Archerr

The boyfriend and I spent the weekend at my father's house in Charlottesville. We went down to visit with him and visit some wineries. We saw lots of color in the tress on the way down. We love this time of year.


My father has collected more cats since our last visit. When we saw him last he had 3 cats that he feeds. Only one lives in his house. The rest live in the neighborhood and only visit to get some food. He's now up to 5 cats. He has one cat that only has one eye and he calls him One Eyed Jack. Then he's got a set of twins that visit in the mornings. One is really thin and the other is fit and healthy. I think the fit one takes over the food when the come to eat. I wonder if my dad spends more on cat food then he does on human food. He's retired and on a budget you know.

Anyway, we had a great weekend enjoying some wine, the fall leaves, the cats, and spending time with my dad.

This afternoon I had a dermatology appointment to have some spots checked on my body (after my mother's recent skin cancer diagnosis I thought I should be checked) at 4:45 pm. I got there and there was no one at the desk to check me in. There were 5 other people waiting in the waiting room. After a few minutes of waiting someone appeared at the window. She told me to sign in and have a seat. I did.

At 5:00 pm, that lady came out and was going home. One of the people waiting asked her if she could give us an update and she said the doctor was doing some minor surgery and is running behind. Another person waiting asked how long and she said an hour and a half. WHAT?? That means I wouldn't get in there until 6:30 pm. That is unacceptable. I said I was leaving and would call for another appointment. The only problem with that is I'll have to wait a few more months. It's so hard to get a dermatology appointment.

When I got home I called right away and told them how upset I was that my appointment was going to be an hour and a half late. They should have called and informed those of us waiting. I said I wanted to make another appointment and they said there were no open appointments and the December calendar wasn't up yet. So I would have to call back.

I was not happy. This is the state of our healthcare system. It sucks. I've always been very happy with my healthcare but things like this really piss me off. Again, this country is so fucked.

It's been an interesting weekend with my mother. She's 77 years old. I don't have to tell you that as we get older we begin to become the parents and they become the children.

Late last week I learned from her that she went to see a dermatologist to have some spots on her arms checked. She found out that one of them is cancerous. At first they gave her an appointment in December to have the spot removed. After talking with the boyfriend, I insisted she call and get an earlier appointment and tell them you don't think you should have to wait. She did and got an earlier appointment. She'll be having it removed later this month. I'm going with her to ask all the questions that she didn't think of asking when she found out it was cancerous.

Early this morning as I was driving home from the boyfriend's house, I got a call from my older brother telling me my mother had been in a car accident. The back end of her car was hit by another car running a red light and going through the intersection. Her car spun around a few times before coming to a stop. Luckily there was an off duty police man at the same light and saw the whole thing. He quickly went to her aid and told her not to move. Once he determined that she wasn't hurt or in any pain, he called my older brother and filled him in with the details. My brother took care of the car and got my mother back to her house. I met them there shortly after. My mother was pretty upset about the whole thing and was still shaking from the experience. We stayed with her for several hours getting her calmed down and getting all the insurance info taken care of. She'll be getting a rental car tomorrow and hopefully will get her car back in a few weeks. The driver's side rear was pretty messed up and the wheel was bent in so maybe the rear axle was broken. Not sure since we haven't heard from the insurance company about the details of the car.

She's fine now but this episodes remind me yet again that I'll be keeping a close eye on my mother more and more. When Homer talks about the issues with his mother, I can relate more than he knows.

Happy Birthday, Homer!


Homer in July when he visited and taught me how to make a pie.

Is anyone else getting tired of the reality shows? I mean, I love watching them and all but it seems like all the shows this season.....which are all ending soon....seem to be very predictable. I'm still loving Project Runway and Big Brother but I have no interest in seeing the new Survivor. I don't know. Maybe I'm just ready for a new season of TV.

We made it through Hanna just fine. We had about 8 inches of rain and winds up to 43 mph but no damage to report. It was actually just like a really long thunderstorm without the thunder and lightning. The plastic furniture on my balcony got blown around just a bit and the plants got way too much water but nothing serious happened. We had plans to go to our favorite winery but decided against that when we saw the amount of rain that was coming down.

Now the weekend is over and it's back to work tomorrow.

Today I went back to work for the 22nd year in a row. I swear it gets harder each year. I did not want to get up this morning. But I dragged myself out of bed and went to work.

As usual, we had to sit through several hours of BS and then sit through an hour and a half of little training sessions. None of which I can actually use in my classroom.

I found out I'm going to have 26 students. That's a pretty large class. This may be a tough year. Of course I won't know for sure until I meet the students and their parents and see how needy they'll be.

I guess I'm ready but I wish I would just win the lottery so I wouldn't have to work anymore. I look forward to retirement more and more every year. I have at least 8 more years until that time.

Would you date or be in a relationship with someone who wasn't out to their friends and family?

Today when I was going to school I passed through a stop sign and heard a noise at the back of my car. As I continued to drive I heard a thumping noise. I thought I had a flat tire. When I got to school (which was only a block away) I looked at the tire and saw what looked like a roofing nail. The tire wasn't flat but it did have a big roofing type nail stuck in the tire. After I worked at school for a few hours, I took the car to Just Tires and had them take the nail out. The job was complicated because I have wheel locks but didn't have the key with me. They said they could take it off but would have to replace it with a regular nut. I said that was fine. Next time I take my car in for service I'll have to have them put the locked nut back on. No problem. So after an hour and a half and $35, the tire is fixed. I hope my luck changes soon.

I went to the eye doctor today and got more evidence that I'm getting old. I had to get a new perscription. I knew it was getting a little harder to see the words when reading. So I get new glasses and now it's much easier to read. I only wear my glasses for reading so I guess my eyes aren't too bad.

You would think that I would have lots of time to post on my blog being off in the summer. But it seems like I have kept myself busy with so many other things.

