Random Musings

Under Construction

2012-01-05T11:47:00.002-06:00

I'm changing up the layout a little bit. It was getting a little boring. Maybe this will motivate me to post more (doubtful!). Decluttering and working on a background.

In other news, I went to the monthly neighborhood ladies dinner last night. It was good to get to meet a few people. Everyone seemed nice. It's going to take me forever to remember everyone's name and figure out which house they live in.

I'm eating chicken flavored Rice-A-Roni for lunch and it's delicious! :)

That's about all I've got.

House Update

2011-12-14T10:14:00.004-06:00

Here you go, Jenny.

Ignore the stuff that hasn't found a permanent "home" in the pictures! The rest of my curtains have been shipped, so I'm excited to get those up. This is our main living area. We have one room on the first floor that's still a complete disaster (it happens to be the man room *ahem*), but I'm starting to get a few things on the wall and am working on making the house more homey. The upstairs is livable, but not at all decorated yet. We are having our first overnight guests this weekend!

The wood floors are so nice. I dustmop them every day and pick up SO MUCH dog hair. It's so much easier than trying to keep carpet clean. I seriously don't know how Mercy isn't bald with as much as she sheds.

Yesterday the propane tank got really low. I smelled gas, so I called and they had me check the gauge. This entailed me tromping over to the underground tank with a flashlight (my sweet husband worked until NINE last night, or I would have put him on it!), lifting the lid, and fighting off black widows. That just isn't my cup of tea, folks.

Anyway, the tank was only 1% full. The guy who came to fill it said that we would have probably been completely out in about an hour...which is bad since everything in this house is gas.

Crisis averted! Now I just need to learn about the well and the septic tank. Ah country living...

Mercy has made friends with the neighbor's dog. They like to chase eachother around the yard. Between our property and the neighbor's property we have probably a couple of acres for them to run on, and some woods if Mercy ever gets brave enough to explore them. She is having the best time though. We just let them run off leash on our property (we supervise) and I swear she smiles. :)

I'm Surprised I Even Remembered my Password

2011-11-07T13:21:00.004-06:00

Long time no blog!

Since I last blogged, I've visited two states I'd never been to before (Maryland and West Virginia). It's kind of funny how close everything is to here. At least it seems to me that it is.

Here's a pic from our trip to WV this weekend.

Also, we're buying a house! Hallelujah! We should close early next week.

A few of my favorite things about the new house are:

hardwood floors (carpet and dog hair just don't mix)
a full basement with walkout covered patio (this will be a MIL apartment--the basement, not the patio)
a fantastic screened in back porch with skylights
granite countertops
a large yard we can fence in for the dogs! They will be so excited!

Work beckons...no rest for the wicked.

quick update

2011-09-01T07:13:00.002-06:00

Sorry for the typos...posting this from my phone.

We survived irene with no damage to our house. However, we haven't had power/cable/internet since Saturday. We do have a generator that is running the fridge, the fish tank, some fans, and a couple of lamps. The power company quoted that we should have power by 11pm tonight. We'll see. I can't wait to take a warm shower! The good news is that we have plenty of water pressure and aren't under a boil order. That would have made life a lot more difficult. Since we don't have internet, I haven't been able to log in to work all week. I guess we'll see if they have mercy on me or make me use pdo for an act of god. Never can tell. I haven't even had cell reception for the past few days, so it's been pretty quiet around here. I've finished a couple of books. :) I guess this is what it was like in the olden days, sans generator.

Menu Plan

2011-08-08T15:20:00.002-06:00

Monday: Ham, Homemade Mac & Cheese,, Rolls (this is an experiment)
Tuesday: Leftovers (depending on how much ham is leftover, I might use it for something else)
Wednesday: Chicken Fettuccine
Thursday: Tacos
Friday: Leftovers

That being said, I guess I should go downstairs and get started on dinner! I bought a pre-cooked ham, so hopefully I can't mess that up too badly. Hopefully my husband won't have to work too too late. I guess if he does, it will give me time to come up with a plan B in case plan A doesn't work out.

Menu Plan

2011-08-02T07:56:00.001-06:00

Monday: Dinner with our neighbor friend.
Tuesday: Looking at houses, so I'm not cooking.
Wednesday: Tacos, cheese dip, etc.
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Maybe Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo. We'll see.

Menu Plan

2011-07-20T10:38:00.002-06:00

Monday - Chicken and Rice
Tuesday - Leftovers of various sorts
Wednesday - Out to eat. We're looking at houses in town tonight, so it'll be an opportunity to be in a place with actual restaurants!
Thursday - Poker night, so leftovers or sandwiches or something
Friday - Roast and Mashed Potatoes
Saturday - Party that involves a whole roasted pig. Not sure if I'll be able to make it! I'd rather that my food not look like an animal.
Sunday - Dinner/Movie with friends?

I finished up the closing of my house Monday, so now we're free to look for a "forever house". It will be nice to live closer to my Mister's work since he currently has a 45 minute commute each way and works long hours anyway. Plus, living in town will give me the option of working for a local company if that's what I decide to do. I really don't think I want to work full time anymore. We'll see. Working from home is wonderful, but I'm not sure it's worth all the crap I have to put up with in my current position. I've had too many livid days lately from dealing with nonsense.

In other news, I fired up my sewing machine for the first time since I moved last night. You know what's sad? When your sewing materials get separated into different boxes. I was excited to find my thread and bobbins only to realize later that I am missing my seam ripper. My seam ripper is heavily relied upon! So I ripped seams with a pin and scissors last night. :) One pair of pants mended, one more to go! Although, I couldn't get my bobbin to wind last night, so I hope something didn't get broken on the machine during the move.

Time to go grocery shopping...

Menu Plan

2011-07-12T10:37:00.003-06:00

Monday - I took some manicotti I had pre-made and frozen, covered them with homemade alfredo sauce, and baked them. Also made a Red Lobster biscuit clone to go with them. So good.

Tuesday - Potluck! We have dribs and drabs of stuff that needs to be eaten up. *This just in! My sweet husband took some of the dribs and drabs to work with him today, so I'll be cooking after all...I think I'll make chicken tacos.*

Wednesday - Probably Hamburger Helper. I know, that's not really cooking, but we have some in the pantry and I've got hamburger meat, so might as well use it.

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Mexican chicken casserole. Nom Nom Nom.

Weekend - Combination of leftovers and maybe a crock pot meal. Depends on what we get up to.

A Few Faves

2011-07-08T06:48:00.007-06:00

Here are a few of my favorite honeymoon pictures (without editing...some could use some cropping). We had a great time. We got to visit El Yunque rainforest, went snorkeling on a coral reef and swam with HUGE schools of fish, and visited Old San Juan and toured the El Morro castle among other things. We got shaved ice in the city and it was literally shaved. The guy shaved it off a huge chunk of ice. We didn't get to visit the bioluminescent bay, so we'll have to go back sometime!

His Love Language is Food

2011-06-28T09:22:00.002-06:00

(Or at least that's what he told me the other day).

The end of last week went to hell in a handbasket. Work has been INSANE! If it weren't for living in the middle of nowhere and not wanting to commute, I would quit my job. I'm so over it.

Anyway, that being said, I moved one of the meals from last week to last night.

Monday: Herb crusted chicken (I made this and said, "I don't know what I'm going to make to go with it"...his answer was "Cheese!" So he melted cheese on his chicken and called it a side. I'm a horrible wife.)

Tuesday: Burgers and cheesy sour cream potatoes (I don't believe in potato salad, but I do believe in potatoes covered in fatness)

Wednesday: Who gives a crap! We're going to Puerto Rico tomorrow! Ole! We'll probably just pick something up.

Rest of the week: Fruity drinks with umbrellas. Happy honeymoon to me!

Menu Planning?

2011-06-20T13:05:00.003-06:00

I kinda feel like I should be doing a weekly menu plan to stay organized with grocery shopping, etc. Going to the store here stresses me out. There's a small grocery store here in town, but it has very little variety, it's laid out very strangely, it's expensive (or more so than what I'm used to), and the lines are always long. To go shopping in the nearest biggish town, it takes me about an hour round trip travel time plus shopping time, and I have to go on my lunch hour.

So needless to say, I would like to make as few shopping trips as possible. :)

If anyone has menu planning tips, lay 'em on me. We eat something I've cooked nearly every night, but since it's just the two of us, we usually have enough for leftovers for at least one meal (whoo hoo!).

This is what I've come up with so far. We don't believe in eating veggies. Don't judge!

Tonight: Roast Beef, Real Mashed Potatoes, Homemade Gravy, Rolls. (and I must say that the roast is smelling wonderful!)

Tomorrow: Leftovers...we should have quite a bit left.

Wednesday: Manicotti with homemade meat sauce and garlic toast. So proud of my Mr. for putting the extra sauce in the freezer when I made it a couple of weeks ago. He's a smart one. I'm really awful at remembering to freeze stuff.

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Breaded Garlic/Herb baked chicken...probably with some kind of pasta or rice.

Saturday: leftovers

Sunday: leftovers/restaurant food/whatever.

That being said...with this menu, I don't have to go to the store until Wednesday...and let's hope they have a Rug Doctor for rent because little Shorty McShortypants has peed somewhere in this living room and I can't find it. It's driving me crazy,so I'll just shampoo the whole carpet. It's a good thing she's so cute!

A Few Favorites

2011-06-13T10:26:00.011-06:00

Musics

2011-06-05T04:07:00.002-06:00

Just need to keep track of stuff I'm thinking about and right now everything is scattered between a couple of different notebooks and my brain.

This is not meant to really make sense and it's not in any order.

Brandon Heath - Love Never Fails

Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat - Lucky

Ingrid Michaelson - The Way I Am (Video is a little bit creepy with all the clowns and mimes)

Jack Johnson - Better Together

Michael Buble - Everything

Adele - Make You Feel My Love

Ingrid Michaelson - Everybody

Dashboard Confessional - Stolen

Parachute - She Is Love

Plain White T's - 1,2,3,4

Train - Marry Me

Ray LaMontagne - You are the Best Thing

Lauryn Hill - Can't Take My Eyes Off of You

Colbie Calliat - I Do

Dave Matthews - You and Me ~ Maybe

Adam Sandler - Grow Old With You

James Taylor - How Sweet it Is

Brian McKnight - Crazy Love

More to come, I'm sure!

Life in the Sticks

2011-05-16T12:09:00.003-06:00

I'm home! :) I think I can speak for all of us when i say that after two mostly full days in the car, it was good to get here! The dogs could not have done better. The little one just slept in her crate while we were riding and happily got out and did her business when we made stops. The big one is my nervous nelly. She rode really well, but she hasn't completely settled in yet. She's eating a couple of bites of food a day (better than her normal nervous nelly food strikes), but I think she'll adjust and get back to normal soon. I'm glad I get to stay home with them. I think that probably calms them some.

I ventured out by myself today to get groceries. This town is so tiny that there's not even a Wal-Mart, so I've got some adjusting to do too. :) The library is in a strip mall. There's no fast food. My cell phone service is spotty. I'm sitting in the living room right now and have no service, but it comes and goes. Sometimes I can get one bar.

In other news, dinner is in the crockpot and work is quiet. I'm sitting in the recliner, watching the fishes swim around and watching the dogs nap. I might get really housewifely later and wash some dishes and do some laundry. You just never can tell what kind of crazy shenanigans I might get into! Life is good.

For Jenny

2011-05-10T14:54:00.005-06:00

Just a Few More Days...

2011-05-08T18:57:00.003-06:00

Everyone keeps asking me if I'm nervous. Heck no! Get me outta here! :) I'm not looking forward to the two day trek involving driving two dogs to their new home, but I'll be so excited to be there. All of this flying back and forth stuff is not for me.

I packed up my work cubicle Friday and said goodbye to my teammates. One of them bought my lunch and one of them gave me a Chick-Fil-A gift card. This makes me think maybe I should leave town more often!

I talked to my mom today and apparently she was just hit with the realization that she won't see me again until the wedding. For some reason, this seemed remarkable to her even though I just saw her last weekend and the wedding is next month. We go six month stretches without seeing each other all the time, but I guess it's different for her knowing that I'm just a couple of hours away. Who knew?

My alterations on my dress are done (no more cookies until after the wedding!). I fear that the dress may take a scandalous turn if it gets any tighter. I'm going to try to keep it appropriate.

I've had a couple of offers on the house, but they were ridiculous, so it's still on the market for now. I've had a couple of showings in the past couple of days, so I feel like it will sell when the right people see it. I'm not moving the majority of my stuff until it sells anyway, so if the house is still here for my use during wedding crunch time, so be it. It will be so nice to be out of it though so I don't have to rush around like a cleaning mad woman every time it needs to be shown. The other morning I was trying to get it ready for a showing before I left for work. In the meantime, one dog puked on the carpet, one dog pooped in the bathroom, and one dog climbed up onto a crate, yoinked a bag of treats, and commenced tearing it open and chowing down. All within a few minutes of each other. I think I'm being tested.

