It is officially confirmed. The Sime 2 is coming out with a expansion this fall called "Sims 2 Pets!" The main features are the dogs and cats, which you can create yourself (as with new sims), adopt from the pound, breed from your own pets, or adopt strays.
Becasue this game is so sophisticated there are supposed to be some pretty funny intereactions.
For example, you have to train your pet, or you may end up with a house that has been compleatly trashed. One interaction includes teaching your dog to "play dead." The sim puts his hands up to his throat and wobbles around dramatically before falling down dead. The dog is concerened and walks up to sniff the owner. When the owner opens his eys, the dog gets excited and wags his tail (so cute!!!) Then, the dog tries it... and proceeds to wobble around the room up on his two legs inan even more dramatic fashion then his woner before falling down "dead"... then he peaks with one eye to see if he has an audience! So CUTE!
Other than dogs and cats, you can get parrots, wombats, and a new salt water aquarium. These animals don't breed... when they die, you buy another one, so they don't mix genes or anything like the breeding doggies and kitties do.
Here are articles if you are interested:
The official EA site
An article with lots of screen shots
An article from TheSimsResource Website
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Clarification
"but whgat is overwhelming is the amount of things I can do with these tools Iove learned... and of course, the fear that I am not using them to their best potential."
I'm confused, can you clarify? Thanks.
But what is overwhelming is the amount of things I can do with these tools I've learned... and of course, the fear that I am not using them to their best potential.
See, when it comes to these GATE strategies, there is not one cut and dry way to use them... its not spelled out in a curiculum book (like everything else is) which is one of the reasons that I love teaching GATE so much. There are so many things you can do with them!
The thing is, I can sometimes think of 5 ways to apply GATE strategies to a lesson (which would be overkill, redundant, and frankly there just isn't time) so choosing which way to apply the strategies on a particular lesson, which way would be the best, the most meaningful,
- and then the fear that the "best way" hasn't even occured to me...
or, if there is no "best way" then the knowledge that there is probably a better way that I haven't even thought of yet. Does that make sense?
I'm confused, can you clarify? Thanks.
But what is overwhelming is the amount of things I can do with these tools I've learned... and of course, the fear that I am not using them to their best potential.
See, when it comes to these GATE strategies, there is not one cut and dry way to use them... its not spelled out in a curiculum book (like everything else is) which is one of the reasons that I love teaching GATE so much. There are so many things you can do with them!
The thing is, I can sometimes think of 5 ways to apply GATE strategies to a lesson (which would be overkill, redundant, and frankly there just isn't time) so choosing which way to apply the strategies on a particular lesson, which way would be the best, the most meaningful,
- and then the fear that the "best way" hasn't even occured to me...
or, if there is no "best way" then the knowledge that there is probably a better way that I haven't even thought of yet. Does that make sense?
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
GATE trIaining
On Monday and tuesday I attended a GATE training through USC. I signed up for the novice section, but spent most of the second day ant the intermediate section. First, can I say that it is SO COOL that my fifth=grade team partner (and former master teacher) is one of the demonstration school teachers! That is so neat.
Anyway, the training was very helpful for me and clarified a lot of things. I felt really good becasue I feel like ai have more of an understanding of the basics then I realized... but whgat is overwhelming is the amount of things I can do with these tools Iove learned... and of course, the fear that I am not using them to their best potential.
I face every year the guilt that since I have learned so much more (through training and the experience I gained from the previous year) I constantly think of all the things I SHOULD have done with my previous students. I know thats silly, and part of learning, but I do twist it around to the positive and think, because of what I've learned, think of how much better I will be for next years students! Well, I try to think that anyway... but I constanly think there are so many things I need to do to become a better teacher.
Anyways, I have lots of ideas swimming and next week (when I have 3 weeks at home) I will spend some time planning and getting ready for the next school year. I have so many ideas!
Anyway, the training was very helpful for me and clarified a lot of things. I felt really good becasue I feel like ai have more of an understanding of the basics then I realized... but whgat is overwhelming is the amount of things I can do with these tools Iove learned... and of course, the fear that I am not using them to their best potential.
I face every year the guilt that since I have learned so much more (through training and the experience I gained from the previous year) I constantly think of all the things I SHOULD have done with my previous students. I know thats silly, and part of learning, but I do twist it around to the positive and think, because of what I've learned, think of how much better I will be for next years students! Well, I try to think that anyway... but I constanly think there are so many things I need to do to become a better teacher.
Anyways, I have lots of ideas swimming and next week (when I have 3 weeks at home) I will spend some time planning and getting ready for the next school year. I have so many ideas!
July 23, 2006
Celebrated our one year anniversary. WOW... Its so amazing... in one sense, it seems like a year went by so fast. In another, it feels like Grant and I have been together forever... it is such a natural fit.
We celebrated by going to the Blue Bayou at Disneyland. We waited for a water table so that we could watch all of the boats on the Pirates of the Caribbean go by.
Grant ordered the Filet Mignon and I had crab legs (which they cut in half lengthwise for you, making it very easy to eat!) Then for dessert, Grant got the Flying Dutchman cookie boat, a wedge of cookie with a scoop of icexream and an edible sail, while I got the trip of creme brulee, which was a dessert that consisted of two timy portions of passion fruit and chocolate creme brulee, and a small portion of vanilla bean creme brulee, that was servrd with a few cookies in an edible treasure chest. very yummy. The creme brulee was arranged on the plate to look like a mickey, with the vanilla up front and the two smaller ones as the ears.
