ladybugjournal

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2011-10-12T23:02:00.001-05:00

Hooray! Wonder how long it will stay like this...

Keeping It Real

2011-10-12T11:39:00.001-05:00

I know I can't be the only one whose bathroom counter looks like this. Here's hoping I manage to get it cleared, if only for a little while. It's driving me nuts!!!

Surreal

2011-02-28T01:31:00.002-06:00

It was about 2:45 pm. The kids were napping. I had just awakened from my short nap, and was reading Facebook on my phone. I heard the door knob to the bedroom make a sound, and I wondered why Brad was coming into the bedroom during naptime. He walked in hunched over a bit, with his hand on his chest. I knew something was wrong. The first thing that crossed my mind was, "Oh dear, he's having a heart attack." Followed by the thought that maybe his lunch wasn't sitting well and his tummy was hurting. I asked, "Are you ok?!" He said, "No. No I'm not." I asked what was wrong and he asked me to come into the bathroom.

I got up and followed him into our master bath, where he grabbed the mouthwash out of the medicine cabinet, took a swig, swished, and spit. And then said, "Landon crashed his plane."

I don't remember the exact details of our conversation after that but at some point I think I asked what that meant and he said, "He's gone."

Today, February 27, 2011, the world lost a man - a son, a brother, a husband, a father, an uncle, a cousin, a friend. Three others were also lost in the crash.

I'm numb. I'm in shock. I'm angry. I'm overwhelmingly grief-stricken (because "sad" is not a strong enough word for this raw, ugly emotion that makes my head pound and my stomach feel like it wants to empty its contents at any given moment). I want someone to pinch me and wake me up from this horrible, horrible nightmare. As a mother, my heart aches so terribly for my other mother-in-law (I have two) and father-in-law . As a wife, my heart is sickened and grieving for my sister-in-law and her 2.5 year-old son. As a sister, I am so very heartbroken for my husband and his other two brothers and their sister. I'm just devastated for the whole family and the friends.

We've been searching the web and twitter for details. Links I've run across:

Sea Plane forum (includes flight plan)

Zawya.com

Gulf News

Emirates - this one irritates me, if you look to the right you'll see a photo of an airplane exploding. It's not the actual aircraft.

How (not) to Fix a Brisket

2010-08-27T12:23:00.002-05:00

Ingredients and supplies:
crock pot
2-3 lb brisket
Stubbs Bar-B-Q Spice Rub
Colgin mesquite flavor Liquid Smoke

Remove crock pot from cabinet, place on counter and plug in.
Remove brisket from package and place in crock pot.
Turn on crock pot and set it to cook on low.
Realize you forgot to put the spice rub on the brisket.
Remove brisket from crock pot, turn pot off, and place brisket on cutting board.
Liberally sprinkle spice rub on both sides of brisket and rub in.
Try not to gag as the fat lifts as you rub the spice on the brisket.
Contemplate becoming vegetarian (you'd consider vegan but you enjoy honey, eggs, gummy bears, and marshmallows too much).
Place brisket back into crock pot.
Place lid on crock pot and set the pot to cook on low.
Realize you have forgotten to add the Liquid Smoke.
Remove lid from crock pot and dump bottle of Liquid Smoke into the pot on top of the brisket.
Replace lid.
Contemplate going back to bed. Clearly you need more sleep.

A special bread, indeed

2010-08-11T12:11:00.001-05:00

LOVE this video! It makes me laugh every time, and it's so sweet. Figured I'd share it and hopefully bring a smile to your face!

2010-07-07T21:52:00.001-05:00

Win A Shawna digi scrap kit!

2010-05-14T17:00:00.000-05:00

go check it out!

http://mylittlescraps.com/blog/2010/05/friday-fix-today-its-a-two-fer/comment-page-1/#comment-49931

Product retirement at the Sweet Shoppe

2010-04-03T11:09:00.002-05:00

Go check it out! A bunch of the designers' products are retiring next Saturday. It's all 50% off this week, go shop! Shawna Clingermann is giving away a $10 gift certificate to her store if you go enter on her blog:

http://mylittlescraps.com/blog/2010/04/its-saturday-and/

This Week's Blog Assignment (TWBA) from My Great Retreat

2010-03-24T21:35:00.002-05:00

I just joined another forum called My Great Retreat (mygreatretreat.com - if you join, my username is joana1n for the referral). They have a weekly blog assignment and since this blog, my original blogger blog that I started long before I had kids, doesn't get much love any more, I thought I'd start doing at least a weekly post. We'll see how long I keep up with it.

Anyway, this week's blog assignment is "What do you enjoy snacking on?"

Organic Gummy Bears, since I don't do Red 40 - it makes me crazy hyper. Add a cold bottle of Coca Cola made in Mexico (so it is made with sugar, not high-fructose corn syrup), and YUM. Best. Snack. Ever. !!!

And the last couple of days I've enjoyed munching on the gluten-free lemon bars I made. They contain eggs and everyone else in this house (except the baby) is allergic to eggs, so they are mine, all mine.

Win a digi kit!

2010-03-19T18:23:00.000-05:00

Check this sneak peek out!

http://bit.ly/9K30TP

Can't wait to see the unveiling at www.sweetshoppedesigns.com tomorrow!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

No Jacket = BRRRR!!!

2010-01-17T09:46:00.002-06:00

I looked at the weather app before leaving the house the other evening.
52 degrees. I was wearing a long sleeve t shirt and a heavy sweatshirt so I figured I would be fine without a jacket.

I got in the car and after pulling out of the garage, started getting really cold. And the car got colder and colder... Sure didn't feel like 52 degrees!

Because it wasn't!

Wished I had taken a jacket after all!

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Win a Dyson D25

2009-12-17T23:17:00.003-06:00

I wish I could say our vacuum sucks, but it doesn't. At least, not as well as everyone else's who owns a Dyson. We wonder if we got a dud, but we have had it for a few years and I'm sure it's not under warranty. Too lazy to take it anywhere to have it serviced (too lazy, or just too busy with two small children)...so I'm trying to win a new vacuum to see if we can find the Dyson love!

You can win, too - go here:
http://babyrabies.com/2009/12/04/tis-the-season-for-a-new-vacuum/

It's an amusing read, too. :-)

Win an iPod Touch!

2009-10-16T15:32:00.001-05:00

Amy over at Living Locurto (www.livinglocurto.com) is giving away an iPod Touch! She talks about her favorite DIY apps. Her blog is also full of other fun ideas & printables, so go check it out!

Win a Tamron Lens!

2009-07-08T12:30:00.000-05:00

Win a Tamron 18-270mm or 28-300mm lens!

I wanna win this water slide bounce house!

2009-06-30T23:27:00.004-05:00

The contest runs from June 30th thru Aug. 3rd.

Pirate Water Slide Bounce House blogger review

Pirate Water Slide Bounce House

Latest Line of Barbies

2008-12-04T20:50:00.001-06:00

http://railyuh.blogspot.com/2008/12/wonders-will-never-cease.html

Thank you, Annie!!!

Live Tree vs. Fake Tree

2008-12-02T21:08:00.002-06:00

I've always been a fake tree proponent, probably mostly because I seem to be allergic to most evergreens and the idea of having one in my home for a month doesn't appeal to me. I like the ease of a fake tree and the fact that I don't have to remember to water it. One of my biggest fears is having a house fire, and a dry tree is definitely a fire hazard (yes, my mother did nickname me Sparky!).

This video makes me even more glad my tree is fake!

Gifts of Grace

2008-11-04T13:34:00.003-06:00

Nov. 2nd - Nov. 30th

My church is partnering with another church across town to provide underprivileged kids with a gift this Christmas season. Our goal is to provide 800 wrapped toys for
this community need. Please help us make a difference in a child’s life! If you're interested in helping, leave a comment and your email address and I will get in touch with you regarding the specifics.

Thanks!

Wordless Wednesday: Why I Buy Minced Garlic in a Jar

2008-10-15T20:55:00.000-05:00

She's Gone.

2008-10-03T00:50:00.002-05:00

Nani is gone. The vet said she had cancer. There is a huge cockatiel-sized hole in my heart.

My "Baby" is Sick. :-(

2008-10-02T23:04:00.003-05:00

No, not Miss N. I mean, not my human child, Miss N. My 10.5 year old cockatiel, Nani, is currently spending the night in a heated, oxygenated cage at the emergency avian vet in a town that is roughly 30 miles from our home.

I'd noticed the last week or so that she'd been sleeping with her head under her wing a lot. I didn't think too much of it. And then today I noticed she was having a hard time moving around the cage. She was struggling to get up onto the perch where her food dish is. I took her out of the cage and she could barely hold her wings up, she was so weak.

I went into panic mode. I started calling vets trying to get her an appointment immediately. This was at 5 pm, and most of them closed at 6 and weren't willing to stay open late. So Brad offered to take her to the emergency vet.

I had worship team rehearsal tonight, so I called a friend from my playgroup who lives VERY close to our church, and asked her if she could watch Miss N (my human child!) for an hour or so while I attended rehearsal. She was willing and able, and I am so very thankful for her!

Brad was home when we got back to the house. He said the vet said she was encouraged by the fact that Nani was eating and moving around some more. The vet called a little later and said they were trying to take blood but couldn't get a vein, so they gave Nani some fluids and tried again a little later, and were still not successful, so they'd keep trying. They said she's more active now, which is a good thing.

The vet said it could be one of three things: a kidney problem, which they can do little about (and which I suspect because of how her stools have been over the past couple of years), cancer, which they could possibly operate on and successfully remove, or a bug that could be beat with antibiotics. We're obviously praying for the last one and for our baby bird to be healed! We won't know anything until they can run the blood tests, and they have to be able to get blood for that.

Lens Filters are a GOOD THING

2008-09-22T23:13:00.004-05:00

Well, sort of...

