Birdy Naming Poll

Please vote for the pair of bird names you like the best!  There were so many good suggestions; some didn't make the final poll because they were just too close to existing  animal or family names or such.

No matter the wishes of owners Ed and Sharon, my family and friends will refer to the little feathered pets by the names chosen on this blog!

If you need time to think about it, enjoy some genuine Captain and Tennille while you ponder.  

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For Susan

AKA SuSu. She know what this means. It means I am BETTER.

For everyone else, this is a game from Nintendo. I play it on my daughter's (Mary) DS. It's part of Brain Age 2 . They include it as a relaxation game, but until I figured it out, there was some tense, 'Baptist cursing' going on. Susan is the reason I persevered, because she put her high score out there AS IF maybe I couldn't beat it.



Let me go ahead and recommend that all my adult readers go out and get themselves a DS system, or swipe your child's. There is so much they offer for us! These are the games that I enjoy: Brain Age and Brain Age 2, Big Brain (theme, anyone?), and Flash Focus. The brain games are fun and fantastic for us all, but I am mostly addicted to playing Sudoku on them. Flash Focus is vision training.


The kids also play My Spanish Coach, and Mary enjoys The Bible Game.


The system is small and portable and we take it everywhere. If you don't already have access to one, Mother's Day is just 'around the corner'. . .

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Coffee

This morning I am enjoying a delicious cup of coldbrew, courtesy of MattBabb.  He did all the messy work, and I just added my hot water and almond milk.  Yum Yum!

I have to start the day with coffee, and I am the only one in my house that drinks it.  When my regular drip coffee maker bit the dust, I switched to a French Press.  This is a perfect system for me, because I can brew in a carafe pot, just enough coffee for one person.  It's fast and simple and delicious.  The only thing I miss about the drip coffee maker is the wonderful aroma of coffee brewing.

I used to drink cold brew more often, back when Christopher was still fascinated by the process and would make it for me.  In general though, without the right containers / space, it's just a little more trouble than I want to go through.  But what a deal Matt made me:  I buy specialty coffee and he'll split the brew from it.  Works for me!  

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HELP! Name the Birds PLEASE

Sharon now has just the two birds she is keeping, and she wants help naming them. She is counting on my 3 or 4 loyal readers to submit some clever, suitable ideas.

If we don't get suggestions, Ed is going to name them Heckel and Jeckle. (Their other animals: Titus, Gracie, and Lucy -dogs; Angel and Cracker -cats).

If you visit but don't usually comment, NOW would be a great time to start : )

For simplicity's sake, I'm going to refer to the birds as if they are male, but I've no clue to their gender. And I don't think it matters . . .

Bird Grey: He's a little crazy. Loves the camera, and gets in the way if I try lean around him to take pictures of his cage mate. He poses - I mean he really poses for me. Works it. And yells alot while he's at it. Mary describes him as selfish and fluffy.

Bird Yellow: Quieter, camera-shy, more 'pettable'. Mary describes him as nicer and prettier. She likes him best.

Please, please offer your suggestions, and get your friends to, too!

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Easter Sunday

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life;  

he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.

John 11:25

Wishing everyone a Happy, Blessed Easter!!

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Saturdays with Sharon

Her home office is now completely in the back bedroom, across the hall from the master, near the back door (three dogs in and out, ya know). The front bedroom, ex-office, is now a comfy, convenient guest room (and she has lots of guests).

If you've been reading previous Sharon posts, you know that she is bizarre and that she accomplished this all in a weekend, all by herself. (Ed was sick). I went over once to help move a file cabinet, and could not budge my side. Not an inch. She just did it alone, but I cheered her on (literally - give me an "S", give me an "H", etc.), and told her how great she was. For a he-woman.

She repaired, patched, painted, cleaned, and installed a new ceiling light fixture (yes, yes she did). She had two rooms full of furniture to switch, files to refile, cables to rewire / relocate, doggie door to install, etc. The list and very idea is overwhelming. For 'before' pics, see previous SWS post.

But she's over there now, enjoying all the fruits of her very hard labor, as is her visiting sister, Shirley.

Guest bedroom during rearrangement:

Guest room now!

Sharon and Shirley : )

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A Little Fun

Found this little bit of fun on another blogger's site; of course I was certain I typed

 sooooooooo much faster than this...

