http://www.pleonast.com/user/kailua recent pleonast.com entries by user kailua en-us http://www.pleonast.com/user/kailua?l=5&entryID=599624 I am asking for you to pray for my daughter, Nicole Mongeon. She is having a difficult time dealing with several health issues. Please approach our Father's throne on her behalf. 2008-11-15 http://www.pleonast.com/user/kailua?l=5&entryID=593025 Here is a taste of the weather we have had last night and today. The temperature is at a high of 35*. The windchill is terrible, making it feel like single digit temperature! 2008-10-29 http://www.pleonast.com/user/kailua?l=5&entryID=588337 I was going to title this Fall In Vermont but why would I want anyone to FALL in Vermont? On a more serious note, I must state that the beauty of God is everywhere! Colors galore! So much breath-taking beauty everywhere one turns. For the past two weekends we have taken drives to admire what Our Creator has established. The season has come alive with a brilliance of tapestry. The leaves are lasting on the trees for a long duration of time, thus extending this season of foliage. While driving I smelled the wonderful aroma of someone burning maple wood in their woodstove. This is such a wonderful, richly sweet and cleanly fragrant wood to burn. It brought back good memories of years long since past. Imagine driving on a country road, temperatures in the high 60's, sunshine and blue skies with a good cup of coffee and great music playing. The crowning touch being colors of beauty that photos cannot do justice for. How blessed are we that He should grant such splendor to behold! 2008-10-16 http://www.pleonast.com/user/kailua?l=5&entryID=583925 Renovating the house and doing the work yourself/selves is a rewarding BOTHER! For years renovation has been a way of life. It has become a weigh on life. I am so tired of always having more to do. I do not feel comfortable having to work around a mattress, boxspring and dresser in my DINING ROOM! Even more than that, I am tired of fixing one thing just to have another start dripping or stop working all-together. I have just finished my second coat of paint on a particular wall that has needed to be re-done since last fall. I had this great idea of painting a 16' high wall and the adjoining partial 4' high wall a contrasting color from the rest of the dining room. This would would make a lounge/reading area seem more complete and set apart. I primed the area twice. I then gave it two coats of the paint I chose named Chianti. It looked fine but I decided that I liked the CandleLight topcoat I applied in the back bathroom so well that I would also apply it here. BIG mistake. The partial ... 2008-10-05 http://www.pleonast.com/user/kailua?l=5&entryID=583047 The following brings a whole new meaning to the statement, "It's feeding time at the zoo." At the Alice Springs Reptile Center in Canberra, Australia a 7-year-old boy broke into the zoo and fed 1 turtle, 4 western blue tongue lizards, 2 bearded dragons, 2 thorny devil lizards, and 1 5'9" goanna to a 9', 440 pound saltwater crocodile named Terry. Security cameras filmed the smiling younster as he bludgeoned to death 1 blue tongue lizard and 2 more thorny devil lizards in a matter of 30 minutes. Many of the animals fed to the croc were mature so they will be hard to replace. The Center Director, Rex Neindorf was quoted as saying, "The fact a 7-year-old can wreak so much havoc in such a short time, it's unbelievable. In my day he'd get a big boot up the arse." Local police say by law in the Northen Territory the boy cannot be held accountable because he is under 10 years of age. The Reptile Center is considering suing the parents who were supposedly in control o... 2008-10-03 http://www.pleonast.com/user/kailua?l=5&entryID=581877 All my life I have heard the saying, "Money well spent." I was not taught by my parents to invest money. Matter of fact as long as my parents were married, they never owned their own house. There was no savings account. No good business sense at all. As an adult I have invested and diversified with stocks, money markets, etc. It is supposed to be 'rewarding' in more ways than one. I must admit to the saddness and dismay I have felt for the past year every time my portfolio report comes in the mail. I no longer have the excited attitude of wonder about how my investments are coming along. Is there such a thing as money well lost? It is exactly the feeling of, "Oh no. How much have I lost this time?" I have stock in two of