My Closet Remodel Is Complete

On the 11th of October I posted some before pictures of my sad closet. The wire shelves were falling down and it was awful! My very talented younger son Justin designed and built the new cabinetry. He is a talented guy as you can see. Here is a video I put together showing how it progressed. I am so proud of my talented son. Ray and our good friend Phillip "supervised" and lent an extra hand when required; Justin did the bulk of the work. The little girl on one of the slides is my ggranddaughter. She is helping me make homemade beef-vegetable-barley soup and corn muffins for supper that night. Oh yeah, I should probably let you know that if my music player starts, you can scroll down the right column and mute it. Hugs...

Vintage Crochet Patterns for You!

Vintage Crochet

View more documents from Cervanda Arce.

Here are some vintage crochet patterns that you may want to use or just peruse for enjoyment. I love looking at them; I just don't know if I'd care to make them. I enjoy them for the historical look at women and their crafts. I hope you enjoy...

Highlander, Full Episodes

I've been watching Highlander on www.hulu.com. I never got into this show when it first aired, but now I'm addicted to it. I put this widget here so that if any of you are interested you can watch it too.





More Highlander

Compound Possessive Nouns

There have been times that I have been confused about how to use the possessive forms of nouns when I have a compound possessive-noun situation. Do I make both nouns have the apostrophe "s" ('s) on the end or just the 2nd noun? I decided that I would check it out. Read below for more information.

Compound Possessives

When you are showing possession with compounded nouns, the apostrophe's placement depends on whether the nouns are acting separately or together.

* Miguel's and Cecilia's new cars are in the parking lot.
This means that each of them has at least one new car and that their ownership is a separate matter.
* Miguel and Cecilia's new cars are in the parking lot.
This construction tells us that Miguel and Cecilia share ownership of these cars. The possessive (indicated by 's) belongs to the entire phrase, not just to Cecilia.

Another example:

* Lewis and Clark's expectations were very much the same.
This construction tells us that the two gentlemen held one set of expectations in common.
* Lewis's and Clark's expectations were altogether different.
This means that the expectations of the two men were different (rather obvious from what the sentence says, too). We signify separate ownership by writing both of the compounded proper nouns in the possessive form.

When one of the possessors in a compound possessive is a personal pronoun, we have to put both possessors in the possessive form or we end up with something silly: "Bill and my car had to be towed last night."

* Bill's and my car had to be towed last night.
* Giorgio's and her father was not around much during their childhood.

If this second sentence seems unsatisfactory, you might have to do some rewriting so you end up talking about their father, instead, or revert to using both names: "Giorgio and Isabel's father wasn't around much . . . ." (and then "Giorgio" will lose the apostrophe +s).

For more information please see this site. This is the site I used as a reference for this posting

More Grammar Help

Been Busy Lately

Life has been a bit hectic lately. This past week school has been on fall break so I haven't subbed any. I had to clear out my big walk-in closet (6' x 18') because my very talented younger son has been constructing build-in storage for me. YIPPEE, no more wire shelves that fall down! I will post pictures for you when it is finished. The construction is done except for the installation of 2 hanging bars. Justin designed it and did most of the construction himself with a little assistance from dh and a good friend of ours who has done finish carpentry in the Hamptons prior to relocating to KY. The pictures are before images. You can see in the one picture where the one wire shelf had fallen down. I had so much junk in the closet but was only able to "give up" one large boxful of "treasures." Sigh....I am such a hoarder.



More Closet Organizers

A Bit of Humor....

For your enjoyment, here is a bit of humor. This is one of those "kids say the darndest things" when kids were talking about the Bible.

1. In the first book of the Bible, Guinessis, God got tired of creating the world so he took the Sabbath off.
2. Adam and eve were created from an apple tree. Noah's wife was Joan of Ark. Noah built an ark and the animals came on in pears.
3. Lot's wife was a pillar of salt during the day, but a ball of fire during the night.
4. Sampson was a strongman who let himself be led astray by a jezebel like Delilah.
5. Samson slayed the Philistines with the axe of the apostles.
6. Moses led the Jews to the Red Sea where they made unleavened bread which is bread without any ingredients.
7. The Egyptians were all drowned in the dessert. Afterwards, Moses went up to Mount Cyanide to get the Ten Commandments.
8. The First Commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat the apple.
9. The seventh Commandment is thou shalt not admit adultery.
10. The greatest miracle in the Bible is when Joshua told his son to stand still and he obeyed him.
11. David was a Hebrew king who was skilled at playing the liar. He fought the Finkelsteins, a race of people who lived in biblical times.
12. Solomon, one of David's sons, had 300 wives and 700 porcupines.
13. When the three wise guys from the east side arrived they found Jesus in the manager.
14. Jesus was born because Mary had an immaculate contraption.
15. St. John the blacksmith dumped water on his head.
16. Jesus enunciated the golden rule, which says to do unto others before they do one to you. he also explained a man doth not live by sweat alone.
17. It was a miracle when Jesus rose from the dead and managed to get the tombstone off the entrance.
18. The people who followed the Lord were called the 12 decibels.
19. The Epistles were the wives of the Apostles.
20. One of the opossums was St. Matthew who was also a taximan.
21. When St. Paul cavorted to Christianity, he preached holy acrimony which is another name for marriage.
22. Christians have only one spouse. This is called monotony.