Of course the boyfriend and I have been spending lots of time together going to concerts and wineries and visiting friends. We're off on our vacation on Thursday. We're going to Napa to visit wineries for a few days. I'm looking forward to it because I've never been to California. I know we'll have a great time.

And I only have a few more weeks off until I go back to work. I try to do all the things I like to do while I'm off from work but at the same time I try to do all the things I can only do when I'm off. I've been making appointments and such. I've been to the doctor, dentist, and have an appointment to go to the eye doctor in two weeks. I like to get all this done in the summer so I don't have to take any days off during the school year. I hope to get it all done. That just reminded me that I need to get my car inspected. It never ends.

I've also scheduled the delivery and installation of a new dishwasher. Back in June we had some back thunderstorms and my building lost power a few times. One of those times when the power came back on we had a big power surge and it zapped my dishwasher's electronics. It has worked a few times since then but it's basically dead now. I had a repair woman come out and give me an estimate. The estimate was half the cost of a new one so I decided to forget the repairs and just get a new one. Just one more thing that will be done in the summer so I don't have to deal with it during the school year.

Busy, busy, busy!

While I'm excited that July has now begun, I'm sad because that means my summer is ticking away quickly.

I have been busy getting things done though. I went to the dentist on Monday and of course I get to keep my teeth for six more months. I've also been doing a lot of little jobs around the house. When I finished the dining room painting on Sunday, I started to clean out and through away. The summer is a good time to go through drawers, closets, and shelves and throw away things I haven't touched for the last year. Cleaning out and organizing is a good thing.

The boyfriend's family is coming over on the Fourth of July to have dinner and watch the fireworks from my balcony. So now I need to concentrate on giving my house a good cleaning before they arrive. I'll be concentrating on that tomorrow. The boyfriend and I will go shopping tomorrow to get all the food so that will be taken care of. I know we'll have a great time and it will be good to see his family again.

Today I started one of my summer projects. Each summer I plan to get things done that I can't get done during the school year. This summer I've decided to paint my dining room and the master bedroom. The boyfriend's family is in town so I have time to start these projects.

I painted the dining room last summer but didn't really care for the color after looking at it for a year so I decided to paint it the same color as the living room and hallway. I had 3/4 of a gallon of the paint left so I thought that would be enough to paint the dining room but it wasn't. I had to go out and get another gallon. Luckily it wasn't a specailly mixed color so I didn't need to worry about it matching. I'm glad I got the extra gallon because it needed three coats to cover the green I painted it last year.

So that's one project done. Next week the boyfriend leaves for his vacation with his family so I'll have time to do the big project of painting the master bedroom. It's just about twice the size of the dining room so will take twice the time to do. I painted the bedroom when I moved in ten years ago so it's time for an update. It's currently a burgundy color and I'm going to change it to a lighter color. I have picked out a khaki green kind of color. When I get it done, I'll have to take a picture to show the new color. I'll have to remember that.

This is sad. Great commercial though.

Today is my birthday! I'm 42, 43, 44 today. I'm beginning to feel all those things that happen to old people. My eyes are going, I can't hear as well, I'm getting fat(er), and I'm always worrying about retirement. In my mind I feel like I'm still in my 20's but my body tells me I'm getting older. Luckily I have my wonderful boyfriend to make me feel like I'm in my 20's. Happy Birthday to me!

I know my blog has become lame lately. I just haven't felt inspired by much to post. There are things I could write about and photos to post but I just haven't done it. Fear not though, I will get back to posting. I'll have some time this weekend.

Here's a picture of me from 1973....I think. I was trying to figure out when this was taken. Why didn't they put the date on pictures back then. Anyway, I'm posting this picture because Kim over at Kim's Beaver Lodge posted a picture of herself. I told her I'd do the same so here it is. I think I look really cute...actually, I look better then than I do now. Thanks for the inspiration, Kim!

I don't celebrate easter because I'm an atheist. I don't get into the whole religious part of it but I certainly take part in the candy part of it. I love all the easter candy the produce at this time of the year. I love the Reese's peanut butter eggs, Cadbury eggs, jelly beans, etc. I don't really care for the peeps but if someone gave me some, I'd eat them. Of course I need to stop eating all this stuff but I love it. I'm still a kid I guess. I hope you enjoyed your easter, however you celebrate it.

Last night I went to my mother's to have dinner with her and my twin brother. He's in town on business so my mother had us both over for dinner. I don't see him too often since he lives in Columbus. It's always good to see him.

In the past few years he's become a big Apple fan so I was not surprised when he pulled out his brand new iPhone. I was jealous of course but not surprised. He's already got it all loaded up with movies, music, and websites. I had not used the camera part of the iPhone before so I was curious to see how it was. We got my mother to take a few pictures of us together. She's not the best when it comes to taking pictures. As you can see in the first photo, she cut off my brother's head. That's okay. He's bald anyway. But it was the clearest picture so I included it. The others are fine too but out of focus. She couldn't hold the phone still and press the virtual button on the screen at the same time. She thought she should feel it click or something. Anyway, here are a few pictures of my brother and me. Can you believe we are twins?

20 years ago today, "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. I miss Rick Astley.

Okay, I'm having internet connection issues and haven't been able to post anything of substance on this blog. My connection really sucks and I wish they would get it fixed.

I was a bit glad to see that Hillary made strides this week in the primaries. I'm not sure if it will help her in the long run but I did feel glad that she's back in it. However, I do think it's time for the dems to come together and make a decision so they can start attacking McCain.

And speaking of him, doesn't he look a lot like Bush? Now that it's solid that he's the nominee of the repubs, he will start attacking the dems on everything. It won't be long before they start saying the dems don't have it together and they won't be able to get it together to be president. I still think in the long run the dems will win and things can begin to change.

Oh, and one more thing. I have another week before spring break! I can't wait for some time off!

Okay, now return to your regularly scheduled programming.

