:(

:(

Well…

My Gma Baker is resting in peace, she passed away this morning.

The family got a phone call yesterday afternoon and all went down to the ER/hospital and stayed at her side. She’s been not healthy for sometime and I think the entire family was grateful that we didn’t say goodbye two months ago, but not one of us expected, this. Everyone was getting ready for the Baker Family Christmas at the Nursing Home on Sunday.

Ugh.

MissNowMrs?

Really?

The MissNowMrs.com name-change service saves the average bride over 13 hours of research, form completion, and filing mishaps. We ask the bride a few questions, use her answers to auto-populate her state and U.S. government name-change forms, and then give her specific instructions on how to print and file each form.

We also help the bride notify her banks, credit cards, mortgage providers, utilities, medical providers, insurance companies, professional license boards, and investment companies of her new name. Your gift will help her change her name on her Social Security card, Driver’s license, U.S. Passport, with the IRS, and the U.S. Postal Service, as well as with all of her creditors.

For the totally unnecessary low cost of $29.95.

Or you can type in a Google Search and find…

Getting Married in New York State

One or both parties to a marriage may elect to change the surname by which he or she wishes to be known after the marriage by entering the new name in the appropriate space provided on the marriage license. The new name must consist of one of the following options:

• the surname of the other spouse;
• any former surname of either spouse;
• a name combining into a single surname all or a segment of the premarriage surname or any former surname of each spouse;
• a combination name separated by a hyphen, provided that each part of such combination surname is the premarriage surname, or any former surname, of each of the spouses.

The use of this option will provide a record of your change of name. The marriage certificate, containing the new name, if any, is proof that the use of the new name, or the retention of the former name, is lawful. The local Social Security Administration office should be contacted so that its records and your social security identification card reflect the name change. There is no charge for this service.

I guess some savvy business person is making money off of brides to be with this totally unnecessary clever little marketing tool. I’m not a person who worries too much about identity theft and the like but for some reason entering ALL THE PERSONAL INFORMATION I HAVE into a website to charge me to change my last name seems rip for the identify thieves.

Oh wait! You can print out all the forms from the website and send them to the individual agencies if you are uncomfortable giving ALL YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION to a totally unnecessary name changing service. But um, can’t you do that on your own?

Really?

Calling all NKOTB fans

I was never a fan. not even a little bit. I felt too old to be in love with them at the time which is odd because I’m pretty sure I was still playing “Little Mermaid” and “college” with Angie and my brother in the late 80’s but you know…

But for any of you who were fans, this post from Best Week Ever Blog cracks me up.

What Sort of People Camp Out For NKOTB?

This is probably my favorite picture.

“Do you believe it?”

You mean to tell me Van Miller, THE Van Miller OUR VAN MILLER isn’t already in the NYS Broadcast Hall of Fame?

Van Miller headed to NYS broadcast hall

“Van is truly deserving of this honor. For more than three decades, he was a cohesive voice that kept Buffalo energized and united behind their beloved football team,” remarked NYSBA President Joseph Reilly. “Although now officially retired from the business, Van’s legacy lives on in the voices and styles of many of today’s Western New York broadcasters.”

A native of Dunkirk, Miller, in 1955, joined WBEN radio and TV when offered a three-month job as a summer replacement announcer. He stayed on the air for 43 years.

Better Marriage Blanket

I needed to lighten the mood.

Check this out…the Better Marriage Blanket.

Haunting…

My God, the sound of those honking horns…sent a chill right down my spine this morning. And again this afternoon. Haunting. I can’t even begin to wrap my head around the magnitude of this tragedy. 50,000 people?

“There are teenagers wearing jeans and gym shoes and their bodies are twisted,” CNN’s John Vause said, reporting from just outside the school. “The expression on one girl’s face was just pain — she was dead.”

