From Inmates to Playdates

Posts Tagged ‘iPod’

I know there are at least eight of you visiting today hoping to find Thursday Thirteen.

I’m sorry to say that Thursday Thirteen will not be making an appearance today because my body has been invaded by the stupid flu. It is all I can do to keep my food down, much less come up with thirteen thought provoking (ahem!) statements.

Instead, I am publishing my You Capture because there will be at least twelve people visiting from I Should Be Folding Laundry to see what I captured for this week’s technology theme.

Can I just say that I love technology. I am thankful for technology. Me and the technology are friends.

First, I’ll start off with this….

My beloved Hoopty Dell Laptop with a messed-up jack in the back. Man, with that ‘macro’ setting you can see dust and all. I love it when my artsy-fartsy photos turn out looking something other than artsy-fartsy. This happens to look like a dusty laptop keyboard.

And how about this…

My children will probably never ever be introduced to an encyclopedia. Stevie did his first-ever- report today on The Camel and we turned to our good friends at Wikipedia for information and pictures. It reminded me of all the years I spent combing through the pages of the Encyclopedias looking for information for various reports throughout my academic career.

And we can’t forget this….

Hotmail, I love you!

Gone are the days when I would walk to my mailbox to discover a hand-written letter. A quick e-mail with a smiley face at the bottom is generally as good as it gets these days. I do use the heck out of hotmail, though.

And we can’t forget this guy….

Me and the TiVo are tight. I considered this the best invention of my time for a number of years, until this cat came along and knocked the TiVo right off its technological high horse…..

Oh internets, I cannot tell you how happy my beloved iPhone makes me. At my fingertips, I can listen to K-Love, read From Inmates To Playdates, e-mail a picture, find the nearest Olive Garden, calculate a tip split three ways on a $46.84 check, call my mama, view Target’s sales ad, make fart sounds, peruse Facebook, see my social calendar, get a list of movies playing at our local theater, post a tweet, play video poker, look up a phone number, purchase I’d Need A Savior on iTunes, find my house on Google Earth, check my e-mail, look at You Tube, play Toobz, record my voice, look at Photobucket, listen to my iPod, check the weather for the next ten days, and endless, countless other stuff. Seriously.

This thing is a technological gem.

What a fun week this You Capture week has been.

Be sure to visit I Should Be Folding Laundry for other technological type stuff.

Typically, I would launch right into my Thursday Thirteen, picking up exactly where I left off last Thursday (with The Letter Q). McDaddy is expecting to read about his beloved heap (ahem! I mean JEEP) today, so I need to at least mention that I GOT SCREWED TODAY. I was four houses away from my driveway when my minivan started to make a weird noise immediately followed by a blup. blup. blup. blup. blup.

Yep. You guessed it.

A flat tire. A nasty screw.

Four houses away.

So, I did what anyone in my position would do.

I called daddy.

To make sure it would be okay to move my van out of the middle of the friggin street.

Dang.

I drove very slowly and pulled my minivan into the neighbor’s parking spot on our street and put the sucker in park. I thanked the good Lord that I was driving about 4.2 miles an hour when I first heard the blup. blup. blup. and not driving at full throttle out the interstate in the middle of the pouring rain.

Much to the boys’ excitement, we drove the heap to church.

And it is one. rough. ride.

Especially in flip-flops.

Which was rough because, hello?

Do you remember the hypothetical situation about the very real possibility of plowing down my mailbox when if the flip-flop accidentally slips off of the brake and gets lodged between the gas and brake pedal.

Well, throw a clutch into the mix and that pretty much spells disaster between you, the jeep and the flip flop.

But we all survived.

And, thankfully the heap, as hideous as it is for a princess to drive, is a dependable ride. Which is more than I can say for my minivan right now.

If I was a bettin’ woman, I would bet that McDaddy is hoping that van gets fixed ASAP so that his beloved JEEP can be tucked safely away in his mama’s garage and away from my irresponsible flip-flop wearing feet.

But enough about the heap.  

It’s Thursday Thirteen.

Without further ado, may I introduce the Letter R.

1. Renea - My middle name at birth. I have my dad to thank for the different spelling. But, have I mentioned that I am, in fact, different. Oh, and when I married McDaddy, I dropped the middle name Renea and took my maiden name as my middle name. My mama still calls me Julie Renea when I’m in trouble though.

2. Ryan Seacrest – There are so many R words I could use right here, but seriously, is this cat a cutie, or what?

Oh, and Kris Allen? Total Hottie.

