This is an ACTUAL Wedding Cake

Made to match the bride!

You cannot make up this stuff, folks!

Recycling at Work

Yes, this picture was taken in a bathroom at the County Admin Building.

Watch It Shred

Okay, this is cool. I don't think you have to be in the waste management business to appreciate this movie gallery of things being shredded!

Mishap at the Landfill

These are from the landfill last week. I LOVE having a camera phone so I can capture all of the excitement for you! A boom truck was trying to deposit a can on the scales to be weighed, but somehow missed. Our HEOs saved the day by moving the can with one of their big machines, and somehow the scales were intact after all of the excitement. It did cause quite a back up, though. (I know that y'all are jealous of me being at the landfill!)

Shopping Sisters

Two fun pictures from our shopping adventures!

This was an actual car we saw at the Columbia Mall.

Sister at Michael's.

Redneck Tank Top

What Kind of Blogger Are You?

This is me, according to the quiz.

If you’re a blogger, take the test. If you’re not then it won’t make much sense to you.

Winston in The State

Check it out!

Fashion Statement?

After a long workshop on Wednesday, I was relieved to arrive to be pampered at the hair salon. Imagine my surprise as I put my feet up and realized I was wearing two different shoes - different colors and different styles!

Winnie Won, Winnie Won

Thanks to everyone who voted and help get out more votes! He won by a mere 11 votes, so every vote counted! This is what Winnie will look like when I tell him he won:

Look for him in The State Living section on Saturday.

Save Winnie's Dignity

Although some of you may argue that he lost that the minute I snapped the picture.

Right now, Winnie is running neck and neck for second place behind - TINKERBELL! I will lose to Ruby, even Chico, but a TINKERBELL?!

If you haven't voted, please do so soon: http://www.thestate.com/living/story/207927.html. If you have, consider voting from your home or work computer, whichever one you DIDN'T vote from before. And since I know that all of our Blog readers are highly influential, send to three friends who will vote for Winston.

Yeah, yeah, I know. It's just a pet costume contest. But my Type-A personality has again hijacked my very being!

It IS all in fun, though.





As long as we win!

Vote 4 Winnie!

Winston is a finalist in The State's Pet Costume Contest! Please click here and cast a vote for him!

Deadline to vote is noon on Thursday, and you can only vote once. (So tell a bunch of friends to vote, too!)

He promises to be a good representative of the title, and will work for a bone in every dish!

Extreme Gourd Makeover

This weekend, the Sisters and Mom did an Extreme Gourd Makeover.

Before:

After:
Finalists, In No Particular Order:
(They were all fabu, but I can't show all 40 pictures!)

Martian by Momma Bone

Owlish Creature by Sister No. 1

Steve Spurrier by Sister No. 2 (look at that growl - USC was losing)

Earl by Sister No.1

Anteater Thingy by Momma Bone

Turkey Tom by Sister No. 1

Freestyle: Bonfire by Momma Bone

Gourdeous by Sister No. 2

Papa Bone kept us up-to-date on the game (or whatever you may call what happened at Williams-Brice on Saturday) and enjoyed watching us transform the gourds.

Oscar the Cat Update

Oscar the Cat has a new home! Brandy's husband and other pets warmed up to him well, so they're keeping him! Hoooray!

I May Have to Rethink This AC Crush!

Headline: Anderson Cooper Tired Of Having To Reduce, Reuse, Recycle; Anchorperson Impatient For This Whole Tiresome 'Save The Planet Crusade' To Come To An End

But he is cute, isn't he?

More Excitement at the Landfill

The cutest kitten showed up at the landfill today. We're not sure where it came from, but it was hungry and skinny and sweet as molasses!

After a few minutes of coaxing and nearly climbing under a car - oh, and tuna provided by one of our heavy equipment operators - the kitten and I made friends. I named him Oscar - like Oscar from Sesame Street who lives in a trash can - since we found him at the landfill. We bonded very quickly, and it wasn't long before he had a special spot in my office (and my heart).