I know it's very early for spring but today the temperature got up to 70 degrees and that was a nice preview to spring. Feeling in the spring mood, I decided to update the blog look to get rid of the snow theme and move on to a spring theme. Maybe this will help spring get here sooner!

*Stolen without permission from someone on Flickr.

Todd is between Tom and Bob.
Dan is next to Tom.
Bob is not first.

What is the order in line?

I am thinking of seven numbers that are not even. Their sum is 13. The greatest number is 7. What are the seven numbers?

Happy New Year! The boyfriend and I had a small dinner party at his house for New Years on Monday night. We had a great time with friends, food, and nice wines. You can see a video of the evening over at ArcherRadio. Here's a picture from out evening.


2007 was a good year but I'm certainly hoping 2008 will be better. The boyfriend is the best part of 2007 and I'm sure he'll be the best part of 2008. Love you, honey!

Another year has come to an end. Personally, it's been a wonderful year. Being with the boyfriend has made life bearable during tough times.

Actually, I haven't had any tough times really. I'm thinking about how troubled our country is and the problems we face in the future. I'm hoping 2008 will usher in changes in our country. As I have mentioned many times in the past, it's time to get rid of the current administration, regain our respect in the world, and get back to low deficits and stronger times.

I found the poster below on DIGG. I hope we don't see this kind of crap for real in our country. I'm very happy personally but wish our country would change soon. That's been the most depressing part of 2007. And I just want to say that Fox News should die in 2008. Hopefully more people will realize just how fake their "news" is.


The boyfriend and I are approaching our 3rd anniversary. We are very happy together and enjoy spending time together. I see nothing but success for us in 2008. We'll have lots of fun and enjoy lots of wine in the new year.

Here's wishing everyone a wonderful New Year!!

It's been a busy day. I heard late last night that the boyfriend arrived safely after a five hour delay at the airport. I felt sorry for him because from the time I dropped him off and the time he arrived in New Orleans it had been about 10 hours. Poor thing. I'm sure he rested last night and is enjoying his family now.

I've been very busy. Without the boyfriend to fill my time, I've been cleaning and organizing and purging crap in my condo. I've thrown away so much that I haven't used in more than a year. I also cleaned out my storage space and put a shelving unit in there to handle all the crap that I didn't thrown away but don't necessarily need in my condo. Things are looking so clean and organized now...not that they weren't before.

The whole time I was doing all this cleaning and organizing and purging, I was watching Christmas movies. I had all the TV's on in my condo tuned to Turner Classic Movies. They've been playing Christmas movies all day. Here are some that I saw today. I love the old Christmas movies.


Tomorrow I think I will sleep late, watch more Christmas movies and make Christmas cookies. I like the plain sugar cookies with colored sprinkles on top. They are so good with a cup of hot chocolate. It's supposed to be 50 degrees tomorrow but I'll have the hot chocolate anyway.

You are eating with three friends.

One has eyes, but can't see.
One has ears, but can't hear.
One has a head, but no brain.

Who are your friends?

Three people went fishing. There were 2 sons and 2 fathers. How could this be?

Comments, please.

I happen to love the peppermint hot chocolate from Starbucks. I don't mean the peppermint mocha they have. I mean the peppermint hot chocolate. I am not a coffee drinking and never have been but at this time of the year I visit Starbucks. I have three Starbucks cards with a total of $26.00 on them. I need to take them with me next time and have them combined onto one card.

On Saturday the boyfriend and I were out shopping at the mall (what a cluster fuck of people that was) and we went by a Starbucks and decided to go in. It was rather warm in the mall but I decided to get a peppermint hot chocolate anyway. I didn't have my Starbucks cards with me but I got the hot chocolate anyway. I sat down to enjoy my hot chocolate while the boyfriend found some gifts for his family. They drink a lot of coffee. While I was sitting there drinking the hot liquid, with my coat on, I began to sweat. I didn't care. I love that hot chocolate. This is the only time of year I can get it so I'll sweat through it just to enjoy it. It was good!

I now have my Starbucks cards in my wallet and plan to stop at the very next Starbucks to get a peppermint hot chocolate.

No, not that kind of four inches. The snow has ended and we only got four inches. Of course it messed up traffic all over the place and schools got out early but not for me. We went the whole day. It took me awhile to get home because of the slow drivers but it wasn't too bad. Now I'm hoping we got enough snow to have a delayed opening tomorrow. That would be nice. I'll wake up, see it on the news, and roll over for another few hours of sleep. I like being able to go in later than usual. It makes for a shorter day.

I saw on the news that historically December 5th has had some kind of snow event for the last six years. I guess I can look forward to snow again next year on December 5th. This is just the beginning of the snow season. I'm sure there will be other opportunities for snow days.

According to the weathermen, our first snow will arrive tomorrow. We will only get a dusting to two inches. I doubt we'll get 2 inches but it will be fun to see the first snow. Of course I start thinking about having days off from school. That won't happen.

There are times when things show up on the news that remind me of my childhood. That happened today when I saw that Evel Knievel died. Instantly my brain started to provide memories of my childhood.


I can remember being a kid and watching Evel on the Wide World Of Sports jumping some outrageous amount of cars or buses lined up in a row. All my brothers and sisters and I would crowd around the TV to see if he would make it or if it would be one of his crazy crashes. I'm sure a few of us were hoping that he'd crash to see him tumble on the asphalt. I also remember when he tried to jump the Snake River Canyon in 1974. I was only ten years old but remember it well. They build up to that jump was a big waste of time for a 30 second jump. Of course he didn't make it.

Anyway, it's sad to see him go but his death does bring back some fond childhood memories.

I just finished watching "A Charlie Brown Christmas." I'm not religious or anything but that show always brings back great memories of childhood and Christmast time. Things were simpler back then. Too bad we can't go back and enjoy those great times. I think the message is a good one even though I'm not religious. I do enjoy the show. And I don't have to always catch it when it's on TV, the boyfriend has it on DVD.

