackberries . 1 week in Blackberry land and I am SOOOOO happy!!!!! Oh yes, have I mentioned that I am obsessive compulsive already? You can hook up your blackberry to your computer. Download the photos you want from your thousands to choose from. Then have a picture, photoshopped and vignetted, that comes up according to your caller! Make ringtones from your favorite Bon Jovi songs. Assign your favorite Bon Jovi songs to the pictures and the person calling according to which song reminds you of them...... AND the list goes on. My husband chose another phone (Moto Q)and after tinkering with it for the weekend, we returned it for a Blackberry product as well. Mine is so easy to set up and customize. A full review of My phone, His phone he returned

I have to admit that I am not big at keeping up with political stuff. Doesn't sound too educated, does it? I am neither party. I do not stayed glued to Fox News nor NBC. I keep up with the political figures and climate so as not to be stupid in discussions or out of touch with our country and the status of the world. I do care- but I am not obsessed with keeping up with politics and views of the players. I said all that to say that I was not sure who Arianna Huffington really was or what she stood for politically. Sure, I had heard of her. I am a computer nerd, so I had heard of her most popular blog, of course....but that was about the extent of it. So I was able to pick up her book, read it and evaluate it from a pretty unbiased literary standpoint. Regardless of whether you agree with Huffington's politics or not, you can argue with her on the fact that many women today struggle with fear-- fear in work, life and love. Her book offers many personal and meaningful stories

VISITOR'S GUIDE TO BIRMINGHAM ( Alabama ) First, you must learn to pronounce the city name. It's 'Bur/min/ham'. Driving Information: Burmin'ham has its own version of traffic rules... 1. The truck with the loudest exhaust goes next at a 4-way stop. The truck with the biggest tires goes after that. (Note: Blue haired ladies driving anything have right-of-way anytime. 2. To find anything in the city it is required that you know where Malfunction Junction is... which is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. It is one of only two 'cloverleaf' formation interchanges in the world. We invented it and only one other city was stupid enough to implement it again... Atlanta- making them dumber than we are. 3. The morning rush hour is from 6:00 to 10:00 AM. The evening rush hour is from 3:00 to 7:00 PM. Friday's rush hour starts Thursday morning a runs thru Saturday Noon. If the term 'merging delays' is ever used by the person reporting the traf

Built in 1935, this is one of the highest covered bridges in the nation, standing at 70 feet above the Black Warrior River. It is also one of three which still exist in Blount County, Alabama's Covered Bridge Capital and home of the Covered Bridge Festival each fall. I can go the "back way" to my home town by Highway 75 and have passed by this bridge my entire life. I remember stopping as a child loving walking around the old bridge and thr river bank. I stopped by on my way home last time to show my kids and snap a few pictures. The old bridge was build in 1935, redone in the 70's, but is now closed to traffic. The smell of the old bridge was captivating and a reminder of my past....and an era past. Oh, if only I had met a sexy photographer there.... Oh, wait....that is Madison County. (just kidding , of course)

Some of the funniest lines ever came from George Carlin. While I did find all of his Atheistic, Anti-God and religion talk offensive, he was still a very dry wit that made me laugh most of the time. I hope he found grace and peace in eternity..... Some of his best quotes....... Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy. I'm not concerned about all hell breaking loose, but that a PART of hell will break loose... it'll be much harder to detect. When someone asks you, A penny for your thoughts, and you put your two cents in, what happens to the other penny? I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately. If it's true that our species is alone in the universe, then I'd have to say that the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little. It's never just a game when you're winning. May the forces of evil become

The Troll hosts Mute Mondays.....go on over to his place to check out the other entries. There is a different theme each week and it is neat to see everyone's interpretations. Here are a few participants: Gypsy Leigh Moi Java Junkie Anonymous Boxer ..... There are more but these are a few of my favorites! Play along. Next week is SUMMER.... Happy MM! Also, check out my comments.....they are all MM participants most of the time as well.

The Gnome of Helena Hunt traveled about the town today to celebrate International Gnome Day in the lovely, happy place he lives. Hewy No Sleep , his namesake, and friend to all gnomes sponsored a gnome photo hunt for the occasion and Little Hewy was tickled to get to venture out of the flower bed. The Buck Creek Falls were beautiful and a nice man stopped him to show him a HUGE catfish he just pulled out of the creek. Then little Hewy Penhale Tucker gnome stopped by the old red caboose to say hello to his gnome friend who lives and works inside. My son tried to break him out of the caboose--and bring him to live with us on the day of the gnome hunt, but he said he was happy keeping his eye on Old Town. Old Town is a safe place, with many useful tips posted to ensure the citizens that the town is enjoyable for all. And someone is watching it 24 hours a day....may just be that little gnome in the caboose! And Hewy was trying to get out to that log that was on the falls for 12 days, 21

On our visit to Sand Mountain, we stopped by to see Gracie, the newest addition to PawPaw's farm. She is so cute and tame. The kids loved her. She even posed for some great shots. She is a few weeks old. Her father, Wilson, is a Jerusalem donkey and has a cross marking on his back and so does she. Finally, Little man moved slowly enough to pet her! She loves little soft "wedding" mints and will come to you to eat them out of your hand. The children love PawPaw's house.... 2 cats, a dog, 3 donkeys, chickens, a peacock, a flying squirrel, a Rhino (Golf-cartish) thing to ride all over the 6 acres. And a shop full of antiques- knives, BB guns, farm tools.....my son could pilfer in the shop all day.

Wintzell's Oyster House has been serving seafood dishes to the Gulf Coast for over 70 years. Now there is one in Guntersville, Alabama for us to enjoy. Dana Price, a long-time friend of our family's, seen below with the hostess.... opened his Wintzell's on June 3rd on beautiful Lake Guntersville and I was fortunate enough to eat there with my family as we treated my father to a Father's Day meal. I loved the place from the minute I saw the above sign on the outside....and then all the quotes on the walls inside. The crowd was huge and the wait was long, and even with 5 children and an impatient PawPaw, we had a great time... and excellent food! I had the Scampi Pasta which was excellent...very garlicy- just how I liked it... My sis had Crab cakes and my dad had catfish- All delicious as well. The hushpuppies are spicy with jalapenos and Oh, so good. And the desserts....well...as I have said in prior posts, I am a banana pudding expert. These were huge portions of delici