Monthly Archives: November 2009

Happy Thanksgiving

Reposted from last year

Thanksgiving Hymn

We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing;
He chastens and hastens His will to make known;
the wicked oppressing now cease from distressing:
sing praise to his Name, he forgets not his own.


Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,
ordaining, maintaining his kingdom divine;
so from the beginning the fight we were winning:
thou, Lord, wast at our side: all glory be thine!


We all do extol thee, thou leader triumphant,
and pray that thou still our defender wilt be.
Let thy congregation escape tribulation:
thy Name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!

Words: Nederlandtsche Gedenckclanck, 1626;
trans. Theodore Baker, 1894.
Music: Kremser

Enjoy this day with your family and friends.

Young Frankenstien – Live! On Stage!

And absolutely wonderful. We went to the matinee yesterday at the Cadillac Palace theater downtown Chicago. Roger Bart was Fredrick Frankenstein (Fronkensteen). Ann Horak with legs that don’t quit was a wonderful Inga. Joanna Glushak (Frau Blucher), Cory English (Igor), Brad Oscar (Colonel Kemp and the Hermit), and Beth Curry (Elizabeth) were all also outstanding in their performances.

All the best lines from the movie were present in the play along with some great new songs, Roll in the Hay, He Vas my Boyfriend, and The Transylvania Mania along with Putting on the Ritz from the movie.

I’d recommend this play to anyone and I’m looking forward to Mel Brooks doing a movie of this musical like he did with The Producers (hint, hint).

I own DVD copies of both versions of The Producers and I saw the play on its third performance, first matinee at the same theater.

*** I received no compensation or consideration for this review. I paid for the tickets myself. ***

Happy Birthday Big Girl

Yesterday it was The Little Guy’s 9th birthday – today it’s The Big Girl’s 19th birthday. Her Golden birthday (19 on the 19th).

Our Princess

Our Princess

My princess has special needs. She has epilepsy and a developmental delay and a moderate hearing impairment. A few years ago she was also diagnosed with lupus. She’s still in ‘high school’ learning life skills and having her daily routine of riding the bus and seeing and socializing with other people.

We are blessed that our girl’s epilepsy has been under control on medication for several years now and that her lupus has also been controlled. The poor thing used to seize all the time, just not really visibly.

The best analogy I’ve found is to think of listening to a radio that is just on the edge of the listening area. Every so often, static replaces the music. But you know the songs. Your mind can fill in the words and music while the static is there and when the music comes back, you’re right on the mark.

She was pretty much able to continue doing whatever it was she was doing before the seizure. We were blessed that she was not in danger while seizing. She’d pause while walking, just for a second, and then continue on. She never fell, never stabbed herself with a fork while eating.

She can write her name and recognize many written words, but she doesn’t read or write. She only uses a few words and a few signs to help her get her point across. She loves to watch movies and listen to her ‘radio’ – CD’s on the DVD player. A few years ago we bought a combo TV/DVD player and just recently the DVD player portion doesn’t work properly. The tray won’t eject using either the button on the TV or the button on the remote control. So we just bought her a new DVD player to hook up to it. Coincidentally, The Little Guy’s DVD player also would not open and it had to be replaced too.

For her birthday we got her UP, Tinkerbell, and Ice Age III – Dawn of the Dinosaurs. She just loves those Ice Age movies. Back when we got the first one, she called it ‘Elephant’ all the time. Then, when Ice Age – The Meltdown came out, that was ‘Elephant in Water’. We worked with her and got her to say Ice Age and Ice Age Two. Now she’s got her new movie ‘Three’. The Little Guy got GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra and she’ll love that one just as much. She loved it when we saw it at the theater for The Big Guy’s birthday back in August. She also adores the Transformers movies and Bumblebee is her favorite.

She’ll need to be on meds the rest of her life. She’ll need supervision and someone to help her with showering. She can feed herself, but can’t cook. She can dress herself, use the bathroom herself, but she’ll never be a ‘productive’ member of society.

She loves and is loved.

*** As an Amazon Associate, I could get a few pennies if you order one of these movies from Amazon – or if you order anything else while still in the session at Amazon that  came from any of these links. Also, I see that Amazon has a set of all three of the Ice Age movies on Blu-Ray as well. ***

Happy Birthday Little Guy

The Little Guy

It’s my Little Guy’s ninth birthday today. As he is a big fan of Star Wars The Clone Wars his morning present was a complete Star Wars the Clone Wars bedding set. He was really happy. Yay!

starwarsbed*** I have received no compensation or consideration from Target, Jay Franco, George Lucas, Lucasfilm, or starwars.com. I went to Target and bought the bedding with my own money. The Little Guy is extemely pleased with the selection however, including the fleece throw that he can cuddle in. ***

Veterans' Day

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.poppy

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you, from failing hands, we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Written by Lt-Colonel John McRae (1915)

Remember me:

A Piece of the Wall

I was in Germany 20 years ago when the wall came falling down. We heard about it around 9 pm local time. I called my mother at work back in the Chicago area to tell her about it. Then I was able to get a piece to take home. That was a great day.

A piece of the Berlin Wall

A piece of the Berlin Wall

Rainbow Bridge

Our Shih Tzu, Raven, occasionally Ray-poo,  officially known as Quoth the Raven, Nevermore crossed the Rainbow Bridge today. She had a huge lump on the right side of her neck that came up really fast. She was in a lot of pain. The vets and techs at Best Friends Animal Hospital and Animal Emergency & Treatment Center were wonderful and did what they could to make her as comfortable as they could. She went quietly and easily.

PB150010

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