The four day holiday weekend has ended. I hate going back to work after having time off. I get so used to having the time to do things that I need to do. Getting up on Monday morning is going to kill me.

I did take advantage of the time though. The boyfriend's parents were in town so we weren't together. That gives me time to do things that I normally don't have time to do. I got a lot done in the last 4 days. But at the same time I think I've developed a sinus infection. My nose is all clogged and my throat is gross with sinus stuff running down it. I started to lose my voice on Friday but now it's almost back to normal. Anyway, besides completely updating my website, which took a long time, I was able to get a lot school work done that I brought home this weekend. I also did lots of laundry and cleaned my house.

I feel pretty good about all the things I got done. However, I've been missing the boyfriend terribly. As you know, we always get together on the weekends. When we don't, I really start to miss him. I really miss the snuggle time we have. We'll be back at it next weekend so I have something to look forward to.

I hope you enjoyed your holiday weekend and got lots of things done!

Today is my 4th Blogoversary! Four years ago today I started this blog. I know there are many others who have been blogging longer but four years is a long time. This is post 981. That number would have been a lot higher if I had not taken breaks a long the way. I've never completely stopped but there have been months that I have only posted two or three times.

Like my podcast, I like to think this blog is like a little history of my life. I've written about all kinds of things and posted hundreds of photos. That's one thing I think the blog is good for...posting some of my favorite photos. Of course I also like sharing with you what the boyfriend and I are up to.

With the recent update to the look of my blog, I'm inspired to keep blogging and keep recording pieces of my life to share with you. Oh, and the naked photos will continue as well. :)

I don't know what I was thinking this morning. I decided to be part of the black Friday shopping madness. I thought I wouldn't be there right when the stores open but I would arrive like 30 minutes later and the crowds would be less. Well, I was totally wrong. I got there and the doors were open. There were no carts. The lines to checkout were amazingly long. I grabbed one of those small baskets and started doing some shopping. I didn't get far before I realized I was nuts. I put everything back and got the hell out of the store. I came right home and decided to buy most of my big ticket items online. I was trying to avoid the shipping costs but with the money I'd spend in gas going to the stores, I could afford the shipping.

I must have been crazy to think the crowds wouldn't be very bad this morning. I don't know what I was thinking. I don't think I'll ever attempt that again. It's crazy!

On another note, you may have noticed things have changed a bit on the blog. I decided that since tomorrow is my 4 year blogoversary I would change things up a bit. I've always wanted a picture in my header so I worked on creating that. I decided to get rid of the other pages and just keep this a blog for the time being. I might add the pages back in the future but right now I want this to be a blog. Also, I wanted to be able to change the theme with the seasons so for now we are in the fall theme. When I have winter break from work, I'll change it to a winter theme. I hope you like the changes!

I got this from Omar.

Here is a math trick so unbelievable that it will stump you. Grab a calculator (you won't be able to do this one in your head).

1. Key in the first three digits of your phone number (NOT the Area Code)
2. Multiply by 80
3. Add 1
4. Multiply by 250
5. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number
6. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number again.
7. Subtract 250
8. Divide number by 2

Do you recognize the answer?

I know this is old news but it has been WAY too hot the last week or so. I think DC broke like four high temperature records in the last week. Yesterday it was 94! I can't ever remember it being this warm this late. I miss the cool crisp nights and the bearable days. I want fall to come back. It looks like it just might later this week. The high temp today was 82 so they are slowly dropping. It's supposed to be cool by this weekend. I can't wait!

This may be the best new show of the season. Did anyone else see the first episode? I couldn't pull myself away from it! I love it! Don't you agree? It's on Wednesdays at 8:00 PM on ABC. You MUST watch it.

From Soldotna, Arkansas...go figure.

Fall Is Here!



So glad fall is finally here. Fall officially started at 5:51 am this morning. It wasn't very fall like today though. We had temperatures in the low 80's. It was warm in the sun but nice in the shade. The boyfriend and I celebrated the beginning of fall with a nice lunch in the Bishop's Garden at the National Cathedral. We had a very nice lunch. We are ready, however, for much cooler temperatures and beautiful fall leaves.

Now that the Donatos have secured their place in the final two, BB8 isn't even worth watching. I don't care for either of them so it won't be a big deal to watch the final episode on Tuesday. Yes, I know, they have been great players and deserve to win but when it gets dominated like this, the show just isn't any fun anymore. Where's the drama now? It's the drama that we all tune in to see each week. It's over now.

I woke up this morning and the temperature was 52 degrees! I LOVE this kind of weather. The humidity is low, the temperatures are low, the sun is out...it's wonderful. I love the fall and with this weather it's beginning to feel more like it. Of course I know it will get warm again for a short time but it's nice to get a sneak peak of fall before it actually arrives. Love it!



It's been very dry here so I doubt we'll see vibrant colors in the trees like we did last year but it would be nice to see the colors of fall. Fall really is my favorite time of the year. I hope we do see some beautiful colors this year.

I am dead tired. The first week of the school year is over. The kids aren't so bad but the parents are a pain in the ass. Teacher would be so easy if there weren't any parents. Ha Ha. I'm ready to just relax and enjoy the weekend with the boyfriend. Of course Sunday will be here before I know it and I'll have to get some work done before returning to work on Monday. At least one week is done. I'm not sure how many are left but There are roughly 176 school days left until next summer. I hope it comes fast or I win the lottery between now and then so I can stop working. I feel like I'm really getting old. I have a hard time getting to sleep because I have so many things from the day running through my mind. And I'm so tired when I get home. It must be because of age. Yea, that's it. Have a great weekend!

I've never liked Elisabeth Hasselback. She's just stupid and her politics are fucked up. Barbara is old and irrelevant. Whoopi is okay but she's no Rosie. I think the only reason I'd tune in to see the View is Joy Behar. I like most of her politics and her opinions on topics. The rest of the show sucks. I guess it's time to take it off my DVR record list.

