Rise and Shine -- Glory years

Good Morning and welcome to a gloomy Tuesday!

You know, the more and more the Phillies celebrate titles, it's getting harder and harder to convince some people it wasn't always this good.
No, I tell the boys, the Phillies didn't win every year. No, there were years you knew the season was over after the first game (remember Joe Cowley?).
There were years we convinced ourselves all winter this would be different. Danny Tartabull was the answer in the middle of the lineup (he lasted a whopping one game before getting hurt). The starting rotation of Combs, Mulholland and Ruffin will carry us into the playoffs (Never mind). Jeff Stone is so fast he might steal 100 bases (forgot to say he couldn't field or hit).
Now, though, they are winners. Maybe the most feared team heading into the playoffs. Really, if you look at it, the Phillies should be the favorite to win the World Series. Not saying they will, in baseball anything can happen, but they have to be No. 1.
So, all you Phillies fans out there, enjoy the ride. It's really never been so good.

Rise and Shine --- Holding on

Good Morning and welcome to the real Fall!

So, when the temperature again hit the 90s Friday, it was obvious summer wasn't really going to let go. After all, why should it? We've been sweltering through a few months, so why not a couple of more days.
Of course, summer means water. Now, because of various circumstances, the shore wasn't part of our summer ritual this year. Instead, we were content with Grandmom's pool.
Anyway, with not much to do and with the heat being turned up, Saturday seemed like the perfect day for a trip.
After participating in the Walk 4 Hearing at Ridley Creek State Park Saturday morning (and getting a few things done), it was time to pile into the van and drive.
This wasn't going to be a beach day, but a day to get some of the sea air in our lungs and enjoy the breeze.
Of course, there was mini golf (won a free game after playing a free game) and some rides (a lucky person got 24 free tickets).
Mostly, though, it was summed up by a very sleepy 5-year old after hitting the highway to get back home: "Dad, that was a fantastic day."
All right!

Rise and Shine --- Headache

Good Morning and welcome to the middle of the week!

You know it's going to be a long day when you wake up with a sinus-induced headache. There would be nothing better than going back to bed, but that's not to be today.
Then again, maybe it was because I woke up to THIS.
You know, really, I could really care less about Michael Vick or Kevin Kolb. I've learned long ago that, with very few exceptions, professional athletes don't care about you and me. They live in some other world.
Still, everybody has to weigh in and since I have to watch every Eagles game this year as part of the job, well, it's kind of laughable.
The Eagles (and fans) spent the whole offseason talking about a new quarterback and getting rid of Donovan McNabb.
Then, after getting a concussion in his first game, Kolb was sent to pasture. No matter what Andy Reid says now, Kolb will never be able to start in Philadelphia.
The coach cut him down, stabbed him in the back, slapped him on the wrists.
So, all those people who were so happy to get rid of Donovan McNabb, well, enjoy a bunch of losing years in a row.
And, the headache is still here.

Rise and Shine --- From the mouth of...

Good Morning and welcome back to the only place where the roller coaster never stops!

I've also found out that watching the Phillies game is no way to treat a cold. You need sleep, sleep and more sleep. Of course, that's not coming so I'll have to settle for the Phillies.
Unless, of course, somebody else gets hold of the remote.
"I don't want to watch Phillies," always says the 5-year old. "It's boring."
Of course, then she proceeds to show me how boring by rolling around on the couch or shouting "boring" over and over again.
Truth be told, I know better. When the little ones are in control of the TV, I have about half a commercial time to check a score.
That's OK, though. I'd rather watch them, or, more precisely, their reaction to things.
Like the other day when I joked we were going to go on a haunted hayride.
"Ooh, a hayride," said the 5-year old in her sing-song voice. "I love hayrides."
But, this is a haunted hayride, they try to scare you.
"Daddy," she firmly stated, "we won't be going on that kind of hayride."
I couldn't help but smile. Then, I started thinking, I better find time for a trip to Livilla Orchards.

Rise and Shine --- Pass the Sudafed

Good Morning and welcome to the last couple of days of 'summer!'

You know the summer is really over when you have Octoberfest and Pumpkin beers hitting the taps.
Meanwhile, it's time to start battling one of those annoying hay fever colds. The sinuses are stuffed up. The sneezing is annoying and the coughing feels like your about to bring up a lung.
It doesn't help that it's a Monday, but, as one little girl I know likes to sing, "A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down."
So, as the sneezing attack hits again, enjoy this (or at least try to figure out how some people have so much time):

DJ Kitty - watch more funny videos

Rise and Shine --- Drinking tea?

Good Morning and welcome to another Wednesday!

