Sunday, September 28, 2008

Camille's latest fundraising project

Here's what I did today:

Camille painted a very cool water color and is selling prints for a minimum contribution of $25 to her trip fund. Everyone who submits a prepaid order before 12/1/2008 (up to 100 contributors) will be entered into a drawing to win the original. Pretty cool idea, huh? I'll take part of the credit, but she gets all of the kudos for an awesome interpretation of DaVinci's works.

My kids is talented!

Monday, September 15, 2008

Get a Car Wash, Send a Kid to France!

Plans and fundraising are coming along! Camille's group will be washing cars at the Steak & Shake (near O'Charley's & Walmart) in Wake Forest from 10 to 2 Saturday. Come help 'em out!

more about the trip and Camille's fundraising efforts at her blog.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Camille is Going to France!

She's very excited about her French Departments upcoming trip to France and has started her fund raising efforts on her new blog. Please check it out and consider helping her out - this really is an opportunity of a life time, and I'm really proud of her for pursueing her dream, even after her dad and I both uttered the dreaded words..."we just can't afford it."

updated 9/8/08 - just published a Hub about Camille's pursuit of this trip.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Big Brother - Almost Final 4!

I just re-read my previous posts about BB10, and WOW, how things can change! My constant is that I still like Keesha. Camille can't stand her, and I don't really understand why. I am no longer a Jerry fan, and I just hate that Renny is going home this week. At least that's how it looks at the moment, and I would hate it even more if Keesha went home. So, who do I want for final two? Unlikely as it may be, I'm hoping for Keesha and Dan. Memphis just has not grown on me a bit. I don't hate him, but he's just kind of blah.

I actually haven't watched as much of BBAD as I predicted. We record it, but most shows get deleted before we watch. I am still addicted to bbdish. Carolyn is super-duper-wonderful to keep us devoted fans updated! Check out her site! If you are a tv-only fan, you don't know what you are missing!

My Name

When I was little, I really didn't like my name, because all of my teachers called me by my first name, Nora, on the first day of class, and when I corrected them, they could not pronounce my middle name, Dineane. In high school, I decided I would start over with "Nora" as the name I would be called when I started college. It didn't work. Meeting new roommates, friends, etc., I responded to "What's your name?" with the ingrained "Dineane."

People still get it wrong all of the time. Probably my worst pet peeve is when someone replies to an email, from me, with my name right there, and writes "Diane." Oh well. Okay, not my worst pet peeve, just kind of irritating. My worst pet peeve is people who get in the turn lane too quickly at the street to my house, when I'm trying to get into the turn lane from the other direction and have to wait on them. I don't expect people to easily say or spell "Dineane." But even with the difficulty, I've come to like my name.

I think it's pretty cool to google my name and find so many hits, just for ME. And lest you be confused, I might as well give up all of my privacy and disclose that "Dineane Smith," "Dineane Buttram," and "Dineane Whitaker" are all me. I like having an unusual name much more now than I did as a child. But even as a child, I appreciated the story of how I got my name.

Well, I appreciated at least part of the story. Mama claims that "Nora" was one of Daddy's old girlfriends, and that's why they didn't actually call me by my first name. I've never really believed her. Why would anyone agree to name their first-born after hubby's old flame? And Daddy says it's not true, that he dated Nora's sister but just always liked the name Nora. Either way, I don't feel much like a "Nora". Too stuffy.

I was named after a man who worked with my dad, who everyone says had a long white beard like Santa Clause. His last name was DiNeen. My parents liked him, and liked the name, so they changed the spelling a bit and gave it to me. I'm named after Santa Clause. Isn't that cool?

A few years ago I met a step-cousin-in-law, or something like that. I can't remember the exact relation. She was considerably younger than I am, but I'm not going to give exact numbers. When we were introduced, we were delighted to have the same middle name, though we spelled it differently. Then she proceeded to tell me that she was named after the same man I was named after! I think my daddy believes that her daddy stole the idea from him, but either way, it's kind of cool. At least she doesn't spell it the same way.

Are you wondering how it is prounounced? It rhymes with Jeanine. That's what I tell everyone, "like Jeanine, but with a 'D'." And they usually get it after that. Here's another funny...my ex husband has a sister named Jeanine and a sister named Christine. Family get togethers could be confusing!

But now in my second husband's family, I'm unique again. I have to admit, I like it that way.

Monday, September 1, 2008

Happy Birthday to Me...

It's not really my birthday until Friday, but I was born on Labor Day in 1966 so I still claim the holiday as my birthday. It usually works out pretty nicely having a weekend birthday :-) My sister, Deborah, treated me to a trip east and west. We headed east Wed hoping to get in a night of Outer Banks fishing, but tornado warnings followed us down Highway 64. We decided to just hang at my dad's in Jamesville for the night instead of fishing in bad weather. It was the first time all three of us sisters had been at my dad's in a long time, and we enjoyed it...until nearly 4 am! We played poker, Shut the Box (Buy it here: SHUT THE BOX Game - 12 Numbers - Casino Supplies > Accessories > Misc. Accessories), and music. Well, Daddy and Deborah played music, and I screeched along.

Friday I joined Deborah and Julia at the Bass Mountain Bluegrass Festival. I started going to Preddyfest every year with my husband 7 or 8 years ago, and in the last few years my dad and my sister, Julia, have gone as well. This year was Deborah's first Preddyfest, and now she is hooked on bluegrass festivals. Bass Mountain was different but a lot of fun. My husband says one festival a year is enough, so I think Bass Mountain might turn into the sister trip.

Ken and I had planned to go to the Outer Banks for my birthday next weekend, but it looks like Hanna is on her way. We've decided to stay home and spend less money. I usually treat myself to a pedicure for my birthday. I thought about going for it today, but decided I'll wait since we aren't going to the beach. I also have a little time capsule I put together last year, at the suggestion of my life coach, and I'm looking forward to pulling it out Friday for my "year in review". Maybe that will make a better hub than this one :-)