My Celebrity Look-alikes

Upload your photo and find out which celebrity you resemble the most! Here are the ones that supposedly look like me. You be the judge, then try it yourself.

Birthday Calendar

This is a pretty nifty little tool. It tells you all kinds of useless little details, like how many hours, minutes, and seconds you are old and when you were probably conceived.

Birthday Calculator

Here are some interesting little things I learned:

• I was concieved on or about February 8, 1982 (which is the same day my sister was born in 1986)
• My "life path" number is 5. I am most compatible with peoples whose "life path" numbers are 1, 5 and 7. (Tom's "life path" number is 6...)
• I am 209,556 hours old (as of right now...11:53 am on September 27, 2006)
• Lyle Lovett has the same birthday as me.
• One of the top songs of 1982 was "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. No wonder I'm best at that song in Guitar Hero.
• My age is the equivalent of a dog that is 3.41722 years old.
• There was a full moon on the day I was born.

Do you love to travel?

Below I've marked an "x" in front of each state (plus Washington DC) that I've been to. I've been to 22 and have 29 left.

STATES I'VE BEEN TO:
[ ] Alabama
[ ] Alaska
[x] Arizona (flagstaff, phoenix, gila bend - ha)
[ ] Arkansas
[x] California (san diego)
[x] Colorado (grand junction in the most crappy motel ever)
[ ] Connecticut
[ ] Delaware
[x] Florida (disney world!)
[x] Georgia (atlanta for the 2004 golden key conference)
[ ] Hawaii
[ ] Idaho
[x] Illinois (mostly chicago and peoria where my family is from)
[x] Indiana (drove thru it on the way to naz farm)
[ ] Iowa
[x] Kansas (drove across it)
[x] Kentucky (drove thru it)
[ ] Louisiana
[ ] Maine
[x] Maryland (when i went to Washington DC)
[ ] Massachusetts
[ ] Michigan
[ ] Minnesota
[ ] Mississippi
[x] Missouri (duh)
[ ] Montana
[x] Nebraska (region 8 APO conference)
[x] Nevada (Los Vegas)
[ ] New Hampshire
[ ] New Jersey
[x] New Mexico (Albuquerque and Tucumcari - a modern day ghost town!)
[ ] New York
[ ] North Carolina
[ ] North Dakota
[x] Ohio (drove thru it)
[x] Oklahoma (Oklahoma City)
[ ] Oregon
[ ] Pennsylvania
[ ] Rhode Island
[ ] South Carolina
[ ] South Dakota
[x] Tennesee (drove thru it)
[x] Texas (Amarillo)
[x] Utah (the only place i've ever seen a sign reading "no services 108 miles")
[ ] Vermont
[x] Virginia (DC trip)
[ ] Washington
[x] Washington DC (4-H trip in 10th grade)
[x] West Virginia (naz farm!)
[ ] Wisconsin
[ ] Wyoming

OTHER PLACES I'VE BEEN:
Ocho Rios, Jamaica

You know you're from Missouri when.......

I've seen this list before...but I still have to laugh every time. Some are just a little too far...but see how many you nod your head to as you read the list!

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You know you're from Missouri when...

1. You've never met any celebrities.
   
2. Everyone you know has been on a "Float Trip."
3. "Vacation" means driving to Silver Dollar City, Worlds of Fun or Six Flags.
4. You've see all the biggest bands ten years AFTER they were popular.
5. You measure distance in minutes rather than miles. For example, "Well, Sikeston only 30 minutes away."
6. Down south to you means Arkansas.
7. The phrase "I'm going to the Lake this weekend" only means one thing.
8. You know several people who have hit a deer.
9. You think Missouri is spelled with an"ah" at the end. (I personally hate this one...it drives me NUTS when people say "Missourah" - and this seems to be said by people NOT from Missouri usually.)
   
