The Story of the Day

Well, the story of the day in my little life is that one of the many barn swallows that have been nesting around our porch and deck got into the house this morning.

The poor little bird was SO scared (8ball barking frantically at it didn't help!) but it could NOT find the way back outside.
Mom used a broom to keep it from going upstairs and to try to get it to fly back through the open door... with very little luck.
The poor birdie, nearly exhaused, paused for rest on the ceiling fans. He bonked his head on the family room fan before we turned it off... he flew crooked for a little while but there was no blood. ;)
Mom eventually got the all-purpose fishing net out (in addition to fish, it's been useful in snaring bats and birds) and actively chased the barn swallow around. Good cardiovascular exercise! :P The real motive was not wanting the bird to thoroughly dirty the kitchen and living room in its fright... *ahem* ...yeah
Having captured the bird, she carried it in the net out to the deck where she released it... It seemed very happy to be back in nature and fluttered off in no time flat.
Afterwards, there was clean-up.
That all caused a bit of a stir this morning but all's well that ends. ;) So all's well.

Adios~

WANTED

Be on the lookout for a desperate but dangerous cat.

Read the full story here! Pemison, Feline Fugitive

He could be somewhere near you! Here, there, anywhere! Cats travel quickly and quietly... he's not limited to Johnson County so be on the alert!!

Weather

I guess you've all heard about Hurricane Katrina... looks gigantic! There were some storms north, east and southwest of us last night but we didn't get any of them. We got some really gorgeous clouds though and a nice cool front! :D The clouds piled up in the eastern sky and reflected the sunset beautifully!



And four minutes later:

Now this IS a weird feeling!

I'm the only kid home! :O (Yeah, I still feel like a kid, even though I'm 19. ;))
Rose and Joey left for retreat two hours ago and now it's just Mom, Dad and I. This is really a first. I've been on a retreat by myself, a retreat with Linds, a retreat with Mom, a retreat with Rose... but never home alone while Rose and Joey are on retreat!! What a weird feeling - they'll be completely out of touch until Friday night. :O The strangest thing had to be seeing them in their uniforms on a Sunday evening in August!!!!!!!!! That's UNHEARD OF.... a first in human history!!!!!! :)

Here're a few pix~



Joey, looking slightly puzzled


Rosie, ready to go!


Uniforms in August?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!? :O :O :O


Say no evil + hear no evil + see no evil = have no fun!

JUST KIDDING, OF COURSE!! ;)

Mushrooms, etc.

We've been getting quite a lot of rain lately and the ground has stayed consistently wet... providing the necessary environment for these fascinating fungi! :) These were growing in the cemetery ...






I picked one of the many and brought it home where it was much enjoyed by everyone else. :D





Rose and 8ball seem to be making the same face in this one! *haha*

Ever thought of...

...analyzing GROCERY LISTS?!?!





Me neither.






But a certain fellow in England collects lists that he finds and analyzes them!!! :O It's fascinating and yes, a little bizarre. Rather interesting, all the same. Check it out here!! :D




~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Wh-wh-WHAT?!?!?!

LONDON, Aug. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- In London this weekend, zoo-goers will see the most unexpected animals -- human beings.

During the August Bank public holiday, the London Zoo welcomes some extra special exhibits as a flock of Homo sapiens gather on Bear Mountain, organizers of the event said in a news release.

Presented to the public with only "fig leaves" to protect their modesty, the humans will be an important feature, blending into zoo life as they are cared for by the zoo's experienced keepers and kept entertained in a variety of ways.

After each tiring day in the enclosure, the exhibits will be allowed home for the night. One of the participants, Simon Spiro, 19, from New Malden in southwest London, said "I am not even worried that it might be cold and rainy."

The exhibit will be displayed for four days, from Aug. 26 to Aug. 29, and aims to demonstrate the basic nature of man as an animal. Zoo organizers intend to examine the impact that Homo sapiens have on the rest of the animal kingdom.

New - possibly temporary - blog!

Howdy, all!

I just wanted to let everyone know that I've got a new blog going - maybe temporarily - of vacation photos. I took an astonishing 830 photos :O :O during our five day stay (and two day roundtrip) so I'm gradually narrowing down (by a little bit anyway! ;)) the pictures and posting the most pertinent on my Texas Pictures blog. :)

Until the butter flies,
Monnie

Definition of "Vacation"

This has got to be what vacation is all about! Putting your feet up and relaxing. *Aaaahhhh* :D

trip to Texas!

Hello, Everyone!

I got back last night from a week long trip to the great state of Texas. ;) I was born there as were by brother and sisters and dad so Rose, Joey, and I hopped in the car last Thursday and drove on down there to visit friends and relatives. It was a jam-packed five days but mostly a lot of fun. I can't think enough at the moment to tell you what all we did but for a complete (but vacuum-packed ;)) version, you can visit one of Rose's blogs... Rose's account of the trip

We spent this afternoon in Topeka and this evening watching video footage of the trip and stuff like that. Rose and Joey go on retreat in two-and-a-half days. It's Joey's first retreat and Rose's second. The house'll sure be awfully quiet!!

I'm looking forward to everyone coming back for school in about a week and a half. The return of a social life mitigates the sorrow of returning to the books. ;)

I'll check back in later on but that's all for now. :)

Joey's 16th Birthday!!

