JUST A SAMPLE OF WHAT WE WILL BE SEEING

CHARLES' 10TH BIRTHDAY PARTY

(I KNOW Bobby will be stealing the last picture - it is so damn cute!!)

HOME-MADE FRIED GREEN TOMATOS

with a side of horseradish dipping sauce.

SURF HAPPENS

This is what happens when you make it.

This is what happens when you don't . . .

THIS SAYS IT ALL.

FISHING WITH THE GUYS

If you want copies, just click and download!

WORDS

These are the words to my favorite song right now. It really says so much.

Can you guess the singer?


He-hey he-hey ohh
Oh yeah
Well alright
He-hey

What is this feeling coming over me?
I'm taken back in disbelief
Is this really me, ha! in the mirror I see?
Staring back at me:
Could it be? A new reflection of a woman complete

All of a sudden I'm so care-free (well alright)
'cause love is doing something strange to me (well alright)
Got a new flame, ha! haven't been the same
Something in me's changed, rearranged
And I feel that I've been saved

You got me feeling like you're that something I've been missing
Everything's heaven 'cause life with you has been a blessing

(Oh-oh oh-oh)
I got it bad in a serious way, oh yeah
(Oh-oh oh-oh)
Your love has brought me to a higher place, oh yeah
(Who knew? Who knew?)
It'd be you to restore my faith
Everyday, I'm amazed
And it makes me wanna get down and pray
Makes me wanna get down and pray
Said it makes me wanna get down and pray
Yeah-hey

I've kept some company I shouldn't have (well alright)
Made some mistakes but that's in the past (well alright)
I'm professing here to you
Proof that I am through

I'm coming clean
Now I can breathe
and I finally believe, yeah

You got me thinking I'll be alright, and you're the reason
Ooh I can feel it, we're moving in a new direction

(Oh-oh oh-oh)
I got it bad in a serious way, oh yeah
(Oh-oh oh-oh)
Your love has brought me into a higher place, oh yeah
(Who knew? Who knew?)
It'd be you to restore my faith
Everyday, I'm amazed
And it makes me wanna get down and pray
Makes me wanna get down and pray
Said it makes me wanna get down and pray
Makes me wanna get down and pray
Makes me wanna get down and pray

Ohh
Where would I be? Where would I be?
Without you by my side
Where would I be? Where would I be?
Without you standing by

Makes me wanna (pray)
Makes me need to (pray)
When I'm feeling low and all alone,
You're the light in my day, yeah

(Oh-oh oh-oh)
I got it bad in a serious way, oh yeah
(Oh-oh oh-oh)
Your love has brought me into a higher place, oh yeah
(Who knew? Who knew?)
It'd be you to restore my faith
Everyday, I'm amazed
'cause it makes me wanna get down and pray
'cause it makes me wanna get down and pray
Makes me wanna get down and pray

Woo, thank you father!

Wanna lift my hands up and pray
'cause everytime I'm hearing your name
Wanna reach out and rejoice
Sound of your voice, yeah

Hey yeah
Alright
That's it

At Grammie's House

Charles holding his 3 month old cousin Joshua.


(Bobby, I know you will download this one. . .)

Kayaking

HAIL TO THE JUNK FOOD!

Researchers invited people who were not on diets to snack on as many cheese puffs as they wanted over the course of four afternoons. One group munched on dense Cheetos, while others munched on the puffier, more aerated ones.


Although the group snacking on the more aerated puffs ate more by volume, they ended up consuming 21 percent fewer calories on average.

There are 160 calories per ounce in even the puffy version of Cheetos, and no responsible doctor would recommend them as a regular part of a healthy diet. But there is something to learn from the puffy factor.

You can trick your senses into believing you’ve eaten more food by pumping up the volume. By choosing snacks that contain more air, you’re going to get more food by volume and fewer calories.

Cereals are another biggie. Eating puffier, irregularly-shaped cereals are a better bet than dense, tightly-packed cereals like muesli or granola. If you’re pouring the inappropriate amount on the basis of how full the bowl is, you’re going to get easily three times as many calories with the granola-type food.

Separate research at Cornell University found that people who ate Chex Mix from large bowls consumed 56 percent more than those who munched from the smaller bowls. Why?

The remaining question is why, exactly, people snacking on less dense foods consume fewer calories. There are two possible answers, said Paul Rozin, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania who was not involved in the study.

“One is that the stomach is filled more by the volume, and so it’s giving more of a signal to the body to say ‘that’s enough,’” Rozin said. The other possibility is that you’re actually imagining that you’ve eaten more, since each piece is larger, he said.

One Big Adventure(er)

Our fun trip to Orlando to visit famliy and play was quickly dampered by the sudden mechanical issues surrounding our car. It pretty much quit on me one hour before leaving to go to Orlando. (We all said "better here than on the highway").