10. Your school classes were canceled because of cold.
11. You know what "Party Cove" is.
12. Your school classes were canceled because of heat.
13. You instinctively ask someone you've just met, "What High School did you go to?" (St. Louis only - people in Columbia aren't so concerned - after all, we only have 3 high schools)
    
14. You've had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day.
15. You think ethanol makes your truck "run a lot better."
16. You know what's knee-high by the Fourth of July.
17. You see people wear bib overalls at funerals.
18. You see a car running in the parking lot at the store with no one in it, no matter what time of day.
19. You know in your heart that Mizzou can beat Nebraska in football.
20. You end your sentences with an unnecessary preposition Example: "Where's my coat at?"
21. All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, or grain.
22. You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.
23. You think of the major four food groups as beef, pork, beer, and Jell-O salad with marshmallows.
24. You carry jumper cables in your car and know that everyone else should.
25. You went to skating parties as a kid.
26. You only own three spices: salt, pepper, and ketchup.
27. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
28. You think sexy lingerie is tube socks and a flannel nightie.
29. The local paper covers national and international headlines on one page, but requires six pages for sports.
30. You think I-44 is spelled and pronounced "farty-far." (St. Louis only.)
31. You'll pay for your kids to go to college unless they want to go to KU.
32. You think that "deer season" is a National Holiday.
33. You know that Concordia is halfway between Kansas City and Columbia, and Columbia is halfway between St. Louis and Kansas City, and the Warrenton Outlet Mall is halfway between Columbia and St. Louis.
34. You can't think of anything better than sitting on the porch in the middle of the summer during a thunderstorm.
35. You know which leaves make good toilet paper. (I think this is a little exaggeration...)
    
36. You've said, "It's not the heat, it's the humidity."
37. You know all four seasons: Almost Summer, summer, Still Summer and Football.
38. You know if another Missourian is from the Boot-heel, Ozarks, Eastern, Middle or Western Missouri soon as they open their mouth.
39. You know that Harry S Truman, Walt Disney and Mark Twain are all from Missouri.
40. You failed World Geography in school because you thought Cuba, Versailles, California, Nevada, Houston, Cabool, Louisiana, Springfield, and Mexico were cities in Missouri. (And they are!)
41. You think a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor.
42. You know what "HOME OF THE THROWED ROLL" means.
43. You actually get this and forward it to all your Missouri friends.

News of the Weird!

Chinese surgeons report penis transplant

Yup...the article title says it all...very interesting...

Spreading the Word: Priestie Boyz

The press release below is for a friends band which just released their first album:

-------------------------------

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (download in PDF format)

Contact: Address: Phone: Email: Website

Jeff Geerling 5200 Glennon Drive St. Louis, MO 63119 314-792-6340 priestieboyz@kenrick.edu www.priestieboyz.com

ST. LOUIS CATHOLIC SEMINARIANS PRODUCE ALBUM
"Priestie Boyz" release alternative CD

SAINT LOUIS, MO — September 19, 2006.

A group of local Catholic seminarians (and former seminarians) has released a CD of "inspirational Catholic alternative music." Priestie Boyz, a group of Roman Catholic seminarians studying for the priesthood at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, are selling the album Lost in Ecstasy on their website, www.priestieboyz.com.

Founded in 2004, the Priestie Boyz describe their music as embodying "love for the Church and Jesus Christ and a joyous attitude," according to spokesman and sound engineer Jeff Geerling, who is also a seminarian.

"We strive to return our talents to the One who gave them to us. We believe our music is a prayer, and we hope it is a prayer for those who hear it," Geerling said.

After production began, band members Mike Bauer and Anthony Podesta left the seminary, but continue to work alongside the remaining seminarian band members.

Lost in Ecstasy can be purchased online at www.priestieboyz.com, as well as in some St. Louis stores and at music events (details on the band's website).

###

For more information, email the Priestie Boyz at priestieboyz@kenrick.edu or call Jeff Geerling at 314-792-6340.

Coming soon to a TV near you...

For those of you who don't know, I'm obsessed with 7th Heaven and Gilmore Girls. Both premiere next week for their 10th and 7th seasons. Here is a sneak peak directly from the CW website of what this fall has in store in the tv world...so much for not giving much details on the Gilmore Girls front...


7th Heaven (premieres Monday, September 25 at 7 pm):
This season, Eric and Annie’s family issues are pushed to the wayside when Eric is diagnosed with a fatal heart condition and told he only has six months to live. Of course, as you would expect, the news will drastically alter the way they view life and how they interact with the community around them. Eric will make each decision as if it might be his last which will prove heartbreaking and even humorous at times, and Annie will attempt to fight fate by seeking guidance from psychics, healers and therapy groups.

Additionally, at the end of last season, Matt, Mary and Lucy all announced that their respective families were expecting twins, following in the footsteps of Eric and Annie. Sadly, the season opener reveals that Lucy has lost the twins over the summer, leaving her to reevaluate what’s next for her and her family. Kevin is a good husband and wants to help his wife during this difficult time, but, unfortunately, his efforts at making Lucy feel better only result in pushing her further away. In addition to being a stay-at-home father, this season Kevin will take a troubled young boy -- the boy who accidentally shot him last season -- under his wing in an effort to change the course of his life.

