Men, Men, Men

Saturday night is fan appreciation night at the Verizon Center. It might also be the last game of the year, though the Caps stand an excellent chance of making the Playoffs. I wonder which of my "men" will ask me to be his "date" that night.

THE FATHER


Jeff is the likely candidate. He seems to love me, doesn't appear to have a better date, and at this time has an extra ticket (and it is a bobble head give away night,someone must not have seen that on the schedule). Hopefully he will be willing to forgo the diet that evening and drink beer with me.

MIKE

While a long shot, Mike is the runner up. He has taken pity on me before, and might want to make up for having the flu the last time that I used his extra ticket. Of course, it is a weekend and he has his own daughter. Hillary will probably bump me.



Then there are the real long shots .......... Hockey John? Amanda from OIT? DAVE? Anybody? Anybody?

One things is for sure ....... this man will not be joining me. He will be on Kid Duty that night. Poor Tom. Maybe I'll let him play with my Bobble Head.

What's for Dinner?

Like most working Mom's, by crock pot is my favorite appliance, and in many ways is more valuable then the microwave (though I don't use it as often). Thanks to my friend Jeanne, I now have many more recipes to choose from. On my way to Giant now!

Owen loves Bean

Ms. Bean brought this picture home from school. When you are 4, and the right boy draws you a picture, it is true love. They will get married one day!

40 years from now - written 40 years ago

Last October, I turned 40 - which might be why I found this 1968 piece, by James R. Berry so fascinating. Originally published in Mechanix Illustrated and it contains many exciting (and some odd) predictions for far-off 2008!J ust a few of the cool things the author predicted for the year 2008:

Giant transportation hubs called modemixers are located anywhere from 15 to 50 mi. outside all major urban centers. Tube trains, pushed through bores by compressed air, make the trip between modemixer and central city in 10 to 15 minutes.

Robots are available to do housework and other simple chores.

The housewife simply determines in advance her menus for the week, then slips prepackaged meals into the freezer and lets the automatic food utility do the rest. At preset times, each meal slides into the microwave oven and is cooked or thawed. The meal then is served on disposable plastic plates. These plates, as well as knives, forks and spoons of the same material, are so inexpensive they can be discarded after use.

Computers also handle travel reservations, relay telephone messages, keep track of birthdays and anniversaries, compute taxes and even figure the monthly bills for electricity, water, telephone and other utilities. Not every family has its private computer. Many families reserve time on a city or regional computer to serve their needs.

TV screens cover an entire wall in most homes and show most subjects other than straight text matter in color and three dimensions. In addition to programmed TV and the multiplicity of commercial fare, you can see top Broadway shows, hit movies and current nightclub acts for a nominal charge.

Best-selling books are on TV tape and can be borrowed or rented from tape libraries.

A typical vacation in 2008 is to spend a week at an undersea resort, where your hotel room window looks out on a tropical underwater reef, a sunken ship or an ancient, excavated city. Available to guests are two- and three-person submarines in which you can cruise well-marked underwater trails.

Farming isn't confined to land. Mariculturists have turned areas of the sea into beds of protein-rich seaweed and algae. This raw material is processed into food that looks and tastes like steak and other meats. It also is cheap; families can have steak-like meals twice a day without feeling a budget pinch.

Heart disease has virtually been eliminated by drugs and diet. If hearts or other major organs do give trouble, they can be replaced with artificial organs.

No need to worry about failing memory or intelligence either. The intelligence pill is another 21st century commodity. Slow learners or people struck with forgetful-ness are given pills which increase the production of enzymes controlling production of the chemicals known to control learning and memory.

I would say that all things considered, Berry was not all that off target? Fortunately for most of us George Orwell was a little further off with when he wrote 1984. Or was he?

Reason 987 to LOVE the Internet

I always wanted to be an artist. Unfortunately for me, I have no artistic still. Fortunately thanks to create paintings, you no longer need to be artistically competent to be an artist, you just need to take a simple personality test!


Click here to create your own painting.

The Schneider Cup Challenge

Davidson beating GT was this years highlight for Pennyfeather, and I am STILL not doing well. I think that my rein as Schneider Cup Champion is coming to an end. It has been a good ride, I hope that my predecessor will accept the title with as much grace and humbleness as I have. Peace be with you.

The Schneider Cup Challenge

So far, this is NOT a good year for Diane.

The Fury has begun ................

First of all, my apologies for not continuing my live picking earlier in the week. I know that my readers really like to understand and analyze my thought process when making my NCAA Men's Basketball tournament picks and I really hate to disappoint my "fans". Unfortunately, I literally ran out of time and in order to make the deadline, needed to resort to a good ol' game of "inie meanie miney mo".

If you are seriously interested in seeing my 2008 Picks, they are over at ESPN under DFS67. Right now, I am not doing "great", but the tournament is young.