So! Glad! He! Won!

Where was I? Oh, yes, the letter “R”

3. Red – As in chili-pepper red. As in my favorite color of my beloved Saturn Sky. (And yes, before you ask, I try everyday to somehow work my beloved Saturn Sky into my posts so that the powers that be at Saturn may find my sweet little blog and take pity on the gal from WV who wants a SKYREALLYREALLYBADLY and finally give me one of the suckers!)

4. RADIO -  The van in my radio is typically set too KLOVE. My favorite songs right now are There Will Be A Day, Free To Be Me and a new song by Jimmy Needham called Forgiven and Loved.

5. ROLLER SKATE – I used to love roller skating. I could shoot the duck like nobody’s business. The only thing I could shoot now is the breeze.

6. REMODELING – Me and McDaddy decided that while he was gone, I would start a remodeling project. I am currently in the first stage of the process – removing wallpaper. I think I would rather have a tooth pulled than strip wall-paper. It is such a slow, tedious process. Thankfully, my friend, Susan loaned me a wall-paper steamer. It reminds me of picking off my dead skin after a sunburn. Me and the steamer and the iPod? We are rocking it.

But I must admit we are rockin r-e-a-l-s-l-o-w.

Pictures to follow probably sometime in 2011 when I get all. of. it. down.

7. RAIN – Seriously, it has rained here in WV for about 47 days. Okay, so maybe not 47, but believe me when I tell you that it has rained WAY MORE THAN NECESSARY. Sick of the stinkin’ rain.

8. READ – I typically read when we are camping or when we are on vacation. The last book I read was this one. It was a great read.

 The next book in my queue is this one.

 Now, all I need is some time.

And, some time away from the laptop would help too.

9. ROYALTY – I am a self-proclaimed princess. That pretty much means that I am not REALLY a princess, although I play one in my head. I recently ordered a pair of these fabulous, royal flip flops online.

 So cute. I couldn’t decide between the brown ones or the black ones, so I ordered them both. And, before you ask. Yes, I was wearing these when I drove the JEEP this evening.

10. ROME – Here is me and McDaddy pictured in Rome, Italy in a grape vineyard. We had a wonderful, lively dinner here at the vineyard.

11. RELAX - My favorite way to relax? A massage. In fact, I’d love to have one right. now.

12. RETURN – I am getting ready to return a certain hand-held device (coughpeekcough) because they are trying to charge me $79.99 because I supposedly did not return a defective device. I would like to say right here, right now, in this public forum that yes, indeed, I did return the thing and I would appreciate it right now if they would remove the charge from my credit card immediately.

13. REJOICE – Oh sweet mercy. Internets. I rejoiced after the tire on the van went flat because I had one of these waiting on my porch when I returned home from my sweet McDaddy.

If you happen to live within a 30 mile radius of my crib, you probably heard me squeal.

With delight.

Seriously, McDaddy.

I appreciate it so much. And, I promise not to whine about another thing for a very long time!!! You. are. the. man!

If you were my favorite shoes… You’d look like this.

And….

You would have been happy to by pulled off of a finish line shelf at the Mall Of America to be adopted by me.

You would have taken just about every step with me as part of the great weight loss effort of 2008 (and now 2009).

You would love being used every single day (except in Winter).

You would smile everytime I sang your praises to someone who asked about you.

You’d get a kick out of the fact that the kids call you my ‘workout shoes’, even though I wear you even when I’m not working out.

You’d love not ever having floppy shoe strings because of your new-fangled strings that can’t come untied.

You’d be sad to see the bad weather rolling in because you are just not equipped to handle snow and rain very well.

You’d be frowning at the new Nike Shox that I got for Christmas simply because you are not conducive to wintry weather even though your name is Nike Hot Shots.

*You’d love it when I showed off the housing unit in lefty that holds the chip that talks to my iPod about miles and calories that is sent to Nike.com.

You’d wish you were a different color than white because you get dirty so easily.

You’d be surprised that I have dedicated a whole blog post to you.

*By the way, here is the way the sensor and the receiver work. It is actually pretty amazing remarkable. The sensor transmits info such as calories burned, miles walked, total time, and best time to your iPod. You can then upload (or is it download) the info to nike.com.

This is the most comfortable shoe you will ever slip your foot into. I love these shoes because they are light and they are comfortable. They are a great weight-loss tool.

And that works for me!!!

Check out other tips that work for you over at We are THAT family.

If you were my iPod….. 

