Do You YouTube?

Have any of you, in your internet surfing, found one or more sites that you check daily? Do not count MySpace, Facebook, email or instant messengers. I see you nodding.

I have a friend who LOVES Google Maps. Brian loves fark.com.

Here's mine:

1. www.soapoperafan.com/days (Yes, I love Days of Our Lives). I don't even have to watch the show. I can read the summaries. hahahaha

2. YouTube - only for one video...let me tell you the story...

My church is having a talent show in February. In addition to chairing the committee that is putting it on, I will be singing in it. Sunday, my duet partner Dan approached me about what song we are going to do for this next one. I had no idea. In my mind, February is a long time away. (not so much when you consider the holidays) Last year we sang "Sue Me" from Guys and Dolls. So I put my thinking cap on and contacted a friend who is big into civic theatre and asked him for some suggestions. He responded rather quickly and gave me an idea and also suggested that I look on YouTube for a video.

I took a look and found not just one, but many! I will say that the one I like the most I have bookmarked and have watched it at least 8 times. In my glee of finding it, I also called someone else and listened while they watched it. It's hilarious and going to be great. And still yet, I watch it again and again every single time I sit down at this keyboard.

Sad..I know.

Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENSJrqfVJJ0&feature=related

Try not to sing along....


OH...and in case you were wondering, it's from Spamalot

How do you get to Carnegie Hall???

The famous answer is "Practice, Practice, Practice!"

These days, it seems that is what I am doing!

In case you didn't know, I will be singing at Carnegie Hall in New York in January. The community choir I sing with was invited and 22 of us have decided to go. We will be singing in a concert on January 19, 2009 with approximately 200 other choir members and will be accompanied by a symphony. We'll be performing Mozart's Requiem.

We (the group going) practice every Wednesday prior to our regular choir rehearsal. It's good for me because I get warmed up pretty quickly for our regular rehearsal.

We will leave on Friday, January 16. We will have rehearsals Saturday, Sunday and Monday prior to the concert. Evidently, the rehearsals are several hours long and then the rest of the time is free time. I'm hoping to catch a show or two if possible.

Following the concert, there's a "cruise" around Manhattan. According to my Director, Ken, who has sung in one of these concerts before, there was no cruise - because it was January and the river was frozen. In this situation, we still get to have a party with the other performers on the boat complete with dinner and dancing. I'm soooo excited.

I'm also really excited because some of my family is coming. It will be a great time!

On the flip side of this, if you live in Topeka, please note I am selling candy to raise funds. Let me know if you would like to purchase one or some.

I must bid a fond farewell for this evening. I have to go practice some more!

What's that scent you're wearing?

Had you asked me that on Sunday evening, the answer would not have been any the following:

1. Chanel No. 5

2. Poison

3. White Diamonds

4. Charlie

5. anything by Britney Spears or Paris Hilton

Instead, had you inhaled in close proximity to me, the scent you would have smelled was one that reminds me of the holidays. No, it's not pine, cranberries or sugar cookies.

It is Chex Mix, or rather a blend of garlic and onion powders and worcestershire sauce.

Let me explain why I smelled like a snack. This week is national Customer Service week. This year, I am on the planning team for the week. We were given a budget and some guidance and we planned activities, gifts, etc. for this week for the Customer Service Department. The reps really like getting snacks, so we thought it would be a great idea to look at chex mix. As you can imagine, it is way too expensive to buy it and rebag it. So genius here asked about making it. The whole team thought it was a grand idea. So out of a team of eight, three of us decided we could do it. In theory, this doesn't take a long time. In reality, it too WAY more time than we thought it would.

Have I mentioned that we had to make enough to feed 250 people?

To make a long story short, Wendy and I started on Saturday night and made one batch. One of my cohorts brought over four batches, which we bagged into individual baggies with a colorful label. Then Sunday after church, we started up again, with another of my coworkers coming over to help cook and bag. At 5pm, Wendy and I left to go celebrate Dad's birthday. My coworker took the remaining fixings and went home. I called him when I got home and had finished bagging the one remaining batch and then proceeded to count the baggies. At my house alone there were 189. He had 70.

Let me tell you, it is so disappointing when a snack you love can nauseate you. I told Dad I wasn't eating anymore until he made some and that he was not allowed to come make it at my house. Today when I walked in the door, it still reeks of the spices.

So there is my tale of woe with Chex Mix and that new perfume blend by none other than Chex.

The King is alive....

Yes, friends, the King himself, Elvis Presley is alive and well in Kansas. Why Kansas? I can't think of a better place, can you? Little did you all know that I had a roommate. His name is Elvis. I've enclosed a photo, in case you don't believe me. Seriously, though, Elvis does live in my office at home. He sits on the top of a cabinet and hangs out.

This item is a gift from Brian that he purchased during a woot off. (http://www.woot.com/) This item was delivered to him and he had the kindness in his heart to bring it to my home while I was at work. You can imagine what happened. I came in the door and nearly soiled myself because staring at me was the creepiest Elvis in a box I have ever seen. Later that night, he came over and we took "E" out of the box and set him up (plugged him in - LOL).

He came to life before my very eyes. Blinking, talking, singing, doing that lip thing. Here's the creepy part: he has a motion detector built in, so as I paced around in front of him, he tracked me and followed me with his eyes. The skin is this rubbery substance. But wait...there's more.

He does sing and talk. There are monologues and even a karaoke function that you could plug a microphone in and sing with it. The remote is a long silver microphone.

I moved Elvis to the bar and I tell you, every time I come in, I swear someone's in my house. My goal is to take him around Topeka and get some great candid shots and post those.

Thank ya, thank ya very much!