Thursday, November 22, 2007

Turkey Day





That's about all I've got time to write....busy with the bird and making pie!

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Leave Santa Alone!

Yahoo.com is my home page. When I opened my browser this morning, I saw this article about Santa.....and I thought, "What the #%$&@&$^@?!?!?!??!?!????" Are you kidding me.....??? Santa can't say, "ho, ho, ho", because it might offend WOMEN....? What women? The HOs??? Too bad! Or a bunch of uptight, overly politically correct morons with broomsticks jammed up their bums??? Get over it!

And do the children think of prostitutes when Santa says that....?

Santa: Ho, ho, ho, Bobby!!
Bobby: Wow, Santa, I get THREE prostitues this Christmas????!

I am really sick and tired of all this "politically correct" crap and fear of offending someone.....and that is coming from a person who is rather PC and tries to consider feelings and not offend and blah, blah, blah.

But enough is ENOUGH.....this is going too far.....and really, don't we have bigger fish to fry in the world? I say.....

LEAVE SANTA ALONE!


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Article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071115/wl_asia_afp/lifestyleaustraliachristmasoffbeat

SYDNEY (AFP) - Santas in Australia's largest city have been told not to use Father Christmas's traditional "ho ho ho" greeting because it may be offensive to women, it was reported Thursday.
Sydney's Santa Clauses have instead been instructed to say "ha ha ha" instead, the Daily Telegraph reported.

One disgruntled Santa told the newspaper a recruitment firm warned him not to use "ho ho ho" because it could frighten children and was too close to "ho", a US slang term for prostitute.

"Gimme a break," said Julie Gale, who runs the campaign against sexualising children called Kids Free 2B Kids.

"We are talking about little kids who do not understand that "ho, ho, ho" has any other connotation and nor should they," she told the Telegraph.

"Leave Santa alone." [I agree!!!]

A local spokesman for the US-based Westaff recruitment firm said it was "misleading" to say the company had banned Santa's traditional greeting and it was being left up to the discretion of the individual Santa himself.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Where Have You Been All My Life?

I love photography. I'm not professional by any means, and maybe some people don't even think I'm very good at it! I don't care -- I love it regardless.

At one time, I had a pretty good film camera. It was an Olympus hybrid SLR. But I couldn't photograph as much as I would have liked, because film and developing costs were involved. With digital -- not an issue.

When our nice Nikon camera died, I rushed out and bought a cheapy point and shoot from Staples. Another Olympus. It's actually been a good camera for us, and my mom ended up getting the same model [FE-210]. For about $130, I got some really good photos.

But it was time for a REAL camera....

After hours and hours of research, I had narrowed my camera search to two models: the Nikon D80, and the Canon 30D. Both are stellar DSLRs, and I kept going back and forth between the two models. Everybody had a different opinion, and the Canon vs. Nikon battled raged on!

Finally, I went to Best Buy to see both of these beasts in person. There's really only so much you can tell from looking at photos online. I needed to hold these cameras and decide if one just felt "right" in my hands.....

I felt like Harry Potter looking for the right wand....when I found it, I'd know. This turned out to be true.

Prior to this shopping trip, I think I was leaning towards the D80, so I picked it up first. After a few minutes to looking it over and pretending to shoot, I put it down and was handed the 30D.

And that's all it took. This camera felt like a REAL camera. It was a little heavier than the D80 and what I was expecting, but that was okay. It felt like a real camera, and it felt good in my hands.

At that point, I think I knew -- I was going to buy the Canon. But I went home to do a little more research and opinion gathering, as that is my nature. Research it to DEATH, but I rarely have any buyer's remorse, so I guess that's the pay-off.

The next day, I returned to Best Buy. Ironically, I had received a 10% coupon in the mail. Big plus, since I had decided to get the 40D and not the 30D....and there's about a $300 price difference. All I read told me that the 40D had some necessary improvements over the 40D.

Since unpacking my new baby, I have been in HEAVEN. Even some quickie "tests" have turned out phenominal!! I almost cried the first night I downloaded the photos from the camera. I love this camera and couldn't be happier! The photos in this posting obviously came from my new love....

Thursday, November 1, 2007

I've Had ENOUGH!

Nicholas celebrated his second Halloween yesterday. He was only two months old for his first one. We dressed him as a lobster and carried him around to our neighbors last year. Andy stayed at the house, and the girls, Nicholas and I went trick-or-treating.

This year, it was just Nicholas and me. The girls were with their mom, and Andy was on an airplane somewhere, trying to get home to us.

Nick was a lion this year and a darn cute one at that! He helped me pass out candy, and once again, we visited our neighbors. They kept offering candy, but Nick has yet to enjoy the bliss that chocolate can bring! Well, for some.....chocolate doesn't do anything for me. So, we passed....

Went all out with the decorations this year. We had webbing, multiple carved pumpkins, fake spiders, howling things in the trees....it was too fun! Only scared one kid, but my brave boy wasn't afraid! He liked to set off the chattering heads and stick his finger in their plastic mouths.


But, by 7:00 p.m., he had ENOUGH of the whole Halloween gig. So, I changed him into his soft, warm jammies and got his bedtime bottle ready. One more pair of boys rang the bell, and with that, Trick-or-Treating 2007 was over.

Nicholas and I snuggled on the couch while he drank his bottle and immediately passed out. My little lion was obviously quite tired....which was GOOD, because Mommy forgot to turn off the howling things in the trees.....they went off all night, and they were right below Nicholas's bedroom window! I didn't discover my boo-boo until I heard them going off in the background of his baby monitor....whoops! Let's hope my neighbors still speak to me.....

I hope everyone had a Happy and SAFE Halloween!