At any rate, life is good and I get to see TheGroom in 5 days for the first time in 3 weeks! And after that I don't have to be apart from him anymore. Whoo hoo!

Raise Your Hand if You're Ready to See Sunshine

2011-04-27T10:49:00.002-06:00

I think I'm getting SAD (seasonal affective disorder). I'm combatting it by eating chocolate.

Today I get to negotiate about my first offer on the house. I'm generally a bit of a hard-a about stuff like this, so I'm hoping the people aren't totally unreasonable. It would be nice to have this off my plate, but not nice enough to give my house away.

In other news, the crazy weather has screwed up a panel of my fence. The top of it is flapping in the breeze. Hopefully it will stay intact until my brother in law is here this weekend. I don't think it will be a huge thing to fix (just needs a few extra nails/screws to reattach it to the post), but I'm under no illusions that I can do it by myself. Solo fence projects never go well at my house. :) I'm smart enough to learn from my mistakes.

Xbox or Reading or Storm Reports?

2011-04-25T17:13:00.002-06:00

What do people in my neighborhood do when we're in the path of a tornado? They stand in their driveways and take pictures of the cloud going over their houses! I knew one was coming, but it's more informative to watch the neighbors than the news.

Anyway, It's going to be a long night of storms. Butter has already violated the carpet once (she is now back outside!)and I'm just waiting for Maya to follow suit, because she refused to go out in the wet grass when I took her out earlier. Not a good thing when the house is for sale!

I'm "bored" (I have things I could do, but I'd rather do something fun). I'm debating between xbox and reading. I could watch the news to stay up to date on the storms, but I guess I could just keep the blinds open and watch the neighbors.

Bridezilla has Left the Building

2011-04-21T09:19:00.002-06:00

And not a minute too soon! Things are much calmer now that I've gotten a bunch of things checked off my list.

The house is showable (which is a feat with three dogs running through the house on a constant basis!)

Pretty much all of the details are taken care of except...
*Have to find out for sure that the venue received the form we faxed them (left message today).
*Have to figure out music (left message today).
*Need to meet with the officiant to discuss the format of the wedding.
*Must return hot pink shoes. (Bought equally fabulous ones last night. Fret not!)
*Need to upload Butter pictures. She's so hard to photograph, but hopefully some of the ones I took yesterday came out as more than just a blur.
*Invitations go out this weekend!
*TheGroom needs a tie that matches my sash. Surprise! Let's go with the darker suit, OK? I'll even let you do a white flower instead of hot pink. Bride of the year, right here!
*Dress pickup is May 6th (I guess it's technically a fitting...I'll try it on with the alterations done). *Aside* The alterations lady was so funny last night. "Zyou have beeeg gap right up top. We fix it!"

And just for my own sanity (because I know I'll lose the paper I have this written down on..)

Day before wedding:
- Before 3pm, pick up rental stuff

Day of wedding:
Early early morning- set up reception items.
Get hair did.
10am -pick up cupcakes when the bakery opens (Will send someone to do this).
Someone needs to pick up the food and set it up

Monday after wedding:
Rental items rinsed and returned. We rinse, D.R. returns.

Objectives and Accomplishments

2011-03-23T12:26:00.002-06:00

First of all, if you've emailed, facebooked, called, texted, telegrammed, etc., and haven't heard back from me, I apologize. I am alternating between periods of "I'll never get everything done in time!" and "Ooh, look at what I've marked off my list, I can totally do this!" But all in all, I'm extremely overwhelmed with a bunch of stuff that needs to get done within a short period of time. And also, I have a previously planned one week vacation in the middle of all this which sounded like a good idea at the time, but now I'm thinking of it as a week where I'll get nothing productive done.

(Can you tell that today is a meltdown day?)

I have:
*Said yes to a dress (but I still have to work out what I'm doing about a petticoat and all that frou frou stuff that I know nothing about). The dress chick asked me what size dress I wear when I got there and I looked at her with a blank stare. I don't wear dresses! How was I supposed to know?!
*Taken my precious to get sized (I'm a little nervous because I handed it over to a guy with a gold tooth who tried to convince me to DRIVE to a small Carribean island rather than fly--needless to say, I want it back pronto!).
*Ripped down all of the wallpaper in my house (with lots of help, thank goodness!)
*Started painting (It's not as quick, fun, or easy as it looks and I want to cry).
*Spoken to a realtor.
*Gotten the downspout that Butter tried to eat replaced (without my consent...didn't know until I got the bill in the mail yesterday, but that's a different story).
*Hired lawn care professionals.
*Finished two books (one on marriage and one on weddings).
*Wondered what in the world we can do in place of premarital counseling considering that we're rarely in the same place at the same time.
*Started a registry.
*Freaked out about not knowing exactly all of the wedding/honeymoon details.
*Been constantly reminded of how blessed I am. Who else has it this good?! Nobody!

*Aside* Honestly, this has all been an exercise in realizing how little control I have over ANYTHING. It's unnerving, but everything is turning out way better than anything I could have come up with on my own, so it's also a lesson in trust. */Aside*

I need to:
*Find a home for Butter. We're not going to have a yard that's suitable for her.
*Find a sitter for Butter while I'm on vacation.
*Finish painting.
*Clean the house from top to bottom to get it ready to sell. Realistically I will be hiring someone to do this, probably. Normally I wouldn't outsource on something like cleaning, but I hate cleaning and I've got plenty of other stuff to do.
*Purge stuff I don't need anymore and stuff that we're going to have two of.
*Figure out how we're going to get my stuff from point A to point B. Cost/Benefit Analysis is in order. (sweetheart?)
*Get the house listed within the next 2 weeks.
*Maybe have a garage sale to get rid of all that purged stuff. I'm thankful to have already had volunteers step up and say they'll help, but time is short.
*Spend as much time as I can with family and friends.
*Sell the house.
*Move.
*Get married 1-2 times. :)
*Leave the continental US and hopefully regain my sanity.

Oh my goodness, y'all. Pray for me! This is all very worthwhile, but today is definitely a meltdown day. I want to crawl up in bed and go to sleep for awhile, but I have to work the rest of the week b/c the team leader isn't and I have to be him while he's gone.

Life in Crazyville

2011-03-18T18:11:00.002-06:00

I think I must have needed a little extra challenge to my sanity this year so I'm apparently cramming almost all of the major stressful life events into a few months. Feeling much less overwhelmed than I was at first, but wow! Crazy.

This weekend I have a super good friend coming into town to go dress shopping with me and she's agreed to help me remove wallpaper. That's a true friend, y'all. I'm going to reward her for her efforts with cookies. Do unto others and all that jazz. It's the type of reward I would appreciate.

Anybody want to hold a garage sale for me? A house sure can accumulate a lot of stuff in 10 years. I have lots of purging to do.

My mother's question? What are you going to do with all of your books?! She has her finger on the pulse of my literary obsession. Maybe one day I'll have time to read again. :)

R.I.P Nate Dogg

2011-03-16T14:40:00.001-06:00

And here's a clear explanation of what's going on...for those of you who are confused.

And So He Did

2011-03-15T17:38:00.002-06:00

How crazy is my life? I would not have predicted this in a million years, but I couldn't be more excited. :)

In a Handbasket

2011-03-07T20:43:00.002-06:00

First of all, either Mercy really likes Missy Elliot or she came in here with high hopes that I would toss her a Cheese Nip. Or maybe she likes that I'm singing along. I'm betting on the power of a delicious cheese snack though.

Speaking of which (pretend we were), on Sunday in my 2 year old class, the other teacher started singing and one of the little boys said, "NO! Only him sing!" (whilst pointing at me). Precious kiddos.

And now we get to the portion of the program where I confess that God may just give up on me.

Today my coworker was talking about what she was giving up for Lent. I suggested that she not give anything up, but instead do good deeds. Here are some of the deeds I suggested.

1. Cook me dinner for the next 40 days
2. Clean my house
3. Bathe my dogs
4. Set up a chocolate fountain on my desk

In my effort to help her be a better person, I may have condemned myself to hell.

Also, another coworker posted a FB status about how she needed motivation to go to the gym. One person told her to just think about how good she's going to feel after she works out. We all know that's a total load of crap, so I told her that I usually promise myself cookies afterward if I go work out.

Apparently that wasn't the type of motivation she was looking for.

Strike two and counting.

One Hit Wonder?

2011-02-18T13:55:00.001-06:00

Sometimes I hear a song and think, "Oh I hope this person isn't going to be a one hit wonder..."

This is one of those instances:

That is all.

Just because I like it...

2011-02-14T17:02:00.000-06:00

There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. -- Anais Nin

If You Want me To

2011-02-06T00:08:00.000-06:00

The pathway is broken
And the signs are unclear
And I don't know the reason why You brought me here
But just because You love me the way that You do
I'm gonna walk through the valley
If You want me to

No I'm not who I was
When I took my first step
And I'm clinging to the promise You're not through with me yet
So if all of these trials bring me closer to You
Then I will walk through the fire
If You want me to

It may not be the way I would have chosen
When You lead me through a world that's not my home
But You never said it would be easy
You only said I'll never go alone

So when the whole world turns against me
And I'm all by myself
And I can't hear You answer my cries for help
I'll remember the sufferin' Your love put You through
And I will go through the valley
If You want me to

My Own MP3 Player

2011-02-04T09:04:00.003-06:00

I don't know if other people are like this, but I always have music playing in my head. It's not really like having a song stuck in my head. I hear every note and word of songs, start to finish. Sometimes once one song finishes, another one starts. Sometimes the same song plays again. I think it's why I've always been good at memorizing music, even if I've only heard it a time or two.

Before I even woke up this morning, this was the song.

When the sun starts to rise
And I open my eyes
You are good, so good
In the heat of the day
With each stone that I lay
You are good, so good

With ever breath I take in
I'll tell you I'm grateful again
When the moon climbs high
Before each kiss goodnight
You are good

When the road starts to turn
Around each bend I've learned
You are good so good
And when somebody's hand
Holds me up helps me stand
You are so good

With every breath I take in
I'll tell You I'm grateful again
'Cause its more than enough
Just to know I am loved
And You are good

So how can I thank You
What can I bring
What can these poor hands
Lay at the feet of a King
I'll sing You a love song
It's all that I have
To tell You I'm grateful
For holding my life in Your Hands

When it's dark and it's cold
And I can't feel my soul
You are so good
When the world is gone gray
And the rain's here to stay
You are still good

So with every breath I take in
I'll tell You I am grateful again
And the storm may swell
Even then it is well and You are good

Sometimes it's a blessing.

Note to Self

2011-02-02T17:24:00.000-06:00

For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. - 2 Tim 1:7

That is all. Sometimes I just need a reminder.

And Then There Were Three

2011-02-01T15:09:00.002-06:00

I'm officially adopting Maya this week. The paperwork is in the mail. Look for me on an upcoming episode of Confessions: Animal Hording.

She's just so lovable though. And she's like a little space heater, which is nice when I get cold. She's annoyingly chipper in the mornings, but I'm working on that. :)

It could be a lot worse. I could be a cat person.

Best Pandora Station Ever

2011-01-31T10:10:00.003-06:00

Because I'm a generous type, I'm sharing my favorite Pandora station. If you're easily offended, be aware that Pandora doesn't pick the radio edited versions of songs.

Best Station Ever

Dr. Dre?
Snoop Dogg?
Janet Jackson?
Salt n Pepa?
TLC?
Envogue?

Yes, please! Reminds me of my youth....so, so long ago.

Also, it's apparently Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day (according to some FB status updates I've seen). I'm a big fan of the bubble wrap. I'm thinking of celebrating by wrapping myself in bubble wrap and having a team of people roll me down the stairs. I mean, I'm only on the 4th floor. I'm sure the bubble wrap would hold up nicely. Also, I have accidental death and dismemberment coverage, so it's all good.

You know what today needs to be? Jennifer Appreciation Day. You can all celebrate JAD by baking me cookies. I really don't ask for much. No high-maintenance-ness here. Don't put any coconut in them. In fact, don't put any nuts in them either. Other than that, I give you creative license to make whatever you want.
Aaaaaaaaaaand....GO!

I've Missed You, Bloggy-Blog!

2011-01-28T16:23:00.003-06:00

I was just reading through some of my old blog posts, and I entertained myself. What happened? I've run out of words in my old age, I guess. I hope I can find them again sometime.

As a consolation prize, I will regale you with an old blog post.

I think maybe the 2007 version of me might need to talk to the 2011 version of me sometimes and remind me of some of those things.

The One in Which I Fondly Recall Sewing

2011-01-21T11:34:00.004-06:00

Have I mentioned lately what a lazy lump I am?

I didn't even do a 2010 year end review of the books I read (not as many as in previous years).

There are several things I really enjoy doing (in no particular order).

1. Fishing (seasonal -- boo hiss)
2. Reading (Perhaps the Kindle will help)
3. Sewing (...)
4. Knitting (This one is hit and miss, but I am DETERMINED to finish the current project)
5. Eating Cookies (I'm actually keeping up with this hobby nicely)
6. Playing Halo (Rocking peoples' faces off with this one)
7. Scentsy-ing (This one takes care of itself)

I did actually do a couple of quick sewing projects right around Christmas. I wish I had taken more pictures.