After dinner we rode the new, updated Pirates of the Caribbean. We both felt they did a very good job on it. The classic attraction is still there, but they put in some sound track changes to create a tighter story line and added a really cool special effect.
We are now in Vegas (Its Wednesday morning as I write this) where we'll be for the next few days celebrating more of our anniversery!
We celebrated by going to the Blue Bayou at Disneyland. We waited for a water table so that we could watch all of the boats on the Pirates of the Caribbean go by.
Grant ordered the Filet Mignon and I had crab legs (which they cut in half lengthwise for you, making it very easy to eat!) Then for dessert, Grant got the Flying Dutchman cookie boat, a wedge of cookie with a scoop of icexream and an edible sail, while I got the trip of creme brulee, which was a dessert that consisted of two timy portions of passion fruit and chocolate creme brulee, and a small portion of vanilla bean creme brulee, that was servrd with a few cookies in an edible treasure chest. very yummy. The creme brulee was arranged on the plate to look like a mickey, with the vanilla up front and the two smaller ones as the ears.
After dinner we rode the new, updated Pirates of the Caribbean. We both felt they did a very good job on it. The classic attraction is still there, but they put in some sound track changes to create a tighter story line and added a really cool special effect.
We are now in Vegas (Its Wednesday morning as I write this) where we'll be for the next few days celebrating more of our anniversery!
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Fun Day At Sea
Thursday was our "Fun Day at Sea." After breakfast, Gina and I read by the pool for a while, and Jessica went to the Casino. Jess didn't want to sit in the sun anymore. Meanwhile, I had a soar throat and felt a cold coming on so I didn’t want to be in the casino around the cigarette smoke, so I joined Gina by the pool.
We all met up to watch the Newlywed/Not-so Newlywed game, which was funny, but could have been much funnier if he had the contestants say their own answers. Instead, they wrote their answer down and he read them aloud to us. However, it was all quite funny!
While there some girls dressed up in costumed handed out a flier that announced that the San Juan Sensations would be performing on the ship at 4:30 (not a Carnival sponsored event.) We thought we might come back for it.
Jessica went back to the cabin to take a nap while Gina and I went back out to the pool. I was reading "The Other Women," and almost finished with it. At around 4:30, Gina and I decided to go check out the girls dancing thing.
It was awful. I don’t know what other way to put it. It was so awful it was funny. It was like this weird classical dance. The thing is, the choreography was the same for every single song. Fast or slow, strong beat or melodic flow, the dance moves were these same slow spins leg lifts, strange jumps, and circles. I don't know how to describe it to you without Gina and I doing our fabulous demonstrations. The craziest thing was, at the end, the dance coaches came out on stage with the girls and clapped and danced along... like, I don't know, the girls doing their finale by themselves wasn't enough. Then, as the girls took their bow, their coaches came out at the end and took one, too, and stayed center stage until the curtains closed, with the girls behind them. It was very odd.
My theory? Some yuppie ex cheerleader couldn't stand that her glory days were over, so she started this dance club. What did you need to join the dance troupe? Not talent (The even announced that this was their last stop for touring this year - you would have thought the mistakes would have been adjusted by this point...) - Now, all you needed to join was $3000 to pay for your costumes and you Carnival Cruise trips. You may not be able to dance, but at least your outfit would look good.
Anyways, we went back to the room, took showers, and began packing. Before dinner, we went out and found our favorite photographer (Dushyant), and he took some more cute pictures of us.
Dinner was, as usual, madness. The main event for this evening was that one of the girls had persuaded one of the cabin stewards to give her their Carnival Name tag. SO for the rest of the evening, any Carnival person who walked by (waiters, photographers, bar tenders...) the girls would ask, repeatedly, "Can I have your name tag????" Over and over again, even when the person said no. Again, the parents said nothing.
After dinner, we went up to buy our last minute pictures. There were so many good ones to choose from! We ended up buying a total of 8 pictures. Most were taken by Dushyant. (If you go on Carnival's Paradise and he is there, get him to take your pics. He is awesome!) Then we swung by the casino to play that game where you try to bump quarters off of the ledge... we won a t shirt! Jessica put the quarter in that won it so she got to keep the shirt.
The show that night was Shout, and I thought it was the best show of the cruise. We knew almost every song, the singing and dancing were incredible - very high energy. After dinner we headed back to the casino to play the quarter game some more. At midnight we went to the adult comedy show which was pretty good, although by this time I was feeling really tired and congested.
The next morning, I was up by 6 (I couldn't sleep anymore I was so stuffy...) but that was fine because there was a problem on our fun pass bill that I had to go resolve. (They charged us for pictures that we didn't buy.) It was a mistake and they refunded it.
The girls got up around 8:00 and we went and had breakfast before departing the lovely Carnival Paradise.
What a fantastic trip!
We all met up to watch the Newlywed/Not-so Newlywed game, which was funny, but could have been much funnier if he had the contestants say their own answers. Instead, they wrote their answer down and he read them aloud to us. However, it was all quite funny!
While there some girls dressed up in costumed handed out a flier that announced that the San Juan Sensations would be performing on the ship at 4:30 (not a Carnival sponsored event.) We thought we might come back for it.