I knew I couldn't take him home, so I set out to find him a home. He's taking a test ride with a DHEC employee this weekend, and I hope it will work out well. If not, I have one person waiting in line and a foster home lined up just in case.

Update on Monday.

My Thoughts on Birth Control for Middle Schoolers

Please tell me that I'm not the only one who thinks this is insane.

Let's take away the morality issues for purposes of leveling the playing field. Does anyone really think 11- to 13-year-old girls will be able to remember to take a pill every day?? Do any of you still remember being 11, 12 and 13? I couldn't remember to take my gym clothes, much less something with as many ramifications as a birth control pill! I can't remember to take my daily meds now and I'm, uh, 40-something!

Norplant? Maybe. But a daily birth control pill? These folks are asking for trouble.

Speaking of Halloween

Check out The State's pet costume contest!

If I can ever FIND the picture of Winnie dressed as a Western sheriff, I'm going to send it!

Happy Cock-a Ween

I have the coolest friends who give the coolest gifts! Case in point, check out this fabu gift from my friend, Jane. It's a Make-Your-Own-Gamecock-O-Lantern! You stick the steel parts into a pumpkin, and you have a GREAT Halloween decoration without even carving! Too neat, huh? Thanks, Jane! And go Gamecocks, now no. 6 in the BCS!

This Headline/Lead A Little Misleading

It isn't until the last graph that you realize he was a homeless man walking the streets at nearly midnight! A little different from someone taking their recyclables to the curb, which I thought it was about. I mean, it's still sad and all, but not something we all have to worry about or anything.

Man pushing cart in street hit, killed

SAN DIEGO – A 42-year-old man died Monday night when he was hit by a car as he pushed a shopping cart full of items he planned to recycle, police said.

The man was walking north on India Street near Vine Street in Midtown about 11:55 p.m. when he was struck by the Toyota pickup, driven by a 55-year-old man. The driver told police he didn't see the pedestrian in the road.

Another One for My SC Songs List

The Sandlapper Song!

You know, the one we all learned in elementary school???

"We are good Sandlappers, yes, we're good Sandlappers, and we're mighty proud to say, that we live, yes we live, in the very finest state in the U-S-A."

Also, they need one from the Godfather of Soul. Either Papa's Got a Brand New Bag or I Feel Good.

Southern Living's SC Songs

Here is the list that inspired SCIWay to compile their own list. I see why.

Let's Twist Again, Chubby Checker
Love and Some Verses, Iron and Wine
Roses from Leroy's, Danielle Howle
Monday, Monday, Mamas and Papas
Barely Breathing, Duncan Sheik
Wish I Didn't Miss You, Angie Stone
Hold My Hand, Hootie and the Blowfish (okay, that WAS one of mine)
Break Down Here, Julie Roberts
I Could Not Ask for More, Edwin McCain
Stormy Weather, Dizzy Gillespie

“Fourteen Things That It Took Me Over 50 Years To Learn” by Dave Barry

I saw these today and loved them, especially no. 12. It is SO true. I would strike no. 11, though. I think we should all celebrate birthdays unmercifully all of our lives. (Says someone who is still celebrating her September 24 birthday as late as last night!)

1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

2. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be “meetings.”

3. There is a very fine line between “hobby” and “mental illness.”

4. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.

5. You should not confuse your career with your life.

6. Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.

7. Never lick a steak knife.

8. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.

9. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.

10. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she’s pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.

11. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age eleven.

12. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above-average drivers.

13. A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.)

14. Your friends love you anyway.

Good to Know That Even Pamela Anderson Has Wrinkles

Heck, hers are worse than mine, I think. But people probably never look that far up, right?

Look What I Was Invited To

I can't say for sure what really happened during these hearings. I think Clarence Thomas probably made some inappropriate comments, but also Anita Hill might've overreacted. We've all been in similar situations, especially in the years before political correctness. I'm surprised there is a group of women still stuck on this; I won't be attending!