One of the projects I did was (3) paint chip wallets. Once I figured a few things out, they turned out nicely. I made them to go with some gift cards I bought as a few gifts. I thought it would be nice to include something handmade with them so they wouldn't be so impersonal. I don't have pictures of the ones I made, but here's a tutorial. I actually tried two different syles, but that one was my favorite.

Very easy (and free) if you're looking for a quick project. You don't have to be good at sewing.

I also whipped up a quick case for my Kindle with part of my Amy Butler fabric stash. Oh how I love Amy Butler. But I digress... I made it from this tutorial, but didn't do the patchwork stuff. I did quilt it, but I just used two different fabrics (one for the outside and one for the lining) and some batting I had left over from another project.

I think the thing that keeps me from sewing more is the mess it makes. I hate dragging everything out and cutting it and sequestering myself in the guest room with my 50 year old sewing machine (not really exaggerating) whilst I coax it along.

But then I look at sewing blogs and they make me think I can do ANYTHING. :) (One of my failures is thinking I can do a lot more than I actually can.)

I mean look at these blogs and see if they don't make you want to sew something!

Lazy Gal Quilting

Makingitfun

Sew, Mama, Sew!

i have to say...

Made by Rae (perhaps my favorite!)

Who Needs a Title?

2011-01-02T07:51:00.002-06:00

I hope everyone had a great Christmas/New Year.

It was certainly an eventful one on my home front. I don't know if God intended for us to pick a date on the calendar and, ostensibly, use it to "celebrate" Christ's birth, but if he did (clearly I have my doubts), I'm pretty sure it wasn't supposed to look anything like my Christmas. Lord have mercy!

Oh I got lots of nice things, but there was so much family drama. It was really unfortunate and not God-honoring at all.

Anyway, my doubts about Christmas could be a whole different blog post, so I won't even go there.

Suffice it to say, I was so glad to be home, I nearly kissed the ground!

In other, happier news, one of my Christmas gifts was a Kindle. You may have noticed that I have a major love affair going on with books, so I think I'll get a ton of use out of it. I was concerned about reading off a screen instead of having an actual book in my hand, but it really doesn't feel like reading from a screen. It's going to be great for my book club books because I can bookmark pages I want to talk about, add notes, do searches, etc. Fun stuff.

And now I'm going to lie back down. I've been fighting with a headache for days and I'm hoping today will be the last of it.

Commendation Vs. Condemnation

2010-11-30T11:24:00.003-06:00

I was playing Halo Reach today (going to work is for the birds!) and if you're not familiar with the game (or even if you are), you progress through the game and as you gain experience, you get an upgrade in your rank -- kind of like military ranks. Right now I'm a Captain Grade 3, thank you very much.

Anyway, there are also little mini accomplishments you can get. You get a certain number of points for getting a headshot, melee kill, etc. and at the end of the round, your points are tallied up as "commendation" points.

So today I was in a game lobby waiting for a round to start, and one of the players said, "How is that person a 'co-lawn-uhl' with so few conDEMnations?" It took me a minute to figure out what co-lawn-uhl was. :) Silly kids.

NaNoBloMoNo

2010-11-02T19:23:00.002-06:00

Good luck to everyone participating in NaNoBloMo. As my title suggests, I will not be participating. I know my limits. :) Plus, it's already the 2nd, so I have already failed.

In gaming news, I am trying my hand at Assassin's Creed. A friend let me borrow it and I'm still trying to get the hang of it. I tend to focus on one game at a time, so I get very used to the controls for a certain game and then when I switch games, I do all kinds of crazy things like throw grenades when I'm trying to melee and stuff like that.

Scentsy continues to be lots of fun. I'm doing two fundraisers right now, so we'll see how they go. Apparently, I don't ease into anything.

Remember when Sonic had peanut butter milkshakes? Yarnell's Pig Trail Ice Cream reminds me of them.

Maya continues to be a little ray of sunshine. She was a big hit with the kids who came trick or treating. She wore her pink skull and crossbones sweater and stepped out onto the porch to smell everyone. She got lots of oohs and ahs.

Mercy continues to be sweet and adorable, as always.

Butter continues to be Butter. Bless her heart. :)

Enough randomness for one day! Have a happy November!

Family Bonding Time

2010-10-18T20:50:00.005-06:00

What a weekend! We had our first family reunion in I don't know how long. We had it out in the middle of nowhere, but it was a town where a lot of my ancestors were a big part of the community.

As a bonus, there were donkeys (and a zebra) across the street.

There was also a funny T-shirt contest.

(There is no Gentlemen's Club--or much of anything else--in Bodcaw. In case you were wondering.)

And a relative playing a harmonica in a cemetery. I have no idea either...

Some relatives that nobody had had any contact with in 20 years made it down to the reunion. It was really good to meet them. They're great! I just wish they didn't live so far away. One of the cousins is a skinny teenager. My great-nephew (who is 3) walked up to him and said, "Where's you booty?" Good question since the boy doesn't have one! He also started yelling, "Wicked awesome!" this weekend. So funny. I love that kid.

Dogs and Scentsy

2010-10-10T10:41:00.002-06:00

It's been awhile since I posted any kind of update. It seems like lots of stuff has happened, but none of it altogether riveting reading material. So sorry!

Maya continues to thrive! We had another follow up appointment yesterday and the vet said that lots of dogs that have allergies as severe as hers never get to the point where their skin looks as good as hers does now. It's my no means normal looking, but it has improved so much! She's down to 2.5 mg of prednisone every other day, and the vet said that's a good dose b/c it's low enough that it won't cause too many side effects. The yeast in her skin is gone (hallelujah!), so she's not stinky anymore (except her breath). And what I thought was a hole in her teeth is not actually a hole. It's just that her gums have receded so far that you can actually see the roots of her teeth and there's a space between the roots that collects food. So gross! In a couple of weeks I'm going to take her to have those teeth yanked out and the other ones cleaned up really well.

Starting yesterday, she's on special hypo-allergenic food. This is fine and dandy except that Mercy feeds Maya (unintentionally). Mercy grabs a mouth full of food and then spits it out on the floor to eat it. Except she doesn't get a chance to eat it b/c Maya runs over and yanks it out from under her. This means that we have to develop a new feeding routine, but I'm sure we'll get it worked out in no time.

In other news, I'm now selling Scentsy. It's a fun product to sell because who doesn't want their house to smell good without the risk of setting it on fire? It's going well so far, and I'm hoping that I'll be able to grow my business fairly quickly. If you want to earn free stuff, let me know and I'll hook you up. One of my customers is doing her first basket party now and she sold $150 in product before she even had the sample scents to demonstrate. I can't wait to see what her final totals are!

Another neat thing is that I can do fundraisers. I'm looking forward to doing some of those too.

Geekery

2010-09-13T20:47:00.003-06:00

First of all, Lainy-Poo -- have you heard about the new DLC content for L4D? It's called The Sacrifice and it sounds fabbity fab fab fab! I can't wait. But do you think I can download it once and get all the updates for both L4D and L4D2? Probably not,huh?

And speaking of L4D...if you hear a hunter sound, it's just me disemboweling someone. Perhaps a coworker. Nothing to see here!

Also, I get kind of misty-eyed when I see the trailers for Halo Reach. Maybe it's the music. When I grow up, I want to be the Master Chief!

Another Day, Another Vet Appointment

2010-09-09T15:59:00.004-06:00

So, little Maya was doing swimmingly while she was on Prednisone, but after she had been off of it a few days, she started going backwards. She is now itching every bit as badly as she did when she first came to my house, so I took her back to the vet today. Good thing I was off work today! I'm not loving the drive to LR for frequent vet visits, but hopefully we'll get her stabilized so that the visits don't have to be so frequent.

This vet (the other vet--a much more personable guy-- in the clinic she's been going to) says that she's likely pretty much allergic to EVERYTHING which is why she can't stop itching. Boo! The Prednisone helps keep it under control, but steroids carry their own risks and side effects when they're used long-term, so we're going to try to find the lowest dosage that still works for her. We may also switch to RX hypoallergenic food before it's all over. He said the food change might be enough to help her after we get it back under control with the meds.

He did say that another local rescue organization recently adopted out a dog with a similar condition, so at least I know that there are some decent people out there who don't mind a dog with special needs. She really is a sweetheart and she'll be a great pet for someone who understands that she needs a little extra care. In another 10 days, we'll go back again and see how she's doing at that point.

She's up to 11.7 pounds (from 10.3 pounds when I got her), so she's looking better in that regard. In fact, if she keeps up at this rate, she'll have to go on a diet! I was offended the other day at Petsmart when someone called her fat (there was no fat on her little body!), but it might be a little bit true at this point. Which means she fits in just fine around here. Ahem.

Public Service Announcement

2010-09-03T20:59:00.003-06:00

A classmate of mine (check out her blog...they have a really neat story) has started a fundraising campaign to build a well in a poor African village.

The cost of building a well that will serve 250 people is $5000. I know that most people (myself included) consider $5000 to be a lot of money, but it's really not that much when you consider that a village of people will not have to worry about having safe water for a very long time. $5000 has the potential to save a lot of lives. 42,000 people die each week from illnesses that could have been prevented if they had only had clean drinking water. 90% of those that die each week are children under the age of five.

It's unfathomable. My mind can't imagine it because it's so far removed from my daily reality.

$5000 becomes more manageable when lots of people chip in. Every little bit helps. As of right now, they have raised $3750/$5000...and here's the really cool part -- if they raise the rest of the money within the next 27 days, you will actually get to see the well getting drilled and pictures of the site and actual villagers enjoying the well that your donations helped to build.

Even if you can't donate a few dollars to this cause, please spread the word about this project. There's also a facebook page you can link to if you want a convenient way to advertise this to your friends.

Guess I'll Go Eat Worms

2010-09-02T20:45:00.002-06:00

You know what's disconcerting? Finding a tapeworm crawling on your dog's blanket....the dog's blanket on the human's bed. That's not cool.

I did briefly consider swallowing it as a weight loss strategy, but then I thought about where it came from and quickly dropped that idea.

When we went to the vet, he tested her (Maya) for worms, she came back clean, but he said the only type that wouldn't show up on the test was tapeworm. So here we are two weeks later and apparently Maya has tapeworms. That probably means that my other girls have them by now too. Their heartworm preventative meds prevent certain other types of worms too, but not tapeworm. Good thing Maya has a follow up vet appointment tomorrow!

She's doing pretty well though. Showing a lot of personality, loving belly rubs, stinking to HIGH heaven, growing a little bit of hair, and itching a little less. She's gained 3/10 of a pound, even with parasites.

Her breath smells like road kill in August, but maybe the vet will address that tomorrow too.

She's clearly not all better, so I assume that he will come up with a different or extended treatment plan. She's been on steroids, but he's weaned her down on those, so we'll have to see what else he has in his bag of tricks.

In the meantime, no more lying on the bed while I kill zombies!

Fishing Confession

2010-08-28T09:04:00.002-06:00

I'm pretty much a do it herself fisherwoman (except when the hook gets swallowed and I don't want to be the one who's responsible for killing the fish). But I'm scared of catfish.

Don't get me wrong, I like to catch them, but I don't like to take them off the hook. The whole being sliced up by their fins and injected with venom thing doesn't really appeal to me.

The boy and I were fishing yesterday evening and I had caught a few little fish, but nothing to write home about. As it was getting dark, the fish (and mosquitoes)started biting, and I caught a catfish. I was excited because I could tell from the weight that it was more of a respectable sized fish. I told Kevin to run and get my phone so I could take a picture, and the stupid thing flopped himself off the line and onto the ground. I started yelling "I don't want to touch you! I'm scared! I don't want to touch you!" and then I worked up my courage and picked him up. At this point, he totally mangled my hand, so I dropped him on the ground again (served him right!). And I worked up the courage to pick him up again and he did the same thing. I wanted my daddy at that point.

Kevin came back with the camera, but by that point, I wasn't even interested in being photographed with the little !*&%$&@, so he let him go. (Neither Kevin nor the fish were harmed.)

Now I'm getting ready to go back out and do it all over again (except for the touching a catfish part).

Forwarding Emails Doesn't Make Jesus Like You More

2010-08-26T16:35:00.002-06:00

Also, pressing "like" in Facebook won't 'start a Christian revival, right here, right now.'

I just thought y'all should know that in case you were feeling guilty for not forwarding emails or pressing like.

On to other things...

Maya continues to do well. She's started coming out of her shell (and her crate) a little more and showing some personality. She gets so excited when it's dinner time or treats are being handed out. I was just outside with all three dogs and Mercy tried to play with Maya. Mercy's idea of playing is usually slapping Butter in the face, smiling at her, and waiting for Butter to go for the jugular. I told you they play rough. Anyway, Mercy decided to try to play with Maya by slapping her in the face, so she got a good stern talking to. She doesn't seem to get the size difference between her and Maya (approx. 40 lbs). Maya handles it really well, but she eventually wants to find a safe place to stay out of their way.

