This Is It

I haven't really said much about Michael Jackson. Some of you loved him, some of you hated him. Whether it was because of the controversy surrounding him, or because you just didn't like his music, doesn't matter. I personally, have always loved Michael Jackson.

Tonight I finally went to see the film, This Is It. From beginning to end, I sat in awe of the performer that he was. Having never seen him live, I now have a new appreciation for the art, direction and love that he put into each and every performance. He was completely hands on throughout the entire process. He was thoughtful, caring and a genius!

It opened up with interviews with the dancers prior to his demise. It featured his big hits, from Billie Jean to Earth Song, and it showed the energy, the life that was Michael Jackson. I found myself sitting there, singing along to every single song, tapping my feet... heck, I would have gotten up and danced if I didn't think the other viewers would have minded.

It was almost 2 full hours of the concert rehearsal footage. Michael directing everyone, Michael singing, Michael dancing. It was everything I thought it was going to be and more.

It closed with Michael alone on the stage, his arms spread wide, basking in the glory he thought he was going to live through again. I loved him because of the music he produced. Now, I love him because of who he was and what he could do.

If you haven't seen it yet, and are a fan... heck even if you aren't a fan - this is something you might definitely want to see.

To my friends in Texas

The time has come yet again where your loved ones are leaving for a year. I wish I was there with you, so that I could be the shoulder you need. You know, of all people I fully understand where your heads are at right now, and if I could change things, I would. I will keep each and every one of you in my prayers.

To my friends who have left and are on the journey for this next year; we love you and miss you and we pray for your safety. It sucks, but I know you will drive on and complete your mission fearlessly, without regrets.

Peace be with you all. I love and miss all y'all so much.

always,
Tammy

Twilight

I blame my son.
For months he has been trying to get me to read Stephenie Meyers' The Host or her Twilight Series. I didn't really feel like I wanted to, having my fill of Vampires and such from Anne Rice. Not to mention that I figured they were totally for teens, what with their angst and emo-isms. I practically refused the books anytime he would place them in front of me, rolling my eyes and shoving them back in his direction. I wasn't going to be pulled in like I was with the Harry Potter series. (I read HP in order to have something in common with my son, little did I know that it would suck me in.)
At any rate, Mike would always update me when there was a new trailer for any movie available, and we sat down at the computer this past Saturday to see one he had heard about. I looked up Twilight and found that there was a new one for it as well. My son watched as my jaw dropped open wide, at which part I have no idea, and suddenly I wanted the books. I figured it looked like a pretty deep romance, so why not.
He brought Twilight to me and I set about reading it. I had no idea that once I hit chapter 5.... I was hooked. I can't tell you what hooked me, because I don't know. I do know that the raw emotion in this series is one that I have never encountered in any other book I have read. I became so deeply emersed that I read the first three books (Twilight, New Moon & Eclipse) in three days. I laughed, I cried, I got mad, heck there were times that I wanted to throw the book, but my fingers feared the departure from it. I was up for three nights until almost 4 or 4:30 in the morning. I was going crazy, wanting to know everything there possibly was to know about this series, trying to read between the lines as if there were more that I was missing.
On to my point I suppose. This series pulls your emotions to the limit. You feel and yearn for what the main character, "Bella", wants and goes through. You feel the brooding nature of Edward, the Vampire who does not harm humans, but falls helplessly in love with Bella from the moment he wanted to kill her. I think I am so drawn into it, because of the emotion. I can't explain it any other way. I could really care less about the superstition parts of it, the story would leave me breathless no matter the circumstances.
I took two days to savor the 4th book, Breaking Dawn, I think because I knew it was drawing to an end that I wasn't looking for, and I wanted it to go on forever. Excitedly, I found through my son that the first 12 chapters to the 5th book, Midnight Sun, were available online on www.stepheniemeyer.com still. (That is all that has been written so far, long story short, one of Stephanie's friends whom she gave a copy to posted it without her permission and now the book is delayed indefinitely, until she feels like going back to it again.... if ever.) I also spent most of today looking deeper on the internet for more information, more movie clips, anything to satiate my thirst for this series. No pun intended.
No, I am not an all-out freak. My son says I have found a new drug. I'll take that. Thank goodness my drug is written words that drive my imagination..... now if I could only quit smoking!! HAHA!!

Get Over It!

Is it just me or are kids and teeens these days completely depressed??? Every time I sign into myspace, their status updates are always about how alone they are, and how sad they are, and how they want and need attention. Trust me kids. You think life is hard now, wait until your bills start rolling in and you actually have to fend for yourselves - then complain about how hard up you are!!!

Get over it already! This EMO bullshit is old, withered, and to use your words... played out! If you think you are not clinging to any "group" or your trying to be different, guess what? You are still a follower!

You live at home, have food in your belly, have clothes on your back, probably have all kinds of electronic devices that some of us old cats never dreampt of having at your age AND you have the internet at your finger tips. Quit your belly aching, get over yourselves and if you are that bored...... get out of the damn house and go do something! You choose what you do and if being a lazy, ungrateful, self-centered little snot is what you think is cool, I will wish you luck now in adulthood.

-end rant

Day Trip to Mexico

Yesterday was an amazing day! James and I had always talked about it, but never really acted on it, but we want to do DayTrips to different places before he deploys again.

Well, we did it yesterday. We went to Mexico!!! Getting there didn't take up too much time so we actually had the chance to do some shopping, took in the sights, talked to locals, and even had a bite to eat before heading home! It was a pretty amazing day to say the least!

I was really surprised to find that the locals' English is pretty good. I didn't need to dust of my Spanish like I thought I was going to have to. Heck! I was surprised to find a bowling pro shop where I bought a new 3 ball bag!!!