If you bump your camera lens against something, your lens filter will protect your lens. The good news is that this was a $20 filter on a $200 lens. The bad news is that this was much more than just a bump...the impact was strong enough to jam the filter out of the threading and down into the lens, and messed up the zoom and focus rings. They move, but not smoothly! I have no idea if I'll be able to get the filter off of the lens. Thankfully, it was my cheap kit lens and not one of my more expensive lenses - THAT would have made me really mad.

In case you're wondering, this happened over two weeks ago. I stepped off a curb I didn't see (don't ask how). I sprained my ankle and broke a bone in my leg. It sounds much more dramatic than it actually is - the broken bone was the very tip of my fibula (the little bone on the outside of the leg). I'm walking around ok and am able to drive, praise God! I do not know what I would have done if Miss N and I were cooped up in the house for four to six weeks!

Not So Much...

2008-09-22T23:04:00.002-05:00

Rule of physics: when a toddler drops a crayon from a height of 3 feet onto a hard, tile floor, that crayon will NOT be "Hard to break!"

Photo Meme

2008-09-22T22:49:00.004-05:00

Tagged by Becca, sort of! She says, "If you read my blog and you are cool enough to do this, then you should."

Go take a picture of things in your house AS THEY ARE RIGHT NOW! No fixing before you snap the picture!

1. My Closet-

If we had it to do over again, we wouldn't have the builder install any of those shelves or rods. We plan to redesign it and tear it all out and install Elfa, probably this January when Container Store does their big 30% off sale!

2. Kitchen Sink

Ahhh, a clean, shiny kitchen sink. Thank you, FlyLady!

3. Toilet in Main Bathroom-

Exciting stuff, huh?

4. Kids in their best form-

She was quite frustrated that she couldn't get that brown shoe off in order to put her other pink Croc on.

5. A Beautiful place I want to visit:

Treasure Cay, Abaco Island, Bahamas

6. Something I do not enjoy:

I HATE folding laundry! HATE HATE HATE!

7. My Fridge and freezer:

You can see all of the fridge clutter is on the side so I don't have to look at it all the time. Miss N brings home one piece of artwork from MDO each day (so 2 per week). I put one on the front of the fridge and replace it with the newest piece each time.

8. My Favorite room-

Right now this is my favorite room because it is 90% done. We still have stuff to hang on the walls and some decor to put on top of the bookcases, but it gives me hope that the rest of our house will be complete some day!

9. Self Portrait-

This was the best I could get.

10. My favorite shoes-

I LOVE these shoes on Miss N!

And these are my favorites to wear. They're probably horrifically out of style, but I don't care, they're still cute!

If you read this, guess what? Tag, you're it, NO TAG BACKS! :-)

In Honor of Labor Day (a couple of days late)

2008-09-03T13:40:00.003-05:00

Saw this on Jess' blog and was instructed to complete it!

How long was your labor?
5 hours

How did you know you were in labor?
my water broke

Where did you deliver?
at home, in a nice warm tub of water!

Drugs?
No way!!!

C-section?
Nope

Who delivered?
I DID!

Tagged - 6 quirks

2008-08-28T00:01:00.004-05:00

Here are the rules:
1. Link back to the person who tagged you: Sara (http://sarascott.blogspot.com/ ), April (http://mcnosky.blogspot.com ) , and Nikki (http://nikkiandmemo.blogspot.com/)

2. Mention the rules on your blog

3. Tell 6 unspectacular quirks of yours

4. Tag 6 fellow bloggers by linking to them: Erin (http://erinsneedham.blogspot.com/), Adri (http://iwasnttalkingtoyou.blogspot.com/), Jenny HaHa (http://jennyhaha.blogspot.com/), Lindsay (http://www.mysplatterpaintedlife.com/), Tyne (http://theunperfectmother.blogspot.com/), Victoria (http://stirandmix.blogspot.com/), and anyone else that feels like doing this!

5. Leave a comment for each tagged blogger to let them know that they have been tagged

6 Quirks about me..

1. When I eat ice cream, I always turn the spoon upside down right before I put it in my mouth.

2. I eat my meals in courses. I have to finish all of one thing before moving on to the next thing on my plate.

3. I don't like it when my food touches on the plate.

4. I find an odd satisfaction in answering the question, "Did you make that?" with a "Yes!"

5. I won't speak a single word in the morning until I have brushed my teeth.

6. I'm addicted to magnetic note pads and calendars. You know, the ones you find in the dollar
spot at Michaels and Target! Seriously addicted!

Happy Anniversary!

2008-08-14T21:54:00.004-05:00

Brad and I have been married four years today. One thousand, four hundred sixty-one days, and a handful of hours. It's really hard to believe that it was four years ago that we became husband and wife. It's been quite an adventure, full of fun and several challenges. I know that with our foundation built on Christ that we will successfully weather any storm that may come along.

I'm a very blessed woman to have such a wonderful husband who truly knows what it means to follow Christ and lead our family.

Here are some photos of us from our wedding day. If you want to see more details, visit Our Wedding Web Page. The wedding highlights video link doesn't work any more, but I haven't had any desire to update the web page.

To celebrate the day, I cooked Brad's favorite meal, sauerbraten and mashed potatoes. Yesterday he brought home a dozen red roses for me and one hot pink rose for Nyssa (so sweet!). He told me last night that when I went to bed, I couldn't get back up until in the morning. I had no idea what kind of surprise I'd be waking up to! When I left the bedroom in the morning, there was a piece of computer printer paper with a smiley face printed on it that was taped to the wall facing the bedroom door. As I rounded the corner, I spotted two more pieces of computer paper with prints of ducks on them (we have an inside joke about ducks that goes all the way back to our third date). And then I spotted the larger-than-life love letter he had written to me, printed out on over 200 sheets of paper and taped to the longest wall of our living room. I was blown away by his creativity, as well as the sweet letter he wrote to me (no, I won't be sharing it). There was another two sentence letter on the wall in the entry of our home, and he had scattered more prints of random ducks on the walls in the main living area. He also had taped Howard (the duck that started the whole inside joke about ducks) to the wall with a letter (we've been doing that for over five years now!).

After dinner we exchanged gifts - the fourth anniversary gift is supposed to be fruit/flowers (traditional) and appliances (modern). I ordered him six bottles of St. Lucia banana ketchup, which he fell in love with on our honeymoon to St. Lucia. I figured since banana is a fruit, that counts! And he got me the latest Flip video camera, which was originally on my Christmas list for this year. I can't wait to really use it and post lots of fun videos over on Nyssa's blog.

Tomorrow night we are going out for dinner to Ruth's Cris. I'll have more photos to share tomorrow!

Stud Finder of Odd Proportions

2008-07-15T22:43:00.003-05:00

I hate conventional stud finders. We have never been able to get one to work properly, as evidenced by the nine or so holes that are hidden behind the giant blue marlin that is hanging in the photography studio. There were another sixteen holes in the wall of our apartment where he was hanging in our living room for the same reason.

A few weeks ago I sat down with my 1994 copy of Reader's Digest Household Hints and Tips. It mentioned the use of a strong magnet to locate the studs in the walls of your house. I was skeptical but figured it had to be better than nailing hole after hole after hole hoping to hit the 2x4 on the first try.

What do you know! It actually works! You start by locating the poorly spackled nail hole in the baseboard.

Then you take your magnetic Tot Lok (any other strong magnet will work, the Tot Lok is just the one we happened to have handy) and starting at the baseboard, move your way up in a straight line, following the magnet until it is at the height you want to place your nail. You'll feel the magnet stick every few inches.

Quite ingenious, no? Too bad I didn't think of it myself, many moons ago!

Oh, dear.

2008-07-12T01:33:00.001-05:00

As a 1930s wife, I am
Superior

Take the test!

Tagged

2008-06-10T22:46:00.001-05:00

The rules are as follows:
1. Post the rules!
2. Answer the questions about yourself
3. At the end of the post, list 5-6 people you would like to tag and leave a comment on their blog letting them know
4. Let the person who tagged you know that you posted your answers.

So here goes....1. What were you doing 10 years ago? 1998 - Moving from Santa Barbara, CA down to Laguna Hills, CA and working full time in HR for a magnetic resonance imaging company in Anaheim, and hating my 22-mile-one-way commute.

2. What are 5 things on your to-do list today? laundry, shop, pack, photography stuff, and sleep

3. What are some snacks you enjoy? hummus & pretzels, almost any kind of fresh fruit, Just Tomatoes freeze dried corn, Yummy Earth root beer candies. Oh, and raw cookie dough.

4. What would you do if you were a billionaire? travel the world, help the needy, support our church in a big way, pay off our house, lots of other things!

5. What are three of your bad habits? staying up too late, being the queen of good intentions, starting things I don't finish

6. 5 places you have lived? Abilene, TX, Santa Barbara, CA, Laguna Hills, CA, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA, Frisco, TX.

7. What are 5 jobs you have had? out of the 34 or so... photographer, systems analyst, HR coordinator, payroll clerk, typesetter

8. What is currently playing on your Ipod? the worship music from the last rotation I did at church

9. What are the last 5-6 books you have read? The Discipline Book, The Baby Book, Moo, Baa, La La La, Doggies, Elmo Loves You

10. Who do you want to tag? Erin, Adri, Jenny Ha Ha if she's up to it, April, Misty (like she's got the time!), and anyone else that feels like wasting some time! :-)

I heart Dr. Sears

2008-06-01T22:44:00.002-05:00

"Babies will wean and someday they will sleep through the night. This high maintenance stage of nighttime parenting will pass. The time in your arms, at your breast, and in your bed is a relatively short while in the life of a baby, yet the memories of love and availability last forever. "

This is why we 1) cosleep and 2) REFUSE REFUSE REFUSE to sleep train our daughter to go to sleep on her own.

I do not want to send the message to her that we are only available to her during the day. I want her to learn that (to use Dr. Sears' phrasing) sleep is a pleasant state to enter into and a safe state to remain in. I do not believe that leaving her to cry alone until she falls asleep will accomplish those goals.