Jessica went back to the cabin to take a nap while Gina and I went back out to the pool. I was reading "The Other Women," and almost finished with it. At around 4:30, Gina and I decided to go check out the girls dancing thing.
It was awful. I don’t know what other way to put it. It was so awful it was funny. It was like this weird classical dance. The thing is, the choreography was the same for every single song. Fast or slow, strong beat or melodic flow, the dance moves were these same slow spins leg lifts, strange jumps, and circles. I don't know how to describe it to you without Gina and I doing our fabulous demonstrations. The craziest thing was, at the end, the dance coaches came out on stage with the girls and clapped and danced along... like, I don't know, the girls doing their finale by themselves wasn't enough. Then, as the girls took their bow, their coaches came out at the end and took one, too, and stayed center stage until the curtains closed, with the girls behind them. It was very odd.
My theory? Some yuppie ex cheerleader couldn't stand that her glory days were over, so she started this dance club. What did you need to join the dance troupe? Not talent (The even announced that this was their last stop for touring this year - you would have thought the mistakes would have been adjusted by this point...) - Now, all you needed to join was $3000 to pay for your costumes and you Carnival Cruise trips. You may not be able to dance, but at least your outfit would look good.
Anyways, we went back to the room, took showers, and began packing. Before dinner, we went out and found our favorite photographer (Dushyant), and he took some more cute pictures of us.
Dinner was, as usual, madness. The main event for this evening was that one of the girls had persuaded one of the cabin stewards to give her their Carnival Name tag. SO for the rest of the evening, any Carnival person who walked by (waiters, photographers, bar tenders...) the girls would ask, repeatedly, "Can I have your name tag????" Over and over again, even when the person said no. Again, the parents said nothing.
After dinner, we went up to buy our last minute pictures. There were so many good ones to choose from! We ended up buying a total of 8 pictures. Most were taken by Dushyant. (If you go on Carnival's Paradise and he is there, get him to take your pics. He is awesome!) Then we swung by the casino to play that game where you try to bump quarters off of the ledge... we won a t shirt! Jessica put the quarter in that won it so she got to keep the shirt.
The show that night was Shout, and I thought it was the best show of the cruise. We knew almost every song, the singing and dancing were incredible - very high energy. After dinner we headed back to the casino to play the quarter game some more. At midnight we went to the adult comedy show which was pretty good, although by this time I was feeling really tired and congested.
The next morning, I was up by 6 (I couldn't sleep anymore I was so stuffy...) but that was fine because there was a problem on our fun pass bill that I had to go resolve. (They charged us for pictures that we didn't buy.) It was a mistake and they refunded it.
The girls got up around 8:00 and we went and had breakfast before departing the lovely Carnival Paradise.
What a fantastic trip!
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Mexico Day - AKA Get the boat to ourselves day!
Today the boat docked at Ensenada... or so we were told,. although we really never got off of the ship to find out for sure. Instead, after breakfast, we grabbed books and towels and sun block and went up to the pool deck where we proceeded to lay out on lounge chairs, read, chat, and drink daiquiris and pina coladas. (Good thing they're cheaper without alcohol... gave us an excuse to order more!) We ate lunch when we were hungry from the nearby Lido Grill or Paris restaurant, but other then that. we didn’t really move for the next five hours. Sweet....
Around 4:30, we headed back to our cabin (M156) to compare sun burns. Gina has a skinny stripe right on her lower belly along with the edge of her bathing suit. I have some random spots here and there that the sun block just missed - the insides of my ankles, my right side under my arm 9I guess I was holding my book up, and a little patch on my belly. Poor Jessica, though, has a pretty painful burn on her thighs, and a little on her belly.
yes, we reapplied. Apparently not often enough. Also, although that new spray on sunscreen looks easy, the jury's still out on whether it works as well as the cream stuff, over all....
After showers and phone calls, we went up to the photo gallery, found all of the pictures we took last night, and chose 5 to purchase. The lines were super long, however, so we put them in a corner of one of the racks to get them when we returned. Then we rushed off to dinner.
I believe our waiter sort of avoids us because of the other people at our table, which sort of sucks,. They are rather rude. For example, the "grownups" showed up 15 minutes late again. Around 8:30, one of the kids(the daughter) shows up. Around 8:45 2 more show up (the 16 year old little shit sitting down next to me and saying, "Hi, I'm sexy, what's your name?" Um, ha ha...?) and the hyper little girl who is the daughter's friend. (the other boy never showed up at all)
These two (the friend and the boy) order dinner, and then decide to just leave. Um, rude much? And the grownups didn't say anything about it! (I did - 'Um, your leaving? Didn't you order food?") I also thought it was odd that the 16 year old boy was spending so much time with the 11 year old girl - they weren't siblings. Strange.
Anyways, dinner was yummy overall (The couple had requested escargot, which was served on the first night, and they brought out 6 double bowls of the stuff...we had a few but it was way too much.) I had a chicken quesadilla, won-ton soup, and sweet and sour shrimp. (I had also ordered a tomato and mozzarella dish, but in the confusion of the escargot and the kids coming late and then leaving, my tomato dish never came out. )
Gina ordered the quesadilla, lobster bisque, a salad (which never came out) and chicken pasta. She didn’t really like the pasta, but she had some of my shrimp, and also, the girl who left had ordered shrimp so Gina had some of that since they would just have thrown the food away anyway.