My summer comes to an end today. Tomorrow I officially go back to work. The summer has gone really fast. It seems like it goes faster each year. The boyfriend and I did a lot of fun things this summer and did our best to enjoy the time we had.

Last night we tried to have one more summer outing but the weather didn't cooperate very well. We went to Tarara Winery for one of their Sounds of the Summer Concerts. The band was called Moossa. We weren't sure if we would like it or not but decided to pack a picnic dinner and go. On the way it began to rain. It was raining when we got there so we sat in the car waiting for it to let up. It eventually did. The band started, the picnic was set out, and the wine began flowing. After awhile it started raining again. We moved our table under some trees but were still getting wet. Once we were able to concentrate on the music, we realized we really didn't care for it. They had a hard time focusing on one genre or time period. After a bottle of wine, and finishing our dinner, we decided to bag the evening and come home. It wasn't so bad. At least neither one of us was enjoying it more than the other so we didn't miss anything.

So now it's back to work...which means going to bed early and getting up early and having lots of work to do in the evenings.

How long before the Christmas break?

The boyfriend headed back to work today. I don't officially start back until next week but decided to go back to work today. I knew I'd have a lot to do before the meetings start next week.

Over the summer everything in my classroom was moved out so they could remove the carpet and replace it with tile. The tile looks great but I basically had to start from scratch and put everything back in the right place. Today I was able to move all the furniture back in place and begin to unpack the boxes of books I had. Those few things took me several hours today. I plan to go back each day this week to get most of my classroom set up before next week. There is so much to do.

I'm really tired from doing all the moving today. I fear my back will be in pain tomorrow morning.

Last night the boyfriend and I went to Wolf Trap for our seventh concert of the summer. We went to see Shawn Colvin. On the bill with Shawn Colvin was John Hiatt. We thought he would be opening for Shawn Colvin but actually they were billed equally on the ticket. Shawn Colvin started the show and played for about 45 minutes and then John Hiatt joined her on stage for a few songs and then she was done. After a good 20 minute break, John Hiatt came on stage and started his set. It went on for about another hour.

I think we both agreed this was our least favorite concert of the summer. Shawn Colvin was great but very subdued and calm. John Hiatt was fine too but he was more upbeat. Both were great muscians but I didn't find the music very appealing. The boyfriend liked it better than I did.

The crowd was pretty different too. We expected there to be more lesbians or family members there but we only saw one of the gay couple. I'm sure there were more but we didn't see them. I think the crowd is what kept me from getting into the music. There was an obnoxious guy behind us who was really loud and wouldn't shut up during the whole concert. The boyfriend was better at filtering him out. There was a kid in front of us who was a bit more active than I care for and there was a bunch of chatty girls to our right that got on my nerves too. Oh well.

We do have one more concert coming up after labor day. We'll be going back to Wolf Trap to see Brian Colbertson. We know we'll enjoy that one. We love his music already.

Last night my mom came over for dinner to celebrate her 76th birthday. Yesterday was her birthday. We had a very nice dinner (thanks to the boyfriend) and she enjoyed her gift. Here are a few pictures. Notice my mother is blowing out a big non-birthday candle. I didn't have any birthday candles for her to blow out so she blew out the one that was on the table.

I haven't gotten a traffic ticket since 1985. That run of luck ended this morning. I was driving out to Wolf Trap to pick up tickets for two more concerts the boyfriend and I decided to go to. On the way home, I decided to take the toll road and pay the 50 cents instead of winding through the neighborhood streets at 25 miles per hour. Everything was going fine until I paid my toll. Just as I was pulling away from the booth I heard a knock on my window. I was a bit surprised. I rolled down the window and saw a state trooper at my window.

Unfortunately I had the earphones to my iPod in my ears. The first thing he asked was if I had earphones in my ears. I said yes. Mistake number one. He asked me to pull over to the left side of the road. I did. He then came to the window and informed me that it was illegal to have earphones in your ears while driving. He then told me that my state inspection had expired. I was shocked by this but sure enough, I looked over and saw it was two months past due. Damn!

He then told me he was going to write me TWO citations. One for the earphones and one for the expired inspection. I was so mad at myself at this point. How could I have not noticed my inspection was due two months ago? What was I thinking? I'm usually really on top of things like that. So he came back to the car with the two tickets. I signed them and he informed me that one could be paid through the mail but for the other one I have to go to court. He said I might be able to pay for it through the mail but that he rarely gives out a ticket for driving with earphones that he's not sure. He then told me to drive safely and I left.

I drove right to the nearest gas station and got my state inspection. When I got home I checked online about paying by mail because I did not want to go to court for wearing earphones while driving. As it turns out I CAN pay that one through the mail as well.

So what I thought was going to be a simple 50 cents to save some time ended up costing me $128 and more than an hour of my time.

Is this Friday the 13th?

Last night the boyfriend and I went to Wolf Trap for our sixth concert this summer. We went to see the Gipsy Kings. It was very hot and humid, and the it was probably the largest crowd we've ever seen at Wolf Trap, but we had a great time enjoying the music, some delicious food, and some wonderful wine. Last year we went to the Gipsy Kings concert at Wolf Trap and noted it was a very diverse group of people. This year, the group was very white and heterosexual. Not that that's a bad thing, we just noticed it. We still had a great time. We might see one more concert the first week of September. We'll see.

While we were on our vacation last week we decided to do a little sight seeing and visit Dixie Caverns to see the stalactites and the stalagmites. It was very cool and humid down in the caverns. While the natural creations were cool to look at, our tour guide wasn't very exciting. It was fun anyway. Once you've seen one stalactite or stalagmite, you've seen them all. No need to go to Luray Caverns now. Here's the boyfriend down in the caverns. He looks excited, doesn't he?

The boyfriend and I had a few friends over last night for a Cabernet Franc tasting. We had a 2002, 2003, and a 2005 from Waterford Vineyards in Virginia. Our friends came over to tastet the wines and give us their impressions of the wines. We then had a wonderful dinner. We had a great time trying the wines and catching up.