the giants that have recently fallen. Alas, I still have shares in JP Morgan who bought one of them up! I was recently listening to an expert in the investment field. She said it takes twelve, yes count them - 12 years to make back what one has lo... 2008-09-30 http://www.pleonast.com/user/kailua?l=5&entryID=578506 Lastnight I watched the New York Yankee pre-game show on ESPN2 and then had to change to ESPN to watch the baseball game itself. It was the very last game to be played at Yankee Stadium, The House That (Babe) Ruth Built. I thought it was so appropriate that Babe Ruth's daughter, Julia threw out the first ball of the game. I felt silly when I could no longer internalize my tears as they rolled down my face but it felt like someone had died. As if I had lost a friend. I love history and I love baseball. Put them together and what do you have? Yankee Stadium. I realize it was remodeled in 1976 but every time I attended a game I would find myself sitting in wonder about all the players that played and all the records made at this ballpark. The Babe, The Mick, Joltin' Joe, Yogi just to name a few. It was where I watched my first Major League Game, my first Old Timer's Game, my first All Star Game. The Yankees leave the original Yankee Stadium having won their last game there. I don't care ... 2008-09-22 http://www.pleonast.com/user/kailua?l=5&entryID=576911 Well gather 'round folks, it is officially fall in Vermont. I have been noticing the past couple weeks how the leaves have been changing. Not changing in color. Changing in shape, texture, size and moisture content. I suppose most people do not notice this change, but I always do. It is a sure sign that we will have at the very least, a killing frost. This is one step down from a freeze. A killing frost means that people with gardens and farmers with crops should harvest what they can and cover the rest. This is in hopes that the frost will not kill what is left. A freeze means do not bother to cover anything. Harvest what you can and just kiss the rest goodbye. Gardeners can start to relax (unless they are growing pumkins). Farmers still have much work trying to get as much hay and other crops as they possibly can stored for winter. There is a frost and freeze warning for the entire state tonight. The temperature low is supposed to get down to 23 degrees. Now for the sake of the state... 2008-09-18 http://www.pleonast.com/user/kailua?l=5&entryID=575843 I remember it like it was yesterday. It was five years ago in JFK International airport that I had my first taste of a Krispy Kreme doughnut. Could it be that I had found heaven on earth?!? I told everyone I knew about the wonderful ring shaped cake. It's light delicate flavor ~ not too sweet, never doughy. Since there are NO Krispy Kreme shops in Vermont, I take great joy in finding one when I travel. I even bring them back as gifts for my Mum and Pop. A few days ago while in Dallas we Mapquested to find the nearest Krispy Kreme. We had just driven back from Amarillo so the the thought of more time in the car was not fun. Deciding that the taste was well worth more time on the road, we pulled into Krispy Kreme. I was almost giddy with delight when I saw the HOT light was ON! My tastebuds were overcome with excitement as I opened my mouth for this scrumptious treat! My was pancreas ready and waiting to send it's digestive juices to devour the stuff culinary dreams are made of! Imagine... 2008-09-15 http://www.pleonast.com/user/kailua?l=5&entryID=574189 My son Christopher was born 12:17am on the 11th of September. I am so very pleased, proud and honored to have him for my son. What a gift from God! Christopher has always loved music and insisted he have a recorder at age 1 so he could play along with the intro music to his favorite show, The Friendly Giant. He started walking when he was 9 1/2 months old and was running when he was 10 months old. At the age of 1 he went back and learned how to crawl. Christopher spoke his first complete sentence at the age of 19 months. It was, "I love you, too." At the age of 4 he saved his sister, when she opened up a file drawer and it started to tip, by getting underneath it and holding it up so that it would not topple over onto her. We went home and had a hero party for him. Christopher has been a joy to have around with his great sense of humor and ability to impersonate Red Skelton, Jerry Lewis and The Three Stooges. I miss reading The Mouse Count Book and Goose Goofs Off. I miss the... 2008-09-11