Today (now, yesterday) was my brother's sixteenth birthday! :O He's taller than me now. *sob* .....j/k about the 'sob' ;) ..... it feels normal for a brother to be taller than his sister - even if he is three years my junior..... Anyhow, rather than tell in great and boring detail how the day went, I will give you a photographic tour. :D So here we are, the morning of August 17, 2005...

Joey, playing his guitar, on the deck stairs:



These are a couple of portrait shots I was experimenting with... I really like how they turned out:





After lunch, we went to Topeka:



Where Joey picked out a new guitar for his birthday:


I don't know the specs on it but I do know that it sounds really nice and is a NICE guitar. He also got an amp and a hard-shell case for the guitar...

After running a couple of other errands, we went to Pepe'n'Chela's for an early dinner - about 4:30:



Joey, with a slow shutter:



Rose and Dad:



Mom, awaiting dinner:



Some silliness before food arrived:




And then the meal progressed thus:

These two ravenous children were 'skinny' before eating...



They ate...



And were full...



:D *lol* :D

There was a beautiful statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe overlooking the restaurant:



You'd think they were twins: ;)



Cool Dudes:



And, yes, this is myself: :D



Good meal... good moods:





Back at home, Joey enjoyed his birthday presents:




HAPPY 16TH BIRTHDAY, JOEY!!!!!

Good Intentions

Oh gee! I was going to post but now I'm tooo-ooo tired! It's the intention that counts, right? ;)
Well, I'll try to come back soon and post...

For now, I'll leave you with a picture. How's that? :)

BREAD!!

You should see our freezer! Mom said she wanted homemade quick bread and she got it!! ;)
9 loaves of zucchini bread on Tuesday, 2 loaves of banana bread and 9 loaves of pumpkin bread yesterday, and 8 loaves of carrot bread today!!!!!!! TWENTY-EIGHT loaves in THREE days!!!! I'm about "breaded" out!! Sheesh!!

In addition to that, Rose and I have picked up Irish dancing once again and are learning a slip-jig off an instructional video by Colin Dunne. Also, we spent five hours yesterday in Topeka.

A week from today, we're going on vacation to an undisclosed location. :P We'll be gone a week! I'll let you know how it goes. :)

Mr. Philip Freeman's wake is tonight. He was a third order Dominican so he'll be in the full garb of a Dominican. Fr. Albert is here from France to say the Sung Funeral Mass tomorrow morning. Please remember Mr. Freeman's widow and 17 year old daughter in your prayers. He died quite unexpectedly early Monday morning. :(

I can't think of anything else at the moment......

100 Hits

100 hits in 14 days............
Just making a note of it. ;)

What news?

Hm? Huh? Somebody ask for news?? Mm, I didn't think so... Well, here ya have it anyway! :D

I got a belated birthday package today from friends in New York State - very pretty earrings and bracelet!! I also got another birthday card from Texas... I'm celebrating the octave of my birthday, you see. ;) I've gotten a birthday something everyday for the past five days! :D I like it that way. :) So yeah... then I messed around on the internet, talked with a friend in Wisconsin and let Rose do my hair. I ironed my Sunday clothes... in the afternoon, Rose and I practiced Irish dancing and then I did a fair amount of scrapbooking. I'm still trying to finish a project I started two years ago!! Hey, you've gotta admit - at least I'm trying! :D I got the better part of 3 full pages completed.

Joey served Rosary and First Friday Exposition so Rose and I went to that. Afterwards, we did a little more Irish dancing. Then, Mom and Dad brought us home fish'n'chips from Tully's for dinner (this is becoming a Friday tradition! :))... in the evening, we sat in the front room and read through a potential script for RMP. It sounds good... should be pretty funny. :D I worked some more on my scrapbook, took some pictures with my baby (my camera, for you uninitiated ;))... and that was about it.

Like I said, what news? ;)

Talk to ya later, folks!

A Summer Day in Kansas...

Hot'n'Dusty!

New Blog!!!

I just set up a new blog... this one exclusively for photos. I'm having lots of fun with my new camera and hope to update often. Check it out here: Pixies!
Comment on the posts, save the site to favorites, come back often! Let me know what you think. :) Take care~

Say "Cheese!"

This afternoon, my brother had an eye appointment to remove a cyst/sty combo that has been growing under his right eyelid. (ICK!!) Rose and I went along for the ride although it ended up taking much longer than we thought it would. We sat in the eye doctor's lobby for a good 90 minutes! Afterwards, we went and got a couple of absolutely scrumptious strawberry hand-scooped shakes from Hardee's - YUMMY!!!!!!! The next stop was Hillsdale Park - just a small neighborhood park in Topeka - we had a lot of fun with my new camera, even though it was hot out (hovering about 100)... Final stop was Walmart where I tried using my memory card on their photo machines with awesome results. I was pretty happy with the quality of pictures I was able to get. :D :D

Here're some pics~

This one is just to show how my camera will cooperate in making pictures look professional. :P Note the blurred background behind the spider on the limb of the tree... pretty sweet! :)









Here I am up in a tree. :D









Rosie, laughing!











The two of us together...













Mom, Rose, and Joey... unfortunately, the sun kind of got in the lens on this one or something - it got kind of bleachy. :/