$650 and a family camping trip is what came out of it. Jerome, Charles and I towed the camper down Thursday evening and camped alone and then Mom came Friday night.

I saw manatees while out on the kayak. I didnt have my camera then but here are a couple of pictures from my 2nd trip. (I should have taken more but it's a good excuse to go back)


This pelican was hunkering down for the evening in this flimsy tree. There were several others too. He let me get pretty close and kept his eye on me.


This was my view on Friday evening. Peaceful mariner.

MOM'S 60TH BDAY!

On Wednesday March 14th Corrie, Mom and I went to see a male strip show for Mom's 60th birthday. What a way to turn 60!

I left from work to pick Mom up and take her to a local bar in Palm Bay to celebrate and hang out with other women and naked men. Hmmm. Sounds like I shouldnt be going.

I invited my friend Danelle from work and she invited another girlfriend. They decided to meet us there so I went to get Mom. I get to her house and of course she is in pink sequins. What else? I'm wearing a jean mini skirt, black lace tank top, black boots and a matching jean jacket that comes down 1/2 way.

We get to the bar and get ready to get in when Mom tells me she forgot the tickets. Ok ok. . I often wonder if these things have any thing to do with her age or hair color. Oh well, no worries we still have time and she practically lives right around the corner. So we head home, grab the tickets and head back.

We get in and there is Corrie in the front row right next to the dance floor - which I guess is gonna be the stage. She has put balloons on Moms chair (they werent in anyones way - at this point) and given her a pink boa. So we sit and order drinks.

You could tell this was some "hometown" bar. It had a really small dance floor, 6 big screen tv's, pool tables and a wrap around bar, nothing particularly exciting. We chat and I pull up 2 more chairs and wait for Danelle and her friend.

The show starts and this thin, handsome announcer comes out and gets the women pumped up. He says they will give away prizes (calendars and pictures) at the end of the show. He asked us to write our 1st and last names on a dollar bill and drop it in the tip jar and they will draw names. He gave the bucket to me and Mom, Corrie and I were the 1st to put our $ in. I wrote my first name really small on the corner since I didnt want my first and last name on the now defaced money.

Within minutes you heard the James Bond song and out (from a curtain in the back of the bar) comes this short, stocky guy with a blonde crew cut. He looked so totally nervous. He had this smile that wouldnt quit. Kind outta character since James didnt really smile, he smirked. Anyway, he was fun to watch.

There were only 5 guys and 2 of them did the "cowboy" thing. come on, they could have switched it up! One guys was really built and seemed much older and the other guy was a little mexcian looking thing.

I tell you, a guy in a thong is really not all its cracked up to be. The cutest guy looked best in his pants and no shirt.

I saw many similarities and differences in male and female dancers. First of all one of the differences is that the crowd at this show (all females) was really pumped. They danced (some even for each other) and shoved dollar after dollar in these guys freakin underwear! Money was flowing!!

You could tell that some of the guys were nervous at first. ( I can only imagine. . . .)

Anyway, at the end of the show the announcer comes over and hands me the bucket filled with bills and tells me to draw a name. I reached way down in the bottom, where my dollar was and pulled one out. He couldnt find a name so I looked and sure enough, it was my name! He totally didnt beleive me and thought I was pulling the wool over his eyes but I insisted I drew it. Which amazingly enough, I did. He held my dollar and continued to draw names for calendars. When they were wrapping things up and taking polaroids I went over and gave him hell.

Needless to say, Mom now owns an autographed pair of mens underpants!! Good times!

See the guys at http://www.mfxw.com/

WHICH CARTOON CHARACTER ARE YOU?

(answer questions and add up points. . . dont read answers yet . . leave a comment.)

1. Which one of the following describes the perfect date?
a) Candlelight dinner (4 pts.)
b) Fun/Theme Park (2 pts.)
c) Painting in the park (5 pts.)
d) Rock concert (1 pt.)
e) Going to the movies (3 pts.)

2. What is your favorite type of music?
a) Rock and Roll (2 pts.)
b) Alternative (1 pt.)
c) Soft Rock (4 pts.)
d) Country (5 pt s.)
e) Pop (3 pts.)

3. What type of movies do you prefer?
a) Comedy (2 pts.)
b) Horror (1 pt.)
c) Musical (3 pts.)
d) Romance (4 pts.)
e) Documentary (5 pts.)

4. Which one of these occupations would you choose if you only could choose one of these?
a) Waiter (4 pts.)
b) Professional Sports Player (5 pts.)
c) Teacher (3 pts.)
d) Police (2 pts.)
e) Cashier (1 pt.)

5 . What do you do with your spare time?
a) Exercise (5 pts.)
b) Read (4 pts.)
c) Watch television (2 pts.)
d) Listen to music (1 pt.)
e) Sleep (3 pts.)