Martin returns to Glenoak after realizing that he misses his son and wants to become more active in his life. His son’s mother, Sandy, is in love with Simon, but finally comes to terms with the fact that she has to move on with her life after Simon returns to school. She decides to attend seminary school and become a minister, creating an unspoken rivalry with Lucy who is also a minister and feels like Sandy is on her turf. It also doesn’t sit well with Lucy that the troubled teens from church, who had previously come to her for advice, now flock to Sandy who has a dark past that is more relatable.


Gilmore Girls (premieres Tuesday, September 26 at 7 pm):
As season seven unfolds, Lorelai and Rory will turn to one another to get through the complications in their respective romances. It may be that Lorelai's relationship with Luke has been irretrievably marred now that she has once again let Christopher come between them. Even so, she and Luke still have to co-exist in tiny, close-knit Stars Hollow with the town's watchful eyes on them and all their charged history. Meanwhile, Rory will attempt to keep her long-distance romance with Logan alive, even though communication has never been their strong suit, and London is far away.

New Website!

Our website, www.chinchillalove.com, has gotten a facelift. Instead of giving info about our wedding (that has been over for 3 months), the website now focuses on our life together. All the wedding info has been condensed into one page. The photo album now features slide shows actually within the site instead of linking out to facebook photo albums, and there's some fun new features, like "choose your color" where you can choose one of four background colors for the site to be displayed in.

Web geeks please note - I have not gone over the site in internet explorer on a PC so there could potentially be some bugs. Let me know if you find any and I'll get them fixed ASAP.

Glass in the Garden

Gimlet and I checked out the Chihuly: Glass in the Garden exhibit this weekend at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. All I have to say is AWESOME. The exhibit is there through October 31, 2006. Check it out before it's gone! However, I don't think that I'll be able to go back to the gardens after the exhibit is gone and not miss it and wish that it was still there.

The glass work is just beautiful. It's organic and goes so well with the nature surrounding it. Some of the pieces even feel like they just grew from the ground alongside the trees and plants. We took a ton of pictures. You can check them out here, but they really don't do justice to seeing it in person!

no internet...

Gimlet and I have had no internet for several days now. We canceled with SBC/ATT because they suck (they wouldn't give us a new dsl modem - the one we had died and they claimed that it was "out of warrenty" and told us we'd have to purchase a new one from them). We signed up with Earthlink DSL on Saturday, but have to wait for them to send us a modem to begin using it. At least we can use Earthlink dial-up until the modem arrives....it's better than nothing.

On another note...the power supply cord for my laptop died this weekend as well, so I cannot use my laptop until I get a new cord...why does everything always happen at once?

Daisy!

Daisy has arrived! Gimlet and I went over to see her last night. She is so tiny, but she loves her tbonz dog treats. We brought her a welcome home basket complete with Tiny Tbonz treats, Beggin' Strips, Chew-eez Rolls, a doggie bandanna, some toys, and a doggie picture frame for her human mommy and daddy. All the presents were given to her in a basket which she immediately claimed as her own.

Show them we haven't forgot

I hate email forwards, but I thought I'd pass this one on via my blog. It's a simple request to fly the American flag on September 11. I recently heard that in a survey of US citizens, 30% did not know what year September 11th happened!

-------------------------------------------------------------

On Monday, September 11th, 2006, an American flag should be displayed outside every home, apartment, office, and store in the United States. Every individual should make it their duty to display an American flag on this fifth anniversary of our country's worst tragedy. We do this in honor of those who lost their lives on 9/11, their families, friends and loved ones who continue to endure the pain, and those who today are fighting at home and abroad to preserve our cherished freedoms.

In the days, weeks and months following 9/11, our country was bathed in American flags as citizens mourned the incredible losses and stood shoulder-to-shoulder against terrorism. Sadly, those flags have all but disappeared. Our patriotism pulled us through some tough times and it shouldn't take another attack to galvanize us in solidarity. Our American flag is the fabric of our country and together we can prevail over terrorism of all kinds.

Action Plan: So, here's what we need you to do...

1. Spread this message to everyone you know. Take a moment to think back to how you felt on 9/11 and let those sentiments guide you.
2. Fly an American flag of any size on 9/11.
   

Honestly, Americans should fly the flag year-round, but if you don't, then at least make it a priority on this day.

Thank you for your participation. God Bless You and God Bless America.