It's fun, try it!



57 words

Speed test

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Saturdays with Sharon

She hasn't started and completed something that I can report on; but she is in the middle of a BIGGIE. She's moving her home office out of one bedroom into the back. The back room was already in disarray from a long-hidden leak, so she has repairs to make on top of the actual move and rearrangement.


It's gonna be great when it's all said and done, and she works nearly nonstop sorting, organizing, storing, moving, re-filing, re-locating wires, moving furniture, etc. She is very exhausting to us normal people; I nearly always have to have a nap after leaving her house.


Here are some before and during pics:

A big hole in the wall

My husband donating sheetrock

Last time it's gonna look like this

No. Help. At. All.

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Cleaning for Charlotte

I don't even know why.  Charlotte is going to be here tomorrow, so I've been picking up, doing extra vacuuming, and mopping.  Thing is, I don't go to this 'trouble' for adult visitors. . . people who might actually notice and care about disorder and germs.  

She's not a crawling baby, and she's never been too bad about putting things in her mouth.  And in her opinion, the more dog toys left scattered around, the better.

But for some reason, I want things cleaner when she's gonna be here, and I've gotta go now so I can fold laundry.  I hope somehow, some day she appreciates this.  

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Gotta Do It

Jessica and I started going to a personal trainer ( - makes us sound like celebrities!) last summer.  She works through our church.  To describe the wonderfulness of her would take about 3 separate posts, so I'll just say that she got us on track.  We met with her once a week for an hour, and started attending aerobics classes (once or twice a week) that she taught.  

In addition to the exercise, we both joined MyFoodDiary and entered our weight goals and logged all of the food we ate.  

Lori, our trainer, gave us individual goals and taught us the importance of strength training in addition to cardio.   Strength training (the machines, the free weights, etc.) speeds your metabolism so that the cardio pays off even more, AND more importantly, it is the strength / weight exercises that get rid of the flapping /jiggling / hanging upper arm situation, and allow you to go sleeveless in the hot, hot summer.

My Food Diary is like a do-it-yourself 'weight-watchers';  you can eat ANYTHING you want, you just cannot exceed a certain calorie count per day or week, depending on your goals.  It is very affordable ($9 / month), easy, and gives great feedback:  smiley faces for meeting your goals, drinking enough water, getting vitamins and nutrients in your food, and dreaded orange frownie faces for getting too much saturated fat, too much sodium, etc.  They also have a forum where you will find all the encouragement, support, and fantastic tips and recipes that you could possibly need.

This combo worked!  We lost many, many pounds and inches; and I had so much more energy that I knew that if I were LOST on an island, I could keep up with Kate  -  a very important concept for me.

THEN: there was no LOST, and in its place was cold weather and holiday food.  Jessica has maintained her weight loss, but I've gained back approximately six pounds, and I most definitely would get left behind with Hurley on the island.

So, no exercise and no calorie-counting equals out- of- breath, tight pants, doubling chin.  

I am stating my goal of getting back to exercising, and back to logging my consumption on MyFoodDiary.    It doesn't matter that I waited to do this when the weather turned perfect (yes, three days after the snowfall), and no one can resist going outside anyway.  It still counts;  I'm getting out today for a walk, and I've already entered my breakfast for today's tally.

Here goes nothing. . . 

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THIS BIRD

This is Ginger's new parrot. It was the most colorful thing I might have ever seen, and was without a doubt, the LOUDEST, screeching-ist animal I've EVER heard. He was friendly and excitable; I couldn't quit watching him, but I should have had earplugs and sunglasses!

If I remember / understood correctly, this screamer is a Sun Conure.  I know very little about birds and parrots, and I thought they could all talk, but not this guy.  At best, he can be trained not to scream so loud, so often.  

Apparently, you have to get an African Grey (not so pretty and colorful as this bird) if you want a bird to chat with;  or maybe a Quaker Parrot.

Ginger's got it covered with a talker though, as she also has a sweet young  cockatiel, (like Sharon's birds), and that one can learn to 'speak'.  

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Saturdays With Sharon

She called me on Friday because she had re-arranged the house again and wanted my opinion.  Her office, the bar / coffee area, and the living room had all been switched around.  