Work has taken a turn towards being even more illogical. We're doing another realignment (yes, we just did one in January) after I've finally gotten my stuff under control and running well.

This has taught me a couple of things:

1. It doesn't pay to work hard (literally or figuratively).

2. Apparently all the hard work I did was optional, because even though all the other teams in our organization were told to do the interaction model implementation that I did, I'm the only one who did it and nobody else was reprimanded for not doing it.

3. Nobody appreciates/understands what I've put myself through for the past 8 months to make my process actually work. When things are working, nobody pays attention to the process and they assume it just magically worked out that way by some stroke of good fortune.

4. Unpaid overtime is going to be a thing of my past. They can kiss it.

So anyway, basically they're reverting to an old structure and now I'm going to be the SME (Subject Matter Expert- Basically at the top of the processing team) for my team -- meaning, I'll be in charge of making sure process improvements get implemented, helping out with stuff on the team that nobody else knows how to do, ON TOP OF doing pretty much everything I already do, except the "team leader" is supposed to be helping out with half of what I already do. Oh yeah, and he gets the title of team leader even though he's only doing a portion of what I already do and he continually has to ask me how to do things or has me do things for him because he doesn't want to learn how to do stuff on his own. Also, I know him extremely well, and he's not going to do the stuff I do. My teammates actually laughed when they heard he was going to be "leading" them again.

Don't get me wrong. I really like the guy. He and I have worked together pretty much since I started there (10+ years ago). I don't begrudge him the title. It just doesn't sit well with me that I've worked as hard as I have and made as much progress with making good changes to the process just to have him swoop in and take on a title and get a (now) fully functioning team due to the work I've done all year. It makes me feel pretty much used.

And I'll quit griping now. Just know if you see me and my tongue looks like I've bitten it in half, it's because I'm trying not to say anything that will get me fired....ooh, but if they fire me, they have to give me all my vacation time I haven't been able to use this year and they have to pay unemployment...

Anyway, I think Maya just figured out how to knock the big girls' dog food bowl over (it's on a stand), so I better go check that out.

Little Senior Citizen

2010-08-23T18:07:00.004-06:00

As of this past weekend, my house has become just a little more chaotic. Am I a glutton for punishment? I would say so.

Meet Maya!

I'm going to be fostering this little one for awhile. She wandered up on someone's property skinny and without a collar, and they couldn't keep her, so she's mine for now.

I took her to the vet Saturday and learned that she's spayed, doesn't have worms, and is probably over 10 years old. She also has a hellacious case of dermatitis and a yeast infection in her skin. Her legs look like elephant skin -- really thick and cracked and baggy. It's really sad. The vet said that her skin has probably been bad her whole life and nobody tried to make it better. When I first got her, she would just scratch and scratch and groan. It was pitiful. She's on steroids, yeast medicine, and she has her own medicated shampoo now. She's still itching a lot, but I think it might be some better.

She's a funny little thing. She's 10 lbs. and she doesn't have hair on about 50% of her body due to her skin condition. She looks a little like an overgrown rat. :)

She loves her crate and when she naps (which is frequently!), she buries herself completely under her covers.

Here she is after I woke her up.

The other dogs are pretty curious about her and try to get her to play with them, but she's not interested. Maybe she'll pay more attention to them after she settles in. As of now, I'm just trying to get them not to accidentally run over her or sit on her. They play pretty rough with one another and they don't watch where they're going!

Your vs. You're: They Aren't the Same

2010-08-10T17:36:00.003-06:00

Today I went to an all day leadership meeting. It was facilitated by some kind of consultant type. Our top leadership guy introduced her and really played up the fact that she's from Harvard. I thought, "Oh neat! I've never met a Harvard person before." (Well, maybe I didn't really think that, but one might think that given the introduction.)

I started looking over the agenda and saw that she wanted us to do the following:

Discuss you're background and role within the corporation.

Really?! She might as well have gone all "text talk" on it and used "ur" for "your."

I won't lie. I corrected it on my copy of the agenda. It's an illness.

Rum-pa-pa-pum

2010-08-09T17:26:00.005-06:00

Look at what I caught! It's a drum! It might be a trash fish, but it was MY trash fish and that's all that mattered. I get excited when I catch the more "exotic" species. If I ever succeed in my quest to catch a gar, I will pee myself.

I even serenaded it after I released it. Are you ready for this? Here goes.

Little Fi-sh pa-rum-pa-pa-pum
You made my worm your dish pa-rum-pa-pa-pum
To catch you was my wish pa-rum-pa-pa-pum
Some say you are delish pa-rum-pa-pa-pum-rum-pa-pum-pum-rum-pa-pum-pum

Kelvy says that if we're ever in a survival situation, I'm in charge of catching fish. I'll take that as a compliment.

Rest for the Weary

2010-07-20T17:37:00.002-06:00

Well, last week's gifts from coworkers continued to get better and better. On Friday I received a poster of Edward and Jacob with my face in the middle. As it should be. Ahem.

And I also received a bottle of wine. I resisted the urge to drink from the bottle at work.

Maybe this week they will step it up and bring me narcotics!

Oh. They also cut out a picture of my face and put it on a stick so they can use it as a mask when they need to boss someone around. Aren't they cute? :) Today my paper face told a free range kid to give it all his candy. Apt, don't you think?

This week hasn't been quite as hectic. I'm trying to work as far ahead as I can so as to make the coming weeks not as bad, but as it turns out, I still have a full day's work even when I'm not in red alert mode. I really want to take Friday off, but seeing as how that's pretty much impossible, I'll just take my laptop with me and work remotely. It's nice having a month of paid vacation every year,none of which I can use. That's how they get ya, my friends!

Great nephew turned 3 this week (where does the time go?!) and his pirate party is this weekend. ARR! Can't miss out on that. Trying to talk my sister into coming in from out of state (by telling her all the cool kids are going home that weekend), but so far it isn't working. I'd say we have a 50/50 chance of convincing her.

Now to go finish mowing the yard. I ran out of gas and the boy has brought me some!

phone blogging

2010-07-13T19:38:00.002-06:00

I got a smart phone and I'm blogging from it. How cool is that?

Quick update. Work continues to be crazy, but my team has taken pity on me and started getting lunch for me. Today there was a cake on my desk when I got there. I think they must be scared or something. Works out ok for me!

Went fishing for only the third time this season. Didn't find stray dogs. Did see free range goats. Also saw a beaver.

I was a nielsen family for a week. I watched all of maybe 2 hours worth of tv for the week. They will be so disappointed.

Now we're watching the captain die on deadliest catch. Quick! Someone pop some popcorn! How exploitative. But yet we watch.

Longest Week Ever

2010-05-26T19:12:00.002-06:00

How is it that I took Monday off and it's still only Wednesday? Isn't taking a day off supposed to make for a short week?

Probably didn't help that I worked some on my day off, but still!

I think my place of business should implement a new incentive program...a new award, if you will. They could call it the "I didn't make national news today for strangling my coworkers" award. I've had to throw some tough love on some people this week, but eventually I WILL get everything lined out so that I don't have to ~~verbally assault~~ counsel people in such a manner anymore. It would help if people would just follow directions. Apparently my note I sent out last week or the week before with statements like READ YOUR SPECS in bold font did not get the point across. Two more mistakes today because someone didn't read their specs. Very frustrating. I can write all of the simplistic specs my little fingers can type, but I can't force people to read them, apparently.

In other news, my weather-dog would like to let everyone know that there's a chance of thunderstorms tonight. Or at least rain. Or a strong wind. She's alternately tiptoeing around the house and hiding under the desk. This is the dog that's scared of inanimate objects though, so who knows.

I'm considering a brief trip "home" this weekend. It will be the first time I've been home since Christmas. I know, I know, it's only a 2.5 hour drive, but it's so draining. My daddy mentioned taking me fishing which is not going to go over well with my mom, I bet, because she had surgery recently and is very dependent on him. She won't like him leaving her there. Poor guy needs a break, though. I haven't decided exactly how or when I'm going to pull it off, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will be able to take Friday off (very unlikely). Wish me luck!

Naps Should be Mandatory

2010-05-12T11:38:00.003-06:00

I would really like to turn some of the empty cubes around me into a napping center. Wouldn't that be nice? Although I can't imagine the lechery that would occur up here if people had access to cots...

Anyway, I haven't worked all night in approximately 2 weeks! Hallelujah! I'm still very busy, but today I'm actually using my lunch hour as non-working time! That's a bit of an improvement.

My new furniture was delivered Sunday. It didn't look so HUGE in the store. Ahem. But I've (with Kelvy's help) rearranged a few things and it now all fits in the living room. I set my old couch out this morning for the Big Brothers/Big Sisters people to come pick it up as a donation. For the first time in a long time, I actually feel cozy in my house. It looks more "me" than it has in a long time, so that's cool. I bought some new lamps yesterday...one of which required assembly by using some Engrish instructions. "Rish of tip over 6 pounds" I like putting stuff together, though so it wasn't too hard or frustrating. Now I have a little reading area with a big comfy chair/ottoman, a blankie, and the new floor lamp that has shelves to hold books or whatever. I'm going to revamp my unfinished book wreath and try to incorporate that into the space. We'll see.

My horticulture project is going swimmingly! I have not yet killed the basil (it is currently in critical but stable condition). I have two tiny tomatoes growing already! I feel so accomplished. And I have a couple of strawberries growing on my poor pitiful strawberry plant from last year. I haven't even watered that, so it's definitely an overachieving type plant.

Last night, I did the dumbest thing. I fed Butter (she always eats first) and then put her in her crate for the night. I gave Mercy and Butter their nightly dog treats, and then I told Butter night night and went back to the other side of the house to check my email, etc. before bed. In a minute, Mercy came over to me and laid her head in my lap and looked at me with her "aren't you forgetting something?" look. I apologized profusely and went to get her her dinner. Good thing she's such a good communicator. :)

And now back to my regularly scheduled program of being a traffic director/juggler/mind reader/etc. Work awaits.

From the Garden to the Table

2010-04-20T18:47:00.003-06:00

First of all, can I just say that these days, every time I open up my freezer to get a frozen pizza out, I have this irrational fear that Jamie Oliver is going pop up behind me and yell something sufficiently British...like, "Why are you eating this bloody garbage!?"

Now that that's out of the way...

Today I went to ~~the pits of hell~~ Wal*Mart to get a RX filled. They told me it would be about 15 minutes, so I wandered around for awhile (always a dangerous thing!). I ended up in the garden center and was overtaken by ~~a fit of insanity~~ the idea that I should buy some food plants. So I did. I bought two different tomato plants (with cute names)...one of which said it would do well as a container plant. I also bought a little basil plant. If this goes as I'm expecting, I will be 3 for 3 on killing basil plants.

Anyhoo, in case you're wondering, no, I don't eat tomatoes per se. But I do like salsa and creamy tomato basil soup. I also had the following experience while choosing soil...

Me: Ooh, look! Organic garden soil. That's the ticket!
Organic Soil: Pick me! Pick me!
Me: Well, I don't see why not. It's organic and it's garden soil. And I'm planting things that grow in a garden. I'll take two bags!

(Later the same evening)

Me: La la la...I'm planting things...la la la.
Organic Soil: I'm happy to be at your service (heh heh heh)
Me: What do you mean "NOT FOR USE IN CONTAINERS?!!"
Organic Soil: Sucker! Oh, and take a look at this "We recommend that you use garden gloves while using this product" (heh heh heh)

So the bottom line is, I've probably just given myself and all three plants a death sentence.

Spinning My Wheels

2010-04-07T19:00:00.002-06:00

Ever have those days when you feel like you've been incredibly busy all day, but can't point to anything that you've accomplished? That's what my life has been like in the past few days. It has gotten to the point that I've been met in the parking lot a couple of times by people asking me questions/wanting to discuss work. I'm going to have to find a better escape route, I guess.

I'm going to also have to try to find a better lunchtime hiding place. Apparently eating lunch at my desk is too obvious. Here's a tip. If you stalk someone and find them with a mouth full of food during a regular lunchish time of day, just keep walking. They might be taking their lunch break. Maybe I can start eating my lunch in the lactation room. Nobody will think to look for me there.

Other than that, though, I think we're getting better at delegating the new stuff out, so that gives me hope that one day things won't be so hectic.

In other news, I started playing Halo 3 again after taking a break for several months. It is with great shame that I admit that I now suck at Halo 3. My rank is already dropping, partially because I've gotten used to the controller configuration for Left 4 Dead 2 and that configuration is totally different than the H3 buttons. I try to melee people and end up throwing grenades. You can imagine how that turns out. My own teammates try to kill me now. I won't stop until I get better though. I'm obsessive. I can't help it.

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T06:00:00.001-06:00

I pray that you all are experiencing the joy and peace of Easter.

(I love Amena Brown. Her delivery is fantastic.)