Tonight the boyfriend and I went to Wolf Trap to hear Natalie Cole. She was very good! We both thought this was probably the best concert we've heard this summer so far. She played a big mix of music. I really enjoyed the smooth jazz type songs and the one or two she sang from Unforgetable. She did some from her latest album and some from many years ago. We definitely enjoyed them all though.

For someone who is 57, she sings really well and looks amazing. We actually thought she was a bit skinny! The crowd was great too. It wasn't too crowded at all and the weather was really nice once the sun went down.

We have a few more concerts this summer that I'm sure we'll enjoy but maybe not as much as this one.

What concerts have you been to so far this summer?

I'm not a fan of the Simpsons and could really care less about the movie that's coming out but I just had to find out what I would look like if I was Simpsonized. So here it is. This is me Simpsonized. I think they took out the fat because I used a recent picture of me that clearly shows me as a fat guy.

I finally finished all the painting I'm going to do for the time being. I finished painting the living room yesterday but only go to put all the things back in the room today. I've hung pictures, moved furniture, and hung the curtains. Everything is done! I think painting the living room, hallway, and dining room took me twice as long this time as it did when I first painted them 9 years ago. I know the bathrooms need to be renovated and I need to paint and replace the carpeting in the bedrooms, but I don't want to do another thing on this place. I am so tired. I'll wait until next summer to take on anymore jobs like this. Plus, I have no money left to do anything. I'm broke. Maybe I'll win the lottery and then I can have someone else do the painting and renovating for me. Cross your fingers!

Here's the finished living room. It's actually hard to tell the difference except for the pictures on the wall in a different configuration. Maybe the walls are a little brighter. Oh well.

After the painting.

Before the painting.

Besides Big Brother 8, all the new shows this summer suck big time. Nuff said.

I finished painting the dining room on Friday, put it back together on Saturday and took this picture this morning.



Today I have taken my living room apart. I have taken down all the pictures and at this point I've filled all the holes in the walls. Now I'm waiting for it to dry so I can sand them. I've also taped off the baseboard so I can start painting that white. Tomorrow I'll begin painting the walls. I'm dead tired.

I haven't painted my place for about 8 years. I decided since I got the kitchen renovated in November, and the floors done in June, it was time to paint the living room, dining room, and hallway. So this week I went to Home Depot and got several samples to pick from. I've decided on Grape Vine for the dining room, and Rafia Cream for the hallway and living room. I would show you samples but the Behr website was acting up and I couldn't get them.

The boyfriend is leaving on Thursday for his vacation so I'll be painting while he's gone. He'll be gone for 12 days so that should be plenty of time to get it all done. I probably won't paint again for another 8 to 10 years.

Last night the boyfriend and I went to the National Cathedral to hear the Turtle Island Quartet preform many songs from their new CD "A Love Supreme" The Music of John Coltrane. We loved the music they preformed. Many of the pieces we recognized and found ourselves tapping our feet. This quartet has been around since the late 70's and have a couple of CD's out. You can find them on . Besides the beautiful music, a couple of them are quite cute...especially the second one from the left. Isn't he cute? Anyway, our Summer Concerts are turning out to be wonderful and we look forward to the others we have planned later this summer.

I had my six month check up this morning and guess what? No cavities! I get to keep me teeth for another six months. Yah! I hate going to the dentist so when I get a good check up I get excited. Well, not that kind of excited but I my dentist is cute.

Right now as I type this my laminate floors are being installed in my living room, dining room, and hallway. So far they look really good. The process is moving along a little faster than I thought it would. Of course this could slow down once they get to the hall way and they have to make a lot of cuts. Here's a picture.

Last night the boyfriend and I went back to Wolf Trap to see Celtic Woman. I thought the music was beautiful. The singing was fine but the music was better. We both thought some of the songs they sang were very Disneyized. The guys in the production were hot of course. This was probably the most attended concert we've been to at Wolf Trap. We were surprised a bit at the amount of people. Of course that made for a crowded lawn area and lots of time sitting in the car when the concert was over. Overall we had a very nice time enjoying the music, our picnic dinner and some nice wine.

Last night the boyfriend and I went to Wolf Trap Center for The Performing Arts to see Cesaria Evora. The weather was perfect. It was in the high 70's with a cool breeze. We brought a delicious picnic dinner to enjoy on the lawn while listening the music. We picked a nice spot and spread out our picnic items. We teased that we need to have a show about teaching people how to create the right picnic. We have little wine glass holders that you stick in the ground. People always ask us where we got them.

Cesaria Evora is a native of Cape Verde and is famous as the island's top performer of Morna, a mix of West African percussion with Portuguese fados, Brazilian modhinas, and British sea shanties. We didn't understand a word of what she was singing but enjoyed the music. Everyone around us was enjoying the music as well. We had a very butch lesbian couple sitting next to us. We really had a nice time listening the music, eating our picnic dinner, and enjoying some fine wines.

Our next concert is on Sunday. We'll be seeing the Celtic Woman.

Today at 2:06 summer began. We will have lots of daylight today... like almost 15 hours. Yesterday the boyfriend and I went to the National Cathedral to have dinner at the Bishop's Garden and to hear Chris Brubeck's Triple Play. He's the son of famous jazz musician Dave Brubeck. We had a wonderful dinner and enjoyed the music. It was a great way to begin our summer concert series. We have several concerts scheduled for this summer.

The boyfriend enjoying a glass of wine.

Look at that double chin.

Next week I'm getting laminate floors installed in my living room, dining room and down the hallway to the bedrooms. Since I'm in a high rise condo, I have to have 70% of my floors covered with sound deadening material. Because of this, I ordered some carpets from Pottery Barn. They arrived today. I told Homer about this and he says I have to post pictures of the carpets I selected. I might have spent too much on them. Oh well, you only live once. Here are pictures of the carpets I selected. Of course I stole them from the Pottery Barn website. The one on the left will be in the dining room and the one on the right will be in the living room. Once the floors are done and the carpets are down I'll take a picture.