You are invited to the 16th Annual Anita Hill Party!

Join us for an opportunity to network with hundreds of other women, have fun and keep alive the memory of the disparaging treatment Anita Hill received at the hands of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1991.

(I've removed the pertinent info to protect the, ahem, innocent.)

What's Your News IQ?

Thanks to Sister, for sending info about The Updated Pew News IQ Quiz. Take the quiz and find out how much attention you're paying to the news!

I scored better than 74% of the folks taking the quiz; I missed the questions about the number of troops who've been killed in Iraq (I guessed higher) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (I guessed lower).

Me on a Hunt for Blue Bottles

Need a Good Laugh?

PLEASE Don't Let Dixie Make the List

In the October issue of South Carolina's SCIway News, the editors challenged readers to help design a SC soundtrack.

What would your SC soundtrack sound like? Which South Carolina songs do you think are the best for reminiscing, dancing, or singing along?

Send your suggestions for "must-haves" on an SC music compilation to service@sciway.net . The songs should either be about SC or by a SC artist. From the votes, SCIWay will pick about twelve songs to be included on the mix and publish the winning list in next month's newsletter and on iTunes.

Now I love me some beach music, but let's don't let the oldies take over. The following musicians are from SC: Hootie and the Blowfish, The Marshall Tucker Band, The Swinging Medallions, Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs, Crossfade, James Brown, Dizzy Gillespie, Chubby Checker, Eartha Kitt, Brook Benton, Peabo Bryson, Nick Ashford, Bill Pinckney, Teddy Pendergrass, Josh Turner, Bill Anderson, Aaron Tippin, Edwin McCain, Duncan Sheik, Rob Thomas, and John Philips. Surely we can submit some diverse songs!

BTW, did you know that I dated one of The Singin' Medallions (one of the new versions of the band, so he was about my age, not 60!) in college? But that's a different blog post!

Some of my initial thoughts:

Darlington County, Bruce Springsteen

Hold My Hand, Hootie and the Blowfish

Double Shot of My Baby's Love, The Swinging Medallions (and not just cause I dated one!)

Myrtle Beach Days, The Fantastic Shakers

2001 (from the USC games)

Carolina In My Mind, James Taylor (might actually be about NC, though, since he's from there)

E-mail your favorites!

Sanitation worker to Richland Co. homeowner: "I couldn't hold it anymore"

RICHLAND COUNTY, SC (WIS) - A Richland County man called WIS News 10 after making a disgusting discovery in his yard. He says a sanitation worker did a very unsanitary thing at a house on his route. The resident called us to help him figure out who did it and make sure he gets punished.

It was out there for days, lurking near a utility shed on North Donar Drive. Left behind, Friday morning, Jacob John says, by a guy who'd just hopped off a garbage truck. "He just said he had to go and you know, 'I'm sorry man, my bad. But I couldn't hold it anymore.'"

We can't, and really don't want to show you what John is talking about. Suffice to say it's something no homeowner should have to see in his or her backyard, including John's brother-in-law Clarence Martin, who got into an angry exchange after discovering the man relieving himself in an area visible from the street - and accessible to Martin's children.

John is upset too, because he owns the property. He says as the dispute escalated two other workers from the Ard Sanitation crew showed up to defend their co-worker. And nobody cleaned up the mess. "I wouldn't be here talking to you right now if I at least got an apology and somebody offered to come up and clean up the job."

John says he called Ard Sanitation at least a half dozen times, getting no response and thus no apology.

But Monday afternoon, WIS News 10 reached the company's manager, who promised immediate action. WIS News 10's Jack Kuenzie found James Anderson working in the Woodfield Park neighborhood. "I'm going to go out there and correct the problem. I'll take the crew out there and try to identify who the guy was and we will take the ... appropriate action."

Anderson says Ard has six trucks, 21 employees, and 7,000 customers. At least one of those employees is now facing possible suspension or other disciplinary measures.

Wacky Winnie