A Grievance Aired

2010-04-03T17:58:00.002-06:00

The other day, a FB friend posted a picture of a great many little tiny DYED ducklings. Everyone was supposed to tell her how cute they were because she bought them as DOOR PRIZES for her child's party. Seriously? I mean really? I wanted to shake her until her eyes rolled around in her head. How irresponsible. I really hate the seasonal animal gift giving thing-- even if the animal is bought for one's own family. Why would someone assume that their guests want to be saddled with the responsibility of pet ownership? Especially the ownership of a duck. Of all the idiotic things to do.

So here's my plea...please, please, please don't give into the "oh how cute, I should buy that for little Johnny for Easter!" syndrome. Cute grows up.

Good Friday to You

2010-04-02T12:35:00.000-06:00

What once was hurt
What once was friction
What left a mark
No longer stings...
Because Grace makes beauty
Out of ugly things

I Kept Expecting Dwight Schrute to Show Up

2010-04-01T20:15:00.003-06:00

What a day! First of all, there was a whole lot of crazy drama that I won't even go into here, but it was sort of like going back to preschool except with adults.

Then we had a meeting that went absolutely NOT the way we had planned. It was sort of like the people on the other end of the line wadded up all of the hard work we've been doing in the past few months and threw it back in our faces.

That prompted my boss to throw his pen across the room when the meeting was over. Which was really funny, actually, because usually it's the other boss that throws things and makes holes in the drywall at work. This guy is usually pretty mild mannered. We proceeded to make fun of him for it the rest of the day. He will not live it down.

And then we had another meeting in a conference room that overlooks the parking lot. We saw a person who works on our floor go out to his/her car and sit for a long time. Apparently this is a common occurrence, so one of the bosses went down to clandestinely investigate while we all watched the show. He pretended he was on the phone (agitated hand motions and all) whilst inching closer and closer to the car. They think that this person goes down and drinks several times a day and were trying to witness it. Funny stuff. Sadly, he couldn't see anything. Too bad we didn't have any binoculars.

It's Official

2010-03-29T19:13:00.003-06:00

I have a Martha Heart. I was at church this evening for choir rehearsal and saw all the gravel on the sanctuary floor for Journey to the Cross. And the first thing out of my mouth was, "Who gets to clean this up?" I felt a little panic stricken. But the good news is, I don't have to clean it up, so I really don't have to worry about it.

I love Easter, and it's not just because of Cadbury's Mini Eggs (I haven't had any yet this year!). I love the energy of Easter and the worship music. Don't get me wrong, I love the significance of Easter too, but there's something within me that thrives off music and Easter brings us the best church music of the year. If you don't have a place to worship this Easter, come worship with us.

Also, happy spring. I went outside this evening to play ball with the dogs and the ball kept getting lost in the weeds. Pray that it doesn't rain again until I've had a chance to mow...maybe after Wednesday. Busy week ahead. I'm singing two nights this week and I need to leave work early to do so. Har har har. I'm pleased to just not work late these days, so it's going to take some doing. It's good that I have a job where there's flexibility to leave when I need to...except I'm so buried right now that leaving when I need to doesn't really do me any favors. It's a little more difficult now that the client has to route all of their communication through me too. If I'm not there then everything pretty much has to come to a standstill until I can get to it. I hope I don't get hit by a bus.

TGIF

2010-03-26T21:44:00.001-06:00

Happy Weekend!

It's been a fairly busy week at work, but I hope I can make it through the weekend with a minimal amount of "free" work. Things are only going to get crazier in the next couple of weeks, so I have no idea how I'm going to handle everything, but I guess I'll just take it one day at a time.

In other news, Mercy's tooth is still pink. Totally forgot to give her her meds yesterday (bad mommy!), but we're back on track today. One day this week, I saw something shiny in the back yard and went to investigate. It seems that SOMEHOW my neighbors managed to get a Bud Light can in my yard, which the dogs attempted to devour. Ooh whee! This chick was not happy. First of all, Mercy already struggles with alcoholism. Second of all, do you know how sharp a chewed up aluminum can is? Apparently they didn't swallow any of it since they're still alive and all.

In other other news, I finally broke down and took my good migraine meds today after having a whole week worth of headaches and can I just say that after being in pain for that many days straight and forgetting what normal feels like...normal feels almost euphoric. It has not been a good month for headaches around here for sure. I was really hoping that I was seeing a trend (for the better), but this is just as bad as before I started preventative meds. It's probably stress and I'm not sure anything's going to fix that right now. Headaches really put a damper on zombie killing.

Spring Cleaning - Dog Edition

2010-03-19T16:29:00.003-06:00

Today I came home from work at noon and worked from home for the rest of the afternoon. Mercy was due for her shots later this month and I just noticed a day or two ago that one of her teeth is pink. I confronted her about it, but she just ignored me, so I have no idea how that happened. Anyway, we went to the vet this afternoon. And before we went to the vet, both dogs got baths. Spring is definitely in the air judging by the gobs of hair that came off the dogs today. I do not look forward to shedding season (which apparently lasts for 10 months out of the year), but it's a small price to pay for their companionship, I suppose.

On the way to the vet's office I spied a lady carrying a dog in each arm and trying to coax two other dogs out of the middle of the street. I see a little bit of myself in every crazy dog lady I encounter, so I pulled over and attempted to help her reign in the untethered dogs, and we even got a leash on one of them until he broke the collar or something and ran off. It didn't occur to me until later that I had been crawling around in strangers' back yards yelling for random dogs and that I might* have been trespassing. Not that I care, but I bet the people wondered why there were strangers crawling on their hands and knees through their property. We must have been a sight.

After that failed attempt at good citizenship, we went on to the vet who told me that Mercy's tooth is dying. We're trying some antibiotics for the next few weeks to see if that fixes the problem. If it doesn't (and the odds are strongly against it), then she will either need a root canal or a tooth extraction. We will see. Keep your fingers crossed for her. She doesn't seem to be in pain at all at this point, but it's something I'll keep a close eye on.

Butter went along too and got her nails done. She sniffed around and found a stray piece of kibble under the receptionist counter, so she had a pretty good time.

When Mercy's exam was over and I went to get her off the counter she was standing on, the vet asked me how I was going to get her down. I said, "I'm going to pick her up like I did when I put her up on this counter." Apparently you're not supposed to pick up 45 pound dogs and put them on tables. Who knew?

*And by might, I mean that I absolutely was.

Punked!

2010-03-17T15:16:00.002-06:00

OK, I've been meaning to post this, but I've been alternating between having migraines, being sick, and being busy, so I haven't gotten around to it until now.

The troll story? I was punked! It's not true, but it gave me a laugh, so I'm leaving it up. Funny story, either way.

I took a day off work one day this week(bronchitis/sinus infection fun), slept until 2 in the afternoon, and then I came back to work the next day. I should have just stayed home! Good grief. I don't understand how people decide to do random things without thinking about other things that will be impacted. Especially after I have told them not to do those random things.

But today is a new day *cleansing breath*. A day that will provide its own challenges, I'm sure. :)

Laugh of the Day

2010-03-05T18:14:00.002-06:00

My mom called me when I was driving home from work today and told me this story. I started laughing so hard that my whole face was wet from tears.

My niece had been to visit them today and one of the girls she works with has a sister that this happened to.

The lady has a son who is retarded to some extent, but it's not so severe that he can't stay at home by himself. He has a habit of finding little animals and keeping them for a day or two and then releasing them.

Son (calls mom at work): I caught a troll.
Mom: What?
Son: I caught a troll.
Mom: Where is it?
Son: I locked it up in the closet.

The mom tells her coworkers that she thinks she needs to go home to figure out what he's talking about (figuring that he's caught some wild animal and locked it in his closet). When she gets there, the house is all in disarray. There are pictures knocked over and it's a mess.

Mom: What happened here?!
Son: I caught a troll.
Mom: Where is this troll?
Son: It's in my bedroom closet.

The mom walks into the son's room and he's got a chair under the doorknob of his closet to keep the door from opening. Imagine her surprise when she opened the closet door and found a "little person" inside! Apparently the unfortunate dwarf had been going door to door selling something and when the son answered the door, he "caught" him and wrestled him into the closet (thus the sign of a struggle all over the house).

She said she guesses she won't be able to leave him home by himself again!

New Furniture Haiku

2010-03-02T14:30:00.002-06:00

I'm sorry, dead cow.
I needed new furniture.
You are so cozy.

I finally ordered some "grown up" furniture today (as in living room furniture that actually matches and is comfortable!). I've finally kind of gotten Mercy out of the habit of lying on the couch, so hopefully the new furniture can stay dog free (I realize that this is wishful thinking). Sadly, cows were harmed in the making of this furniture, but I expect it to last forever, so I shouldn't have to indirectly kill cows again anytime soon.

So on a related note, does anybody know anyone local who could use my old couch? It's a hide-a-bed and it's in good condition. It just needs to be cleaned. No stains or anything, but it would look better if it was cleaned. My new stuff probably won't be in for another 8 weeks, so it could be awhile before I get rid of my current couch, but it's definitely gotta go when the new stuff comes.

Mercy's Not the Only One with TMJ

2010-02-25T19:24:00.003-06:00

I don't know if dogs can get TMJ, but if they can, Mercy has it. Her jaws pop so loudly when she yawns...and then I have to massage her widdle face for her. And then she looks at me all crazy.

But anyway, I asked my dentist if I might have TMJ that might be contributing to my headaches and he did a few tests on me and thinks I do. So I have to go back next month for a consultation on what to do about it. I'll tell you what I won't be doing: Getting my jaws wired shut. Can you imagine how difficult it would be to eat Girl Scout cookies with your jaw wired shut? I just don't want to find out about that. Even though it would clearly be a good weight loss plan for me.

I've apparently been thrown into the deep end with my work responsibilities, because all hell has broken loose this week. It's not any of the stuff I've assigned, but it is screwing up my process and making things difficult. Tonight is going to be a long night of delegating stuff and interrupting peoples'free time. I've even combined those two things once already tonight by delegating someone to call someone else and interrupt his free time. That, my friends is multitasking at its finest.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a few Girl Scout cookies to eat.

The Hard Part is Over

2010-02-20T09:16:00.003-06:00

Whew! Who knew that a "short week" could feel so long? It's been a very energy draining week or two at work, but I've finished the hardest part. I'm transitioning into my new job role and in order to do that, I had to write out specs for every little piddly thing we do in great detail so the person who picks up the work won't even have to think about it...they can just follow my specs. It has been a major undertaking...especially since I'm writing specs for a process that I don't even work on. It's kind of nerve wracking because whatever I come up with becomes the framework for how every other process in our realm will be built. Anyway, I finished all of my rough drafts this week and even had time to polish some of them. So glad that part is over. We go into production with them next week.

In other happy news, I learned that I'll be getting a laptop at work. Yay! That will be fabulous. Now if I could just talk them into getting me a hard office, I would be in business. A girl can dream, anyway.

Alternate Universe

2010-02-15T21:28:00.002-06:00

Here's something randomly strange that I've experienced lately.

My youth minister (from back in the olden days) got bored one day and started posting old pictures on FB. We had a huge youth group. A lot of the popular kids went to my church, so when I was growing up, it was kind of the place to be. I was practically born into that church, so I was going there before going there was cool.

I was looking through the pictures...reminiscing about old hairstyles and clothing trends, and there are tons of comments about how the pictures were bringing back such good memories for the commenters and what a fantastic experience being in the youth group was to people. And I found that I just can't relate to that at all. I tried to dredge up at least a modicum of nostalgia, and I just couldn't. In fact, thinking about it kind of made me want to hyperventilate.

It was just strange to see so many people that I know and that I grew up with express what a good experience it was for them when it was overwhelmingly a bad experience for me. I wonder what made our experiences so different.

Don't Even Think About Leaving Me Out Here

2010-02-08T13:00:00.003-06:00

That big glob of snow on her nose is ONE snowflake. It's snowing like crazy here and it's beautiful.

If I Pour Color Safe Bleach on My Hair...

2010-01-24T19:31:00.002-06:00

just wondering if it would leave my haircolor unscathed.

See what had happened was...

It was the end of my time in the 2 year old room this morning. Things had gone just fine. Then my potty trained kiddo (God bless her parents!) decided she needed to go potty. No big deal.

As I started helping her with her pants, she started rubbing her hands all over the toilet seat.

Me: That's really yucky. Let's not rub our hands on the toilet.

Her: Yucky?

Me: Yep. It's got germs all over it.

At this point, she stopped. I thought we were cool, so I went back to the task at hand and had my head bent down so I could see what I was doing. The next thing I knew, she was rubbing her hands all over my head, roughing up my hair.

Next week's Sunday School lesson: E. Coli - One Thing We Don't Share With Friends

Invention Submission

2010-01-21T18:00:00.003-06:00

You know that commercial that comes on TV with the caveman inventing the wheel? They're trying to get people to submit their inventions...probably so they can totally screw you over and take your idea without giving you credit for it, but I don't know. Anyway, I need to invent a vacuum attachment that works on lungs. I think it would have to be for a wet/dry vac though and I've never seen any specialty attachments for those. I obviously don't have all of the details worked out yet.