Medical Miracles

For the last month or so I've been keeping up with the Herrin Twins of Utah's story. The girls are 4 years old and were born conjoined. They just underwent the first ever surgery to separate twins who shared a kidney. They have been doing wonderfully, and I even get excited for them (even tho I've never met them) when I read the updates their parents post online each day. They are leaving the ICU today where they have been since their surgery on August 7.

These little girls are amazing to me, how quickly they are recovering. There are pictures of them (post-surgery) on the family website and they look really good!

http://www.herrintwins.com/

show-me your nuts!

This is seriously the best billboard I've ever seen (even better than the KFC one that I wrote about a few months ago). It's located on north 55, just before you hit downtown. I haven't yet seen Everybody's Nuts! Pistachios in the grocery store, but you better believe I'm going to try them when I do! It's a clean design, little spice with the logo sticking up over the billboard, and bold, easy to read text. I love it!

I've seen 2 other Everybody's Nuts! Pistachios billboards in the St. Louis area - one says, "Everybody's Nuts, including you," (located on hwy 44 west as you're leaving the city limits) and the other proclaims, "Bigger than clydesdales!" (hwy 70 east near the Airport).

Nothing like marketing directly for your audience!

If you are going to have a website....

If you're going to have a website...and put it out for the public...here are a few things you might consider keeping in mind:

1. Don't put up a site that is "under construction." Once someone goes to your site and sees that there is nothing there except an annoying annimated gif of a construction saw horse, they aren't going to come back...no matter how big your text is, or how polite you are "please come back soon." Just finish your darned site and put it up for the world!
   
2. If your site is "under construction" (see #1) DO NOT put the date that you updated it. That way, when I go to your site there is a small chance that I will come back. (I WON'T come back if your site states "site coming soon...updated July 9, 2004).
3. Don't use animated gifs. period. They are annoying.
4. Don't use an annimated gif as your background image...even more annoying than #3.
5. Make sure your site works on both Macs and PCs...and that it works in all browsers (not just internet explorer!)
6. Sound Sucks....especially when you aren't expecting it!
   

Yeah...I'm Wild.

You scored as Rice Krispies. You're Rice Krispies. Originally, people had to add all kinds of stuff to you to make you cool (sugar, cinnamon, beer), or make weird treats out of you (Rice Krispies squares, Rice Krispies Liverwurst, Rice Krispies Roll-ups), but you're retro! Make yer comeback there, kid! You can even be Cocoa Krispies if ya wanna get wild!!! Rice Krispies 75% Lucky Charms 65% Grape Nuts 50% Cheerios 45% Corn Flakes 20% What Breakfast Cereal Are You? created with QuizFarm.com

My first grade teacher was wrong!

Astronomers have declared that Pluto is no longer a planet!

Well...save those children's space books...they'll be collectors items in a few years! We'll say to each other, "remember when they used to have Pluto in these books" when our children are learning about the planets.

You probably used some sort of an acronym to remember the order of the planets - something like "My Very Excellent Mother Just Sent Us Nine Pizzas." What will school children use now to remember the planets???

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune...

A major change....

Payless Shoe Source recently changed their logo...I saw it in person for the first time at Chesterfield Mall on Saturday. It's quite a change. They updated from a circa 1980s logo design to a web 2.0 styled logo.














I think it is interesting that they chose to go with a symbol next to their brand name. It almost seems like they were trying to go for a "Nike" look with a swoosh. The color shift is also interesting - shifting to orange and gray instead of yellow and orange. Any thoughts on this logo redesign?

Get your vote in now...

The St. Louis Zoo and KMOV Channel 4 are holding a contest for naming the new baby elephant born on Wednesday, August 2, 2006. The zoo keepers have come up with 5 names and the public gets to vote on the name they like best. You can vote once a day until the voting closes (noon on Monday, August 28). You'll also have a chance to win some awesome zoo prizes including a "Greet the baby behind the scenes and meet her keepers" opportunity. Here are the names:

• Sundari (soon-dar-ee) which means "beautiful woman"
• Nisha (NEESH-ah) which means "night"
• Maliha (MAH-lee-hah) which means "strong" and "beautiful"
• Sashi (SAH-shee) which means "moon"
• Jaya (JAY-ah) which means "victorious."

I like "Nisha" the best. I'll be voting each day for the next two weeks...you can too...just click here!

Dry Erase Board Art

My co-workers and I have spent the last few months perfecting the art of dry erase board drawing. I think we're doing pretty well, but you can judge for yourself. Pictured below is the St. Louis Arch, and a reproduction of Van Gogh's "Starry Night".