-Your silver body would miss the red iSkin which cannot be used when I use the receiver for my Nike + tennis shoes.

- You would be amused that you get to come to zumba and work with the chip in my shoe to count our calories and miles while we work out.
 
-You’d be floppin back and forth as you hung around my neck on the iSkin string that came with the red cover that I bought at the Apple Store at the Mall of America as I did my workout at the Y.
 
-You’d know just how much I sweat and swipe when I’m doing my cardio workout at the Y.
 
-You’d see me look down at your screen everytime a new song was coming on, so I could see what song was going to play next.
 
-You’d have 263 songs  from a vast array of artists. Everything from Color Me Badd, Michael Jackson, George Strait, Leona Lewis, BeBe Winans, One Accord, After 7, Janet Jackson, Third Day, Mariah Carey, Brooks and Dunn, John Michael Montgomery, SWV, Tony Rich Project, Alanis Morrisette, Blackstreet, Kutless, TLC, Sandi Patty, Brandon Heath, Blake Lewis, David Archuleta and Carrie Underwood. (See, I told you it was vast!)
 
-You’d love sitting atop the player/charger in the living room instead of stuffed inside of the case in my purse.
 
-You would love being used everyday.
 
-You’d play fast songs while I was at the Y, because it’s much better to exercise to a fast song than a slow one.

- You would know that the last song I downloaded was “While I’m Waiting” by John Waller.
 
-You would not like being stuck in my laptop overnight to charge while the rest of us slept the night away.
 
-You and my water bottle would be great friends because you travel together when we go to the Y.
 
-You would be amused that sometimes I listen to you while I run the sweeper.
 
-You’d hear me huff about those tiny little earphones that I have yet to figure out how to properly place in my ears.
 
-You’d know that I *heart* you and appreciate McDaddy picking out the Nano as opposed to the cute, but screenless Shuffle.
 
-You’d be hanging out in my laptop charging as I wrote this blog.

-You would smile knowing I have listened to you a lot this week, especially since losing my dear friend, Jon.
 
-You’d be glad you were associated with such a cool gal as myself. Even when I’m not so cool. And stinky.

I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I had written and saved some posts for a rainy day.

I should totally use one of them today even though it is not raining.

And even though my bloggy well is not dry.

I’ve decided not to do that though.

I’m blogging live from my big, blue, bloggy chair.

The same BBB Chair I was dozing in on Saturday just after 2pm when a dear friend, Jonathan had a fatal car accident.

Deep.

Yes, I know.

And the only reason I am bringing it up here in this forum is to remind you how precious life is and how important it is to treat every conversation as if it is the last.

Aside from family members, I have never lost a close friend. This loss has been very difficult for me. I ask for your prayers, not only for me but for the family of my friend, Jon Boy.  I cannot imagine what they are going through. 

—–

On a lighter note, my sweet Alex is doing fabulous on the potty.

We made an initial attempt at potty training back in August and spent three long grueling months trying to figure it out. Ultimately, we decided to take a break because either, 1) I was going to lose my mind, or, 2) I was going to lose my mind. 

It was no win situation for me.

We took a brief break and he seems to be making great progress this time. We hit pay-dirt today with #2.  I am grateful for his effort and proud of his achievement.

Go Alex Go!

—

I orderedSanta brought this book shelf for Alex for Christmas. It has been sitting in the middle of his bedroom floor until today. I cranked up the iPod and had his room straight in less than an hour. I have been dreading it since returning from our vacation. I spent more time dreading it than what it took to actually do the work.  It looks really cute in his room and I should mention that his book shelf actually says, “Alex,” not “Joshua.”

—

My good friends from The Bold and The Beautiful have been missing their biggest fan. It seems that between the holidays, the par-tays and visits to the gym everything in between, I have missed Ridge and Brooke’s fourth marriage. Geez, I can’t believe I even typed that last sentence. My trusty friend TiVo has erased many episodes of B&B from my daily docket because I have failed to keep up with it’s demands. Maybe its time to bid B&B adieu.

—

We here at the McResidence are preparing our hearts and minds for what is about to happen in just a few short weeks. I’ve mentioned it  more than once.  At this point, I just want it over with. The only way to get through it is to go through it. I’m as ready as I will ever be and I will do my best to keep the whining to a minimum. With the help of the Lord (and my blood pressure medication) I! will! get! through! it!  See, I am determined.