Anyway, pardon me if I hack up a lung. I'm not contagious.

Yesterday was just chock full of excitement. There was a gas leak near my workplace, so in their infinite wisdom, they instructed all of us to evacuate...which meant a thousand cars starting up and idling for 30 minutes trying to get out of the parking lot. And several people who didn't feel like jumping in their cars and sitting in traffic, so they just stood outside and smoked. During a gas leak evacuation.

Needless to say, we all survived unscathed. Sadly, the campus was opened back up for business today, so we had to go back. I actually had to evacuate just minutes before a conference call, so I called my boss and asked him to call in to the conference and let the customer know what was going on and see if we could reschedule. He said OK.

Did he do that? Judging from the e-mail I got from my customer, um...no. But the customer rescheduled for an hour later and I had JUST walked in my door and logged in when it was time to call in. It's so convenient to be able to work from home.

(See what I did there? I'm counting my blessings.)

In other news, the free library audio book download thing is working out splendidly. As a surprising twist, I actually remembered where I had stowed my MP3 player for safe keeping, and after that, it was all gravy. It makes my workday so much better when I listen to books as I work. I have briefly considered trying to listen to a book while reading a different book, but then I realized that was a crazy thought and ditched it. I think there's something wrong with me. If I'm listening to something, my eyes need to be busy too. As Frankie said, maybe I should just RELAX.

Abandoned Puppies

2010-01-20T13:23:00.002-06:00

Jen 1, Firewall 0.

Don't mind this post. These are just some abandoned dogs that were posted on my workplace's classifed ads. We can't e-mail out (stupid firewall) and the firewall wouldn't let me upload the pic to Facebook, so I had to find another option. Where there's a will, there's a way! Anyway, I'm posting this for my dog rescuing hero, Donna.

Here's the info that was on the ad:

Someone dumped two adorable puppies on property owned by my family, and we urgently need to find new homes for them. We can't keep them much longer, as our yellow lab isn't very tolerant of them.

They would make excellent indoor dogs - they have short hair, and I believe that they may be close to their full growth. Both puppies are female, have good temperment, and are very playful and people friendly. They seem to be very intelligent. Unfortunately, I don't know what breed they might be, or how old they are.

We need to find them a new home soon. If we can't, we are going to have to take them to an animal shelter, where they will most likely be euthanized. We are willing to give the new owner a 20 lb. sack of dog food with each puppy, or if you take them both, we will give a 50 lb. sack.

Please email me, or call XXXXXXXXXX (or XXXXXXXXXX) if you are interested in one or both of them - we need to find them new homes as soon as possible.

Additionally, the lady has told me that one is 10 lbs, the other is 15 lbs. They have been wormed, and they don't have fleas/ticks.

She thinks they are as big as they're going to get and she said they aren't chewing on stuff, so they're probably not baby puppies.

They have not been around any kids as far as she knows.

2009 Book Wrap-up

2010-01-18T10:32:00.003-06:00

I'm finally getting around to this! Go me!

I decided to make a list of the books from 2009 that left a lasting impression. They either made me evaluate how I live my life, made me anxious to read more of a given author's work, or haunted me long after I finished reading them. I love books like this. When possible, I've linked to the Bookcrossing journal entry that cooresponds to the book.

In no particular order:

The Dive from Clausen's Pier by Ann Packer

Never Let me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
(Do not be fooled...the book is so different from the movie)

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon

I only read 40 books last year, which is kind of a dismal statistic (compared to 84 in 2008 and 93 in 2007), but I will learn to forgive myself. :)

Seventeen of the authors were new to me and in some cases, I can see some of the authors becoming favorites of mine.

Goals for 2010? I'd probably feel moderately OK about reading 50 books. I may read more if I start fully utilizing the Central Arkansas Library System's free audio book download feature. It's wonderful. I just need to locate my MP3 player. I can't keep up with anything lately. Such a disaster!

No, A Tornado Hasn't Just Been Through Here

2010-01-12T18:17:00.002-06:00

It just occurred to me that this is my first post of the new year, so happy new year!

I plan to do a little 2009 reading wrap up post at some point, but that point is obviously not right now. Keep your eyes peeled.

Ready for some randomness? Here goes.

I tried my hand at the ruffly wreath (mentioned here), HOWEVER! my Dollar Tree didn't have the same kind of foam wreath base that the person who wrote the tutorial had, so I had to settle for one of those green foamy things. You know those foamy things that florists stick in the bottom of flower arrangements to stab the flowers into? One of those things, but it's in a sorta wreath shape. It's disgusting. It leaves my hands feeling all gritty and nasty. I am not a fan. Also, it is thicker and smaller in circumference than the one in the tutorial. I did not think that would be a problem, but as of right now it just looks like a big fluffy ball of ruffliness. I'm not quite finished with it yet, but I'll post pictures of it when I'm done. Over all, it's not a hard project and I can definitely see the cuteness potential. I'm just not sure it's going to work out with the materials I have to work with.

Last night when Butter was keeping me up by barking incessantly ALL NIGHT LONG, my sleep deprived mind got the idea that I need to make a rag quilt big enough for my Queen bed. Visions of easy quilty, warm, cozy goodness danced in my head. I have a rag quilt that my sister made, but it's just a throw size. She made one for pretty much everyone in the fam and we all carry them with us like Linus. When we're all together, there may be 2-3 in the room at any given time. They're wonderful and they don't seem all that difficult to make. I went online to try to get an idea of how much fabric I would need to buy (I <3 Google!) and it says that if I want to make it with 4" squares, I'll need 2736 squares. Good grief, that's a lot of squares! I can also make it with 6" squares and "only" use 540 squares. Tedium, thy name is quilting. Anyway, we'll see where I decide to go with that. I want to make a black and white one (because my walls are red and not everything goes with red), so let me know if you know of a place that has good deals on black and white (prints are ok, not just solids) flannel.

Speaking of getting in over my head, I'm sick to death of my house being a mess, so I'm trying to incorporate some of Flylady's ideas about home management into my daily routine. I hope I don't ever have a medical emergency because there's no way I'd let strangers (or anyone else for that matter)into my house with it looking like this. I'd have to meet the paramedics on the porch.

Let's see what else? I got a new job role at work. It has the word "manager" in it, but I don't have to manage any people, I just have to keep the customers happy and make sure everything in our process moves along according to plan. It's going to be an interesting adventure. I've been doing pretty much the same job for nearly 10 years, so I'm excited about changing things up a little. It's going to be challenging (in a huge way), but I don't think I'll be nearly so bored anymore.

And with that, I need to go declutter. {singing}One room at a tiiiiiiiime, sweet Jesus...{/singing}

One Project Down!

2009-12-31T10:04:00.000-06:00

I actually got motivated and completed one of the projects I mentioned yesterday.

I gave the reusable snack bag a go since I had all of the materials I needed to make one...and since I got off work early and had some extra time.

It was really simple to make. The hardest part was squaring up the fabric, but that's always harder than it ought to be -- even with my rotary cutter. I think it would be easier to make a pattern out of lightweight cardboard and use it to cut around.

The sewing part was quick and simple. Anyone who can sew a straight line can do it. It was the first time I had ever sewn something that's lined, so it was neat to see how that process works. It felt like magic when I turned everything right side out. :)

I used iron on Velcro since that's what I had on hand. In the future, I will get some of the sew-on kind because I think it is more cost effective for projects like this and probably easier to work with.

I wouldn't mind making some more. Anybody want to be my resident fabric cutter? I will be the resident sewing machine operator.

And...Breathe.

2009-12-30T09:59:00.003-06:00

Happy UnChristmas to you! Doesn't it feel good to have that over with? :) I know, my heart is at least two sizes too small, but it just feels good to have things start to go back to normal.

Now that things aren't so hectic, I am considering some preparations for next year. For instance, I ran across this tutorial for making an eco-friendly fabric gift pouch. It's very cute and it would save paper. The amount of paper we threw away (actually, we recycled it, but still!) at our family get-together was kind of sickening. Think of how much chaos would be saved if we only used fabric bags.

It reminds me of this reusable snack bag tutorial, which I've also been wanting to attempt.

I also would like to make this ruffly wreath. How cute is that? And what a great use for an old damaged book that's destined for the dump!

I always "star" things like these that I like in Google Reader, but a lot of times I never go back and attempt them. I think I'm going to make an attempt at some of them in 2010. I don't make resolutions, but if I did, that might be one. ;) There are so many great ideas out there and my sewing machine is getting dusty. I'll post pictures of my crafty stuff if/when I get around to it.

Oh, and speaking of eco friendly things...if you're a fan of stainless steel water bottles, Old Navy has theirs on sale for $2 each this week. They even have smaller ones with sippy tops (like sports bottle tops) which would work for kids. Just thought I'd pass that along. They have several cute designs.

To Be Fair...

2009-12-15T16:32:00.003-06:00

For all of the griping I do about Butter, you probably wouldn't guess that she makes me laugh a lot. Sometimes it is laughter through bitter, bitter tears, but it's laughter nontheless.

Case in point:

Last night, I opened the door to let the dogs in for the night and feed them. Mercy was just outside the door, so she just walked right in. Butter wasn't. I said, "Um, Butter?" The next thing I knew, I heard her running at top speed toward the door. She ran so fast that when she hit the kitchen floor, she slid all the way across it and left skid marks (apparently she was playing in the mud when I opened the door to let her in). It was funny -- partially because I have let go of the fantasy of maintaining a clean kitchen floor. Otherwise, I might have cringed a little bit.

It was not funny that she was barking at 5 or 6 this morning. I wonder if they make a canine version of Ambien.

Dribs and Drabs

2009-12-14T20:40:00.002-06:00

I guess I've officially entered into Christmas "red alert" mode. I've got something going on every night this week, but I am comforted by the thought that this busy-ness is only temporary. Am I the only one who needs a lot of down time in order to recharge? Being introverted isn't always easy, folks!

Anyhoo, I had book club tonight. It was our first time having the meeting at someone's house and it was nice. If I was a good womanly type person, I would clean my house and host it sometime. Not bloody likely though.

We discussed Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas by James Patterson. Here are a few of my snarky thoughts about it.

1. In what alternate universe is it acceptable to write a "diary" to your infant son in which you describe in detail the first time you and his father had sex? Seriously? Who does that?!
2. I can suspend my disbelief enough to enjoy books about vampires and werewolves and wizards, but I cannot suspend my disbelief enough to read romance novels.
3. Just because someone interjects "Dear Nicholas," into every other page of a story does not make it a diary.
4. The characters are completely flat and the story is predictable.
5. I cannot imagine that this story would have been published if James Patterson had not written it, but alas, some people love it.

*Breathe...Breathe*

OK, I will read something else before I go to bed in order to cleanse the palate.

Speaking of palates, I have an over-abundance of dirt cake if anyone wants some. I made some for the party tonight and I have lots left over. I wonder if it freezes well...anybody know?

Oh, here's a funny story. Butter has been being kind of cantankerous (shocking!) when I crate her at night, so I spend a lot of time yelling from the other room for her to be quiet. One night, I was so fed up with her because she wouldn't quit with her boisterous outbursts, so I came storming through the house yelling all the way about how she was driving me crazy and that I was going to sell her to the circus and whatnot, and about the time I made it halfway to her, I realized that she wasn't barking at all. My dryer had started making this God-awful noise that sounded like her bark.

Big spider!!! Big Big BIG spider!!! I have to go beat him with a fly swatter until he's in a million pieces.

Save Bandit!!

2009-12-08T11:39:00.002-06:00

I saw this clip on someone else's blog and it made me laugh uncontrollably. Especially the "Save Bandit!" part. :)

Thoughts on the "Merry Christmas" Debacle

2009-12-07T10:51:00.002-06:00

I can't say it better than this guy. Interesting thoughts.

A Few Thoughts on Christmas

2009-12-04T16:10:00.002-06:00

Enough With the Excessive Punctuation!

2009-11-11T13:50:00.001-06:00

As seen on a couple of hotel reviews:

A Times Square chain link that's like "a giant beehive" – this "behemoth" is one of the "best places to stay when you're seeing a Broadway show" (it has its own theater inside and is opposite the half-price TKTS booth); "tourists abound", whether in the "rooftop revolving restaurant", the "crazy" glass elevators or the hectic lobby, but "if you're lucky", you can escape to a room with a "spectacular view" of the "chaos" below – the "fabulous" location is what it's all about.

A "prime location" "just off Times Square" is the main draw of this "large", "booming" hotel with accommodations that are "ample for New York" and an "attached fitness club" available for a fee; the staff remains "friendly" despite the always "crowded" lobby, and while some surveyors praise the "modern appeal", others turn up their noses at the "back in the '80s" decor, finicky temperature controls and slightly "musty smell."

I Want a Pig!

2009-11-05T16:37:00.001-06:00

How funny is this story? This pig is smarter than your honor student. :)

(And yes, Kevin, I've just now gotten around to watching this)

Wasting Time

2009-11-04T10:59:00.002-06:00

While I'm waiting for customers to get back to me and am pretty much at a standstill, I figured I'd post.