I just can’t stop thinking…

“Anyone buried in an earthquake can survive without water and food for three days,” said Gu Linsheng, a researcher with Tsinghua University’s Emergency Management Research Center told The Associated Press. “After that, it’s usually a miracle for anyone to survive.”

Three days? What kind of hell on earth for anyone to be trapped and have such a painful last few hours.No really, I can’t go there…

Even worse, (how can it be worse?) Myanmar is even worse, because the “so-called” government is allowing the tragedy that struck their country to double on their own accord. How the HELL DO YOU NOT ACCEPT AID? Hundreds and thousands of your people died and you just sit there and fucking watch the rest of them slowly starve to death? ONE MILLION HOMELESS PEOPLE AND YOU AREN’T GOING TO ALLOW THE REST OF THE WORLD TO HELP YOU SAVE YOUR PEOPLE??? I have to be outraged, because if I stop and think of all the suffering? The pain? I wouldn’t sleep at night. My God…

I just can’t believe this is really happening. I can’t believe I can go to bed at night and angrily detach myself from thinking about the poor people and the extreme devastation and wake up in the morning and be reminded of it all over again when NPR comes on…and then I get mad and rant out loud and try to stop thinking about it (not it, the people…all the people trapped all the people dying from hunger from thirst from lack of medical care. I don’t mourn the dead, they are in some ways the lucky ones in this tragedy. I mourn the barely living and hanging by a prayer…)

Yet, I can turn it off.

Blog/Twitter world gone wild!

Oh my goodness. Look who you can follow on Twitter.

UBLawRoof

Yes friends, the UBLAWSCHOOLROOF has a Twitter account. AND A BLOG: Strict Construction. He he he. LOVE the name of the blog

Thanks to Jim for pointing this out. I have a feeling he might be in the driver seat as well…

Can I admit that this scares me? Social networking/media gone wild!!!

Plant Something Day

Funny. I had this listed as a pre-post. IT’S SO FREAKING COLD HERE IN BUFFALO TODAY I don’t think it’s a good idea to plant anything outside right now.

Stop the inflatable madness please.

Really?

Outdoor Home Theater System with 12-Foot Inflatable Screen

Really. Yours for the price of $2,500.

Or you could just take your kids to a Drive-In movie LIKE EVERY OTHER NORMAL PERSON IN THE WORLD.

Or, now here’s a real novel idea make sure you’re sitting down… you could just let the children PLAY while outdoors?

PLAY! All on their own? Without a life-sized Giant Inflatable Easel from Toys R Us?

HOW CAN THIS BE POSSIBLE! MUST SPEND MONEY ON RIDICULOUSLY LARGE BLOW UP TOYS!!!

After all, there aren’t enough holidays in the summertime to satisfy the need to display riduclously tacky expensive, oversized inflatable lawn decorations…right?

And to think that just a generation ago my brother and I and all the neighbor kids did just fine with just an inflatable beach ball to pay volleyball with. How times have changed.

Buffalo News Front Page: You Decide!

I’m not a trained newspaper editor, nor do I play one on TV.

But for SOME silly reason it seems like THIS STORY…

Buffalo Bandits are National Lacrosse champs

Might, just might be a better SUNDAY FRONT PAGE SPLASH than this general everyday sports story labeled as a “special report.”

Buffalo Bills battle to stay profitable in changing NFL

Or it could just be me. Both are Buffalo Sports stories. Both have huge splashes on a front page, but one is just located a few sections in over in the Sports Section. And the other is a special feature story that can run on any given Sunday.

Buffalo News, I think you got it wrong. Stop being such a Debbie Downer.

There’s just so freaking much I can say about an IGNORANT statement like this…

But it’s just gonna have to wait until I calm down a little bit.

“I don’t want us to have this chance and for it to end with women looking at their daughters and saying, ‘If I had had a boy, he could have done anything,’ ” said Tulumello, a 47-year-old South Buffalo resident with two grown daughters. “I’m sure Hillary feels the same way.”