That's a problem mon

The fourth and final installment of the Tidy Cats® Crumble-free Journey, Jammin' in the Caribbean is now available for your viewing pleasure. Watch our cats as Zinger gets a little wound up, Phoebe sports a new do, and Roscoe saves the day with Tidy Cats®!

12 Steps to Beautiful OR Photoshop Magic

This is a very interesting demonstration of what magazines deisgners do with photos before the photos make it to the covers of magazines. Both of the above pictures are the same. The one on the left is the original, and the one on the right has gone thru about 20 hours of photoshop retouching.

1. Eyes: Eye color is changed to bright blue, whites of eyes are brightened, eyebrows are moved up higher and cleaned up.
2. Teeth: Gaps in teeth are filled in and whittened.
3. Lips: Creases and wrinkles are removed, glossiness enhansed and upper lip made bigger.
4. Nose: Width of nose is decreased, pores are removed and skin smoothed out.
5. Facial Creases: Shadows on cheeks and bags under eyes are removed.
6. Jawline: Jaw is reshaped, pimples and moles are erased.
7. Cheek Shadows: Dark shadow alongside the cheek is added to make face look thinner.
8. Hair: Hair color is changed to a blonder shade, gaps in hairdo are filled in with more hair.
9. Shirt Creases: All creases and wrinkles in shirt are smoothed out, shadows removed.
10. Breasts: Breasts are pumped up by adding shadows and patches of light.
11. Waist: Both sides have been taken in to create a thinner, curved waist.
12. Shirt Color: Color of shirt has been made more vibrant.

Check out the 12 steps for yourself here: http://demo.fb.se/e/girlpower/retouch/
Click the "retouch website" link when you go to the page to see before and after pics at every step.

New hotel logos

For some reason, the hotel industry has been changing their logos recently. Here are 3 new ones placed next to the old ones with some comments.











Comfort Inn:
Here is the new Comfort Inn logo. I like the new color scheme (blue vs the black background), and I also like the increased size of the circle and the wavy lines instead of the straight. It gives you a more relaxed feel and also feels more like a sunset (which I think that is what it's supposed to represent). I am not a fan of the typography on the new logo. I like the font and the word "comfort" but I wonder why they chose to make the word "inn" in all caps.










Red Roof Inn:
I am not really a fan of the new logo. The only part of it that I like is the little roof top at the top of the logo. The crayon type font just feels too silly, and doesn't feel like a serious hotel. It completely changes the feel of the hotel chain, and I don't know if that is a good thing or not.
















Four Points Sheraton:
This is the only one of the changes that I really like. I think that the change gives it a very modern look which is good for that hotel. I love the font and the little icon.

Quite a Storm

Quite a storm hit the St. Louis area last night. Gimlet and I almost went to the Cardinals game (we had tickets) but after finding the air conditioning in our house not working when we got up and getting a flat tire on the way to work we decided to just go home and relax after work. Are we glad we did! Downtown St. Louis was hit with 84 miles per hour winds. Windows were blown out of buildings (including the Millennium Hotel and old Dillards building downtown). Part of the airport roof was blown onto highway 70. Semi trucks were blown over on highway 370. Much of the area is still without power right now. The pictures above show the Switzer building right on the St. Louis riverfront in the Landing. The first picture is from March 2005, I took it for my thesis project that I was doing at the time. The second picture is from this afternoon. The building collapsed due to the wind from the storm.

Gimlet and I were lucky, considering the only damage we sustained were some sticks, twigs and leaves from the trees that came down. Our neighbors lost part of a tree in their back yard (see picture), just a bit of it came over the fence into our yard. I'll be doing the clean up tonight, it'll probably only fill a couple lawn waste bags. We headed to the basement when the sirens went off, chinchillas in tote. The poor little things didn't know what was going on.

Reviewing the rules of the road...

For those of you who have forgotten, here is a review of the rules of the road:

• When the light turns red, stop.
• When changing lanes, check your blind spot.
• Keep your hands on the wheel. On the highway is not the time to refill your coffee mug from the thermas that you brought (I actually saw this on hwy 44 this morning).
  
• When a lane is closed, do not speed around the other drivers patiently waiting to get thru, only to cut into their lane in front of them.
• At a stop sign, you must not only stop, but also let any cars already stopped at the intersection take their turns.
  

I'm a natural born jungle cat...