Jessica had the tomato/mozzarella, the lobster bisque, and filet mignon.
Dinners just seem so chaotic with this group. It doesn't feel, to me, as special when people don't take it seriously or respect the other people. Showing up late, taking off after ordering food, leaving a mess, ordering about the waiter, impolite manners... it is a bit frustrating at times. I wouldn't say its awful... at times it is funny, but it does sorry of take a bit of the special feeling out of going to such a nice dinner when people are behaving as though it were chucky cheese on free pizza night.
After dinner, we went back to buy our pictures... but they were gone! Apparently the staff moved pictures around and separated our stack.... but we looked through all of the pictures and couldn't find any of them except the top one!!! We both it but we're kind of bummed because there were some really good ones. The crew said they might show up later or they could look for them on the computers.
We took a few more pictures. There is one photographer who is very cool. He does a good job of really making people relax. I liked him.
At 10:30, we went to see the show. It was cool close-up magic and then a comedian.
(Another problem with having the late dining time - by the time your show is over its 11:00! It bed nice to have the early dining time and then a show at 8:00 so that you could hang out in one of the lunges or the sing along piano bar for a while - not to self for future cruises.)
We're back in our room - the girls are reading... I love fellow book worms.
Night!
Around 4:30, we headed back to our cabin (M156) to compare sun burns. Gina has a skinny stripe right on her lower belly along with the edge of her bathing suit. I have some random spots here and there that the sun block just missed - the insides of my ankles, my right side under my arm 9I guess I was holding my book up, and a little patch on my belly. Poor Jessica, though, has a pretty painful burn on her thighs, and a little on her belly.
yes, we reapplied. Apparently not often enough. Also, although that new spray on sunscreen looks easy, the jury's still out on whether it works as well as the cream stuff, over all....
After showers and phone calls, we went up to the photo gallery, found all of the pictures we took last night, and chose 5 to purchase. The lines were super long, however, so we put them in a corner of one of the racks to get them when we returned. Then we rushed off to dinner.
I believe our waiter sort of avoids us because of the other people at our table, which sort of sucks,. They are rather rude. For example, the "grownups" showed up 15 minutes late again. Around 8:30, one of the kids(the daughter) shows up. Around 8:45 2 more show up (the 16 year old little shit sitting down next to me and saying, "Hi, I'm sexy, what's your name?" Um, ha ha...?) and the hyper little girl who is the daughter's friend. (the other boy never showed up at all)
These two (the friend and the boy) order dinner, and then decide to just leave. Um, rude much? And the grownups didn't say anything about it! (I did - 'Um, your leaving? Didn't you order food?") I also thought it was odd that the 16 year old boy was spending so much time with the 11 year old girl - they weren't siblings. Strange.
Anyways, dinner was yummy overall (The couple had requested escargot, which was served on the first night, and they brought out 6 double bowls of the stuff...we had a few but it was way too much.) I had a chicken quesadilla, won-ton soup, and sweet and sour shrimp. (I had also ordered a tomato and mozzarella dish, but in the confusion of the escargot and the kids coming late and then leaving, my tomato dish never came out. )
Gina ordered the quesadilla, lobster bisque, a salad (which never came out) and chicken pasta. She didn’t really like the pasta, but she had some of my shrimp, and also, the girl who left had ordered shrimp so Gina had some of that since they would just have thrown the food away anyway.
Jessica had the tomato/mozzarella, the lobster bisque, and filet mignon.
Dinners just seem so chaotic with this group. It doesn't feel, to me, as special when people don't take it seriously or respect the other people. Showing up late, taking off after ordering food, leaving a mess, ordering about the waiter, impolite manners... it is a bit frustrating at times. I wouldn't say its awful... at times it is funny, but it does sorry of take a bit of the special feeling out of going to such a nice dinner when people are behaving as though it were chucky cheese on free pizza night.
After dinner, we went back to buy our pictures... but they were gone! Apparently the staff moved pictures around and separated our stack.... but we looked through all of the pictures and couldn't find any of them except the top one!!! We both it but we're kind of bummed because there were some really good ones. The crew said they might show up later or they could look for them on the computers.
We took a few more pictures. There is one photographer who is very cool. He does a good job of really making people relax. I liked him.
At 10:30, we went to see the show. It was cool close-up magic and then a comedian.
(Another problem with having the late dining time - by the time your show is over its 11:00! It bed nice to have the early dining time and then a show at 8:00 so that you could hang out in one of the lunges or the sing along piano bar for a while - not to self for future cruises.)
We're back in our room - the girls are reading... I love fellow book worms.
Night!
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Catalina
Day 2 of our cruise!!! Today we went to Catalina. The boat anchored at 8:00, I guess, although we didn't really wake up until 9:00. After showers, we went down to the Internet Cafe and posted the blog and then we had breakfast in the Paris Buffet. Jessica liked the pancakes, Gina liked the hash browns, and I had a yummy omelet.
After breakfast, we took a tender over to Catalina. We rented bikes and rode all over the place (there... we exercised!) and did some shopping. We had a snack (ice cream, shaved ice...) and then rode our bikes some more. The day was nice, warm but not too hot, with a nice breeze that made biking pleasant.
Around 3;30, we went back to our ship. We changed into our bathing suits and went out by the pool. we grabbed snacks from the Lido Grill and read books as we sailed away from Catalina.
By the way, I just finished George Orwell's "1984". Very interesting read - I want to read Brave New World later... Jessica is reading "The Trickster’s Queen" by Tamora Pierce, and Gina is reading "The Other Boleyn Girl" by Philippa Gregory."
At 5:00, we went back inside and took showers and got all dressed up in our fancy formal clothes. We headed to the Casino and played some slot machines, and then took our picture about a thousand times at all of the different photo backdrops they had set up. Hopefully we'll find one or two that we all agree look nice.
Dinner was at 8. The funny couple showed up with their whole group. its all quite confusing because we have no clue how these people are related. The adult couple (we don't believe they are married,) showed up with four kids. Two somewhat sulky, bored teenage boys and two giggly, energetic (and in the case of one, very hyper) preteen girls. We suspect that one of the girls and one of the boys belongs to the adults (but we are not sure which one goes to which adult.) and that the other two are friends of the kids.
Tonight dinner was awesome. I had the Southwest egg roll, strawberry bisque, lobster (I had two lobster tails... yummy) and soufflé for dessert.
Jessica had the mushroom soup, artichoke, tomato, and celery salad, the lobster tail, and the soufflé.
Gina had the mushroom soup, the southwest egg roll, lobster, and banana sponge cake.
Ok, I admit that I am the stereotypical person who loves to cruise because of the food. Not that it isn't totally obvious.
After dinner, we took a few more pics and then we went to the 10:30 show. It was a tribute to Hollywood and the movies. The dancing and singing and costumes were good, but it would have been nice to have more songs and movies that we recognized. I don't think I could even venture a guess at what movies half of the songs were from. We were stoked when they finally started singing, 'Let's do the time warp again..." Something we could sing to and actually recognize!!!
Let's all sing along, shall we? get up and move if you'd like...
"It's just a jump to the left...
and a step to the ri- i-i-i-i-i-i-ight....
Put your hands on your hips...
and pull your knees in ti - i-ight...
its the pelvic thru -u -u - ust that will drive you in sa -a- a - a - a - a - a -a -ane
LETS DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN"
After that, we went to the other side of the ship to the Queen Mary lounge to see Jerome do his adult show. It was SO FUNNY! I was in tears laughing so hard. Well worth staying up for!
However, it is now 1:45 in the AM and I must be going to sleep!
Good night, y'all.
After breakfast, we took a tender over to Catalina. We rented bikes and rode all over the place (there... we exercised!) and did some shopping. We had a snack (ice cream, shaved ice...) and then rode our bikes some more. The day was nice, warm but not too hot, with a nice breeze that made biking pleasant.
Around 3;30, we went back to our ship. We changed into our bathing suits and went out by the pool. we grabbed snacks from the Lido Grill and read books as we sailed away from Catalina.
By the way, I just finished George Orwell's "1984". Very interesting read - I want to read Brave New World later... Jessica is reading "The Trickster’s Queen" by Tamora Pierce, and Gina is reading "The Other Boleyn Girl" by Philippa Gregory."
At 5:00, we went back inside and took showers and got all dressed up in our fancy formal clothes. We headed to the Casino and played some slot machines, and then took our picture about a thousand times at all of the different photo backdrops they had set up. Hopefully we'll find one or two that we all agree look nice.
Dinner was at 8. The funny couple showed up with their whole group. its all quite confusing because we have no clue how these people are related. The adult couple (we don't believe they are married,) showed up with four kids. Two somewhat sulky, bored teenage boys and two giggly, energetic (and in the case of one, very hyper) preteen girls. We suspect that one of the girls and one of the boys belongs to the adults (but we are not sure which one goes to which adult.) and that the other two are friends of the kids.
Tonight dinner was awesome. I had the Southwest egg roll, strawberry bisque, lobster (I had two lobster tails... yummy) and soufflé for dessert.
Jessica had the mushroom soup, artichoke, tomato, and celery salad, the lobster tail, and the soufflé.
Gina had the mushroom soup, the southwest egg roll, lobster, and banana sponge cake.
Ok, I admit that I am the stereotypical person who loves to cruise because of the food. Not that it isn't totally obvious.
After dinner, we took a few more pics and then we went to the 10:30 show. It was a tribute to Hollywood and the movies. The dancing and singing and costumes were good, but it would have been nice to have more songs and movies that we recognized. I don't think I could even venture a guess at what movies half of the songs were from. We were stoked when they finally started singing, 'Let's do the time warp again..." Something we could sing to and actually recognize!!!
Let's all sing along, shall we? get up and move if you'd like...
"It's just a jump to the left...
and a step to the ri- i-i-i-i-i-i-ight....
Put your hands on your hips...
and pull your knees in ti - i-ight...
its the pelvic thru -u -u - ust that will drive you in sa -a- a - a - a - a - a -a -ane
LETS DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN"
After that, we went to the other side of the ship to the Queen Mary lounge to see Jerome do his adult show. It was SO FUNNY! I was in tears laughing so hard. Well worth staying up for!
However, it is now 1:45 in the AM and I must be going to sleep!
Good night, y'all.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Mexico Cruise with the gals!
Hi All! I am on a 5 day Mexico Cruise with my gals, Jessica and Gina! We got on the boat around 1:00 and stopped by our cabin (M156). I like our deck because the cabin halls are painted blue.
Next, we went up to the Lido Deck for lunch... my favorite lunch entree was the eggplant tart (yummy! A thin pastry with eggplant mozzarella and tomato), Jessica liked the broiled fish and Gina (and Jess!) liked the cheesecake.
Sorry, but those of you who have read the "Grant and Bobbi vacation blog" know my obsession with describing food - particularly cruise food.
After lunch, we explored the ship some, and then came back to our cabin to unpack. After the lifeboat drill, we dropped off our lifejackets and headed up to the aft lido deck and got three lounge chairs to sit on for sail away.
We all called our men to say goodbye as we sailed away from port, and watched someone fly a kite off of the back of the ship.
Now, we are back in the room getting dressed for dinner!
Dinner was yummy. We ate in the Destiny Dining room at 8:00. By 8:20, we were still the only three at our 9 person table when two, well, interesting people showed up. (Around the time our soup was served, you could really begin to feel the ships motors shaking - the lady leaned over and said to us, "Is it just me or are your panties vibrating too?" And by dessert, we got a lovely joke from the man about two cowboys, a sheep, and well, you don't really need to know the rest.)
Anyway, for dinner, Jess and I both ordered the escargot, and Gina ordered a portable mushroom appetizer. We all got the pumpkin soup, and then Gina had linguine, Jessica had a seafood spectacular with prawns, scallops, and fish, while I had the beef Wellington. Dessert was strawberry cheesecake for Gina and I and Orange sponge-cake for Jessica.
After dinner, we went to see "Deal, or No Deal." Basically - you payed 10$ for a raffle ticket (or $20 for 3) and if your ticket was drawn you got to be a contestant. It was played just like the-real show, except there were 18 briefcases, and the most you could win was $1000. When they drew the ticket (Jessica, by the way, bought tickets to try to play) They had a little girl come up and draw. The man who played (and won $140) gave the little girl $20 of his winnings... ahhhh... so cute!
Then we went to the Queen Mary Lounge and watched a dating game. it was pretty funny, but we were pretty tired....
I am excited. These girls are like sisters to me. I have hoped for a long time that we could do something like this. I hope that this trip if full of fun memories and good times for them!
Tomorrow, Catalina!
Next, we went up to the Lido Deck for lunch... my favorite lunch entree was the eggplant tart (yummy! A thin pastry with eggplant mozzarella and tomato), Jessica liked the broiled fish and Gina (and Jess!) liked the cheesecake.
Sorry, but those of you who have read the "Grant and Bobbi vacation blog" know my obsession with describing food - particularly cruise food.
After lunch, we explored the ship some, and then came back to our cabin to unpack. After the lifeboat drill, we dropped off our lifejackets and headed up to the aft lido deck and got three lounge chairs to sit on for sail away.
We all called our men to say goodbye as we sailed away from port, and watched someone fly a kite off of the back of the ship.
Now, we are back in the room getting dressed for dinner!
Dinner was yummy. We ate in the Destiny Dining room at 8:00. By 8:20, we were still the only three at our 9 person table when two, well, interesting people showed up. (Around the time our soup was served, you could really begin to feel the ships motors shaking - the lady leaned over and said to us, "Is it just me or are your panties vibrating too?" And by dessert, we got a lovely joke from the man about two cowboys, a sheep, and well, you don't really need to know the rest.)
Anyway, for dinner, Jess and I both ordered the escargot, and Gina ordered a portable mushroom appetizer. We all got the pumpkin soup, and then Gina had linguine, Jessica had a seafood spectacular with prawns, scallops, and fish, while I had the beef Wellington. Dessert was strawberry cheesecake for Gina and I and Orange sponge-cake for Jessica.
After dinner, we went to see "Deal, or No Deal." Basically - you payed 10$ for a raffle ticket (or $20 for 3) and if your ticket was drawn you got to be a contestant. It was played just like the-real show, except there were 18 briefcases, and the most you could win was $1000. When they drew the ticket (Jessica, by the way, bought tickets to try to play) They had a little girl come up and draw. The man who played (and won $140) gave the little girl $20 of his winnings... ahhhh... so cute!
Then we went to the Queen Mary Lounge and watched a dating game. it was pretty funny, but we were pretty tired....
I am excited. These girls are like sisters to me. I have hoped for a long time that we could do something like this. I hope that this trip if full of fun memories and good times for them!
Tomorrow, Catalina!
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
RENT times 2
Oh. My. God.
SO Grant asks me, "what do you want to do tonight?"
"I don't know, what do you think? Take it easy?" I ask.
"Well," he says, "We could see Rent," while pulling out two tickets to Rent for the July 12th show.
"Wha...wha...what?"
I stare, blankly, confused... "Rent? Tonight? We just ... wha ...?"
I stutter about, and Grant watches, amused, until he fijnally decides to explain.
After he had bought our tickets for last night (Tuesday, July 11,) he went out to search for information about the new RENT tour. The website had a contest you could enter, and low and behold, Grant found out a month later that he had won... two more tickets to RENT!
So, we got to see Rent two nights in a row. I know your jealous.
So this time, we were in Orchestra section, row D, towards the right center.
So cool. It's neat becasue when you are farther back, like in the balcony, you can take in the whole stage, the big picture. But when you are so close, you can really focus on details. Its a different experience.
Roger (Bryce Ryness) and Mark (Jed Resnick) were both so full of expression from closer up. Again, I loved Joanne (Chante Carmel Frierson), amazing voice, and Collins ( Warren G. Nolan Jr.) showed so much emotion tonight!