6. Which one of the following colors do you like best?
a) Yellow (1 pt.)
b) White (5 pts.)
c) Sky Blue (3 pts.)
d) Dark Blue (2 pts.)
e) Red (4 pts.)

7. What do you prefer to eat?
a) Snow (3 pts.)
b) Pizza (2 pts)
c) Sushi (1 pt.)
d) Pasta (4 pts.)
e) Salad (5 pts.)

8 . What is your favorite holiday?
a) Halloween (1 pt.)
b) Christmas (3 pts.)
c) New Year (2 pts.)
d) Valentine's Day (4 pts.)
e) Thanksgiving (5 pts.)

9. If you could go to one of these places which one would it be?
a) Paris (4 pts.)
b) Spain (5 pts.)
c) Las Vegas (1 pt.)
d) Hawaii (4 pts.)
e) Hollywood (3 pts.)

10. With which of the following would you prefer to spend time with?
a) Someone Smart (5 pts.)
b) Someone attractive (2 pts.)
c) Someone who likes to Party (1 pt.)
d) Someone who always has fun (3 pts.)
e) Someone very sentimental (4 pts.)



I am Tickle Me ELMO and Jerome is SPONGEBOB









(10 -16 points) YOU ARE GARFIELD :
You are very comfortable, easy going, and you definitely know how to have fun but sometimes you take it to an extreme. You always know what you are doing and you are always in control of your life. Others may not see things as you do, but that doesn't mean that you always have to do what is right. Try to remember, your happy spirit may hurt you or others.



(17-23 points) YOU ARE SNOOPY:
You are fun, you are very cool and popular. You always know what's in and you are never are out of style. You are good at knowing how to
satisfy everyone else. You have probably disappeared for a few days more than once but you always come home with
the family values that you learned. Being married and having children are important to you, but only after you have had your share of fun times.




(24-28 points) YOU ARE ELMO:
You have lots of friends and you are also popular, always willing to give advice and help out a person in need. You are very optimistic and
you always see the bright side of things. Some good advice: try not to be too much of a dreamer. Dreaming too big could cause many conflicts in your life.




(29-35 points) YOU ARE SPONGE BOB SQUARE PANTS:
You are the classic person that everyone loves. You are the best friend that anyone could ever have and never wants to lose. You never cause harm to anyone and they would never not understand your feelings. Life is a journey, it's funny and calm for the most part. Stay away from traitors and jealous people, and you will be stress free.




(36-43 points) YOU ARE CHARLIE BROWN:
You are tender, you fall in love quickly but you are also
very serious about all relationships. You are a family person. You call your Mom
every Sunday. You have many friends and may occasionally forget a few Birthdays. Don't let your passion confuse you with reality.




(44-50 points) YOU ARE DEXTER:
You are smart and definitely a thinker... Every situation is fronted with a plan. You have a brilliant mind. You demonstrate very strong family principles. You maintain a stable routine but never ignore a bad situation when it comes. Try to do less over thinking every once in a while to spice things up a bit with spontaneity!

SPAGHETTI & MEATBALLS

SEVERAL REASONS TO DRINK GREEN TEA

CUT YOUR CANCER RISK
Several polyphenols - the potent antioxidants green tea's famous for - seem to help keep cancer cells from gaining a foothold in the body, by discouraging their growth and then squelching the creation of new blood vessels that tumors need to thrive. Study after study has found that people who regularly drink green tea reduce their risk of breast, stomach, esophagus, colon, and/or prostate cancer.

SOOTHE YOUR SKIN
Got a cut, scrape, or bite, and a little leftover green tea? Soak a cotton pad in it. The tea is a natural antiseptic that relieves itching and swelling. Try it on inflamed breakouts and blemishes, sunburns, even puffy eyelids. And that's not all. In the lab, green tea helps block sun-triggered skin cancer, whether you drink it or apply it directly to the skin - which is why you're seeing green tea in more and more sunscreens and moisturizers.

STEADY YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE
Having healthy blood pressure - meaning below 120/80 - is one thing. Keeping it that way is quite another. But people who sip just half a cup a day are almost 50 percent less likely to wind up with hypertension than non-drinkers. Credit goes to the polyphenols again (especially one known as ECGC). They help keep blood vessels from contracting and raising blood pressure.

PROTECT YOUR MEMORY, OR YOUR MOM'S
Green tea may also keep the brain from turning fuzzy. Getting-up-there adults who drink at least two cups a day are half as likely to develop cognitive problems as those who drink less. Why? It appears that the tea's big dose of antioxidants fights the free-radical damage to brain nerves seen in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

STAY YOUNG
The younger and healthier your arteries are, the younger and healthier you are. So fight plaque build-up in your blood vessels, which ups the risk of heart disease and stroke, adds years to your biological age (or RealAge), and saps your energy too. How much green tea does this vital job take? About 10 ounces a day, which also deters your body from absorbing artery-clogging fat and cholesterol.