This morning I went to Whole Foods to pick up some items for a picnic with the boyfriend and his family, who are in town for a few days. When I drove into the parking lot in my Honda Civic Hybrid, the odometer changed over to 10,000 miles. My car will be a year old later this month. I was pleased to see that in a year's time I drove less than the national average for miles per year, which is 12,000.

After noticing my odometer changing, I noticed there were a lot of small cars and hybrids in the Whole Foods parking lot. Is it safe to say that people who shop at Whole Foods are more environmentally conscience? Not only were the shoppers driving fuel efficient cars, they were also carrying their own shopping bags. These people bring their own bags in the store and carry their groceries out in their own bags to help save on plastic in the environment and from cutting down more trees to make paper bags.

I don't know why I noticed these things but I thought it was interesting to see people who are environmentally conscience all shopping at the same place. I'm sure there are the same type of people shopping at Trader Joe's too. I just happened to notice it at Whole Foods.

It's the beginning of a new month. When this happens I have to remember to go around my house and turn all the calendars to the new month. I forgot this last month and one of my calendars stayed on April for the majority of May.

This is also the beginning of hurricane season. We always hear how bad the season is going to be. They told us last year there would be lots of hurricanes but that didn't happen. How much can we believe them this year? I think we'll just have to see how it turns out. There is already a tropical storm in the gulf. Maybe they'll be closer to their predictions this year.

At this time of the year I think about the end of the school year coming. Looking at the calendar and seeing the whole month at a glance makes it easier to see the end of another school year. I'm finishing my 20th year of teaching in just over 2 weeks. I can't wait. I enjoy the summers so much. Once the summer begins, it ends so quickly. The summers just fly by. The warmer temperatures and the longer days already make me think summer is here. I'm so ready to relax this summer.

Happy Birthday To Me!
Today is my 43rd birthday. I had a wonderful birthday weekend with the boyfriend. He made it so special and made me feel so special. Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Birthday lunch at my mother's house on Monday.

Birthday dinner with our friend Michael on Friday evening.

The cake the boyfriend bought me on Friday.

The boyfriend being silly on Friday night.

In the car on the way home from a winery on Sunday.

Hey....got any questions for me? Ask me a question and I'll answer it in a video later this week. The question can be about anything. I'll do my best to answer.

I must have slept on my back wrong last night. My lower back is causing some pain. It hurts to walk. So...what should I do?

I'm not upset at all that this homophobic, discriminating, bigot is dead. The only problem is there are plenty of others to fill his shoes. The moral majority is neither.

Last Saturday evening the boyfriend and I went to a blind Viognier tasting put on by a fellow wine blogger. We spent the evening tasting 10 different Viogniers from Virginia, Australia, California, Washington state, Argentina, and France. We rated each wine and chatted about what we thought of the wines. There were eight other peopel there doing the same thing. We had a great time visiting with our wine friends and tasting the wines. At the end of the evening we were able to guess where we thought the wines were from. I guessed three of the 10 correctly. Surprisingly, I guessed the most correct and won the prize of a bottle of wine. One couple there has a winery and they didn't guess any correctly. I was shocked. I think the ones I guessed correctly were by chance. I really had no idea where they were from. Anyway, it was fun winning the prize. Here I am with the bottle of wine I won. It's a Virginia cabernet franc. The boyfriend and I will enjoy it sometime.

The boyfriend and I took my mom out for lunch today. We went to Olive Garden. We hadn't been there for a very long time. We had a really nice time and I was stuffed by the end of the meal. I think my mother enjoyed it and had a good time. Having so many siblings, I was lucky to be the one to take her out this year. It was nice spending time with her. Here's a picture from lunch. I look like shit but look what a good job the boyfriend did taking the picture.

(via Towleroad)

I am so saddened by the news that Rosie will be leaving the View in June. I think she has brought a change to the show and a voice that so many of us wish we had in the public eye. She says things I wish I could say to large numbers of people. I hope she gets her own show out of this and continues to voice opposition to the current administration. We need more honest talk like she provides everyday. I will miss her!

I recycle my plastic bottles and soda cans. I recycle my newspapers and cardboard boxes. I drive a hybrid that sometimes gets 51 miles per gallon. I don't think I run my heat or AC as much as others I think. I don't have as many lights on as I could. I think I'm helping our planet.



However, I think I could cut down on the amount of trash I put in the landfills, stop polluting the air with my smoking, and drink tap water instead of that fancy water in plastic bottles. I could also replace all my lightbulbs with those energy efficient ones. There are always more things we could do to help the planet.

I've been watching a lot of coverage of the shootings at Virginia Tech. I'm saddened by the lost of life of course. During the 911 tragedy I didn't have any direct connection to anyone involved. My brother was in the Pentagon when it was hit but he was on his way out of the building at the time the plane crashed into the building.

Today we found out more about the people who were killed at Virginia Tech. At work today we found out that one of the students who was killed was a former student at our school. We looked her up in the year books to see if we remembered her. In fact we sure did. She left her impression on our school. Her younger brother was a student at our school just 2 years ago. Our faculty was very quiet today, especially those who were teaching at the time she was a student at our school.

This is the first time I've actually known someone killed in a tragedy like this. I'm very sad about this and wonder why this was done. I'm sure in the days and weeks to come more light will be shed on the reasons behind this. The shooter also happens to be from my area of Northern Virginia. He lived just about 20 minutes from my school. He graduated from a high school in my county. I feel bad for Virginia. Not only do we now have the worst mass murder in the history of our country, but the murderer is from my area, and I knew one of the students killed. Not a happy day at all.