"The opposite of war isn't peace... it's creation."
SO Grant asks me, "what do you want to do tonight?"
"I don't know, what do you think? Take it easy?" I ask.
"Well," he says, "We could see Rent," while pulling out two tickets to Rent for the July 12th show.
"Wha...wha...what?"
I stare, blankly, confused... "Rent? Tonight? We just ... wha ...?"
I stutter about, and Grant watches, amused, until he fijnally decides to explain.
After he had bought our tickets for last night (Tuesday, July 11,) he went out to search for information about the new RENT tour. The website had a contest you could enter, and low and behold, Grant found out a month later that he had won... two more tickets to RENT!
So, we got to see Rent two nights in a row. I know your jealous.
So this time, we were in Orchestra section, row D, towards the right center.
So cool. It's neat becasue when you are farther back, like in the balcony, you can take in the whole stage, the big picture. But when you are so close, you can really focus on details. Its a different experience.
Roger (Bryce Ryness) and Mark (Jed Resnick) were both so full of expression from closer up. Again, I loved Joanne (Chante Carmel Frierson), amazing voice, and Collins ( Warren G. Nolan Jr.) showed so much emotion tonight!
"The opposite of war isn't peace... it's creation."
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Officially a Renthead
We took the train down to San Diego today to celebrate Grant's birthday to see Rent.
This is my 5th time seeing it live on stage (London, LA, Orange County, New York, and now San Diego.) I read once that if you have seen Rent 5 times on stage, you are officially a Renthead. Yipee! Pretty good considering I don't live in New York and don't buy tickets to every performance while it is in town.
God, there is nothing like seeing Rent live. Hearing the first few notes, Mark's narration, and the stage lighting up in music and energy...it is just amazing!
At one point, Roger's ear mike stopped working and he had to use a handheld for a few numbers. He was so natural with it and made it blend right in.
Angel (Ano Okero) had a very deep, soulful voice... not what I'm used to as Angel, but he really acted the part well. Mark (Jed Resnick) did a great job all around, and I liked this portayal of Roger (Bryce Ryness - soulful, not overly angry or sulky, just introspective.) Joanne (Chante Carmel Frierson) had a very beautiful, powerful voice, I loved whenever she sang.
The crowd was FULL of RENT HEADS. Lots of cheers and screaming and loud applause. It was way cool to be there. Other then New York, this was the most energetic crowd I've seen... and actually, because the theater was so much bigger, the crowd seemed almost more enthusiastic, in my opinion.
"I trust my soul, my only goal, is just to be."
This is my 5th time seeing it live on stage (London, LA, Orange County, New York, and now San Diego.) I read once that if you have seen Rent 5 times on stage, you are officially a Renthead. Yipee! Pretty good considering I don't live in New York and don't buy tickets to every performance while it is in town.
God, there is nothing like seeing Rent live. Hearing the first few notes, Mark's narration, and the stage lighting up in music and energy...it is just amazing!
At one point, Roger's ear mike stopped working and he had to use a handheld for a few numbers. He was so natural with it and made it blend right in.
Angel (Ano Okero) had a very deep, soulful voice... not what I'm used to as Angel, but he really acted the part well. Mark (Jed Resnick) did a great job all around, and I liked this portayal of Roger (Bryce Ryness - soulful, not overly angry or sulky, just introspective.) Joanne (Chante Carmel Frierson) had a very beautiful, powerful voice, I loved whenever she sang.
The crowd was FULL of RENT HEADS. Lots of cheers and screaming and loud applause. It was way cool to be there. Other then New York, this was the most energetic crowd I've seen... and actually, because the theater was so much bigger, the crowd seemed almost more enthusiastic, in my opinion.
"I trust my soul, my only goal, is just to be."
Friday, July 07, 2006
On Demand
I'm babysitting Cori today.
No worries about Belle with kids. The first few times the kids came over, Belle was very hyper. Now, Belle knows them so she can be calm around Cori... when she lets him. But let me tell you, the amount of abuse that girl inflicts upon Belle, that Belle patiently takes, makes me realize that Belle will be just fine around kids.
Ever seen Tiny Toom Adventures with that little girl, Elmyrah, I think was her name, and how she "loved" all the animals and she would "squeeze them and hug them and kiss them and make them all her own..." yeah, Cori could have given her a few lessons.
No kidding, Cori's hands are all over Belle's snout and Belle just lays there, with a kiss now and then.
And when Cori gets so overwhelming, Belle just goes upstairs to lay down for a little bit. Its awesome.
In any case (subject change!!!), we just swapped out our satelite for cable. Cable or Satelite, don't care much, but they do have some side effects.
The bad news? Tivo has been demoted to the upstairs bedroom for the time being. I miss my Tivo, but I know it is only temporary, and I promise my Tivo that I will visit upstairs occasionally.
The good news, we get a DVR that records in hi-definition, and that can record two programs at a time. (When the new Tivo box comes out, we will bring Tivo back downstairs, most likely, unless we fall in live with our new DVR, which I don't really see happening. Tivo is my second love.)
The other good news is that Cable has "On-Demand," and it includes "On Demand Exercise," which has a whole unch of diferent exercise programs - short ones (10 minutes) long ones, cardi, aerobics, kick boxing, yoga, pilates, dance, you name it. Its really cool!