I didn't have any before pics; but I do have these of animals everywhere I wanted to be.

Here's how I helped:  looked at her rearrangement with a new perspective and advised about things that looked crowded or off or just "not right".  We rehung art and pictures, exchanged knick-knacks, swapped plants, and pulled items from other rooms for an even fresher look.    It made an incredible difference, and the fantastic results caused me to come home and look at my space with a more critical eye...... my mantle was junky, the bookshelf was cluttered, etc. I took my own advice and soon had a small box ready for Goodwill, a couple of things for eBay, and even something perfect for Sharon.  Lots more I could do, but I'm not Sharon, so my efforts lasted the shortest while, and it was suddenly second-pot of coffee time.   By the time that was enjoyed, I was WAY PAST cleaning house.  I just went back to Sharon's.

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March Snow

It actually happened;  and it's a big deal around here.

Mary's SnowBoy, Finian.  All by herself.

And Finian's friend; who joined him later.

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Jessica Thinks

That I don't know how to bundle a baby.

Today, we had the much discussed snow that was predicted on Saturday night - when it was going to be about 75 degrees the next day.  Gorgeous day Sunday;  people in shorts, t-shirts, and flip flops.  We all thought it was quite appropriate that the Memphis weathermen would be predicting snow on Tuesday.  Everybody's sick anyway, why not?

Of course we (that includes SuSu) wanted Charlotte to go out and experience the very rare snowstorm;  but Jessica called and was alarmed, adamant, anxious, and very much against the idea.  TOO COLD, she said.  

Come oooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnn.  This isn't my first day on the job.  

Mary and I had her dressed in her own clothes and shoes, then added:  plastic bags and socks over her feet, a sweatshirt over her body, purple gloves on her tiny hands, a scarf-hat with a hat over that, and another scarf/muffler.   More importantly - I guess Jessica will have to experience this first hand - the greater amount of time and trouble you go to to prepare a child for an activity directly correlates to the infinitesimal amount of time they will spend engaged in that activity.  We were outside for approximately one and one-half minutes. . . . 

In fairness, Charlotte would have 'engaged' for a lot longer, but any time her feet are on the ground in a wide open space there is going to be frantic chasing going on; Mary and I hadn't bundled ourselves up enough for that game. 

Look closely and you MIGHT see the SNOW; don't just concentrate on the VERY WARM baby:

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The Importance of Power

And by power, I mean electricity.  

A transformer across the street 'blew' Saturday. Not a big deal on a beautiful afternoon - perfect weather (windows open anyway), and plenty of sunshine.  The only irritant early on is how damaging this is to our computers and appliances, but I'm sure it will be fixed soon, so no worries.  And even if it got dark - losing power temporarily at night can be cozy, adventurous, and make us feel like real frontier people.  We are tough! with our candles and battery-operated radio / t.v. and flashlights and cell phones  (and some people, with their generators).

But when temporary becomes 'what about all the food in the freezer', well, then, I expect the city services and conveniences I pay for, and I expect them NOW.

Another neighbor must have been thinking the same thing, because he kept calling and insisting on repair; we were up and running before the first candle needed to be lit.  Crisis averted.

TODAY.  Rainy.  We put chicken in the crock pot and leave for Spanish class.  The power goes out about ten minutes after we leave.  Instead of coming home to supper and a wonderful food aroma, we come home to blinking lights on appliances.  Sooooo, now we have to throw everything in the oven, rethink our dinner time, etc. 

 'All's well that ends well' - - - but I really like HAVING POWER.

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Saturdays With Sharon

Sharon finished the birdcage and has the birds.  She has four of them right now, but is giving two away.  They are friendly, happy birds.  I can't remember what kind they are, but they can learn to talk and repeat noises - like a cell phone ring or a whistle.  I don't know if they can mimic dogs barking - but that is the sound they will hear the most.

The very cool thing about her birdcage is that it is on wheels;  it rolls easily for cleaning or visiting or getting next to the window.

Sharon's cats don't seem to care anything about the birds, but the dogs mind everything that takes attention away from them.

As far as more activities and projects, she has cleaned out her very large, front-yard flowerbed, and trimmed all her crepe mrytles, but alas, I have no photos to share of her hard work.  I'll get better about stalking my neighbors with a camera . . . 

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