I'm not criticizing any other parent for choosing to use the cry-it-out method to get their children to sleep. I believe that, generally speaking, parents do what they feel is best for their families based on their own beliefs and principles when it comes to raising children. So why do I not get the same courtesy from other parents? If I'm venting about having trouble with sleeping, just offer some sympathy and encouraging words: "This too shall pass."

WRONG!!!

2008-05-31T00:18:00.001-05:00

HowManyOfMe.com

There are
0
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

Um, wrong. There is ONE person in the US that has MY NAME....

DUH!

Who writes these programs?!

Bachelorette Party

2008-05-30T23:01:00.001-05:00

You know you're in trouble, when you Google, "Name-of-hometown Nightlife" and the only thing that pops up is the local historical downtown movie theatre.

Halfway House?

2008-05-28T13:54:00.003-05:00

So as of yesterday, there are now seven beating hearts living in our house. No, I'm not pregnant! I just have a 3-week-old cottontail bunny living inside a plastic box in our bathroom right now. He's a temporary resident and will be returned to the "wild" (aka our yard) probably this weekend.

A storm came up yesterday mid-morning and the wind that preceded the storm was blowing our empty 5-gallon plastic water jugs all over the front porch. I stepped outside and glanced down at the planter that sits right outside the front door. I noticed something out of place...there was a tennis-ball-sized pile of fluff sitting huddled between the wall and the container. It startled me and I exclaimed, "OMG What IS THAT?!" I quickly realized it was a baby bunny. Great. I figured out he had probably been disturbed when the landscape guys came that morning to mow our grass (we have landscape guys because Brad is HIGHLY allergic to most grasses and weeds, I just refuse to mow, and N isn't tall or strong enough to push a mower yet).

Hilarity ensued...after talking to my friend Kimberly (who had recently had the same problem, except there were TWO bunnies invovled in her case, and they were much younger) I decided to set some water and spinach out for him. Well, in doing so, I frightened him and he darted off to the end of the porch. Now he was huddled next to the wall and under the porch railing, but remember the storm I mentioned was coming? Well, it had arrived and the wind was blowing sideways, soaking this poor rabbit.

I ran to the garage to get the stroller and my umbrella. I secured Nyssa in the stroller and set her in the front door where she could see me but wasn't getting soaked like I was about to be. I then opened the umbrella, walked around the porch in the pouring rain, and poked the bunny back toward his original hideout. I had to nudge him a couple of times, but he ended up back where he was, except now he was quite wet, poor thing.

I then got an email from a wildlife rehabilitation lady (http://www.rescuedrabbits.org/), who advised me to get the rabbit, put him in a small shoebox lined with a t-shirt, and set the shoebox on a heating pad set on medium. Then she sent me a Power Point presentation that showed Eastern Cottontails in various stages of development, from birth to adulthood. She asked me to guess how old the bunny was. I figured 2.5-3.5 weeks, and then sent her a picture, which she confirmed was probably a 3-week old bunny.

She said I could either get him to her later that evening, or she could tell me how to care for him over the next few days. We opted to care for him ourselves. She advised us to put him in a tall box, keep part of that box on a heating pad, and to provide water in a shallow dish and give him cut grass from our yard for him to eat. She also listed some of their other favorite foods (dandelions, pansies, petunias, hibiscus), but I don't have any of those so he's just getting grass!

I found out a little later that they don't eat spinach. She advised against giving apples and carrots since they don't get those in the wild.

So I put the little shoe box inside a big clear plastic box and then set a baby gate on top of that. I realized that evening that rabbits are nocturnal! He was bumping around a bit while I was trying to fall asleep, and then he was quiet through the night. And then at dawn, he started bumping around again. Silly guy! When I went to check on him after I got up this morning, I panicked, because I didn't see him at first. He had burrowed underneath the t-shirt that was in the shoe box. I uncovered his head, worried about him getting enough oxygen. He was probably fine, but the mom in me was concerned.

I'll post a photo of his latest set up later.

Why I Love Dr. Sears

2008-05-25T22:37:00.001-05:00

It's no secret that I am a HUGE fan of Dr. Sears.

This is my latest favorite quote of his.

"To expect a curious two-year-old to be a model of obedience in a supermarket that is set up to make adults act impulsively is unrealistic."

High Fructose Corn Syrup

2008-05-25T22:31:00.003-05:00

I have been avoiding almost all products that contain high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) for a while now. It started when we found out Brad had a corn allergy. And then I started doing some reading about how awful HFCS is, and so far this is my favorite paragraph about it:

"If nothing else, think of high fructose corn syrup as a giant red flag that says 'I’m heavily processed! I’ve lost most of my nutritional value! The people who made me took the cheap way out, because they care more about profits than quality! You don’t want to eat me!'"

from http://cleanerplateclub.wordpress.com/2007/06/20/take-the-high-fructose-corn-syrup-challenge/.

I think the only thing in our cabinets that contains the stuff is my jar of Miracle Whip lite and the bottle of Lea & Perrins worcestershire sauce, both of which will be going into the trash tomorrow. I learned from a couple of different Canadians that the Lea and Perrins sold in Canada does NOT contain the HFCS. I bought some other brand from Whole Foods, but may have to get my friend in Canada to send me a bottle or three of the Lea & Perrins if the Whole Foods brand doesn't taste right.

As for the Miracle Whip, I'm going to just have to start eating my sandwiches dry.

Free on Craigslist!

2008-05-21T21:49:00.002-05:00

Need some entertainment? Check out what's being offered for free on Craigslist sometime!

Free Toilets. slightly used in good condition
Ok, yuck.

2 Epson inkjet printers- don't work
Old Dirty Gas Grill PLEASE COME GET IT -

I know why people post these, but it still cracks me up.

***Need shade trees?*** FREE Maple trees you dig up -
Nice way to get revenge on your neighbor.

Bees and Beehive-Please take away
Um, yeah. Good luck with that.

Old, dirty, stained, stinky furniture
I'm guessing this person didn't major in marketing.

free small clown cake
I had extra cake batter and frosting and made a small clown cake. Pick up soon please. Lewisville off 121 and 35 thanks!

While I suppose this is a nice gesture, it falls into the, "Don't take candy from strangers," category.

COLOSTOMY SUPPLIES -
I have a box of leftover supplies from my colostomy and would like for someone to have these that really need them. They are very expensive and already paid for so I would like for them to go for someone's good use.

I have no words.

Fish tank & all supplies, litter box, framed pictures, phones etc
Wow, these fish are litter-box trained, and have a nice set-up with framed photos and phones!

2 Empty Buckets -
Ok, random! The post even included a photo. They were joint compound buckets.

FREE SHRUBBERY
Not so funny if you haven't seen Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail.

FREE : Two Used Tires to good home
Why do they care if the tires go to a good home? What constitutes a good home for used tires, anyway?

FREE MINT GROWING IN MY BACK YARD
This was just weird and random and bound to bring crazies out of the woodwork!

Tagged

2008-05-20T00:55:00.001-05:00

Here are the rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people and post a comment to the person who tagged you once you’ve posted your three sentences.

So since the nearest books were "Shiny Touchy Smelly" - no words, "Happy Baby 123" - not 123 pages, and "Moo, Baa, La La La" - also short on pages, I got up and walked into the study to get a book that had 123 pages.

"Women admitted to the hospital in early labor or prelabor may be more likely to have labor interventions. If you have reached the point in pregnancy when labor looms even larger than you do, you have almost certainly considered pain relief medication for labor. Obstetric management offers only two options: injected narcotics and epidurals."

From Henci Goer's _The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth._

No, I'm not pregnant. I lent the book to a friend and just got it back a couple of weeks ago, and hadn't bothered to return it to its proper place on my bookshelf yet.

Tagging: April, Erin, Adri, Lynn, and Misty. And anyone else that wants to participate.

Best laid plans...

2008-05-17T22:16:00.002-05:00

Yesterday evening Brad could tell I needed a break, so he sent me out for some retail therapy. I headed to Michaels, where I stumbled upon a fabulous sale - 60% off all of these super-cute cottage-style decorations (photos are over on the house blog). I instantly knew that I had to have these things for our downstairs bathroom. I picked out several pieces and decided it was time to pick a color for the bathroom walls. I selected a couple of shades of paints and decided that the next morning N and I would head to the paint store and buy samples so I could choose one color and get started on painting.

Since it was really nice outside, I decided we should walk to the paint store. I mean, it was only a half-mile from our house - literally around the corner - the weather was great, I could use the exercise, I wouldn't have to get N in and out of her car seat just to go a half-mile, fuel prices are really high (ok, so that wasn't really any motivation for not driving, I mean, it was ONLY a half-mile away!), I had lots of great reasons why I should walk. Brad asked me if I was sure I wanted to walk there, and I insisted that it was a good idea.

It turns out I should listen to my husband more. He is wise. Wise enough not to try and convince his stubborn wife that she really should just get in the car and drive the half-mile to the paint store.

I loaded N up in the stroller, gave her a little scrapbook that happens to be her favorite right now, and off we went.

About three-quarters of the way there, I was reminded of Shel Silverstein. The sidewalk ended. Not only was our nice paved surface gone, but so was the flat terrain. All of a sudden, we were presented with an uneven, hilly area that was extremely difficult to navigate with a 20 pound stroller and a 21 pound toddler. And when the hill finally flattened and the sidewalk picked back up, it was over a bridge and the sidewalk was just as wide as my stroller. And then the sidewalk ended again! We walked through a parking lot, only to find that there was no sidewalk along the MAJOR road (think three lanes of traffic on each side!), so now I was pushing the stroller across the grass just a few feet from cars and trucks driving 50 mph or more. It was nerve-wracking to say the least!

We did make it to the paint store safely, selected the paint and a few supplies, and then I called Brad to see if he was close enough to come pick us up, as I was dreading the walk back home. Unfortunately, he was a couple of towns away (so probably just 15 minutes, plus the time to go home and pick up the car seat) and I decided I'd suck it up and walk back home. Fortunately, I had had the foresight to put the Beco in the basket of the stroller, just in case. I ended up putting N on my back, since the stroller without 21 pounds of toddler would be easier to manage on that stupid hilly terrain. Once we reached the sidewalk again, I returned N to the stroller as it really was too hot to wear her and continue to walk home.

