Gift Wrap Bucket

A couple of years ago, my mom and her husband made gift buckets for their daughters and daughters-in-law and gave them to us on Thanksgiving Day. At that time, the buckets were full of Christmas wrapping paper, gift tags, Scotch tape, ribbon, scissors and other supplies. Because I am a bit of a Christmas freak, I put my bucket to good use that year.

Since then, I use my bucket to hold a variety of wrapping paper, gift bags, tissue and other items necessary for gift giving. I love it, not only because I have everything at my fingertips when I'm in a hurry to wrap a present, but because it takes up minimal space and it is portable!




If you are interested in making a gift bucket for yourself, Martha Stewart has a great tutorial and video reference on her website.

President's Day Art Courtesy of Kindergarten

The Kindergarten students have been learning about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln in honor of President's Day. Mrs. B. did an art activity with them on Friday. They were each given a piece of paper and crayons and directed to follow along as she drew Abe Lincoln on the Elmo (electronic whiteboard that projects onto the wall). The majority of the children watched carefully and listened attentively. Every student's picture turned out uniquely different, but cute just the same. I took pictures on my phone of a few of them for your viewing pleasure.

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”                     Pablo Picasso

If Cody Won a Year's Supply of Ice Cream...

Cody hates ice cream and his dad loves to tease him about it. When Cody was younger and we were in the car running errands, Don would pull up to a mail box, roll down the window and say (to the mailbox) something along the lines of… "Oh, hi! How are you today? Cody would like a Post Master Sundae with two scoops of ice cream and cherries on top.” (If there were security cameras around, anyone watching must have thought we were absolutely crazy or complete idiots…or both.) At this point, Cody would usually freak out a little bit and then Don would roll the window up and drive off.



Tonight, Cody convinced Don to play Walkie Talkies with him. Don went into the bedroom, alerted Cody with a ring, and this is the conversation that went down…


Cody - “Hello!”


Don- “Hello. This is Willy Wonka from the Ice Cream Factory looking for Mr. Cody Lancaster. Do you know where he is?”


Cody- “In the living room.”


Don- “Is this Cody Lancaster?”


Cody- “Yes it is.”


Don- “Cody, you just won a year’s supply of ice cream! What flavor would you like?”


Cody- “The who cares I hate it. 10-4. Bye.”



Hang up


Ring, Ring…


Cody – “Hello.”


Don- “I’m representing the Willy Wonka Ice Cream Factory and…”


Cody- “Okay. Bye.”


And just like that, Cody was no longer interested in playing with his dad.

Headline Bloopers by Professionals

My daughter is currently taking an editing class in college. She showed me a chapter in her textbook that has actual headline bloopers by professionals. Some of them are too funny not to share. Here are my favorites:

Typos...

Poll says that 53% believe media offen make mistakes

Schools to call for pubic input

13% of U.S. adults unable read or write English (Apparently this person is part of that 13%.)

Tribal council to hold June meeting in June (As opposed to October?)

Despite our best efforts, black employment is still rising

Headlines that say nothing...

School Board Agrees to Discuss Education (Converse about under paid teachers and struggling students instead of their own salaries and fringe benefits? Tell me it isn't so!)

Religion Plays Major Part in the Message of Easter (Unfortunately, this statement may indeed be a surprise to some people.)

Researchers call murder a threat to public health

Some students walk, others ride to school (Do the remainder fly or swim or what?)

Double Entendres

After dog died in heat, should owners have gotten off?

Marijuana issue sent to a joint committee (hahahaha)

Plan to deny welfare to applicants still alive

High-crime areas said to be safer

Culver police: Shooting victims unhelpful

Man executed after long speech (I've listened to a few speakers who made me feel this way.)

Condom week starts with a cautious bang

Dolls sent to flood homeless

Mad cow speaker at Arts Center

Prostitutes appeal to pope

OJ blamed for Disney salmonella outbreak (I believe OJ is guilty of several things, but I've got to draw the line at spreading salmonella around Disneyland.)

U.S. to seek new location (Where would that be? On another planet?)

Woman dies after 81 years of marriage

Giant women's health study short of volunteers

Bad Valentine Gifts

With the exception of buying me a fishing pole for Mother's Day once, my husband has been a fairly thoughtful gift giver.


I watched the following clip on Ellen today and had to post it on my blog. Men can be so blasted funny!

"Sleep Tight and Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite" is NOT Just a Cute Bedtime Expression Anymore

Don and I have talked about taking a vacation on our anniversary this year, but the more I do my homework, the more I want to stay home.

As I was searching online, I came across a website that reports hotels in major cities with known bed bug infestations. For example, did you know that some of the more exquisite hotels in Las Vegas have bed bugs? (Click here.)

The last time I checked into a hotel room with my husband and daughter, they called me paranoid because I wouldn't let them set our luggage down until I inspected the mattresses in the room. That was over a year ago. I can only imagine how much worse the epidemic is now.

If I really want to take that anniversary trip with my husband, I will need to do one of two things... 

follow the advice in this article: 7 Travel Tips for Bedbug Phobia 

or...

sleep in my car!