For my friend Katie…

Who is going on her *not a date* date tonight.

Sorry hon, but he thinks it’s a date, what he doesn’t know is it’s never going to be THIS kind of a date.

French Silk Pie

+

Upper Inner Thigh

Inside joke from college…although for one certain friend it wasn’t a joke. Ahem. Names shall remain nameless and NO IT WASN’T ME. I was a very, very, very good girl throughout college. Mostly.

Daring Bakers

Oh my goodness.

I don’t subscribe to nearly enough blogs. More baking blogs needed. More cooking blogs needed. More reading blogs needed. More writing blogs needed. More philanthropy blogs needed. More crafty blogs needed. More green blogs needed. More fit/eat healthy blogs needed. More political blogs needed. More more more. (And yet I hardly keep up with my 138 feeds as it is!)

As it is, I go in phases with the blogs I do have in my reader.

Now with that said, look what I just found and sigup to be a part of…

DARING BAKERS

MMMMMMMMM. THIS is going to be FUN! DARING BAKERS.

To give you just a bit of a history lesson, the idea for the The Daring Bakers was born in November of 2006 when Lis of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice decided to challenge themselves by baking pretzels for the very first time using the same recipe. They each went ahead and posted about it.

Having enjoyed that experience tremendously, they decided to try it again in December, this time choosing to bake biscotti. And to make matters even better, they were joined by a few more food bloggers.

As the months went by, their baking group continued to grow, until it was finally decided that this “little baking group” had to have a name. And The Daring Bakers were born!

Hello, Mothership. Sure I’ll jump aboard. Yes indeed…I think I’m being called home… ANYONE OUT THERE READY TO JOIN ME? I see Stephanie is already a member. And B.A. Gourmet. (Like I said, I’ve been away from the food/baking blogs as of late.)

It was stumbling across this picture from Mimi on the Move and her Cheesecake Pops that made me dig deeper.

Total Eclipse of the Fart

The season finale of The Office was most EXCELLENT last night, anytime the writers can make me cry, shriek and not cringe over Michael and think he’s sort of sweet, you know it’s good.

Lyrics to “Total Eclispe of the Fart” online!

“Total Eclipse of the Fart”

Turn around
every now and then I get a little bit stinky
and the farts are coming out of my butt

I need to fart tonight
I need to fart forever
and if you’ll only pull my finger
we’ll be smelling farts together

turn around, fart sound
Every now and then I cut a fart

Murray!

Aaaw. Murray. You’re welcome Elise and Melissa!

For almost ten years Murray toured with the band Moxy Fruvous, which he helped found when he was still in college. The band enjoyed great success in both Canada and the US, and made several best-selling albums. A serious student of jazz, Murray is adept at the stand-up bass.

(Aside: GOD BLESS THE STAND-UP BASS.)

When GBS is not touring, he is a member of several alt-country and jazz combos, and he is much in demand as a bass player and arranger. Murray’s favourite side project is his beloved jazz trio, the Lesters, which he has helped nurture for several years. During his spare time Murray works on various writing and producing projects for radio and television.

Oh Great Big Sea. I’m so happy when I’m listening to your songs. And they can make me cry too. DEAR GOD CAN IT REALLY BE THIS LONG SINCE I LAST SAW THEE LIVE?

I’m halfway there :)

Full disclosure. I love this song. And I’m not ashamed to admit it. I thank Erin for the Bon Jovi love fest that continues in my heart still today. (Have you SEEN Jon in leather pants LIVE…drool.)

Still drooling…

ANYHOW.

Today I had to go back to the girly doctor. Because the first time didn’t work out, I got the joy of a second pap this year! Hurrah! At least they didn’t charge me.

So I drove 20 minutes there to wait 20 minutes in the lobby and heard Bon Jovi “Livin’ on a Prayer” while in the lobby. Immediately after getting into the car to drive the 20 minutes back to work, what song do I hear on the radio?