A Word to the Wise...

2008-05-01T16:46:00.002-05:00

If you want to spend four days gimping around like you're a hundred and thirty years old, then I recommend that you do squats to failure. That means that you tap your hiney to a chair (without actually sitting down) until you simply cannot return to a standing position any longer.

I confess, I did quit probably a few squats before total failure, since Miss N was getting rather impatient sitting in her stroller watching her crazy mommy sit down and stand back up again, over and over, to the tune of a hundred and five times.

And boy, let me tell you, simple movements like standing, sitting, rolling over in bed, getting in and out of the car, etc! have become unbelievably difficult in the last few days. I know I've been rather comical to watch moving around the house. I even caught my foot on the door frame of our bathroom and my TODDLER laughed at me! Eesh.

The last time I remember being this sore was right after giving birth. The time before that was after the White Rock half-marathon in December of 2003.

What prompted me to do such a thing in the first place? Well, our StrollerFit instructor has issued another 6-week total body challenge. Last year we just took measurements. This year she's added in a few physical challenges as well: total situps in 60 seconds (I HATE situps! Crunches are good, situps SUCK), pushups to failure, and squats to failure. As my workout buddy Becky pointed out, I'm going to have to beat my initial count of 105 on the squats in 6 weeks. Right now I don't see that happening, not because I don't think I will get stronger and can do more by then, but because I do not want to be this sore again for a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time. Back when I was working a desk job, it wasn't a big deal. My job now requires me to be a LOT more active - I spend a lot of time going from sitting in the floor to standing and am on my feet and walking around a lot more than I used to!

Flat

2008-04-25T14:53:00.000-05:00

You know how in cartoons when the characters get run over by steamrollers they are as flat as paper? Well, that happens to real, live frogs as well.

N and I were heading out for the morning yesterday. I had just put her into her car seat and was walking behind the car heading to the driver's side. I glanced down at the garage floor and thought, "Hm. That leaf is shaped like a frog! Oh, wait. No. That IS a frog. Oops."

How sad! We have a creek behind our house where there are lots of frogs ribbeting at night, and I commented the other day that I wanted to see the froggies. Seeing one on our garage floor squished flat by my car tire was SO not what I meant! At least it happened on the day AFTER Earth Day!

Were you an April Fool?

2008-04-02T21:25:00.003-05:00

I almost was, for about 15 seconds after reading my friend Heidi's email about them relocating to France in 30 days. Then it dawned on me what day it was.

I was going to email a photo of a digital pregnancy test that said pregnant to some friends, but yesterday was so busy that I never got this:

But I did pull a fast one over on B! I called him and some semblance of the following conversation took place between us:

J: Guess who called me to offer me my old job back.
B: Your old boss!
J: I know, can you believe it! So crazy. Anyway, I think I'm going to accept her offer. The money would be nice, and I'm getting bored with staying home all day. Bored and burned out - I need a change of pace.
B: But what about N?
J: What about N? We'll just put her in daycare. She'll be fine. She'll adjust, kids are adaptable.
B: Are you serious?!

Now if you could have seen me, you'd have known I was lying through my teeth. I was trying so hard not to laugh. I LOVE staying home with N, we do a LOT and are NEVER bored. The only thing I'm burned out on is not getting a good night's sleep thanks to TEETHING. I couldn't go on any more with the charade, so I asked B if he'd looked at his calendar. He just laughed and laughed after realizing what day it was.

Poor guy, that wasn't his first April Fool's, either. He'd had his medical exam for his private pilot license and after it was over, the doctor said, "I'm sorry, but I'm not going to be able to pass you today." B stuttered and stammered for a few seconds before the doctor said, "April Fools!" POOR B!!! :-) He's a good sport.

Hang Up and DRIVE!

2008-04-02T21:22:00.002-05:00

N loves the Little Tikes Cozy Coupe. I have been trying to find a used one for a decent price from Craigslist to no avail. So then I started searching the regular retailers. Target doesn't have the classic car that's red and yellow, but they do have a Princess car that comes with a pink ! cell phone! And that's not all...no, the product photo has a little girl DRIVING THE CAR WHILE ON THE PHONE!

http://www.littletikes.com/toys/princess-cozy-coupe.aspx?Ne=1&N=26+140

Gardening

2008-03-31T13:35:00.002-05:00

My friend and neighbor down the street has some beautiful hydrangeas planted in pots outside her home.

I have a horrible time remembering what the name of them are, and usually go through delphinium and hyacinth before hydrangea finally hits me. I had to use Wikipedia to remind me.

At the bottom of the Wiki entry for hydrangea was a warning on their poisonous nature.

"Hydrangeas are moderately toxic if eaten, with all parts of the plant containing cyanogenic glycosides. However, poisoning is rare, as the plant does not look like an enticing food source."

Whomever wrote that has obviously never had a toddler.

Fun with Flair

2008-03-28T01:50:00.005-05:00

I'm too old to be messing around on Facebook, but it's a nice, mindless time-waster.

I had fun looking through the virtual buttons on the Flair application.

My favorites:
some are hard to read! The top middle says, "I sing for the one who gave me my song." The black one next to it says, "I can't...I have rehearsal." Seems like I'm always missing moms' night out because of worship team rehearsals on Thursdays...but that's ok! :-)
The blue one below "I scrapbook" says, "they don't know that we know they know we know."
The music note one says, "What have I done?" The one next to that says, "If my daughter is the Princess, that makes me the QUEEN!" Below "Save the tatas" is "You're a great friend but if the zombies chase us I'm tripping you." The green one says, "Well, that's not a good sign." The blue one with an angry face says "I judge you when you use poor grammar." The one with the ducks says, "I had plastic surgery done."

Photo Meme

2008-03-28T01:45:00.003-05:00

Teething sucks.
I'm up. Nyssa's awake. UGH. Thanks, Lynn, for the meme!

1. Go to photobucket.com
2. Type in your answer for each question into the Photobucket search bar.
3. Only use the first two pages. Choose your favorite photo to represent your answer.
4. Copy the html and paste it here.
5. You can only answer in picture form.

What’s your name

When is your birthday

What kind of car do you drive

Where did you go to school

What's your favorite season

What’s your favorite type of shoe

What's your status

What's your favorite movie

What's your favorite song

What's your favorite Disney character

Whats your favorite vacation destination

What's your favorite dessert

What's your favorite drink

What are you most afraid of

What's your favorite tv show

Wii have a fever

2008-03-22T22:30:00.003-05:00

For well over a year now, I have not understood all of the hype surrounding the Wii gaming system.

Until last night.

A month or so ago, we invited a couple of our friends over for dinner last night. My parents just so happened to be driving back home from their spring break trip to Oklahoma and wanted to stop and spend the night with us to visit. So we had a house full of guests. We had fajitas, chips, and salsa from Chili's, and beans and rice from a local Mexican restaurant down the street from where we live, and homemade guacamole. Oh, and slushy bucket margaritas made using the On The Border bucket margarita mix with Jose Cuervo Gold tequila (see my previous post about Mommy of the Year!). And after dinner, my parents offered to bring in their brand new Wii that they picked up at a WalMart in a small town near where they were staying. There were fourteen in stock; B and I keep joking about driving up there to pick one up. Anyway, the six of us had a BLAST just creating our Miis - lots of laughter ensued. And then we played the bowling game right in the comfort of our own living room! It was a LOT of fun and now we want one to entertain ourselves!

After two rounds of bowling, our dinner guests had to go home. After they left, my mom and I started playing the Wii Play games trying to get to the Cow Racing portion. It's the second-to-the-last game on the disc, and you HAVE to play the first seven games in order to get to the Cow Racing game (which by FAR is the best game on the disc). The most annoying and hard-to-learn game was the billiards one. It took Mom and I for-EV-ER to get through that one.

And then when we went to play today, we found ourselves having to go through all of the games AGAIN! GRRRR! The billiards game went a little faster this time, but it was still aggravating.

Mommy of the Year Award

2008-03-22T22:29:00.000-05:00

Goes to ME, for hauling my kid into the liquor store yesterday to buy a bottle of tequila.

When we go shopping in other places I am always talking to her about what's on the shelves, you know, "Oh, see the pretty vases? Look, there's a red one, and a yellow one..." etc. There is nothing quite like saying, "Oh, look at the pretty bottles," to your 15-month-old in a liquor store!

Hey, it was better than leaving her in the car!

And apparently they have lots of kids come in there with their parents - enough to warrant a big bowl of Dum Dum suckers behind the counter! The guy asked me, "She's too young for a lollipop, probably."

She's Gone

2008-03-18T22:14:00.002-05:00

This is not going to be the most uplifting blog entry I've written. You won't hurt my feelings if you don't read or don't finish.

My friend Dottie lost her battle with breast cancer last Wednesday. I've put off writing about it, partially because I don't have any photos of my own of her on this computer. Dumb, but that's my excuse. I'd known Dottie for a little over or under 10 years. We met on a scrapbooking newsgroup way back in 1998 or 1999. In 2000, I met her in person at a weekend scrapbooking retreat for the aforementioned newsgroup. She was an amazing person, full of life and laughter and fun, and she called a spade a spade with no qualms or apologies. We kept in touch via email over the last 10 years, and I'd been praying fervently for her healing. She got the Ultimate Healing and has no more pain or sorrow, as she is in the presence of the Lord.

On Saturday, just four days before Dottie passed away, my great-aunt Leota went home to the Lord. She had had a stroke several years before, and her health had declined from there. She weighed just 60 pounds when she died. She was a tiny person anyway, but 60 pounds still wasn't healthy for her. Bless her heart! I tried to be good in the last few years about writing her letters and sending her photos, but never sent as many as I would have liked. You know, the shoulda, woulda, coulda guilt complex!

And then I started thinking, you know, I have lost a LOT of family members in my lifetime. I still have some friends who have not yet had to deal with the death of anyone close to them. I'm no stranger to that. This is going to be weird, but I thought I'd catalog all of the family members I've said goodbye, or rather, see you later, to over the years.

My first loss was either my great-grandmother or my great-grandfather; I can't recall which. I think it was MawMaw but I am not sure. Anyway, she died when I was really young, maybe 5? Her husband died shortly thereafter, I think. I was really young so the details are pretty hazy.

These dates may not be the most accurate. I know both of my step-dad's parents passed when I was in either middle school or high school. I can't remember the exact years (sorry!). My dad's mom died when I was a freshman in high school. My dad's dad (well, his step-dad, as his biological father died when my dad was 9) died in 1993 when I was a freshman in college. In 1994, my then-sister-in-law gave birth to a premature baby, Kevin Blake, who died 13 days later. It was the hardest funeral I'd ever attended. Until then, only old people had died in my life, and this just wasn't right!!! Babies aren't supposed to die!!! My mom's best friend died from cancer in February of 1994 in her late 30s. Another difficult death for me - she left behind a great husband and two sweet boys. She herself was a really sweet woman. I attended a funeral in 1997 for my sister's friend, who drowned. That also sucked - he was a senior and had his whole life ahead of him. My aunt (my mom's sister) died in August (?) of 1998. My grandmother (mom's mom) died in September of 1999. In December of 2001, I lost my dad. It sucks a lot to lose a parent, even if you don't have the greatest relationship with them. My great-uncle Doug (my maternal grandfather's brother) died in 2002, I think, then his brother Jimmy (Aunt Leota's husband) died in 2003, as did my cousin TJ - another rough death - he was my age (!!!) and a week or so later, my dad's brother Ray died. Then in February of 2005, my Popa, my mom's dad, died. That was another hard one for me, he was my last living grandparent. In early 2007 Brad's uncle died, and then in late 2007, his grandmother passed away. And that brings me to the two most recent deaths already mentioned at the beginning of this post.

I think there have been some other deaths on my dad's side of the family, but I can't recall who at the moment.

So here's the neat thing...I know they all are in heaven and that I will see them all again some day! That is pretty exciting. And that's what gets me through the rough times.

I need an eye exam

2008-03-13T12:55:00.002-05:00

Our new couches arrived on Tuesday. I finally got around to removing the hanging tags from them today. One of the tags is a "WARNING: FLAMMABLE" tag. I really need my eyes examined, because I thought bullet point number 3 said, "Keep children away from machetes and lighters." It says "matches," but machetes is much funnier. I suppose I should return Nyssa's Easter gift back to Machetes R Us!

For some reason, the name "TAMMY" is stamped on the WARNING:FLAMMABLE tag. I'm not sure why. It doesn't say, "Inspected by," or "For a good time, call" or anything.

Junk mail amuses me. Pizza Hut's latest flyer is advertising "The Natural." It has a multi-grain crust, sauce made from organic tomatoes, and (this is the one that gets me) ALL-NATURAL mozzarella cheese. That scares me a little. I mean, what is the mozzarella cheese on their regular, non-all-natural, pizzas made from, if it's not ALL NATURAL??? What does unnatural cheese look like? Actually, I think I know the answer to that one - it's in the form of veggie cheese slices made from tofu. I'm not knocking tofu products masquerading as dairy products, in fact, I am a big fan of the Tofutti products, specifically the Cuties (ice "cream" sandwiches), and the Better than Cream Cheese and Better than Sour Cream dairy substitutes. But veggie cheese still strikes me as unnatural.

Kids' songs? And other ramblings...

2008-03-09T21:51:00.006-05:00

One of N's favorite toys is a pull-along ladybug that sings lots and LOTS of songs. Most really are great kids' songs, but it seems to be playing Little Brown Jug from time to time.

I looked up the lyrics and the first page the search engine returned was the following: http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/lyrics/jug.htm.

I was very, very amused by their disclaimer. "Important! This is a fun song to sing, but the message is about a man and his wife who had a lot of hard times because of alcohol addictions. Remember, drinking excessively is not good for your health and could lead to serious problems and addictions. In fact, addictions of all types can be very serious health concerns. " And then it went on to list several kid-related anti-drug/alcohol websites.

On another totally unrelated note, I was going through coupon circulars and ran across an ad for an optical illusion swimsuit. The company claims that it can make you look up to four sizes smaller, and up to 40 lbs. thinner. The concept is pretty easy to buy, since the front and back panels are solid colors in an hourglass shape, and the sides are a zebra pattern. I'm totally convinced I should order at least one
after reviewing the before and after illustration in the lower left-hand corner of the ad:

Falling from Grace

2008-03-07T20:57:00.002-06:00

I grew up attending a church of Christ church. I had heard many sermons that seemed to imply that you could lose your salvation. I was horribly conflicted throughout college, and wrote down quite a few scriptures in my prayer journal that convinced me that my salvation could not be lost. But I was never able to fully understand or reconcile in my mind what the Bible meant when it talked about falling from grace.

And then in church last Sunday, our pastor made an amazing analogy that felt like God gently thumped me on the forehead and said, "There ya go! Get it now?" In a kind and loving way, of course! The really amusing thing to me is that B had the same realization at exactly the same moment I did. We just looked at each other and went, "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!" As in, we get it now!

So the analogy was this (Forgive me, PG, if I slaughter the story!)...imagine you are riding on a 767 jet airplane. The plane takes off and climbs until it reaches its cruising altitude of 37,000 feet. And at that moment you decide that you can fly the rest of the journey to your destination on your own, so you open the door to the airplane and jump out.

Do you fly safely to your journey? NO! You fall like a sack of rocks straight to the earth.

Falling from grace is when we stop looking to God for everything, and start looking to ourselves for our salvation. If I'm just GOOD enough, I'll get to heaven. We aren't living by the grace of God any longer, we are trying to live by good works. And if you believe that the Bible is the inerrant and infallible word of God, you know that you cannot save yourself just by being a good person. We can't save ourselves, we needed a saviour and that is why Jesus came to the earth. Salvation is a gift that we simply accept. Yes, it is THAT easy! We admit we are sinners in need of a saviour, and we accept the gift of life that Jesus provides through his death on the cross and resurrection three days later. And then we spend the rest of our lives trying (and failing, and trying again and failing again because we are fallen, imperfect beings, hence the need for a saviour in the first place!) to live according to how God wants us to live, because we greatly appreciate the gift of eternal life He has given us and we want to be pleasing to Him.

100th post, 100 things about me

2008-03-07T20:51:00.002-06:00

I LOVE to sing.
I am on the worship team at church.
I will only sing to my daughter a cappella if no one is around.
I love French Vanilla truffles from Godiva.
I hated Chinese food as a kid and always ordered a hamburger at my friend's parents' restaurant. They teased me mercilessly.
I love photography.
I wish I were better/more skilled with graphic design.
I gave birth at home, in my daughter’s room, with no meds, in a tub of water. And will do it again if I ever find myself pregnant again.
I hated being pregnant.
I loved milk chocolate before pregnancy…now I am a dark chocolate addict.
I used to have four birds. Then one died, so now I have three.
My dream bird costs over 10K (hyacinth macaw).
My dream car is a Lexus 430 in deep blue.
I cry easily.
I like easy-to-fix dinner meals.
I hate handling raw poultry.
I am a bottled water snob.
My navel is pierced.
I hate knitting with needles.
I suck at crochet.
I enjoy using a knitting loom, though.
I love to read.
I hate watching movies.
I don’t watch much TV.
Conversations about TV shows and movies bore me.
I love Riesling wine.
I can’t pronounce Riesling (or spell it, for that matter).
I am a computer nerd.
I love my car…a vw bug!
Some of my closest friends have been so for 2/3 of my life.
My husband is wonderful.
I have been scrapbooking since 1995.
I am addicted to patterned paper.
My perfect hamburger is well done, has mustard, pickles, and tomatoes.
I love Coastal Cookies in Abilene.
I lived in California for 6.5 years.
I drive a stick shift and love it.
I love the ocean.
I never wore braces.
I have dimples.
I am flat-footed.
I ran a half marathon (and am training for another one).
I love dr. pepper.
I don’t have the attention span to cross stitch.
I enjoy making quilt tops.
I do not enjoy quilting.
I had my first alcoholic beverage ever on my 21st birthday.
I tie my shoes weird.
I ascribe to the attachment parenting philosophy.
I knew the Greek alphabet when I was very, very young.
I learned to roller-skate when I was 3 years old.
I was born on my dad’s birthday.
I have had over 30 jobs in my life.
I only mowed the lawn once when I was a kid.
I love to watch Dharma and Greg.
I gave my heart to Jesus when I was 10.
I climbed two mountains in CO that were over 14K ft each.
I got my first stamp in my passport when I was 29.
I don’t like hamsters.
I complain about it, but I love the versatility of my hair.
I don’t like mushrooms.
I believe the Bible is the inerrant word of God and do my best to live by it.
I try not to force my beliefs onto others.
I look a LOT like my mom.
I miss my grandparents.
I want to go sky diving some day.
I LOVE snow skiing.
I have thyroid issues.
I was married once before.
I type over 90 wpm when I am not typing one-handed.
I wanted to be an Olympic gymnast or ice skater when I was young.
I played the violin for 5 years.
I love to play the piano.
I want to learn to play the hammered dulcimer.
I hate taking meds.
I don’t have a gallbladder.
I have not spent the night in a hospital since I was born.
I am terrified of mosquito hawks.
I was bit in the face by a Dalmatian when I was 10.
I met my husband through eharmony.com.
I learned to play chess when I was 4 years old.
I find Joyce Meyer to be very funny.
Jan Karon is one of my favorite authors.
Watermark was my most favorite group of all time.
I love the lyrics to all of Chris Rice’s songs.
I have an unusual affection for ducks.
I LOVE roller coasters.
I collect ladybugs.
I enjoy exercising.
I have a warped sense of humor.
I like to encourage people.
I am fiercely loyal.
I think horoscopes are a bunch of bunk.
I have one chicken pox scar.
I think some vaccines aren’t a good idea.
I wanted to be Trixie Belden when I was young.
I hate crowds of people.
I was in the flag corps when I was In HS and college.
I quit orchestra because of the director’s anger management issues.
100. I was a vocal major in college.