It seems as if the adage "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." has not made it through some of my coworker's heads.

There are daily occurrances of some of them Facebook stalking their friends and commenting on how stupid the friend's pictures are. Really? Is there nothing better to do? You'd probably just have to be here to get the full experience, but it's pretty silly. Sometimes I wonder if someone has secretly plopped me back into Junior High as some kind of psychological experiment. There's nothing meaner than three or more girls in a room together and that's the truth. I would not survive a second round of junior high because I would probably do something that would land me in jail. Assault and battery comes to mind, but I digress. :)

On to happier things!

I'm about 3/4 of the way through one of the library books I borrowed. Maybe I will finish it tonight in record time (I usually just BARELY have time to finish my book club books before the meeting).

On a sad note, I am very behind in my reading this year. Usually by the end of October I have finished 70-80 books. The count for this year was a whopping 33 books! It's OK though. I just chose to use some of my reading time for other things this year.

Speaking of which, I guess I could be reading right now since nobody has gotten back to me on my work-related questions.

Why I Need a Chaperone

2009-10-31T11:58:00.005-06:00

I went to the library today to get just one book (the next book club book). I checked the card catalog online to make sure they had it, and (yay!) they did. So off I went.

And I brought that book home with me. It's on the bottom of the stack.

The other ones just jumped into my arms as I walked through the stacks. Uncanny! I tried to put Drums of Autumn back, but it refused to go back on the shelf. I reasoned with it that I just wasn't sure I could read a million pages between now and next month when the books are due back, but it wouldn't budge. It whispered things like, "Well, if you don't get around to reading me, you can always just bring me back. Or better yet, call for an extension of the due date."

I was hypnotized into it, my friends.

And I couldn't just leave the library without checking for Ellen Hopkins books that I haven't read yet. That would have been a mistake. After all, they'll only take me a few hours each to read. (Seriously! She writes her books as if they're poetry, so there's lots of white space in the books. And they're just that good!)

As for the 100 or so books that I OWN and haven't read yet...they'll just have to wait. :)

I'd Remove my own Sinuses if it Wouldn't Result in Bigger Sinuses

2009-10-28T18:49:00.002-06:00

Since I've gotten home from work tonight, I've had terrible sinus drainage. It's a pity that this coincided with choir rehearsal, but I fought through it.

Anyway, the other day, a friend told me about the free sample page on the Wal-Mart website and I clicked on over and requested a sample of Zyrtec. How timely that it should arrive in my mailbox today! I'll have to remember to check the site periodically to see if they've got anything I'm interested in.

Now I will commence with the downing of allergy medicine, the spraying of the sore throat spray, and the revival of the neti pot. It is a geriatric-ish evening, for sure.

Let's hope I can knock this out before it turns into bronchitis this time. I'm still wheezing from the last time.

Volunteerism is its Own Reward

2009-10-26T16:44:00.002-06:00

For the past several months, I've been working in the church nursery. It started out as just a summer thing, but after summer was over there was a desperate need for teachers for fall, so I stayed with it.

There is a continued shortage of volunteers, and that's a little weird to me. I suppose it's a little inconvenient to have to stay at church from 8:45am - 12:20pm (if you volunteer in one service and go to church the other service), but it's really not that big of a deal when you're used to it.

I'm in the two year old class. Some of my friends have asked me why in the world I would work in a two year old class. Despite the whole "terrible twos" myth*, I think age two might be one of the most fun years. I've noticed this when I worked in a two year old class in another church and I'm just starting to notice it in my class now, but when the kids start out in the class, they're still babies. They might talk a little, but not much...and you don't really know how much they're understanding of what you're saying. But by the time they leave the class, they're mini-grown-ups...talking, singing, following directions, etc. It's fun to watch the transformation.

And although there is a little bit of tantrum throwing to deal with, it usually settles down pretty quickly after they realize it's not going to get them anywhere.

And there was that one time that I got peed on...but that's only one time out of all of these Sundays. :)

Anyway, they are great entertainment. There's one little boy in particular that's talking a lot now, and he says the funniest things.

One day he walked in and handed me 50 cents and said, "Dis is Gawd's money!"

Then there was the time he banged his sippy cup against another little boy's sippy cup and shouted, "Cheers!"

And just this Sunday, he crawled under the table with a couple of little girls in the class, lifted up his shirt, and proudly proclaimed, "I hab a belly but-ton!" The girls were delighted, but I had to put the nay no on it when they started pulling up their shirts to show him their belly button. I don't want the parents thinking I'm teaching their kids about Mardi Gras or anything.

He's also starting to repeat the prayers I say. That's pretty cool since the other kids pretty much stare at me like I'm a lunatic when I say, "Thank you, God, for the food." That's OK. They'll catch on one day. :)

*OK, so it's not entirely a myth, but I don't see much of it on Sunday mornings.

I will not, not, not...

2009-10-23T13:23:00.002-06:00

beat someone with a blunt object. But just to be sure, someone should hide all the blunt objects. And probably the pointy ones too.

I have been busy busy busy at work, which is fine. I prefer being busy to being useless, so it's a good thing. Except that it doesn't leave me much time to do other people's jobs for them, and yet they persist in requiring it of me.

I try to be proactive and write up training manuals for people so that they can just copy and paste what I write into a job and make it work, but apparently the concept of copy and paste is lost on certain people, because they still get it wrong. Every. Time. In strange and illogical ways.

Send me an e-mail asking a question and I answer it -- at this point, it would be a good idea to do what I instruct you to do to fix your problem rather than doing the opposite of what I tell you so that you have to call me 10 minutes later and ask me what's wrong.

If a customer's specs say "do XYZ", and you don't follow the specs so the customer e-mails and asks you to "do XYZ", it is not necessary to e-mail me to ask if you should "do XYZ". All signs point to yes!

Ouch! I just pulled out a clump of my hair.

I have spent about 4 hours today doing work on stuff that I don't "own".

On the bright side, there was a baby shower today, so I got to eat cake. In every dark cloud, there's a piece of cake. Or at least there should be.

Which Serenity character are you?

2009-10-21T15:11:00.002-06:00

Here are my results. Shepherd? Not so sure about that. I want to be Inara...but without all the icky prostitution stuff. I just like her fancy clothes.

Your results:
You are Derrial Book (Shepherd)

Derrial Book (Shepherd)		85%
Zoe Washburne (Second-in-command)		50%
River (Stowaway)		50%
Inara Serra (Companion)		40%
Wash (Ship Pilot)		35%
Kaylee Frye (Ship Mechanic)		35%
Dr. Simon Tam (Ship Medic)		35%
Alliance		35%
Malcolm Reynolds (Captain)		30%
A Reaver (Cannibal)		10%
Jayne Cobb (Mercenary)		0%

Even though you are holy
you have a mysterious past.

Click here to take the "Which Serenity character are you?" quiz...

Good Times!

2009-10-13T13:29:00.000-06:00

This weekend I had the opportunity to go hear David Sedaris read some of his stories and speak as a fundraiser for the Literary Festival. He is so stinkin' funny.

His books are kind of hit and miss. I'm particularly fond of Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim ("Baby Einstein" from that book is one of the funniest things I've ever read) with Me Talk Pretty One Day taking a close second, but some of his books are so over the top that I'm pretty limited in regards to who I would recommend them to. Sometimes he takes offensive to a whole 'nother level--and that's a shame because when he's funny, he's REALLY funny.

The event was well attended, so yay! Maybe he will come back sometime.

It was a bit of an ordeal trying to find the auditorium where it was being held, but we weren't the only people who were lost. We actually parked across the street with cries of, "Ooh, check out this sweet parking spot!!!" and then walked around a building trying to figure out how to get in...only to find out it was the wrong building. There were other people doing the same thing. Then we saw a group of people across the street wandering around as if they were lost too...so we dashed across Rodney Parham Rd. -- my partner in crime nearly losing her one of her cute shoes in the process-- and confronted the group of stunned and confused people. Then one of them whipped out her Iphone and turned on the GPS function and before I knew what was happening, we were walking through some woods in the middle of tarantula season. No lie, there is a tarantula season here wherein they wander about doing nefarious things. I just kept saying "Jesus, help! Jesus, help!" and He did because I didn't see any creepy crawlies.

Luckily, the rest of our party got there early and saved us seats on the second row, so whoo hoo! We didn't miss a thing. Yay us!

As a parting gift, here's a video of Sedaris reading one of his essays on Letterman. This one doesn't even have any cursing in it.

Having My Head Examined

2009-10-12T06:23:00.002-06:00

Today I get to go to the neurologist to see if he can put me on some kind of plan to get rid of these pesky headaches. I would also like for him to tell me why my neck feels out of whack (of course after a straight week of it being all crazy, I've almost got it popped back in place now...just in time for him to say, "I can't see what you're talking about.") I think the two things are somewhat related, but maybe he can do an x-ray and see it or something. I can't feel the knot anymore by touch.

I am almost completely off my other "preventative" (not so much, really) medicine, so we can try something new. Maybe something that doesn't make me so stupid. That would be a great bonus. A mind is a terrible thing to lose. Especially now that I've finally got some work to do and I actually need my mind a little bit.

Now I have to go give myself a pedicure. If I remember the last time I went to the neurologist correctly, he ran some kind of thing under my foot to test my nerves. I should have told him that people touching my feet gets on my nerves, but that's probably not what he was looking for. At any rate, nobody is so much as gazing upon these puppies until they have a fresh coat of toenail polish. There's no sense in waltzing up in there like some kind of troll.

Choosing Teams

2009-10-05T09:24:00.004-06:00

Or "My Arts and Crafts Project this Weekend"

I just read a blog post that asked the all important question "Which team are you on?" and it reminded me to post these pictures of what I did this weekend in preparation for the New Moon midnight showing (in November, but I had to get a head start!).

That should answer the question nicely. :) I do not understand the Team Jacob people. In my opinion, Jacob is a manipulative twit. However, I suppose that if you base your "team" off of the movie and not off of the books, I can see how you can choose to be on Team Jacob. The movie version of Edward is not as handsome as my imagination's version of Edward. And the movie version of Jacob is quite the hottie. Young, young, young though....and not young in an Edward way (oh...well he's not really 16 --or whatever...who's counting?, he's 100 and something if you count how long he's been undead).

In the end, we ~~cougars~~ Twilight lovers may not agree on which is the best team, but we can agree that when it comes to Edward and Jacob, age ain't nothin' but a number.

Hit it Aaliyah! (RIP!)

Brain Candy

2009-10-04T18:00:00.004-06:00

Rarely do I watch TV. For one thing, I just don't have the attention span. Maybe if I had Tivo, I could manage TV (I could watch for 5 minutes, get bored, pause it, and come back later), but I don't, so I say Bah Humbug to most TV shows. If a TV show could grab me in the first two and a half minutes and make me care, I might watch it...but that never happens. You know what I care about? Sleeping. Getting rid of the FLEA INFESTATION FROM HELL (thank goodness, I think they're on the way out). Going more than a day or two without a migraine...that would be nice. TV shows? Not big on the list.

Anyway, I decided to give Flash Forward a chance. The preview looked intriguing. In fact, if you're like me, just watch the preview in lieu of the first episode. It sums it up and it saves you time. The second episode was much better. I'm interested to see how the series pans out. If you like (non-religious) post-apocalyptic type shows, you might like it.

I also watched Hoarders for the first time this weekend. Wow. Just wow. I need to watch that every now and then just to feel better about the state of my own home. I mean I'm a terrible housekeeper, but at least things aren't that bad.

I watched several episodes of Firefly at a friend's house this weekend. I thought it was pretty good. I'm not really a sci-fi chick, so I was somewhat skeptical, but it's got so many good one-liners, and it's not Star-Trekky or anything, so I'm good with it. I think we're going to try to get together on a regular basis to finish up the series.

Do you have a TV obsession or do you eschew TV with a firm hand?

Whoops! It's Banned Books Week!

2009-10-02T09:24:00.006-06:00

I almost let it get away from me this year, but thanks to reading a blog post, I was reminded about it.

ALA Banned Books Week is Sept. 26 - Oct. 3 2009

Even though my reading has really slowed down lately, I did read a book from this frequently challenged list.

Ever read Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene? Somehow I missed out on it in childhood, but when I came across it in adulthood and realized it's set in Arkansas and it's a frequently challenged book, I decided to give it a try. I really enjoyed it!

It's about a young girl who lives with parents who are neglectful at best and abusive at worst.

Nazi prisoners of war are sent to her small town in Arkansas to work at a prison camp and she's intrigued by one of them when he comes into her father's store to buy some straw hats to protect the prisoners from the Arkansas sun. This prisoner speaks English, so they are able to communicate and she finds that he's not this evil guy that everyone has made him out to be. He just went along with the regime because he would be killed if he didn't. Anyway, along the way, this "evil" guy is the only person who ever tells her that she's a person of value, and that sticks with her.