BON JOVI “LIVIN’ ON A PRAYER”

Hmmmm. Can I make a sign out of these lyrics?

We’ve got to hold on to what we’ve got
‘Cause it doesn’t make a difference if we make it or not.
We’ve got each other and that’s a lot for love -
We’ll give it a shot.

We’re half way there – Livin’ on a prayer

Take my hand and we’ll make it
I swear – livin’ on a prayer.

“You live for the fight when its all that you’ve got… “

Thursday at the Square Lineup!

The Thursday in the verycrowdedcan’tbreatheneedtoexpandspace Square Schedule has been released.

AND GREAT BIG SEA IS PLAYING BUFFALO PLACE ROCKS THE HARBOR! August 15th!

Since the other GBS date this Summer I was briefly excited about is July 12th…I am SUPER EXCITED TO HEAR THIS NEWS! YIPEEEEEEE!

And now for the rest of the lineup…

Mark goes to camp and other Thursday tales…

Good morning Friday! How happy I am to see thee.

Yesterday was a day off of work for me. Clocking in several extra hours over and above the regular work week last week gave me a little comp time to chomp on. And I had to take Marky to Wing Chun Camp.

So…off with a truck full of goodies and gas at almost $4 a gallon we went on our journey past the 400 on to 20A over the river and through the country roads to a long dirt road leading to camp. The drive was GORGEOUS. Simply stated. I love taking drives through the country. Sooooo relaxing. Soooo enjoyable. Mark and I took quite a few drives like this last year together and enjoyed them every much. I guess you could blame it on our childhood.

Of course while driving those country roads I can’t help but think about the 10 year 15 year plan of wanting to live out in the country. Land. Trees. Ponds. Horses. Gardens. Sounds so nice. Logistically, we have no idea how this is going to work out unless one of us becomes independently wealthy as a freelancer. (Yeah right, it could happen.) Our jobs are always going to keep us near the City. One of us will always need to be getting those all important benefits for the family. And that requires the life of a *real* job. Sigh…

Young Nonprofit Professionals Network

Young Nonprofit Professionals Network

I wonder if I’m considered YOUNG anymore? Hmmmm. Anyhow, here’s what it’s all about.

LITERACY VOLUNTEERS ANNOUNCES NEW OPPORTUNITIES TO BECOME VOLUNTEERS!

LITERACY VOLUNTEERS ANNOUNCES NEW OPPORTUNITIES TO BECOME VOLUNTEERS!

INFO SESSIONS PLANNED FOR THOSE WITH DESIRE TO HELP FOLKS LEARN TO READ AND/OR SPEAK ENGLISH-SESSIONS PLANNED IN TONAWANDA AND AMHERST TOO!

WHAT:
Literacy Volunteers will hold “Power of Words” Information/Orientation sessions to showcase the organization and its’ multi-faceted work, and to present volunteer opportunities that are screaming to be filled. We currently have 63 students waiting to be matched with a tutor.

WHEN
Thursday, May 22nd at 7 pm at Brighton Place 999 Brighton Tonawanda

Wednesday, May 28th at 6 pm at Literacy Volunteers Headquarters 1313 Main Street at the corner of Riley/Parking lot and entrance in the back

Thursday, May 29th at 7pm at Barnes & Noble, 1365 Niagara Falls Blvd.

WHO:
All those who want to do something positive-that will truly help turn someone’s life around!

WHY:
Because if you don’t do it who will?????

Because 30% of the City of Buffalo and 20% of Erie County are functionally illiterate! 43% of adults with the lowest literacy skills live in poverty. 76% of adults on public assistance are functionally illiterate. Recent studies indicate that over half of Buffalo’s children enter kindergarten without the necessary skills to succeed. Our students achieve success as a result of our services.

For more information, contact Tracy Diina at 876-8991 or 208-1064 www.literacybuffalo.org