So today, I decided to play around with it. First, I picked a cardio dance mini (10 min) work out. (I thought Cori would like dancing with me.) The workout itself was challenging and fun and I enjoyed doing it, but Cori wasn't into it so much. But she was occupying herself torturing the dog, so after I finished the first workout, I decided to do a mini yoga workout.
Again, I enjoyed the workout... and so did Cori! She was more interested in doing the yoga with me then the other one! Well for a while anyway, until she decided to just come and sit on top of me while I finished the workout. Yeah, the extra weight helped burn more calories, I'm sure!
Anyway, I know its weird, but when its so easy to access the workout (just like picking a show to watch on, sigh, tivo...) I am more motivated to do it... if I can sit from my lazy ass and click it on, rather then have to get up and walk all the way over to the dvd case, set up the system to play a dvd which involves pushing, you know, like 3 buttons, putting the dvd in, sigh, what a pain (stop laughing!!!)
Plus its new stuff, and so many options, so I can try new stuff each time!
It is pretty cool!
Anyways, Cori is on the other room screaming, "Belle!" and Belle is in here pleading with me with her big brown puppy dog eyes...I best go intervene.
No worries about Belle with kids. The first few times the kids came over, Belle was very hyper. Now, Belle knows them so she can be calm around Cori... when she lets him. But let me tell you, the amount of abuse that girl inflicts upon Belle, that Belle patiently takes, makes me realize that Belle will be just fine around kids.
Ever seen Tiny Toom Adventures with that little girl, Elmyrah, I think was her name, and how she "loved" all the animals and she would "squeeze them and hug them and kiss them and make them all her own..." yeah, Cori could have given her a few lessons.
No kidding, Cori's hands are all over Belle's snout and Belle just lays there, with a kiss now and then.
And when Cori gets so overwhelming, Belle just goes upstairs to lay down for a little bit. Its awesome.
In any case (subject change!!!), we just swapped out our satelite for cable. Cable or Satelite, don't care much, but they do have some side effects.
The bad news? Tivo has been demoted to the upstairs bedroom for the time being. I miss my Tivo, but I know it is only temporary, and I promise my Tivo that I will visit upstairs occasionally.
The good news, we get a DVR that records in hi-definition, and that can record two programs at a time. (When the new Tivo box comes out, we will bring Tivo back downstairs, most likely, unless we fall in live with our new DVR, which I don't really see happening. Tivo is my second love.)
The other good news is that Cable has "On-Demand," and it includes "On Demand Exercise," which has a whole unch of diferent exercise programs - short ones (10 minutes) long ones, cardi, aerobics, kick boxing, yoga, pilates, dance, you name it. Its really cool!
So today, I decided to play around with it. First, I picked a cardio dance mini (10 min) work out. (I thought Cori would like dancing with me.) The workout itself was challenging and fun and I enjoyed doing it, but Cori wasn't into it so much. But she was occupying herself torturing the dog, so after I finished the first workout, I decided to do a mini yoga workout.
Again, I enjoyed the workout... and so did Cori! She was more interested in doing the yoga with me then the other one! Well for a while anyway, until she decided to just come and sit on top of me while I finished the workout. Yeah, the extra weight helped burn more calories, I'm sure!
Anyway, I know its weird, but when its so easy to access the workout (just like picking a show to watch on, sigh, tivo...) I am more motivated to do it... if I can sit from my lazy ass and click it on, rather then have to get up and walk all the way over to the dvd case, set up the system to play a dvd which involves pushing, you know, like 3 buttons, putting the dvd in, sigh, what a pain (stop laughing!!!)
Plus its new stuff, and so many options, so I can try new stuff each time!
It is pretty cool!
Anyways, Cori is on the other room screaming, "Belle!" and Belle is in here pleading with me with her big brown puppy dog eyes...I best go intervene.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Really???
Wow! I just checked my blog and saw that I haven't published here in a month! That 4th of July post isn't going to cut it! What have I been up to??? Well, I admit, It has been pretty hectic since that last post about my all time favorite Sex and the City episode.
First there was end of the year stuff. Which of course means report cards, goodbye stuff for my kids, thank you cards.
Then there was the fact that I was leaving for Florida the day after school let out, which means that the stuff I normally do on check out day Ihad to have done early... so I was at school packing things up and putting stuff away. I also had to pack for Florida.
Then June 22 hit and I was on a plane to Florida, finally relaxing! I just got back Saturday... so... there. All caught up!
First there was end of the year stuff. Which of course means report cards, goodbye stuff for my kids, thank you cards.
Then there was the fact that I was leaving for Florida the day after school let out, which means that the stuff I normally do on check out day Ihad to have done early... so I was at school packing things up and putting stuff away. I also had to pack for Florida.
Then June 22 hit and I was on a plane to Florida, finally relaxing! I just got back Saturday... so... there. All caught up!
Happy 4th of July!
One thing I love about living in Huntington Beach is our annual 4th of July Parade. It is so neat being there!
Belle and Kanga were such good puppies at the parade today! It was hot already, but luckily our friends showed up - and had umbrellas, so Bellers could sit in the shade. She wasn't always too sure about those drums, but she did good!
Happy 4th of July!
Belle and Kanga were such good puppies at the parade today! It was hot already, but luckily our friends showed up - and had umbrellas, so Bellers could sit in the shade. She wasn't always too sure about those drums, but she did good!
Happy 4th of July!