The locals:

Hahahaha! And now the signage:

That's Right!!! We went to Mexico NY!!!!! I am a freak, I know, but it was too good to resist. Go ahead and groan, do what you will, but you know you were thinking that we were crazy wasting a ton of money to go to Mexico for one day!!!!

Anyway, Mexico NY is a small little community nestled about 4 miles off of I-81. It is knit to Albion and Parish Communities respectively. And most of these Communities are Amish. We actually went down because in Parish, there is the most amazing Pro Shop, and I needed a new bowling ball bag. Afterwards, we headed to Syracuse to do a little Christmas shopping and then came back to bowl.

Hope y'all have a good one. And please, don't hate me because of my humor.... I have learned from my husband who sees humor where others really don't! Haha! Much love.

Summer Fades

Cold

How am I going to be able to make it through the winter when I can't even stand the early morning temperatures right now? Dang 46 degrees in the morning and taking the dog out just about freezes my butt off! I am going to be such a wimp this winter!

Fall means bowling leagues start up, which is cool cause I have been dying to get back to it. Saturday nights are going to be the night. It is called the "Music League", which hopefully doesn't turn out to be country. I can handle almost anything but country!! We were late joining so I had to post bowl this past Tuesday. Not too bad! 180, 156 & 155 respectively. Hopefully I can maintain my average. It is going to be hard though because there isn't a travel league up here, so one house and that's it!

I have a hair appt. on Saturday. Fall means out with the chunky highlights and in with the all-over color. Took me a minute but I found a salon that uses Redken Color Fusion - the best for my most stubborn grey! I will post pics if I like how it turns out. As for the cut that I got in the summer - I am letting it grow out. It was ok, and I liked it, but it is too high maintainence for me. I like being able to just throw my hair up and go. So no more cuts except for trims every 3 months!

I miss everyone from Texas so badly. It has been a challenge here to say the least. I have protected myself to the point where I have yet to make any friends. This is my fault, but past experience has taught me not to trust every single person who comes into my life. I know it will work out as it should, but it just sucks right now that the only friends I have are either on the other end of the phone or internet.

I achieved gaining the weight I wanted to - I was down to 124 at one point, my face was sunk in and I looked horrible. Stress will either make you lose a ton of weight or gain a ton. Wish it was more even! Anyway, I am back up to 135 and now comes the task of maintaining. This has proven time and time again to be harder than one would think. I love my Wii Fit, and my personal trainer on it rocks, but he gets on my nerves when I am really tired and he keeps on pushing me! I have come close to almost throwing the dongle at the tv, but have had to remind myself that the tv will cost me more than the relief. HAHA

Much love to all, you are in my prayers.

Here I sit... Contemplating

We made it to Ft. Drum safe and sound. In a shorter amount of time than we expected. We were going to stop in Cleveland to go see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a friend of mine, but we didn't think it all the way through. Having the dog and 2 cats with us was a challenge, and finding hotels that were pet friendly was a huge pain in the butt. We did alright, but still, had we stopped in Cleveland, the animals would have had to stay in the hotel by themselves, to which most hotels do not like pets being left unattended.

So, instead we drove right through. We started out late on Thursday, leaving Killeen around 5pm. We had so many extra things to do that some of the other stuff was deleted from our plans. The first night we drove to Hope Arkansas. Quiet little town where President Bill Clinton was born. Not much to see from the Interstate of course.

We left Hope on Friday, and drove to Carrollton Kentucky.  The sights were awesome, and the hills and valleys were absolutely beautiful. (Some of the hills though took a toll on our gas tank!) Of course, gas prices started to rise as soon as we left Texas, but there were a few that were still under $4 a gallon.

Saturday we woke and left Kentucky, drove to the Jeffersonville Outlet Mall between Cincinatti and Columbus Ohio - which a friend told me about. We didn't spend much but we got the chance to get out of the truck and stretch and walk. I stood in the courtyard like a fool and yelled as loud as I could.... "Where are you Patty?"... haha! (Inside joke!)

Once we were done at the outlets, we hopped back in the truck and drove the rest of the way here. It was pretty long and at times rather boring, but we played mad libs and we did a few games of 6 degrees with movies and actors. We hit the toll road and it was pretty much clear sailing from there.

Gas up here is pretty crazy. We use mid-grade in the truck, so we have been looking at $4.25-4.35 a gallon. Yes, that is the price ON POST. We are still in the hotel, but we are second on the list for housing on post, so that is a good thing. Some things are more expensive here while other things appear to be cheaper. Milk is cheaper by about a dollar, meats are a lot cheaper, some fresh veggies are a little more expensive, thank goodness for Sam's Club because without it I would scream!

Cigarettes are definitely more expensive here. In Tx on post I would pay about $33 for a carton of Marlboro's, here on post they are $53! Don't quite understand how that works.

Post here appears to be ok. The bowling alley is a big let down. 16 synthetic lanes, one summer league and it is singles, a few leagues in the fall, but they don't open until 4pm during the week. Blech! Another alley downtown is really beat up. It has 16 lanes too and looking from the outside.... I do not want to go in. We did find an alley outside of town that looks pretty promising. 24 wood lanes, formerly AMF, now owned by MOR Bowling Inc. Tons of leagues and cheap daytime games. This area however doesn't have a single travel league, so I am out of luck there. I guess that just means that as a family we are going to have to travel ourselves to different cities to check out lanes and such.

It rained here today. Funny thing.... I thought I was getting away from tornado warnings and crazy weather. Not a chance! Had a tornado warning today and one did touch down south of us. I guess I forgot how the Great Lakes kick up storms. Ah well, such is life with Global Warming....

That's all I have for now. I have a ton of pics that I will eventually get loaded up here. I am waiting for my computer instead of using hubby's laptop to do that though.

We love and miss everyone!