Check out Costa Rica!
www.tidycats.com

LIVE on the Levee

Elizabeth and I went to Live on the Levee on Friday night. There was some good, some bad, and some awesome fireworks.

Friday night's shows were Sister Hazel and Better than Ezra. We didn't end up seeing Sister Hazel because we were searching for food...we walked down to the arch, realized that the supposed "good" food was up on "Eat's Bridge" and walked all the way back up to the Eads Bridge only to find out that the food up there wasn't any better than the food sold down by the riverfront. St. Louis, don't advertise a big thing happening on the bridge if it's really the same as the riverfront, and seriously, I spent the whole night watching traffic crawl over the Poplar Street Bridge, would it have made more sense just to keep the Eads bridge open for commuters??

We found ourselves a seat on the stairs overlooking the riverfront in time to see Better than Ezra take the stage. We were almost to the top of the stairs, thinking that we were far enough back not to have our ears blasted with loud speakers....wrong! If they'd turned the speakers down just a little we would have been able to hear the words to the songs! They did have a sign-language interperter which was really cool to watch. She really got into the music, and the signs were beautiful flowing to the music.

After a few songs we headed to the other side of the arch and sat and talked where we could hear each other without screaming. We headed back over to the arch when the fireworks started. The fireworks were awesome! I've never seen such a good show!

So all in all, Live on the Levee is not a bad idea, but it needed some tweeking to get people to come back - especially in the "Eat's Bridge" vs the riverfront. We walked about 4 miles total throughout the evening.

Professional Wedding Photos!

Our professional pictures are in! There are 765 photos total, and some really great shots!

You can view all the pictures online by following the directions below:
• Go to http://www.eventpix.com
• when entering the site, log on as a "guest"
• enter photographer name: Kuhlmann
• session name: Heinz-Kyle Wedding
• password: hk_G_60 (case sensitive)
• the pictures will remain online through September 12th, 2006

The photos are by Brent Kuhlmann Photography.

I Love Fireworks!!!

I got to see three fireworks shows this year. On Sunday night I went to Webster Groves with Liz, and watched their pre-preview fireworks show. It was a great show, quite a display. We were really close to the action (close enough for me to end up holding a crying baby who was scared to death of the fireworks, while his mommy took pictures of the fireworks - however she did get some really good pictures). Then we put the baby on some carnival rides - the little cars and boats that go around in a circle, a little kiddy train that goes around on a little track, and the carousal. By the end of the night he was waving to us as he went around in a circle on the ride. It was a fun night getting out of the house and doing something different.

Monday night Gimlet and I accidentally ran into the Twin Oaks fireworks display while going to get ice cream at fritz's. We enjoyed frozen custard and watched an impressive show for a town so small.

Tonight we went to see the Manchester fireworks. I brought along our digital camera to try my had at shooting pictures of fireworks (the best one is the one I put on this blog entry). It's a lot harder than it looks. It's hard to know when to hit the shutter button because while the firework looks neat when you hit the button, by the time the picture is shot, the firework is gone. The Manchester fireworks display left something to be desired. The show was really short and they shot the fireworks really slow. Just one at a time and waited until the sky was completely empty to send up another one. Finally right before the finale they started sending up two at a time. I think we'll try Ballwin's fireworks next year. We could see their show way off in the distance and it started before Manchesters, and ended after. Oh well, at least the rain held off during the show.

New Car (soon)!!!

So...I might be getting a new car soon!!!!! This is pretty exciting. My current car (1994 Nissan Sentra) is getting a bit too old for my driving habits...taking short cuts thru the ghetto, driving to Chicago for a weekend, etc. Not to mention that the A/C is current not working, the plates are expired and it failed the emissions test not once but twice.

My husband and I went to test drive cars for me today. We drove a new Honda Civic and a new Nissan Sentra. The Civic was a nice car, but the styling is just a little too "space age" for me. Both Gimlet and I agreed that we liked the Civic from the steering wheel back, but disliked the front end of the car (picture here). The dash could be in its own zip code, and you can't even see the hood of the car from the drivers seat. Makes parking a bit of a challenge when you can't see where the front of the car stops.

The 2006 Nissan Sentra was almost identical to the Sentra that I currently drive. There were a couple of improvements, but for the most part, it was just a newer, more expensive version of my car.

After exploring new cars, we ventured to Huey's Honda and took a peak at a 2004 Honda Civic (completely different styling from the new ones). I love it. It is black, has just over 24 thousand miles, and could be mine in just a couple days. Here's a picture: