Score!!!

Nope! I'm not talking about World Cup Soccer (or Football depending on where in the world you might be right now) or Hockey or any other sport. I'm talking about......

... my new Gateway Netbook, that I managed to get for FREE!!!!  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I said FREE!

On Friday, Dani asked me to take her to the Verizon store because she wanted to use one of our upgrades to get herself a new phone.  So off we go.  Dani chose a phone (LG Ally), and while they were writing up her order and transferring her bazillion phone numbers to the new phone, I was drooling over the netbooks they had on display nearby.   Jonathon, that crafty saleman, took notice of the drool and came over and asked me if I wanted one.

Yes, I whined told him with a sigh.  I've been looking online and saw they were $250 to $400+.  Someday I'll get one. SIGH.  So Jonathon, that wonderful fellow, told me that he could make a "buy a phone, get a netbook for free" deal.  REALLY????? 

Of course, I need to do the 2 year contract thing.  I will be with Verizon until I die, so I said why not!  The $100 charge will be put directly onto my Verizon bill and I have a $100 mail -in rebate (already mailed)   

My son plans to get off my phone plan in a few weeks and actually pay for his own phone from now on (woot!  woot!) so the data charge will be balanced out.  I signed up for the larger data plan to see how much I'll actually use and will probably down-grade to the smaller one next month.  I learned if I use the wi-fi at home instead of the 3G, no data charges will happen!  Now I can watch TV and get online which I like to do sometimes.  Or go to my room. 

I have a desk top at home, so I wanted this mostly to bring to John's house because the man has no internet or cable.  There are times when I'm there when he's not, and that gets boring (what am I gonna do?  Clean his place?  not bloody likely!)  So now I can get online!!

On the way home, Dani said, "you do realize that I just bought you a netbook."  Yeah, I know.  I am a happy happy girl!!  Maybe I'll tell her she doesn't need to get me a birthday present.

Did you know...?

If you yelled for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days you would produce enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee.

Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour.

An ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain.

Just twenty seconds worth of fuel remained when Apollo 11’s lunar module landed on the moon.

If you attempted to count to stars in a galaxy at a rate of one every second it would take around 3,000 years to count them all.

Every minute in the U.S. six people turn 17.

Human hair and fingernails continue to grow after death.

Termites eat wood twice as fast when listening to heavy metal music.

Guinness Book Of Records holds the record for being the book most stolen from Public Libraries.

Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning.

Sad news (with a footnote that was added later)

I'm sorry to have to tell you that my daughter lost the baby last night.  She had gone to see a concert by Idina Menzel (original Elphaba in Wicked and original Maureen in Rent) with her sister.  Their dad had gotten them tickets because he knew they both LOVE Idina Menzel.  

They were on their way home to Gina's house in Wilmington when Dani started cramping, but she didn't say anything to Gina.  When they got home, Dani went to the bathroom and saw she was bleeding.  Gina called me right away and told me to get to Delaware ASAP and drove Dani to the hospital.  I had just gone to bed and my son, Tim was getting ready to head up to bed also.

We drove to the hospital (nearly an hour and a half drive) and waited and waited and waited.  Gina was back with Dani and only one person was allowed back there.  They did 2 ultrasounds and it was determined that she did, indeed, have a miscarriage.

Around 4 am, Gina went home because she had to go to work today.  Tim went to her house to sleep and I went back to be with Dani.  The doctor came in and told us the fetus was 6 weeks (what???  she was 10 weeks pregnant!)  Apparently the baby died 4 weeks ago, but it took this long for her body to realize it.  

The doctor released her and we drove back home to PA.  Now she has to see her own doctor on Monday.  

She's so sad, we all are.  They already had names chosen for the baby and I was stoked at the thought of becoming a grandmother!  

I guess it was just not meant to be.  It was just one of those things that happened.  Dani did everything right.  No caffeine, no smoking, no drinking, eating healthy, taking vitamins.

Keep her in your thoughts today.   

footnote:  Thank you all so much for your kind thoughts and prayers.   Dani is very sad, but she's so strong.  I think she'll come out of this okay.  

Her boyfriend stayed up with her via phone calls and texts (remember... he's outside of Pittsburgh, we're outside of Philly and she was in Delaware at the hospital) until we left the hospital after 4 am.  He got a few hours of sleep and drove here to be with her.  I was glad to see he cares so much.  

Six Word Saturday:

I

I'm going to be a grandmom!

 

Want to try your own Six Word Saturday? Go see Cate at Show My Face and link up!

 

Dear So and So

Dear Gardens,

I hate you!  Stop growing!  I hate that your former owner made you bigger and bigger each year and that asshat left and now I'm stuck with you. (maybe I sent this to the wrong person.)

No green thumb here,

Joanie

Dear Dani,

Good luck telling Dad he's going to be a grandfather.  If that doesn't tell him he's getting older, nothing will (although, the gray hair, bi-focals and ever expanding bald spot should be a clue)!

Excited to become a grandmother,

Future Mimi

Dear Carbs,

Get the fuck out of my house!  You're killing my weight loss program!  You keep calling me softly when no one is around.  I can't keep losing the same 2 pounds over and over again.

Caving to carb pressure,

Joanie

Dear Self,

Get your lazy fat ass out of bed and over to the track and start walking.  You'll never run if you don't start walking. 

Hates to exercise,

Self

Dear Gina,

Good luck with your wedding plans.  I hope Dad doesn't have a stroke when he sees how much weddings cost.  Oh wait....  (well, I could afford to have the wedding she wants... AND pay off her student loans if he croaks)

Just kidding, God,

Joanie

Dear Readers,

Why not pop over the pond to Kat's Place in the UK, grab the button and get some stuff off your chest?  Trust me, it feels good to release it all!  Don't forget to Link your Dear So and So and lots of others will be able to read them too!  Go on!  You know you want to!

Love,

Joanie

Reading is FUNdamental!

 I love love love to read!   My mother instilled the love of reading in me.  I don't ever remember her or dad reading to us as kids, but I do remember Mom always had her book, her coffee, her cigarettes and ashtray, and her rosary and novena book right near her seat at the kitchen table.  

Growing up and until we got our first computer, I was a voracious reader! For a lot of years, the internet killed my reading time.  But when I was reading all the time, I'd read 2 or 3 books a WEEK!  My ex-husband used to say that the house could fall down around me, because when I was into a book, I didn't hear anything! 

I loved historical novels (Nicholas and Alexandra was responsible for me taking Russian Cultures in high school!) and books based on the bible (The Red Tent)   For a while I read the romance novels, but they got old real quick.  I read a lot of Danielle Steel but it seemed like her books were the same story over and over... just different names, locations and time periods.  So I don't read any romance novels any more.

My big favorites are mysteries and espionage!  I always say if my ex-husband were to die by questionable circumstances and the cops saw my book shelves, I'd definitely be considered a "person of interest"!  Ken Follett gave me my love for espionage with Eye Of The Needle.  I have one of his books on my Kindle right now, The Pillars of the Earth.  I'll be reading that one soon.

I re-discovered reading  in 2009.  I read 23 books that year.  I make time for reading now.  I love it.

I have 3 books going at all times.  John bought me a Kindle for Christmas (which I love!), so I'm always reading one there (Exposure:A Novel by Brandilyn Collins).  I don't bring the Kindle to work... I don't want it stolen or anything spilled on it.    

For work, I have one of the many print books I've purchased over the years.  The book in my work bag right now is The Richest Season by Maryann McFadden (I love beach books!).  I'm  alternating some books with Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series, which are absolutely hysterical!!  I literally laugh out loud reading her books!  

Last but certainly not least is my newest genre... audio books!  I didn't know if I could listen to a book and drive at the same time.  I figured I'd forget to listen.  I had the chance to test it when my daughter, Gina and I drove to  Dani's college to see her perform in a play.  It was a 5 hour drive each way.  Gina rented a book on CD from her library for the trip, and I discovered to my delight that I can listen and drive at the same time!  YAY!!!  So now I download audio books to my computer from my library and transfer them to my Blackberry!  Whenever I'm alone in the car and driving for 30 minutes or more, I listen to a book.  I bought a Jupiter Jack and I can listen to the book right through my car radio!  Right now, I'm alternating between James Patterson's Alex Cross Series and Lisa Scottoline's Rosato and Associates Series

As you can see, I have my list of books on my sidebar, what I'm reading and what I've read already.  It helps me to remember and not purchase a book I've already read.  As of this writing, I've finished 31 books this year, most of them on audio.  That's 21 audio books, 5 print books and 5 Kindle books.  Waiting in the wings are 7 audio books (and 2 I've ordered.. I'm on a waiting list), at least 30 print books and 20 books on my Kindle (plus 1 book pre-ordered).  Did I mention that I love to read?

Some of my very favorite authors are Patricia Cornwell, Sue Grafton, Elin Hilderbrand, Janet Evanovich, Ken Follett, John Grisham, Jennifer Weiner, Lisa Scottoline, James Patterson,  Dan Brown, Sarah Pekkanen and many more that I can't remember off-hand!!

So what are you reading and who are your favorite authors?

FINALLY!!!!!!

Okay!  Finally I can tell you why I have such news for you (said in my very best Yenta voice)!!!  Actually, I have 2 bits of news for you.  I'll tell them in order of when they happened so as not to put one item in a more prominent position than the other, because they are both very important and exciting events!!!

First of all, I am going to be a grandmother in January!!!  I couldn't tell you before now because the family wasn't informed yet (and her dad still doesn't know), and one of my kids reads my blog.  My younger daughter, Danielle is going to have a baby! She will not be returning to college in the fall as previously planned, but will go to hairdressing school.  This is something she was considering doing, and now that a baby is coming and college is 260 miles from home, this is a better altenative.  Plus, if she decides to continue her college education in a year or so, she can work as a stylist while attending school, and make a lot more money than she does now working at a clothing store.

A couple of weeks ago, we were in the "Oh Shit" phase, but now we're getting excited about it!  Things are sort up in the air where the boyfriend/father is concerned, since he lives clear across the state.  Once I know where all that stands, I'll update you.  Let's just say right now, it's a mess and leave it at that.

Dani is due January 19, 2011 and she'll be 20 years old when the baby arrives.

Last night, she talked to her step-mother about it and Maleficent will be there when Dani tells Daddy Dearest  next week.  And when Greg finds out that Maleficent has known for a week before he did, well.... she can deal with that!  I have to hand it to Dani though.  She wanted to tell each person in our family on her own and in person!  And she told me as soon as she suspected. That girl is fearless!!!

So that is news #1.  Now on to news #2.

Gina (my older daughter) threw her boyfriend, Gene a surprise 30th birthday party last night.  What Gina DIDN'T know was that Gene knew all about the party (except where it was being held) and decided to turn everything around on her and propose marriage to her, in front of all their friends!!  While Gina was in Ireland, Gene bought her engagement ring and it was kept safely at his mother's house.   Last week, while they were at Tim's graduation party at their dad's house, Gene told Greg, Tim and Dani about his plans.  Greg and I were not invited to his birthday party (most likely because the thought of me, her dad and Maleficent all being in one room together was too surreal to even imagine)  Rather than have to choose which one to invite she chose to not invite either of us (that's my guess anyway).  Last Sunday, Gene called me and told me.  He said he wanted us to be there when he proposes.  So, Greg, Maleficent and I all met outside the hall at 8pm last night.  We walked in together, and after a minute or so, Gina was quite surprised to see us standing there!  I told her we were crashing the party.  Gina says, "OK!!  You're just in time for cake!"

Just then,  Somebody yells, "Gene is going to make his birthday speech!!"  With that, he tells everyone that this party is NOT about his birthday, but this party is because today is the day that he and Gina get engaged!   With that her mouth dropped!!!  Gene got down on one knee (after taking a big swig of liquid courage, aka Stella Artois beer), and asked Gina to marry him!  I think she was actually speechless!!  She just nodded her head!! 

This was THE BEST PROPOSAL AND SURPRISE I've ever seen!!!  We're all so happy!  I just love Gene and his parents!  Now there's a wedding to plan and Daddy Dearest gets to pay for it!

So there you have it.  Sorry I couldn't say anything sooner, but Gina reads my blog and Dani wanted to tell her about the baby herself.   And Gina drove me crazy, making a bunch of guesses, but I couldn't tell her! 

Six Word Saturday

 Tonight's gonna be a good night!

 

On Monday, I can tell you my news, I swear!  There is too much to write now, because I need to get to work soon.  In the meantime, listen to this song.  It's one of my favorites!

Want to try your own Six Word Saturday? Go see Cate at Show My Face and link up!

Riddle Me This!

In lieu of a Dear So and So, here is a riddle to solve!  I haven't done a riddle in quite a while and I think I chose a toughy this time. If I get no correct answers by dinnertime, I'll add a few clues.  Good luck!

SLEEPING CYCLOPS

The sleeping cyclops, by and by,

Opens up his single eye.

He quickly slams it shut again

As if the light gives him great pain.

Many times he will awaken

Until his memory is taken.

At his loss he feels no grief,

His job: To satisfy the thief.

 What am I?  and Who is the thief?

as always, credit goes to Tower of the Riddle Master.

I'm guesting at Laura's place again

Lovely Laura is still on her honeymoon and has guest posts all week. I guess Laura at Under The Sheets- Shhh liked my story about John and I meeting because she wanted me to post another version I did a while back. So that's where I'm hanging out today. Click the link below if you want to read a slightly different version of our meeting (you can skip if you want, Garret. I know you don't like re-runs)  Happiness After 50.