Church Ramblings

2008-03-02T21:58:00.002-06:00

An interesting thing happened today at church.

We had just finished singing "Grace Flows Down," when the center doors at the back of the church opened. Into the sanctuary walked a man who had long hair pulled back into a ponytail, and who was wearing a skirt. The entire congregation turned to look at the man. They continued to stare as he walked up the center aisle. He finally stopped at the very front of the church. He paused for a moment, then ascended the steps onto the stage.

Well, ok, so the skirt was a kilt, and the man was carrying a bagpipe, playing "Amazing Grace," and it wasn't shocking to us since we'd been told since rehearsal last Thursday that there would be a bagpipe player on this Sunday. It was actually very, very cool! Most of the folks in the congregation were surprised, though.

And it's not to say that our church wouldn't be welcoming if some random skirt-wearing, long-hair-having, man (or woman) did walk into the church and straight up the aisle to the front of the sanctuary.

Art Project, Anyone?

2008-02-23T23:02:00.003-06:00

Craigslist has some interesting ads, especially if you look under the "Free" section.

Like this one:

Free 1.7cu ft GE Spacemaker microwave - does not heat

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reply to:
Date: 2008-02-23, 6:21PM CST

This is a white 1.7cu ft GE Spacemaker microwave. It is in great shape - just stopped heating. If anyone has a use for it, please email me.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If anyone has a use for it, please email me as well, because I'd love to know!

My favorite part is that it is in great shape even though it stopped heating.

Days late and dollars short

2008-02-22T13:07:00.003-06:00

The marquee outside Hooters is announcing their Mardi Gras party on February 25.

Where do I even start?

"Mardi Gras" is French for Fat Tuesday. Which falls on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. Which was February 5 this year.

And February 25?

It's a Monday.

Neon Signs

2008-02-19T23:53:00.002-06:00

One of the clever marketing ploys by Krispy Kreme doughnuts is their "Hot doughnuts NOW" neon sign that lights up when they have hot doughnuts rolling off the conveyor belt. I must admit that I am not a fan of a hot doughnut, so their little marketing ploy is totally lost on me.

Apparently Papa John's is trying to capitalize on the same idea. I was walking back to my car from the grocery cart return yesterday when I noticed a neon sign in the Papa John's window saying, "Baking hot pizza NOW!" Well, that's good to know, since I'm sure your customers would prefer their pizzas freshly baked and delivered hot.

It just didn't make sense to me.

Hands and Feet

2008-02-19T23:52:00.000-06:00

That is the funniest-looking foot I've seen in a long time.

Rural Route

2008-02-16T22:45:00.002-06:00

The other day when I checked the mail, I found this envelope tucked into the middle of the weekly grocery fliers.

What cracks me up is that we're on a rural route. I suppose that's another joy of living in a brand new subdivision! We live less than two miles from the local, very busy, post office. It's not like we have to journey 20+ miles "into town" to buy stamps! Oh, well, the sentiment by our mail carrier was nice.

Julia Child, I Am Not.

2008-02-08T00:20:00.000-06:00

Do these look like sugar cookies to you?

I believe I posted previously about my greatest new cookbook, Small Batch Baking. I had made vanilla cupcakes and they were pretty yummy.

I had a craving for sugar cookies, and figured with my sister coming in last weekend that it would be fun to make the dough the night before she arrived, and then make cookies with my million and one cookie cutters the next day. The other sugar cookie recipe I have, which is from my friend Heidi and is so very, very yummy (though dairy-laden), makes entirely too many cookies for my needs so I turned to my small-batch cookbook.

I found this recipe:

And set to work making the batter. Can I just say that it is amazingly annoying and difficult to measure 1 tablespoon plus one teaspoon of egg? Anyway, since we're dairy-free in this household, I substituted Smart Balance light for the unsalted butter.

Well, apparently that is not a proper substitution, as the dough didn't quite cooperate. I knew I was in trouble when the directions said to turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it for 30 seconds. I was skeptical when I looked at my runny dough, and definitely knew something was wrong after I stuck my hand in the big pile of GOO. I had quite the time scraping the dough off with a silicone Pampered Chef spatula.

The dough looked and tasted like chocolate chip cookie dough without the chocolate chips, so I just reached into the cabinet, pulled out the Ghirardelli semi-sweet chips (which are dairy-free, of course) and eyeballed the amount.

I baked them according to the recipe time, plus another 7 minutes or so. I'm glad our new oven has a light inside.

The verdict on these cookies? They were ok for a last-minute improvisation, but I won't bother with that recipe again until/unless I can use real butter. They were rather crunchy and not like I like my chocolate chip cookies to taste. They weren't awful, and the entire dozen lasted only a day, but I will stick to my old chocolate chip cookie recipe in the future!

And another one

2008-01-31T03:23:00.001-06:00

I think I will be able to get to sleep now.

1. Where were you 2 hours ago?
Sound asleep in bed.

2. What do you think of the last person you kissed?
She's amazing. She changes and grows every day and I love watching her learn new things!

3. Do you kiss a lot of people?
Not really.

4. Are you wearing socks right now?
Yep.

5. When was the last time you went out of state?
We went to Illinois for Thanksgiving.

6. Have you been to the movies in the last 5 days?
Nope.

7. What was the last alcoholic thing you had to drink?
A glass of Reisling wine over a month ago.

8. Who was the last person to hear you cry?
Brad and/or Nyssa

9. Who was the last person to make you smile?
Brad and Nyssa

10. What was the last food you ate?
two Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate morsels

11. What was the last drink you had?
Water

12. Have you bought any clothing items in the last week?
I picked up a long-sleeve red t-shirt from Macy's for myself. I bought Nyssa's Easter dress and another random pink polkadot dress, as well as a long-sleeve off-white onesie.

13. Do you have a pet?
I have three birds.

14. What did you do last night?
Cooked dinner, picked up toys, sorted laundry - I lead a very exciting life.

15. Where are you now?
on my computer in the dining room

16. If you could be anywhere you want right now where would it be?
Sound asleep in bed.

17. What is the last thing you purchased online?
Valentine's Day photo cards

18. One thing you don't like about yourself?
I'm too hard on myself.

19. What does the 10th text in your inbox say?
I am not sure I understand the question. If you're asking about the subject matter of the 10th email in my inbox, it would be from my friend telling me she was having a martial arts guy in her PE classes that week. That email is almost a year old.

20. Do you miss anyone?
Lots of people.

21. What's your favorite food?
Chocolate cake

22. What are your plans for tomorrow?
I WAS planning on going to StrollerFit in the morning, but I am doubting I'll want to get up for it. It depends on when Nyssa wakes up. I am going to worship team rehearsal tomorrow night, and my sister is coming in to visit. Yay!

23. Did you have fun today?
Yes, but today also wore me out for some odd reason.

24. Who is your last text message from?
Misty, confirming that we are not shooting bridal portraits this weekend.

25. Were you an honor roll student in school?
Yep

26. What do you know about the future?
I'm going to heaven.

27. Who was the last person you rode in a car with?
Nyssa

28. Where were you going?
Home from StrollerFit

30. What was your summer like?
Interesting - watching my baby girl grow and change, and watching the builder construct our house

31. Did you meet anyone new today?
Yes, I think her name was Stephanie and I cannot recall her son's name, but it was something unique (which is why I do not remember what it was)

32. Do you have any tattoos or piercings?
I have four holes in my ears and one in my navel.

33. How do you like your soda?
over ice, with a straw

34. Who was the last person to make you cry?
Nyssa, happy tears I'm sure!

35. What did you do today?
Went to StrollerFit, ate Chick Fil A and sectioned a banana for Nyssa to eat, drove home, fixed lunch, wore her on my back for her nap, took a lot of photos of her this afternoon, wore her for another nap, cooked dinner, picked up toys, sorted laundry, edited photos, posted on message boards, wrote emails, updated blogs, selected photos to share on Nyssa's blog, went to bed and now I am here at this crazy hour answering memes.

36. What day is tomorrow?
Thursday.

37. What is your current mood?
I am tired and a bit cranky over being awake at this hour.

Memes, or what happens when I can't sleep

2008-01-31T02:59:00.001-06:00

PART 1: YOU
Were you a planned baby: I have no idea. And I don't really care.
When's your birthday: January 4

PART 2: YOUR PERSONALITY
Do you have low self esteem?: Some days I do.
Do you get depressed about things easily?: Only if I am suffering from sleep deprivation.
Are you happy right now?: Right this moment? Not really. It's 2:46 am and I am wide awake with a teething baby FINALLY sleeping on my back. Oh, and I'm hungry. :-)

PART 3: APPEARANCE
Are you comfortable with the way you look: Yes. Finally! Sure, I'd love to lose another 10 pounds and be back in my size 2 and 4 clothes, but I'm happy with where I am.
Describe your hair: naturally curly, brown, no grey at all!

PART 4: RANDOM
Ever been kicked out of a bar?: No
Ever been arrested?: Nope.

PART 5: THE OUTDOORS
Do you prefer indoors or outdoors?: Generally speaking, the outdoors. Unless it's cold and windy out.
Do you like walking in the rain?: Not really, unless I'm on a warm beach somewhere and it's a very light drizzle.

PART 6: FOOD
Are you a vegetarian?: Nope, though some days I swear I am going to become one.
Anything you absolutely could eat forever?: chocolate cake
What is your favourite dessert?: see above

PART 7: RELATIONSHIPS AND LOVE
Do you want to get married?: I am!
Have you ever been in love?: Yep! I am!