OK, you can color me confused.
There is some kind of movement out there that likes to call itself the Tea Party. It's backed by such top-notch thinkers as Sarah Palin.
Well, these Tea Party candidates run as Republicans, but also say the GOP is not conservative enough for their tastes. Which, I guess, is a little like saying mint chocolate-chip ice cream doesn't have enough mint or chocolate chips. Hey, it is what it is, deal with it.
(Speaking of ice cream, spent a nice evening at What's the Scoop here in Primos Tuesday night. Didn't see any tea flavored ice cream.)
So, a career candidate Christine O'Donnell won the GOP nomination for Delaware's Senate seat during Tuesday's primary. The main part of the Republican party had backed her opponent, but, like O'Donnell said "the people of Delaware have spoken!"
Now, these outsiders apparently want to be part of the machine. They are upset because the GOP won't throw tons of money behind the candidates.
They want to argue against those in power, but also want to be backed by those in power.
Sorry, can't have it both ways.
Either you are a third party candidate (ask Lyndon LaRouche how that works out) or you are not.
In the end, it all looks like the same side of the coin.
By the way, the cherry vanilla is a good bet for dessert.

Rise and Shine --- Already?

Good Morning and welcome to a (bleh) Monday!

Is it just me or does the weekend seem to go by even more quickly now?
It seems like Friday comes along, then, before you can blink, it's back to Monday. It's like we are always running to do something, getting here, getting there, then BOOM, it's back to the weekly grind.
Work, school, homework, eat, sleep.
It just gets tougher to spread out the hours during off times. Then again, as I've seen and proven, trying to jam too much in during those hours can make it even worse.
So, there has to be a balance somewhere. It's finding it that's proving elusive.
Meanwhile, I'm still trying to figure out the MTV Music Video Awards. When you turn it on and the only artist you've actually heard sing before was Cher, well, it's time to upgrade the iPod.
Although, this was interesting:

2010 MTV Video Music Awards - More VMA Video

Rise and Shine --- Just don't get it

Good Morning and welcome to the middle of the week!

A hot topic of conversation yesterday was about a Florida church that plans on a Quran burning Saturday.
The Government is speaking out against it. Military leaders in Afghanistan are saying it could lead to troop deaths.
Any person with a brain should be condemning the church and its leader, Terry Jones.
That kind of hate does nobody any good. It doesn't matter if you are Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Jehovah's Witness or atheist, there is no way a correctly-working sense of morality should support this kind of thing.
So, they burn the Quoran. Then the next step is they burn the Torah, because, well, those of the Jewish faith aren't Christian. Then they start burning houses to those who don't support their doctrine.
We are all people. Even those who live strictly by the Bible can't argue the fact that everybody in every religion worships the same God. The stories might be different, told from a different point of view and written at different times, but they are the same.
Before you condemn, do some research.
Talk to people of different faiths. See that everybody is pretty much the same.
Then do yourself a favor and rent or watch online the movie "Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden.
If you keep things open, maybe there wouldn't be so much hate around.

Rise and Shine --- One last blast

Good Morning and welcome to the real first week of school!

Of course, some schools started last week, but there weren't buses at every corner and there weren't students walking all over the place. Today's the day when the morning (and afternoon) traffic picks up. Drive carefully, it's back to the grind.
So, even though the students I know started school last week, we tried to squeeze every bit of summer out of the season.
Earlier this summer, we hit museums, playgrounds, movies and parks. We've taken one-day road trips. We played games and had catches.
So, not wanting to let go (especially with the weather turning so nice), we blew out the weekend.
We went to a festival, road bikes and topped it all off with a Wilmington Blue Rocks game Monday.
Sure, everybody was tired, but you have to squeeze it all in. Some people do picnics or cookouts for Labor Day. Some watch tennis. Some play tennis.
Whatever, it's all about enjoying every single moment.
Now, life will be dominated by homework and getting everybody to school.
It's a different kind of fun.

Rise and Shine --- Behind already

Good Morning and welcome back as summer tries to hold on for a few more days!!

Whoever invented the snooze button on an alarm clock is either everybody's best friend or an evil genius.
Most days, I'm able to hit the snooze button a few times, pull myself out of bed and get ready for work.
Then there are those like today when the snooze saved and annoyed me at the same time.
The alarm went off as usual, I hit the snooze. Ten minutes later it rang, I snoozed. Then I either fell back asleep and hit the button in my sleep or I don't remember doing it. When you look at the clock and see it's the time you usually leave the house, well, the rush is on.
Quicken up everything from brushing the teeth to walking (running?) to the car. Even though I caught up quickly here at the desk, there's going to be a feeling of being behind all day.
So, thanks for the snooze and darn you.

The alarm clock - watch more funny videos

Rise and Shine --- All over the map

Good Morning and let me off the roller coaster!

By the way, doesn't it seem odd when the Phillies are out on the Left Coast. Nobody goes to those games in Los Angeles anyway, so why not just make it easier for us here in the East by starting the games earlier.
Whatever.
Then again, you have people on this side of the country like THIS GUY
He says he lost a $1.35 Million painting while on a drunken bender.
So, your friends tell you to old on to this and what do you do? Go out, get loaded and lose the thing.
Sure. Sounds like a good story.
Now, we move back across the country to Washington. Here, a hiker lives in a cartoon world, apparently.
He shot himself in the butt after putting a handgun in his back pocket.
He was hiking up Blewett Pass, next time he should just go HERE
Of course, we can't all have as much time on our hands as this guy:

Super Cool Bowling Awesome Trick Shots - watch more funny videos