More Kids Say the Darndest Things from Cosby, Linkletter et al

Found Another Crochet Pattern for Round Afghan

OK, 3 times is the charm and this is the number of posts for today. Anyway, I found another round afghan pattern so I thought I would post the link for it. Here it is. I have a listing of round afghan crochet patterns that I've been updating as I find new patterns. You can see it here. The picture is a round ripple baby blanket I made last year.

Guess Where I Was 31 Years Ago???

Thirty-one years ago today I was in the hospital on Barksdale Air Force Base having my son Matthew. Happy Birthday Matt!

Comfort Shawl--C'est Fini!

Maybe I shouldn't have put "C'est Fini" in the title since I made this comfort shawl for a relative of dh in Germany. She is going through a tough time because her grandson passed away. I didn't think about doing this right away, but I heard about how down she has been so I made it a few months after the fact. I need to find someone who is fluent in German to help me write a note to her. I would ask dh but he is pretty fluent in spoken German but the written isn't quite his forte. Anyway, I looked at some patterns on Lion Brand Yarn Site and I adapted this one. Instead of putting the fringe on I used the edging pattern I found here. I used Homespun yarn and I really don't like fringe made from it because I think it looks raggedy after a garment made from it is worn only a couple times. Anyway, I need to weave in a few loose ends and put this in the washer and mail it off to Deutschland. Auf weidersehen....

ps--It really looks much nicer in real life than in the photo :).

Those Old Adjectives--Using Comparative or Superlative Form

Today is a busy posting day for me. Sometimes, I find myself questioning the way I use English grammar. An example of this is that I have 2 sons. I would refer to Son #1 as the oldest and #2 as the youngest. That isn't quite right. #1 is the older and #2 is the younger. Comparing two things requires the use of the comparative form of an adjective (such as older and younger). If I had 3 sons then I would us the -est suffix on the adjective to compare the #1 son to the #3-- this is the superlative form of the adjective. Clear as mud right??? Here is a video that may explain it to you a little better than I have. You may want to turn the music player off(it's in the other column) before you listen to this video. Hope you enjoy!

Comparative and Superlative adjectives

View more presentations from ditza.

Man from My State of KY Wins on America's Got Talent

A Kentucky man, Kevin Skinner, won on the show America's Got Talent. Here is one of the performances done by him. Congratulations Kevin and best wishes to you and your family...

To play this, you may first want to go to the right-hand column and turn off the other music player. Hope you enjoy

Roof on Patio Finished!

We had a roof built over our patio this summer. It is great! We should be able to use the hot tub a little longer during the year, we won't have to sit directly in the sun, and the ceiling fans will help to keep us cool! This is something we've wanted for a long time. When we first started talking about it dh wanted to put one of those 1970ish metal roofs on. I vetoed that and guess who won? LOL!

Diaper Cake Tutorial and Links

I've seen these diaper "cakes" several times as I've scanned the Internet. I was thrilled to find this video on how to make them. The gal who submitted this video has written instructions on her web page. I have to let you know that she has some sort of protection so that you can not copy and paste the pattern to a blank document and save. Just think of all the cute crochet items you can make to decorate the cake!

Welfare Recipients and Drug Screens

I've been running a poll recently about welfare recipients being required to take drug tests. I didn't get a very large response (16) but most everyone (15) thought it was a good idea with the exception of 1 vote not being sure. No one was against it. There are several states considering requiring welfare recipients to take such tests. The following article is from Fox News.
States Consider Drug Tests for Welfare Recipients

Thursday, March 26, 2009

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Want government assistance? Just say no to drugs.

Lawmakers in at least eight states want recipients of food stamps, unemployment benefits or welfare to submit to random drug testing.

The effort comes as more Americans turn to these safety nets to ride out the recession. Poverty and civil liberties advocates fear the strategy could backfire, discouraging some people from seeking financial aid and making already desperate situations worse.

Those in favor of the drug tests say they are motivated out of a concern for their constituents' health and ability to put themselves on more solid financial footing once the economy rebounds. But proponents concede they also want to send a message: you don't get something for nothing.

"Nobody's being forced into these assistance programs," said Craig Blair, a Republican in the West Viginia Legislature who has created a Web site — notwithmytaxdollars.com — that bears a bobble-headed likeness of himself advocating this position. "If so many jobs require random drug tests these days, why not these benefits?"