PART 8: RANDOM QUESTIONS
4. Where is your cell phone?: It's north of the fridge, plugged into the charger.
5. Cheesecake?: love it, but am anti-dairy right now.
7. Your dream last night?: I don't recall.
8. Your favourite drink?: diet coke and malibu. But favorite does not equal consumed frequently!
9. Car you want?: i'd love the lexus 430. I think that's the model. It's the convertible that stores the hard top in the trunk.
12. Your fears: losing my husband and daughter.
14. Who did you hang out with last night?: Brad and Nyssa
18. Where did you grow up?: Abilene, TX
20. What are you wearing?: pink fleece top, nursing tank, grey fleece pants, green and pink fuzzy socks, oh, and my glasses. And a baby, who is inside a carrier that I am also wearing.
21. Tattoos?: none
22. Ketchup?: no, catsup.
23. Your computer?: a Dell laptop running Windows XP.
24. Your life?: loving it, though I do wish I got more sleep.
25. Your friends?: are pretty great.
27. What are you thinking about right now?:I'm hungry.
29. Your work?: never, ever done.
30. Your summer?: too hot
32. Your favourite colour(s)?: red
33. When is the last time you laughed?: this evening when Brad tickled Nyssa and she responded with these great belly laughs.
34. Last time you cried?: Ummmmmmmm...probably Saturday afternoon
37. Last received call?: Brad
39. Last IM?: Keeli, I think.

1. Who knows the most about you?
Brad

Where's # 2?

3. What should we do with stupid people?
educate them. Failing that, ship them off to a remote part of the world.

4. What is making you sad right now?
the extended family issues that are going on

5. What was the first thing you did this morning?
picked Nyssa up and put her on the floor.

6. Last person you went out to dinner with?
Brad

7. Are you spoiled?
Yes, but not in a bad way.

8. Do you drink lots of water?
Yes

9. What toothpaste do you use?
Crest but I can't remember what kind.

10. How do you vent your anger?
It depends. Usually I verbally vomit on Brad.

11. The last compliment you received?:
Brad told me tonight that I'm beautiful.

12. What did you do last weekend?
I signed up to run a half-marathon and raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I also picked Brad and Nyssa up from the ER.

13. When was the last time you threw up?
When I was 17 weeks pregnant. It wasn't the pregnancy - I had a nasty, nasty stomach bug.

14. What theme does your room have?
It's blue and chaotic.

15. Are you a mama's girl/boy or a daddy's girl/boy?
I have a close relationship with my mother but I don't think that makes me a mama's girl.

16. Would you ever join the military?
Doubtful.

17. The last website you visited?
Lynn's blog

18. Who was the last person you took a picture with?
Nyssa

19. Last person you watched a movie with:
A bunch of my StrollerFit buddies.

20. What did you do/will you do for your birthday this year?
I got a new camera, and Brad took me to eat at Cheesecake Factory while his step-mom babysat Nyssa.

21. Number of layers on your bed?
mattress, faux feather bed, memory foam topper, fitted sheet, flat sheet, faux feather duvet, quilt. And three pillows. So that's what, 10?

22. Is anything alive in your room?
The room I'm in now? Me, Nyssa, the 3 birds, and my amaryllis (though the flower is dying because the stalk broke. Bad amaryllis, no cookie. If you're talking about the bedroom, Brad's alive in there. Asleep, but alive!

23. Today, would you rather go back a week or go forward a week?
forward

24. What are you looking forward to right now?
hanging out with my sister and worship team rehearsal tomorrow night.

What in the world???

2008-01-26T23:38:00.000-06:00

Product information
Key features
A colorful cushion with pockets that can keep a child's feet warm.
Easy to clean; machine wash, warm 104°F (40°C).

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80129914

I really, really, really don't get this product. What child wants to wear a pillow on her feet? I know all mothers don't want their children to grow up so quickly, but inhibiting their ability to crawl and to walk is just wrong. What other purpose would this thing serve, seriously?!

What If???

2008-01-26T16:11:00.000-06:00

This morning I met a couple of friends at a local hotel to attend an informational meeting on the North Texas Team in Training for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. One friend has set a goal to run a half-marathon today and I had told her I would go with her to the meeting, but that I wasn't making any promises on actually signing up.

Well...I decided to sign up and will be running the North Trails Half Marathon on May 18. I have a personal fundraising goal of $2000. If you'd like to donate, please visit my fundraising website. No amount is too small! I'm excited to be running and raising funds to help eradicate blood cancers. My friend's 18-month-old son has been battling leukemia for 6 months now. He is my main motivation. I'll share more of his story and a photo after I get her permission. :-)

About 45 minutes into the meeting, I got a phone call from Brad. I didn't answer my phone, which is typical for me if I'm tied up in a meeting or something of that sort. In fact, I turned the ringer off and put the phone in my pocket. After the meeting was over, I called him. He answered and I asked him what was up. He choked out, "We were in a car accident," and then I heard him say, "I can't talk to her," and handed the phone to his step-mom. I panicked, of course, and started firing questions at her, "What? Did he just say they were in a car accident? Is he ok? Is Nyssa ok? Where are they? What happened???" Poor woman - I didn't mean to assault her verbally with questions, but I couldn't help it. She said they were fine, that they were at the ER at Plano Presby in room 10 and they were waiting on the doctor to check Brad out. I told her I would be there shortly and jumped on the tollway to get to the hospital.

On my way southbound, I noticed traffic slowing down just after the Spring Creek exit. I didn't want to mess with a traffic jam, so I jumped off and took back roads. I briefly thought that the accident that was being cleared might have been the accident they were in. I glanced in my rearview mirror as I headed west down Spring Creek Parkway and thought that the white car on the tow truck could have been Brad's, but wasn't sure. I was glad I had gotten off the tollway and couldn't see the car up close.

I parked in the emergency room patient parking, figuring since my husband and daughter were in there that it was ok even though I wasn't a patient. Funny, the things we think about in moments like that. I rushed in and asked the person at the front desk, "Where is room 10?" She asked who I was there to see. "Brad and Nyssa S." was my reply. She snapped at me and said, "There can only be two visitors in the room. I snapped back, "I am her MOTHER." They opened the door and I speed-walked to room 10. Brad was on the gurney, in a neck brace and still strapped to the blue board that the paramedics had put him on to transport him. Nyssa was in her car seat (with the base attached) and she had some red glowing light thing taped to her toe. I have no idea what it was.

The doctor came in and examined Brad's and Nyssa's vitals, they were fine. Then a nurse came in a bit later and unstrapped Brad from the board. Then the radiologist came in and wheeled Brad away to get x-rays of his neck. Nothing is broken, thankfully! The doctor offered to get Brad a CT scan, but Brad declined since he hadn't lost consciousness.

The doctor wrote prescriptions for various pain pills and a muscle relaxer for Brad, and then discharged them. We drove home after grabbing lunch and dropping off the prescriptions to be filled.

So by now you are probably wondering how the accident happened. Brad was driving northbound on the tollway, heading home from running errands with Nyssa since I had that meeting this morning. There was a Cadillac stopped in the far left lane of the tollway. Apparently the car had completely run out of fuel. Brad changed lanes to avoid hitting the Caddy, and a car in the middle lane rear-ended him. Brad started to try and pull over on the shoulder of the road, but then got shaky so he just stopped and called 911. They sent DPS and the paramedics, because Brad told them he had hit his head. The 911 operator wouldn't let Brad off the phone after he told him that.

The DPS officer came to the hospital and told Brad that he had ticketed the Cadillac driver for being stopped on the roadway. He said they don't find fault, they just determine the cause of the accident. Would the accident have happened if the Cadillac hadn't been on the side of the road? No. The officer told us that we could get a copy of the accident report in 10 days (I think? I can't recall exactly now).

I hate to even try and ponder the what ifs. I can't seem to help it, though! What if the accident had been much, much worse? This morning before I left, Brad was fiddling with the base to Nyssa's car seat. I asked him what he was doing and he said he was fixing it - apparently when the Audi dealership detailed his car, they moved or removed the base and when they reinstalled it, they didn't put it in correctly. What if he hadn't realized something was wrong and hadn't fixed it?

But thankfully, the what ifs are just that. God protected my wonderful husband and sweet, sweet baby, and our family unit is intact.

Bored? Read your town's police blotter.

2008-01-24T22:27:00.000-06:00

Some of my favorites...

1/13/2008 12:04:00AM Brief Narrative: 08004363 ELDORADO PKWY / RESEARCH RD
A known subject was found to be operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated due to a
traffic stop.

So the traffic stop caused the subject to become intoxicated? My 7th grade English teacher would have a hey-day (hay day?) with this one.

1/13/2008 9:37:00AM Brief Narrative: 08004462 5000 BLK LEBEAU LN
Unknown person(s) removed four wheels and tires from a vehicle without effective consent.

1/14/2008 11:28:00AM Brief Narrative: 08004793 2000 BLK DEL LARGO WAY
An unknown subject spray painted on the victim's brick home without consent.

The ones where they say, "without consent," just make me laugh. I have these visions of the thief knocking on the door and saying, "Excuse me, sir, do you mind if I remove your tires and wheels? Or spray paint your bricks?"

1/13/2008 10:50:00AM Brief Narrative: 08004482 11000 BLK ROGERS RD
Unknown actor(s) spray painted lengthy inscriptions on the exterior of both the public restroom facilities and the concession stand at Warren Sports Complex using pink spray paint.

I love that they included the color of the spray paint.

1/13/2008 3:33:00PM Brief Narrative: 08004540 7000 BLK PRESTON RD
Unknown white male pumped $112.43 worth of fuel and left the location without making any attempts to pay. Texas license plate returns to a stolen 1995 Ford F-150.

NIIIIIIIIIIIICE.

1/13/2008 413:00PM Brief Narrative: 08004541 12000 BLK PENICK WAY Unknown actor(s) spray painted "stop war" on victim's fence.

The use of the term "actor(s)" amuses me. I envision C-grade Hollywood movie actors making political statements.

1/13/2008 5:40:00PM Brief Narrative: 08004553 3000 BLK PRESTON RD
An unknown subject stole radio out of vehicle without owner's consent.

Another "without consent." Still cracks me up.