LOSE WEIGHT
Oh yeah, one more thing. Turns out that green tea speeds up your body's calorie-burning process. In the every-little-bit-counts department, this is good news!

"I actually boil 2 regular tea bags and 2 green tea bags and add it to water w/ sugar. I didnt really know all of this until I read it here. I hope with that in mind, you all will increase your intake of natures liquid gold. It's got to be up there with the pomegranit!

NEWS: ADORABLE/SPIRITUAL

ADORABLE:
Two Sumatran tiger cub sleep with two baby orangutans in a nursery room at the Taman Safari zoo in Indonesia. The tiger and orangutan babies, which would never be together in the wild, have become inseparable playmates after they were abandoned by their mothers.

SPIRITUAL:
6,000 year old skeletons were found last week in Rome during digging in an industrial zone near the northern city of Mantua and the find will be displayed at the city's archaeological museum.

While scientists are still puzzling over how the pair died and why they were buried in this way, Menotti said their embrace was "testimony to a great feeling of love that has transcended time.

"We will do everything possible to preserve the bodies in the exact position of their grave," she said Wednesday. "There's no question of breaking their embrace."

CHARLES' HEALTHY LIVER

Picture taken by Mr. McDreamy.

AMERICAN IDOL

In my opinion, it will be a black girls competition.

SHE'S NO SJP. . .

BUT I GOT AN EMAIL FROM AMANDA OBER (reporter from channel 2)


Here is what I wrote;

From: chemmle@cfl.rr.com
Subject: The Abandoned Dog
Date: February 22, 2007 4:17:09 PM EST
To: aober@hearst.com

My Mother n law lives right next door to Mark Tyre and everytime we visited for Xmas or any holiday we would rarely see the dogs. They did have 2 dogs at one time. They have a fenced in back yard and doggie door but we never really saw the dogs roaming outside as I dont think they were using the doggie door. When they WOULD let them outside in the backyard, Jack would escape and then we wouldnt see him the rest of the night. Jack is a big dog and he deserved to be let out more often.

Also, Mark's girlfriend (and mother of his kids) would come over (against our wishes) and try to "hang out" while we were cooking out and leave the 2 very young kids in the house alone and unattended.

I don't believe they are good parents to kids or animals as they seemed much more concerned about themselves. I don't know if he will take better care of the dog and I dont believe his story. He was rarely ever home.

I hope that the children and pets are in good hands and that someone from the state will check in on the kids and animals.

Feel free to ask any questions.

Charlene.

p.s Keep up the good work Amanda, you are a ray of sunshine!

THIS IS WHAT SHE WROTE ME BACK:

Hey Charlene...

Thanks for taking the time to drop a note. What I'm hearing from you...we heard from several other neighbors. It seems like Mark and his girlfriend have some bad stuff going on in their lives and he claims she just checked in to drug rehab. I told Orange County Animal Services that we had heard there were concerns about the welfare of the two kids and they said their investigators would make note of that. Apparently their animal abuse investigators are trained to also notice signs of child neglect and if they see it...to call DCF.

Take Care and glad you watch WESH TV

Amanda Ober

UPDATES

Charles had his sonogram yesterday from Mr. McDreamy. He looked at all of his organs (liver, spleen, kidneys, aorta, etc. . .) but he proceeded to tell me that he couldnt get a good view of the intestines (which is where I think it is and its where Charles says it hurts). All of his organs are normal and we now have an "unauthorized" (meaning the guy gave it to Charles as a souvineer) photograph of his liver. I will kindly blog that when I can get to a scanner. (lol)

Now you know I was concerned for Charles (the seemingly perfectly healthy kid laying on the table) but the tech was (ahem. . .) quite nice looking.

He was great with Charles and he asked him if he had alot of things on his mind. Charles said not really and the guy mentioned his new motorcycle that he couldnt get off of his mind as an example.

Then Charles asked the guy if he could hook the monitor of the sonogram and up to the internet to which the guy responded, "No but if I could, I would be checking out surfline all the time."

Brownie pts. . . unable to use. Anyone have a tummy ache????

Anyway Charles went to school on Tuesday (day before sonogram) looking about 60% as I spoke of in the blog but came home fine. And yesterday, the day of the sonogram (we kept him home from school), he felt GREAT. His appetite is normal but he has a little trouble on the john now and then.

Today again he complained of a minor tummy ache. The Doctor wants to to a Cat Scan next. That seems so drastic but I think it's the only way they can really check his intestines. We really dont know what to do. At this point we are just monitoring him. I have completely cut out yogurt thinking that could be causing a build up of bacteria. The Cat Scan is certainly a possibility. We are staying in close contact with our Dr.

Any opinions?