Is it a flower, a plant, or...?

What do you see?

I was just telling Bethany about this flower/plant while we were watching "The Muppet Christmas Carol".

Now what do you see?

If you didn't see Gonzo before, do you see him now? The "nose" on the flower is a bit straighter than Gonzo's nose; in fact, a few years ago I took a picture of this same type of flower/plant and it looked more like Gonzo. I don't know if that photo was on the stolen laptop, my other camera, or if it's filed away on our back-up disk.

It doesn't matter, because with a little stretch of the imagination, I think you "get the picture" (pun intended).

birds of a feather

Two weeks ago, we went to a soccer game for one of our college students. As we were leaving, a large bird landed on a light pole. Bill and I guessed it was some kind of hawk. We looked it up when we got home and here's what we found.

I'm just now getting around to writing about it.

It was very large, but very pretty.

I was concerned it was checking us out. It was probably attracted to the silver aluminum pan that I had made krispy rice treats in and had given to Maria. It flew off without attacking us or the treats.

I don't think Atticus could have caught this bird. I think it would have been the other way around.

While I'm talking about animals, that's been the suggestion for our house name, Animal House. We live on College, the movie was about college. Atticus brings home animals (or like the opossum, they wander into our yard/onto our deck), the movie is named for "animals". I happen to like Animal from the Muppets, so it fits there too.

There was only one vote and it was for the name. I guess we'll name our house Animal House. We should start using frequently. We'll see if it catches on!

It made my day

We went and saw the Muppet movie.

I don't know if you realized that I wanted to see it.

I may have mentioned it a few times.

We planned to go see it today because we don't have youth group tonight.

It was a Muppet Movie. I liked it. I thought it couldn't have been any better.

Okay, it could have been better if Mr. Jim Henson were still alive. I'm not a movie critic though. With the exception of a handful of movies, I like most of them. I don't like ticket prices, but that's another post for another day. All that matters is that today we had a coupon for a discounted Matinee price. Yes. I am that person. Coupons are my friend (when I remember them).

Anyway, I had to tell you that I finally saw the movie, and liked it, before I got too distracted between the Red Wings game and putting out Christmas decorations.

Today and a week from today

Today is the big day.

It was on my Yahoo! sign in page.

I love starting my day with the Muppets.

Would you like to join me? Here's the link again.

On the other hand, in one week my blogging for a year journey will be over. I've been giving it a lot of thought. Will I continue? Will I do something different? I guess you'll have to wait and find out next week.

For now, have a very Muppet Thanksgiving!! I know I will.

time for a dinner post

As you are well aware of by now, I love trying new recipes. In fact, Bill summed it up quite nicely when I asked him what he wanted for dinners this week. If there was anything specific he had a craving for. He replied, "That's the problem with always trying new things. I can't remember all the things you make and which ones I want again."

I can't help it. After years of the same meals over and over again, I have the time and knowledge (and as Bill would say, the "shive a git") to keep things interesting.

Last night I made Short Rib Chili. It was not a cheap dish to make, the short ribs were not on sale, but boy was it delicious. My taste buds have clearly adapted to spicy foods, because I'm sure this would set a "mild" tongue on fire. But it was just right for me. And there are leftovers.

As a side note: if you do make this dish and make the polenta to go with it, cut that recipe in half. We have enough polenta to eat for the next two weeks. Sadly, I think some of it is going to have to get thrown out. Unless I find a new recipe that calls for it...

On a different note: I'm trying very much to hold back how excited I am for the Muppet movie. I just found this video this morning. I almost jumped up and down. How much better could the Muppets get? I'll tell you: in the new movie they're trying to save the theater from the Muppet show. They've taken the Muppets and Historic Preservation and combined them. The only thing that could make that any better is if Lego came out with a Muppet line... Six days and counting...

just another Tuesday

Bill and I went and voted this morning. Did you?

There were three offices up for election and one proposal. There was no one in line when we got there, so it took all of four minutes. Two of those were spent telling the nice volunteer what our names were. He wasn't doing a very good job reading our driver's licenses. He called me Eunice.

As we left, we thanked them for volunteering.

It's a rainy, dark day here.

Four years ago we were on our cruise in the Mediterranean. Since it's Tuesday, we were in Villefranche. I blogged about the first two days of the cruise and then never finished... but you can check out that stop!

Kermit the Frog is going to be on Ellen tomorrow. Two weeks until the new Muppet movie is out in theaters!

I ran my errands and worked. My office is still a small disaster.

It's just another Tuesday...

another obsession

Because yesterday's announcement wasn't enough to make me pee my pants, I had two emails this morning about the release of Needtobreathe's new album, The Reckoning. In case you haven't gone far enough back in my blog, I "heart" Needtobreathe.

First, I talked about them here (actually, I wrote about them when Heather and I saw Jars of Clay in March of 2007, but I'm not linking to that post because I basically talk about Needtobreathe in one sentence). Then we saw them at the Big Ticket Festival. Then, for some bizarre reason, I did not mention the next time I saw them. But I did here. And the last time I saw them, I wrote about it here.

I have gone all of 2011 without seeing them. They opened for Taylor Swift. And the one night they were in Grand Rapids, I was in Bay City with the youth group. I survived. No, really I did. I know Dave and Bill will find that hard to believe, but I'm not in the corner rocking myself. In fact, the night of the concert, I didn't even remember it. But Sarah (who rocks) bought Chandra and me a Needtobreathe bracelet. Um, bracelet is not the right term... but it's one of those plastic bands with their name on it. Whatever. It totally rocks and is super special because Sarah got them for us.

I could go on and on. I can't help it. I really like their music. So as I wait for the new Muppet Movie to come out in November, I will probably survive with the newest album from Needtobreathe. It's set to release September 20th. That's in 26 days.

The Muppets strike back

Oh. My. Gosh. I am beyond excited. (You should ignore the date on the movie poster, it's wrong.)

I'm like a kid in a candy store with birthday money.

I feel like it's Christmas morning and Santa brought me all the things I asked for.

Check out the trailers for the new Muppet Movie.

This has made my day. I'm now counting down until November 23rd.

I really really like the Muppets (in case you didn't know).