Blair is proposing the most comprehensive measure in the country, as it would apply to anyone applying for food stamps, unemployment compensation or the federal programs usually known as "welfare": Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Women, Infants and Children.

Lawmakers in other states are offering similar, but more modest proposals.

On Wednesday, the Kansas House of Representatives approved a measure mandating drug testing for the 14,000 or so people getting cash assistance from the state, which now goes before the state senate. In February, the Oklahoma Senate unanimously passed a measure that would require drug testing as a condition of receiving TANF benefits, and similar bills have been introduced in Missouri and Hawaii. A Florida senator has proposed a bill linking unemployment compensation to drug testing, and a member of Minnesota's House of Representatives has a bill requiring drug tests of people who get public assistance under a state program there.

A January attempt in the Arizona Senate to establish such a law failed.

In the past, such efforts have been stymied by legal and cost concerns, said Christine Nelson, a program manager with the National Conference of State Legislatures. But states' bigger fiscal crises, and the surging demand for public assistance, could change that.

"It's an example of where you could cut costs at the expense of a segment of society that's least able to defend themselves," said Frank Crabtree, executive director of the West Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Drug testing is not the only restriction envisioned for people receiving public assistance: a bill in the Tennessee Legislature would cap lottery winnings for recipients at $600.

There seems to be no coordinated move around the country to push these bills, and similar proposals have arisen periodically since federal welfare reform in the 1990s. But the appearance of a cluster of such proposals in the midst of the recession shows lawmakers are newly engaged about who is getting public assistance.

Particularly troubling to some policy analysts is the drive to drug test people collecting unemployment insurance, whose numbers nationwide now exceed 5.4 million, the highest total on records dating back to 1967.

"It doesn't seem like the kind of thing to bring up during a recession," said Ron Haskins, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. "People who are unemployed, who have lost their job, that's a sympathetic group. Americans are tuned into that, because they're worried they'll be next."

Indeed, these proposals are coming at a time when more Americans find themselves in need of public assistance.

Although the number of TANF recipients has stayed relatively stable at 3.8 million in the last year, claims for unemployment benefits and food stamps have soared.

In December, more than 31.7 million Americans were receiving food stamp benefits, compared with 27.5 million the year before.

The link between public assistance and drug testing stems from the Congressional overhaul of welfare in the 1990s, which allowed states to implement drug testing as a condition of receiving help.

But a federal court struck down a Michigan law that would have allowed for "random, suspicionless" testing, saying it violated the 4th Amendment's protections against unreasonable search and seizure, said Liz Schott, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

At least six states — Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Wisconsin and Virginia — tie eligibility for some public assistance to drug testing for convicted felons or parolees, according to the NCSL.

Nelson said programs that screen welfare applicants by assigning them to case workers for interviews have shown some success without the need for drug tests. These alternative measures offer treatment, but can also threaten future benefits if drug problems persist, she said.

They also cost less than the $400 or so needed for tests that can catch a sufficient range of illegal drugs, and rule out false positive results with a follow-up test, she said.

A Round Afghan Pattern Link

Just a quick note here. There is another new round afghan pattern. It is by Red Heart. You can find it at this link. I have a list of other round afghan patterns that I keep updated too. It is here.

Inglorious Basterds--Movie Information

My favorite time in history is the 1940s and WWII. There is a movie I hope to see soon called Inglourious Basterds. A former history professor of mine, Cathy Schultz, Ph.D, writes a column evaluating movies as far as historical accuracy. She rates this one as being largely "made-up" and not too historically accurate but says the watcher should be ready for "one wild ride." I think I'll still go see it or maybe wait for it to come out on video whatever, I still want to watch it. Anyway, go here to read the review!

Go here for Brad Pitt Movies

On 31 Aug 1989, Princess Anne Of G.B. Separates from Husband

On this day in history--31 August 1989, Princess Anne of Great Britain and hubby Captain Mark Phillips separate after 16 years of marriage. They were divorced in 1992 and the princess married Timothy Laurence that same year. To see more about this go here. There is an online biography that you may also enjoy reading.

USS Kitty Hawk CV63

Here's another of Ray's ships. The Kitty Hawk was his last sea duty assignment. He was on board when the ship changed homeport to Japan from San Diego. I started looking for videos of Ray's assignments when a friend sent Ray links to videos of the friend's ships. Here it is...

USS New Orleans LPH11 in 1986

Saw this on YouTube and had to post it here. Ray transferred to this ship during this cruise. Most of the personnel you are seeing are Marines. Ray was a MM2 then and if you know anything about the Navy, you know that he was down in the hole steaming the plant. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

World's Oldest Still Performing Show Girl

I received this in an email and I had to share it with you. This lady is fantastic! I wish I had her energy and I'm more than 30 years younger than she is!


Here is another video of her when she was a little younger (Originally aired on April 18th, 2005). This woman is living the good life for her age AND a much younger person.



I hope you enjoy this. Hugs....Sharon