—

And finally, thanks to two really good scrapbooking days with my SIL Michele last week, I not only finished my 2007 album, I actually put a great big dent in 2008 making it all the way through to June. It feels good to be working on pictures from June, 2008 in January, 2009. If you are not a scrapbooker, those last 2 sentences will leave you shaking your head going, “I don’t get it.” I enjoy scrapbooking and have scrapbooked 91% of the last 6 years (since Stevie was born) of our lives. The albums are special to me and someday I hope my boys appreciate them.

—

I think that’s a wrap.

Enjoy your Tuesday. I have a rough day ahead.

Cut.

1.   A brand spakin new bottle of my sweet smelling perfume – Romance – by Ralph Lauren
2.  Nike Shox – My favorite tennis shoes are open-mesh which is not real conducive to the harsh winter we experience here in the mountains of WV, so I needed a pair I could wear during the Winter months.
3.  BLING! -  No Christmas is complete without bling
4.  David Archuleta CD
5.  Blake Lewis CD  (Did I mentioned I love American Idol?)
6.  A new pack of Sharpies (Goofy, I know… but I use them daily for stuff).
7.  A iTunes Gift Card – yee-haw… new songs for my 2009 debut at the Y.
8.  New set of knives (You know you are getting old when you ask for knives for Christmas).
9.  A bigger and better crock pot ( See Number 8 )
10.  Some fabulous Tommy Hilfiger black boots
11.  A cute ‘MOM’ bracelet that my sweet boy picked out on his own at Santa’s workshop.
12.  A surprise visit from my sweet aunt, June from California and her new husband, Dave and his family. We had a marvelous time visiting with them.
13.  Fatter – I ate way more than I should and will be paying for it for months at the Y.

Darcie over at Such The Spot did this meme today and I thought it looked like fun, so I’m playing along instead of tackling the laundry pile.

My fellas might not have clean underwear, but by-crackie (pun intended) ya’ll will have your daily dose of crazy.

To play you fetch your iPod and put it on shuffle songs. Copy the questions and as you answer them, jot the song and the artist down as the answer.

I’m grabbing my iPod that looks exactly like this…

Here we go….

If someone says, “Is this okay?” you say?  Let it Fade by Jeremy Camp

What best describes your personality?  You’re My Angel by Brooks and Dunn (McDaddy might not always agree with that).

What do you look for in a guy?  Put Your Records On by Corrine Bailey Rae

How do you feel today?  Love’s In Need by Blackstreet

What is your life’s purpose?  Because He Lives by One Accord

What is your motto?  Livin’ On The Edge by Aerosmith (how funny!)

What do your friends think of you?  Fantastic Voyage by Coolio (Even funnier!)

What do you think about often?  Here I Go Again by Casting Crowns

What do you think of your best friend?  What Have You Done For Me Lately by Janet Jackson (I Promise they are randomally shuffling!).

What do you think of the person you like (in my case I’m assuming this refers to the person I married)?  All I Want To Do by Sugarland

What is your life story?  Voice Of Truth by Casting Crowns

What do you want to be when you grow up?  All 4 Love by Color Me Badd (Yes, it has 2 D’s – the 90′s rocked!)

What do you think when you see the person you like?  Feelin’ So Fly by toby Mac

What do your parents think of you?  The Other Side by Aerosmith

What will you dance to at your wedding?  This Is How We Do It by Montell Jordan

What will they play at your funeral?  All I’ve Ever Wanted by Mariah Carey

What is your biggest secret?  Washed By The Water by Needtobreath

What do you think of your friends?  What If His People Prayed by Casting Crowns

What is the worst thing that could happen?  I Love Me Some Him by Toni Braxton

How will you die?  Better As A Memory by Kenny Chesney  =(

What is the one thing you regret?  So Long Self by Mercy Me

What makes you laugh?  Shame On Me by Rachel Proctor  (Pardon the commentary but I just have to tell you this, I actually went to HS with Rachel Proctor. She is a songwriter in Nashville and most recently released her own CD entitled Only Lonely Girl. Give her a holla after you read this).

What makes you cry?  The Keeper Of The Stars by Tracy Byrd

Will you ever get married?  Queen of Memphis by Conferate Railroad

What scares you the most?  Someone To Love by Jon B

Does anyone like you?  I Like It Like That by After 7

If you could go back in time what would you change?  All I Really Want by Alanis Morisette

What hurts right now?  If I Had No Loot by Tony! Toni! Tone’!

What will you post this as?  Your Eyes Don’t Lie by David Archuleta

See?!  Wasn’t that fun?  Now, why don’t you play along.