Now, I would like to discuss the "Shit Picking" that is occurring over at the Schneider Cup. Today I received an e-mail from a DISTANT and INSIGNIFICANT cousin by the name of Alan. Alan's last name is not, nor has it ever been, "Schneider". Alan has never attended a Thanksgiving prepared by Susie or a "Pick and Pig". In fact, the only cool thing about Alan that I can think of is that he has Obama as linked-In Contact (and cute kids, but that is for another blog entry). Truth be told, Alan is only allowed to compete for the cup due to a loop hole in the by-laws allowing descendants of Henry and Gertrude to complete regardless of "Status". Despite his "smallness", Alan felt that he needed to send an email to the ENTIRE "Schneider Cup !list" announcing that "DIANE IS GOING DOWN". What does this mean? Is Alan going to dethrone me from my "Schneider Cup title? Does he plan to win the Schneider Cup while sporting the Michigan State Green and While colors (and possibly painting his chest with them)? Does he actually think that he stands a chance? Please ..............................

My money is on Tim Dunn. He is deserving, meets the criteria, and is currently in 99.7th place. The rest of them, are GOING DOWN!

Live Picking - Round 1

Back by popular demand …………….. Live Picking …….. 2008

Just like last year, I have my bracket in front of me, and I am about to fill in the form. I know that my readers love to see how I make my selections every year in my effort to get my name on the coveted Schneider Cup. So with no further delay, here we go …..

I always choose the #1 seeds to win the first round. This year will be no exception. I am not stupid, and to the best of my knowledge #16 has never beaten a #1 in the first round.

Starting with the East:

Baby Bee’s favorite color is Red, bright red. So I am choosing Indiana over Arkansas.
The next is tough, because both George Mason and Notre Dame are Green. However, since Notre Dame is a higher seed they will be white with Green lettering, and that looks nicer, so I am going with them.
Washington State over Winthrop. Washington is pretty and my friend Dennis went there for Grad school.
St. Josephs over Oklahoma because people from Oklahoma hunt (and probably smell).
Louisville over Boise State, because even Idaho is boring and there is nothing there but potatoes. My friends Ron and Jeff are from Louisville.
South Alabama over Butler. I struggled over this because people from Alabama probably hunt and smell. However, if you are from South Alabama, basketball is probably all you will ever have. People from Indianapolis (Butler), might actually get a job some day.
Tennessee over American. Carolyn and Lee live in Nashville and would KILL me if I didn’t support their team.

In the Midwest:

UNLV over Kent State. Vegas is fun. Ohio gave us W.
Clemson over Villanova. That was Ms. Beans pick. She likes the Paw Print.
Siena over Vanderbilt. I really like to cheer against Vanderbilt. Especially since two of their alumni are competing for my cup.
USC over Kansas State. I knew 1 guy from Kansas State and he was an ass. USC looked fun on 90210.
Wisconsin over CSF. I LOVE Cheese
Davidson over Gonzaga. I am sort of over Zag. They disappoint too often.
Georgetown over UMBC. I will NEVER choose UMBC to win anything.

In the South:

Mississippi State over Oregon. I was up in the air over this 8/9 match. SO, I went to the old standby. Maroon and White is Prettier then Green and Yellow.
Michigan State over Temple.
Pittsburg over Oral Roberts University. This is just a guess, but I suspect that I would not enjoy having a drink with ANY Oral Roberts University Alumni.
Kentucky over Marquette. I like Kentucky. Always have.
Stanford over Cornel. I don’t like Stanford Alumni and I like the Cornel Light Blue and White. However, I have a gut feeling about this round. Don’t expect Stanford to go much further in my Bracket.
St. Mary’s over Miami. Coin Toss. Literally.
Texas over Austin Peay. Neil from the 7th grade is in Texas.

In the West:

Texas A&M (for Greg)
Drake (remember that Seinfeld episode about “the Drake”. That was funny.
Connecticut over San Diego. I hate San Diego and most of their residents.
Baylor over Purdue.
Xavier over GA
W. VA over Az
Duke over Belmont (do not expect to see Duke in the next round, I have yet to meet someone from Duke I like).

Time to leave the office. Stay tuned for my second round picks, after my drive home.

Ms. Bean and her Susie go swimming

Baby Bee is 3

Yesterday, Baby-bee turned three. During her party, as she was politely thanking her friends for coming and making her guests comfortable, it dawned on me that she is actually a pint sized adult. Her vocabulary, determination, and interests rival many adults I know (which might say something about my taste in friends). Her outgoing/eccentric personality makes her at first appear mildly uneasy around her peers, until she is given the opportunity to coach/teach them. At that point, you see a loving and nurturing person who is universally adored and admired. We see glimpses of this person when she looks at us in the evenings, gives us bear hugs, and simply says "I love my family".

I told my father the other day that my challenge for baby-bee will be to see that she uses her intelligence/determination for good and not evil. I have reconsidered this assessment. I think that our challenge in raising baby-bee will be restraining ourselves from stifling her talents/outward thinking. She will be fine and successful with whatever she chooses to accomplish. I need to always remember that, and try not to be concerned when she is not fitting into the text book mold. After all, how many truly great people did?

True Love Said Yes!

Trader Joe proposed and True Love said yes. He spent weeks agonizing about where and how to ask her to marry him. Finally settled on the Naval Academy in Annapolis. I guess that it is fitting, since when we has a midshipmen 30 years ago, he spent weeks prior to every liberty thinking about how he would visit her when he got back to Washington.

Here is the ring! Quite impressive. I wonder if it was worth waiting 30 years for!

Everybody Loves Jeff

Sarah's "Tulip" for Mommy