It seems that in the podcasting community everyone has joined all the social networking sites. Last week I joined MySpace and this week I joined Twitter. Twitter seems to be a useless site. It is fun, however, to see what everyone else is doing but sometimes it's just stupid. I'm not sure what exactly the purpose is but I've gotten on the bandwagan and joined. If you figure out what Twitter is actually for, let me know. If you join Twitter, add me as a friend. I'm Archerr over there as well.

Today is April 12th. Usually at this time of the year we have temperatures in the 60's. It's been in the 50's this week but it's supposed to get colder this weekend. And there is a chance of snow again. I doubt it will be anything measurable if anything at all. I can safely say that I am waiting for spring to begin. My body hasn't adapted well wide range of temperatures we've been having lately. Just recently it hit 80 degrees and now we have snow in the forcast. I'm not sure how much more of this I can take.

I have assimilated. I know I'm way too old for MySpace but I decided, based on peer pressure, to create a MySpace page. I didn't do it for my Archerr site. It's for my ArcherRadio site. That shit is addictive. People send you friend requests and comments all the time. It's almost too much to keep up with. I'm sure over time it will slow down but once you start, it comes on like a storm. So, if you are so inclined, go over to MySpace and add me as a friend if you like. Or just check out what I have over there on MySpace.

I forget where I saw this but it's a new condom ad for the Durex XXL condoms. Ouch! The question I have is why isn't it a man with the little bandaids on his mouth? I think they should us a man's mouth for the ads in gay publications.

It's no surprise that I like sweets. I love candy. As I get older I know I shouldn't eat or not as much as I'd like to. Even though Easter is basically a religious holiday, I do enjoy the candy that is produced for his holiday. It's odd, I can get mad at seeing Easter decorations in state run stores but don't get upset about eating the candy. I'm weird that way.

I like these.


And these.


But I don't like these unless there isn't anything left.

I can't remember the last time it snowed in April. According to the weather man this morning it was 1990. I don't remember it. This morning I woke up early, looked out the window and saw that it had snowed about 1 inch during the night. I was surprised because the snow had pretty much covered the cars but not the roads and hadn't completely covered the grass. It kind of looks odd with snow on the ground and buds popping on the trees. It's now cold and windy and there are some snow flurries flying in the air. The snow was a nice surprise but I'm think I'm done with winter and ready for some warmer weather.



In other news, the boyfriend is in New Orleans visiting his family for the easter holiday. I am missing him but trying to keep myself busy. He'll be back in a few days. We always spend weekends together and even though I knew ahead of time we wouldn't be together this weekend, I still miss him.

Homer introduced me to Cute With Chris awhile ago. You have to admit, Chris is cute. Last night Homer directed me to this CD and his ad on Craigslist. He suggested I do a Cute with Archerr entry. So here it is. Who is cuter? This CD in black panties on the floor with the black pumps or my cute boyfriend with the wine bottle? Use the comment section to record your vote....just like Cute with Chris.

I am very busy and very tired. It's now spring break. I hope I can rest up and get some things done.

That is all.

I read on Lewis' blog about his addiction with cars. He listed all the cars he's owned and talked about his obsession with buying cars. I think he might be finished buying cars for the time being. Reading that post made me think about all the cars I've owned. And of course I came up with a list. Comparing my list with Lewis', I can see that I'm not nearly as addicted to cars as he is. What cars have you owned?

1986 Pontiac Fiero
1989 Chevrolet Beretta
1992 Pontiac Grand Am
1995 Ford Ranger Pick Up
2002 Ford Escape XLT SUV
2006 Honda Civic Hybrid (which I'll be keeping for quite a long time.)

Interesting thing is all those cars were white except for the Ford Ranger Pick Up, which was black. I learned with that one that I'll never own a dark car again. They show the dirt so bad where as my white cars always look clean (from a distance) even though they need to be washed.

My current car.

I remember seeing the original Apple ad in the Superbowl in 1984. I think this is a scary use of the ad and wonder what Obama is thinking about it. I know it's not endorsed by his campaign but I wonder if he's happy about it or not. Why can't they just leave Hillary alone.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!


I can't remember a time when we had ice and snow on the ground on St. Patrick's Day. The boyfriend and I were unable to get together last night because of the ice and snow. The weather cleared enough for us to get together...meaning I wasn't too much of a wimp to get out on the roads during daylight hours.

Oh, the number in the title means how many posts I've made. I might keep doing that to keep track of my posts.

Well, our spring lasted about 3 days. We had some beautiful weather for 3 days. The sun was out, it was dry, we had temperatures in the 70's and low 80's. Now, the temperature has dropped about 40 degrees in 24 hours and they are calling for snow tonight! I guess it's the time of the year when the weather is very unpredictable.

3.14159 26535 89793 23846 26433 83279 50288 41971 69399 37510 etc.

This was sent around my school today. I thought it was funny and thought anyone in education could relate to it:

Have you heard about the next planned "Survivor" show?

Three businessmen and three businesswomen will be dropped in an elementary school classroom for 6 weeks. Each business person will be provided with a copy of his/her school district's curriculum, and a class of 28 students.

Each class will have five learning-disabled children, three with A.D.D., one gifted child, and two who speak limited English. Three will be labeled with severe behavior problems.

Each business person must complete lesson plans at least 3 days in advance with annotations for curriculum objectives and modify, organize, or create materials accordingly. They will be required to teach students, handle misconduct, implement technology, document attendance, write referrals, correct homework, make bulletin boards, compute grades, complete report cards, document benchmarks, communicate with parents, and arrange parent conferences. They must also supervise recess and monitor the hallways.

In addition, they will complete fire drills, tornado drills, and [Code Red] drills for shooting attacks.

They must attend workshops, (180 hours), faculty meetings, union meetings, attend curriculum development meetings. They must also tutor those students who are behind and strive to get their 2 non-English speaking children proficient enough to take the SOLs. If they are sick or having a bad day they must not let it show.

Each day they must incorporate reading, writing, math, science, and social studies into the program. They must maintain discipline and provide an educationally stimulating environment at all times.