I wonder how many people out there are waiting for someone to tell them that they're a person of value and that all of the crap they've been told about themselves all of their lives has been false? It was thought-provoking for me.

The book is sad and it's full of irony and lots of good lessons. It was probably challenged/banned because it is set in a time when there was racial segregation and some of the language depicts racial slurs and religious discrimination -- but the book does not encourage that kind of behavior, it's just true to the setting.

That is my banned/challenged book recommendation for this year. :)

What is your favorite banned or challenged book?

Treximet, Treximet, Ooh lala...

2009-09-21T13:21:00.003-06:00

Why is it that every time I think of my new migraine medicine, I get the Tresseme jingle stuck in my head? It's not right.

Also, every time I type Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, I accidentally type Snow Flower and the Secret Flan first. That would be a totally different story. What would it be about? A Chinese girl who moves to Mexico (or Spain?) and carries on a secret love affair with a strangely textured dessert item? I don't know. But it's all beside the point anyway.

Anyway, I took my first Treximet today. I'm always a little hesitant to start a new triptan. I don't know why. Maybe it's the way I can feel it messing with the blood vessels in my head. Or the commercials that talk about how you could die from taking them. Or the way I feel after I've taken them.

They are miracle drugs though. If Relpax was a person, I'd make out with it. I'm just sayin'. Anyway, I was skeptical about the Treximet because it's basically Imitrex (which sucks -- if Imitrex was a person, I would punch it in the face) plus naproxen sodium, but something about the combination of the two drugs is supposed to make it work better. My verdict so far is that it knocked the headache out fairly quickly, but instead of actually making me pain free, it has made my shoulders and arms hurt so much. Migraine meds always do that to me, but this seems especially bad. Does that happen to other people? I feel like I've been carrying a load of bricks all day.

Rattle Rattle Rattle

2009-09-15T10:17:00.003-06:00

That's the sound of things rolling around in my head.

I'm taking a break from annoying my conservative friends on FB to blog. :) Actually, I hope I'm not annoying anyone. I'm trying not to. I do try to be respectful (and I generally just keep my mouth shut altogether because nobody I know agrees with me anyway), but when I see things rolling so briskly downhill (statements like "Obama is going to force everyone to have mandatory abortions!"), I really, really can't risk chewing my tongue off in order to bite my tongue. :)

Anyway, jumping off that topic and onto another one. Or as they say, "Out of the frying pan and into the fire!"

This is mainly for my own benefit because I keep coming back to these two ideas and as soon as I think about them, I start thinking about something else. I thought it would help if I wrote them down.

1. Matthew 25:31-46

31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

AGAIN -- I am not writing this to preach to anyone else. I am writing this for myself because this keeps coming to my mind and I can't let go of it.

* In a perfect world The Church would take care of people. We would love people seven days a week. Even the ones that slip out unnoticed on Sundays after the service. Or don't come to church at all. We would love them even if they didn't love Jesus. We would feed the hungry even if they weren't hungry for what we wanted to feed their soul. We would care for the sick even if it might cause us to examine our Christmas shopping budgets and cut some things out in order to fund it. But we aren't. Or we can't. Or something. I don't know. And we aren't going to. That's the long and the short of it.

* And so here we are. And so many people are angry about it? Really?

2. Why I'm not angry:

* Things can't stay the way they are. Most people have pretty craptacular insurance and the way it's trending is not pretty. I have a pretty dang good job, but when I go to a new doctor's office and hand them my insurance card, the receptionists give me a look of pity. Seriously. And my insurance isn't as bad as a lot of people's. I mean I pay for EVERYTHING out of pocket even with insurance unless something catastrophic happens, but at least there's a safety net in case I end up in the hospital. A lot of people don't have a safety net.

* I do not have to answer for people who take advantage of the system. Period. I do have to answer for not helping people who have less than I do.

* A lot of it sounds a whole lot like, "But they're getting a better deal than IIIIIII am. And I deserve health care more because I work harder, or XYZ.." /whining nasal voice. Waa Waa-waa-waa-waa. :)

* I feel peace that things will be hashed out.

Not Every Story Can Have a Happy Ending

2009-09-14T14:45:00.004-06:00

Remember the dogs I discovered at the lake earlier this summer that my friends David and Jennifer helped rescue?

You may remember that most of them went into temporary care at a ranch where they received shots and excellent care while they waited to be paired up with forever homes. Most of them ended up being transported to homes in the Northeastern US where there is actually a shortage of strays. Thank God for spay and neuter laws! Too bad that hasn't caught on here!

All but one of the rescued dogs was heartworm negative (yay!) and the one positive dog went to stay with David and Jennifer while he received his treatments. Over the past few days, he got progressively sicker and it was discovered that he had distemper (it must have been a dormant case from awhile back since he had been vaccinated for it when we found him back in May). There was no way to cure him and he was in bad shape, so Russ had to be put to sleep. It was the best decision for him, but a sad one for those who cared for him. David and Jennifer devoted a lot of love and time to that guy, so say a prayer for them if you're a praying sort.

But not every story has a sad ending. I ran across this video on CNN.com earlier and it made me smile. The transport service that The Ranch uses is a really nice converted horse trailer that drives the dogs across the country to their new forever homes, but check out how these lucky dogs got to their new homes. :)

Jiggity Jig

2009-09-08T15:30:00.002-06:00

Mini-vacation 2009 was a success!

It was my first airline travel for non-work related purposes, so that's kind of a fun milestone. I told my cousin that we need to take advantage of some of Southwest's really cheap fares and meet up at some vacation destination sometime and do a little getaway. She agrees, but it will have to be sometime when school is not in session or something since she's teaching.

Anyhoo, fun times. I got to see a college buddy whom I hadn't seen in 7(!) years. And I got to see her cute kids -- one of which actually let me hold her...the other pretty much didn't want me to touch him, but I did talk him into waving at me there at the end, so there still might be hope that he will let me adopt me at some point in the future (seriously cute kids, people...don't judge me for wanting to adopt my friends' kids).

We went to see a musical (Guys and Dolls) in a park while I was there. The weather cooperated beautifully and it was a perfect temperature (rare for this time of year!). However, if anyone could tell me what happens at the end, I would appreciate it. I mean, we stayed until the end, but as I mentioned, I am losing my mind and my short term memory is gone and I can't concentrate on more than one thing at a time. At the end, we started folding up our blanket during the last song, so I have no recollection of the last little bit of the musical. (Couldn't have told you what happened even as we were walking back to the car.)

I know the "guys" all put on corsages 'one last time' and I'm assuming it's because Adelaide and that other guy finally got married and maybe the church lady and the other guy got married too, but if you could straighten that out for me, that'd be great, thanks!

I also got acquainted with the wonder that is Ikea. Everyone should have an Ikea. I only bought this little dog food bowl stand thing and a food and water bowl. And it just ALMOST fit in my bag. So my cousin is going to mail the stand to me.

The only gripe I have with Ikea (besides there not being one in every town) is that some of the stuff was very hard to decipher. I didn't know what they were trying to sell me in some cases and that made me sad. There should be clear explanations on everything.

On another note, one of the flight attendants on the flight back home was possibly moonlighting as a stand up comic. The safety speech was a joke. The "we just landed, but don't get up yet" speech was a joke.

"We do not anticipate a sudden loss of cabin pressure (or else none of us would have shown up to work today) but if that happens, an oxygen mask will drop..."

"Do not form a line in the aisle to wait for the restroom. That makes us nervous. Do not do any line dancing such as the electric slide in the aisles..."

"We enjoyed serving all of you except for the two ladies on the left side of the plane on row 6 'Can I have a crown and coke? Is it free?'"

Definitely an interesting little flight crew.

Shameless Plug

2009-09-02T14:19:00.006-06:00

One of my relatives has started a new business called Word Diva Designs.

Check out her website. She's selling vinyl designs and/or lettering that can be applied to walls. It looks really nice and the best part is that you can remove it if you decide to redecorate later. It's very affordable, and it's customizable, so if you have a favorite quote from a book, song, or Bible verse, you can let her know what you want (font design, color, quote, etc.) and she will work up a design for you and let you proof it before you buy it.

You can see example pictures in the picasa galleryhere.

There's a place on her site where you can become a "fan" on Facebook. I'm sure she would really appreciate your support!

Various Updates

2009-08-31T16:45:00.006-06:00

1. The puppy is alive. My sister decided that she couldn't bring herself to put her down just yet. She consulted with the vet and they are going to try her on crate rest and pain medication for 6 weeks to give her more time to heal. She'll be using a sling to help her walk when she takes her out for potty breaks. This dog is 9 months old and over 60 pounds, so...

2. My mom went to a diagnostic clinic this week to talk to someone about a tremor she's got and about some other issues she's been having. She called me today to tell me that the doctor told her she's got Parkinson's in stage 2. She seemed very upset about it, which I kind of get except she had already been diagnosed with Parkinson's before, so I guess I missed something. That's what happens when your family doesn't correspond/interact/etc. with you for weeks on end?

Anyway, the conversation went a little something like this:

Her: Well, they said I've got Parkinson's.
Me: Oh, OK, well at least you know what you're dealing with and hopefully they have some good ideas on how to treat it.
Her: You better just watch out because you're going to get it too. It runs in families and you already shake, so you've got it to look forward to and your life is going to be hell.
Me: OK...well, I guess I'll add that to the list. Did you tell your doctor that you worked around pesticides for a long time?
Her: Yeah, you inherited your momma's big butt and now this! Oh I showed her my work history and everything.

And you know what's funny? It totally didn't register that I had just been insulted until later in the day. I think this is due in part to my Topamax regimen (brain fog has set in BIG time) and in part to this kind of thing being commonplace. Usually she hits my sisters with it more than me maybe because I'm more apt to snap back without even batting an eye, but she totally slipped one in on me today. Score one for mom!

Such is life in Crazyville.

3. Did I mention the brain fog? Yeah. To the extent that I pick up the phone to call someone and if I don't get them and hang up the phone I can't remember if I've called them or if I've left them a message or if I've just thought about calling them. It's like Groundhog Day all day long in my head. And I just had an 8 day long headache in spite of it all. I'm still not up to the full dosage strength, but I'm going to tough it out until after I see my doctor again on the 10th. Up until the 8 day long headache, things were going swimmingly. Maybe now that I've broken out of that, things will go back to normal.

Also, if you try to have a conversation with me and I can't hold one, I'm sorry. I can think the words, but something gets lost between the thinking and the saying sometimes if I can't give the conversation my full concentration. I'm really smarter than I look. Or at least I used to be. :)

4. Because I never post pictures, here's a funny one. We decorated a coworker's cube for her birthday. Here is a picture of me with her new boyfriend. (Please note that he is NOT anatomically correct! He is not that kind of guy. What do you take him for?!) We did dress him later, but I didn't take a picture with him after I dressed him, so this is the best I could do.

TBRs

2009-08-30T16:14:00.003-06:00

Lisa at Books Lists Life asked to see our TBR shelves. She has lots of TBRs! I thought I did too, but then I saw hers. ;) Kidding! I've actually done a pretty good job of whittling down my stack over time. The way I've done this is that I have stopped joining book boxes at bookcrossing.com. Such willpower!

Anyhow, I'm down to only two shelves now! Here they are.

I took the picture with my phone, so the quality isn't great. Terribly sorry. I would have opened the window to let more natural light in, but the biggest spider of all time has set up housekeeping on the other side of that window and I'd rather not have to wet myself for the sake of a picture. I love you, but I don't LOVE you. Know what I mean?

They aren't really organized in any particular way except the ones in the lower right hand corner that have little square stickers on the bottom of the spines are bookcrossing books that have already been crossed. That means that I should really go ahead and read them and move them along to someone else, but for various reasons, I haven't gotten around to doing that yet. In some cases, those are series books and I'm not to that point in the series yet, etc. Other than that, they are "arranged" willy-nilly. I spy two Gregory Maguire books on two different shelves. Do you? If it makes you OCD folks feel better, the CS Lewis books appear to all be grouped together in a clump.

My TBRs have their own bookcase. My permanent collection books have their own bookcase. My "other" books (books that I may or may not have read, books that will not remain with me but will be given away) have their own bookcase. That's how my books are organized -- on a macro level, not on a micro level.

Truth be told, I have a few stragglers in the living room, but I can't put them on the shelf yet because they aren't registered yet. There is a method to my madness, it just doesn't involve alphabetization or organizing them by genre. :)

:(

2009-08-28T15:17:00.002-06:00

I learned today that my sister is having to have her puppy put to sleep today. Please keep her family in your prayers -- her dogs are her babies much like mine are, so this will be a tough time for her.

Her pup ruptured the ligaments in both of her back legs due to a genetic disorder and the specialist vet she took her to said that even with corrective surgery, the same thing would probably start happening in her other joints. Since she was in so much pain, they had to make the decision to go ahead and put her to sleep.

This is one of the puppies that came from the litter that my dad rescued late last year.

In fact, pray right now...I'm texting back and forth with her and she's having a really tough time going back and forth about whether or not she can make herself even take her in to be put to sleep. She knows she needs to, but she's just struggling.