1/14/2008 10:09:00AM Brief Narrative: 08004770 2000 BLK HAGUE DR
An unknown subject forced entry into a home under construction and took a cabinet and bath fixture.

Ok, seriously. Who does this? A weekend warrior affected by the recession? Uh oh, honey...we're out of money for our bathroom remodel project and I still need a cabinet and bath fixture. Any ideas?

1/14/2008 1:53:00PM Brief Narrative: 08004828 7000 BLK EUBANKS ST
Unknown male subjects broke into vehicle and stole victim's stereo and other items.

Ok, I admit that this one isn't terribly funny unless you know my friend Lynn, and her bad luck with her cars, and the fact that not only was her radio stolen from her Honda Civic, but the entire panel, including the whole air conditioning unit in the front of the car, was removed!

1/14/2008 6:17:00PM Brief Narrative: 08004892 3000 BLK AUTUMN LN
Unknown subjects took lumber from construction site and drove away in red Ford van with red 16' trailer.

Subtle getaway car, no?

1/15/2008 8:35:00AM Brief Narrative: 08005152 12000 BLK EDEN LN
An unknown subject(s) took windows from a home under construction.

Again...who does this? What is the black market like for house parts???

1/16/2008 7:56:00AM Brief Narrative: 08005402 9000 BLK WADE BLVD
Unknown subject(s) took scaffolding from construction site without consent.

*sigh* What IS it with theft from construction sites?

1/16/2008 8:44:00AM Brief Narrative: 08005424 7000 BLK HICKORY ST
Unknown person(s) stole the gas out of the victim's truck without his consent.

HOW does a person do this? Seems like stealing it from the pump would be more pleasant?

1/16/2008 2:20:00PM Brief Narrative: 08005520 11000 BLK RESEARCH RD
Actor used City of Carrollton water meter to interrupt the public water supply.

I am having a hard time visualizing this one.

1/16/2008 2:32:00PM Brief Narrative: 08005528 5000 BLK TOWN & COUNTRY BLVD
Subject ordered pizza and did not pay for it.

Do you suppose it was a crank call?

1/16/2008 3:32-OOPM Brief Narrative: 08005552 10000 BLK BYRON DR
Unknown suspects took property from the victim's porch without permission.

I'm dying to know what the property was that was stolen. A swing? A plant? Giant concrete lions? If you are wanting the latter, I know where you can get two of them for free, you just have to be able to remove them from my inlaws' front porch. They'll give you permission, I promise.

1/16/2008 3:33:00PM Brief Narrative: 08005553 13000 BLK HONEY GROVE DR
Unknown actor took victims bicycle while it was parked in the bicycle rack at Pierce Elementary.

Aww, now that's just sad. Don't steal a kid's bike!

And for a couple that could have been prevented - consider this my PSA (Public Service Announcement):

1i16/2008 8A9.'00AM Brief Narrative: 08005428 12000 BLK 423 FM
Unknown subject(s) took victim's purse from her grocery cart without her consent.

Ladies, watch your purses. If you are going to put it in the grocery cart, do two things. Zip or snap it shut, and take the child safety strap and buckle it through a handle. It makes it a lot harder for someone to steal your purse that way. I can't tell you the number of times I have seen a woman standing five feet away from her cart, while her unzipped purse sits in the seat of the basket with the wallet in plain view.

1/14/2008 4:44:00PM Brief Narrative: 08004874 4000 BLK PRESTON RD
Unknown suspect took victim's driver license and credit cards out unlocked car in the parking lot of 24 Hour Fitness.

PEOPLE! LOCK YOUR CARS!!! And don't leave that stuff in your car!

Recalls and Eggs

2008-01-23T23:36:00.000-06:00

I am utterly amused by this recall.

Nordstrom Recalls Taper and Votive Candles Due To Fire Hazard.

Granted, if you read the entire recall you will see that the coating on the outside of the candle is apparently flammable. I understand WHY they're recalling them, but it doesn't make it any less amusing to me.

On another, totally unrelated note (but I didn't feel like doing a whole separate blog entry for this one), one of my cookbooks offered the following advice for substitutions. If you need a substitute for one egg, you can use...(drum roll, please)...TWO EGG YOLKS! That's right, folks...just use two egg yolks in place of ONE EGG! I'm kind of thinking that if I don't have one egg, I am not going to have TWO egg yolks (which come from EGGS, right?) lying around.

Adult-sized Easy Bake Oven

2008-01-21T21:10:00.000-06:00

I always wanted one of these as a kid. I never got one and have thought from time to time that I should buy myself one now just to see what all the hype was about. I'm sure in time Nyssa will ask for one and I can check out the hype with her.

Until then, my desire for small batches of yummy goodness is currently being met by the cookbook, Small Batch Baking, by Debby Maugans Nakos. I picked it up a week ago from Barnes and Noble. At first glance, I thought I had made a mistake as almost all of the recipes call for unsalted butter at least, and some even called for buttermilk. Since we're a non-dairy household, butter and buttermilk aren't welcome in our home.

But always up for a challenge, I decided to attempt a recipe tonight using my dairy substitute for butter, Smart Balance Light spread. Oddly enough, the regular, non-light stuff contains dairy proteins, but the light stuff doesn't. The recipe was the Just Good Cupcakes. Not only did the recipe call for unsalted butter (2 T of the stuff), but it also wanted a quarter-cup of buttermilk.

I love Google! I simply typed, "buttermilk substitute vegan," into the search engine and received the same advice over several web pages; add a tablespoon of vinegar to a cup of soy or rice milk and let it sit for a while. So I did just that, and then stirred it up, poured a quarter cup out, and put the rest in the fridge for later when I decide to make these cupcakes again.

Small batch baking does not equal SPEEDY or simplified baking. No, it was just as much work as if I had made a huge batch of cupcakes. But it was fun to do! I had several prep bowls full of ingredients (it's the only way I will cook now that I am operating with mommybrain). I did have to pitch 1/8 t of baking soda and 1/8 t of salt because I stuck them in the same bowl instead of separate bowls and the recipe has you add them at different stages. Oops! Oh, well, it wasn't anything significant!

I was concerned with how the cupcakes would turn out, given my two substitutions. I am happy to say that they were delicious and all four of them are now gone. And if I had made a huge batch of two dozen cupcakes, they might all be gone, too!

I did frost them with Duncan Hines chocolate frosting (delightfully dairy-free!) as I was feeling lazy after dinner and not up to whipping up a small batch of icing.

I'll definitely make these again. Sorry there are no photos, they weren't all that pretty!

Scrap Bribing Again...

2008-01-20T14:37:00.001-06:00

Ok, go check it out, leave a comment and tell her you got there by way of me so I have more chances to win! :-)

http://www.iowageekonline.com/2008/01/valentines-day-scrap-bribing.html

Where's Waldo?

2008-01-12T21:07:00.001-06:00

Go to this link:

Grace Community Church

Scroll down until you see the photo with the worship team.

Do you see me in the photo? I'm there, I promise. :-)

Cell Phone Camera Fun

2008-01-08T20:52:00.000-06:00

I was flipping through the photo album on my phone and realized that there were several crazy photos I haven't shared here yet. I'm feeling quite lazy tonight so you'll have to visit the Picasa album in order to see the photos and read the comments.

From Oddities Janu...

Happy Birthday to ME!

2008-01-04T22:47:00.000-06:00

Although first I should say happy BELATED birthday to my wonderful husband. He's 38 hours and 11 minutes older than I am. His birthday was yesterday. He had to work, but came home early and his favorite meal of sauerbraten and mashed potatoes greeted him. I had also decorated the bar with some crepe streamers and a paper balloon, and hung another paper balloon from the light fixture over the dining table. It wasn't much, but I was busy cooking dinner!

I also made a yummy, allergen-free (i.e. no dairy or eggs) chocolate cake. I got the recipe from allrecipes.com - if you search for depression cakes, you'll find it. Apparently these cakes were very popular back in the Depression when eggs were in short supply and high demand. No one would ever be able to tell this cake wasn't a "normal" cake full of eggs and milk and butter.

Here are some photos from yesterday.

I should have taken a photo before I lit the candles. Those letters melted SUPER fast!

Number candles are just safer after a certain age.

See what I mean about the fast-melting candles?! Thank goodness they weren't relighting candles!

They're kind of creepy-looking now!

More creepiness.

Ok, so back to the title...MY birthday!

I have the greatest husband.

He left me a love note on the wall this morning that I found when I went to the kitchen to fix breakfast for Nyssa.

Inside the love note was another message.

And later that afternoon, he sent me flowers!

And then he came home with "something small" he said he thought I'd like.

What is that? Look more closely...

WOO HOO! He had led me to believe we needed to wait until February to get the D300, sneaky man! Now the battery needs to hurry up and charge so I can go play! It doesn't take the same batteries that my other Nikons take. BOO!

Nyssa let me sleep until 9:30, which was nice. And Grandma Coni babysat this evening so Brad and I could go to dinner at Cheesecake Factory. I didn't get any cheesecake since you know, it's made with DAIRY and all...but dinner was quite yummy even without dessert. Then we drove through Starbucks and I ordered my usual "tall soy chai" (chai tea latte made with soy milk). I don't know what the barista did, but YUCK! It was horrific. First of all, the cup wasn't a tall cup, it was much larger. Secondly, I swear they used regular milk in it. At any rate, I didn't drink it. We went to Coni's to pick up Nyssa and were greeted with more birthday gifts! On our way back home we drove back through Starbucks and Brad got them to fix my drink. The drink we left with that time was MUCH better than the first. They were very apologetic and fixed the new drink quickly. Gotta love good customer service!

I've had lots of virtual birthday wishes from friends and phone calls from family members. It's been a really nice birthday.

And now I leave you with photos from my birthdays from the last three years.

2004:
Opening my birthday gifts (Four years later and I still have that same PDA!)

Dinner that evening at Blue Mesa with a couple of my BFFs and their hubbies - we've been friends since forever (Jr. High and High School).

2005:
Surprise party at Maggiano's - my sneaky hubby at work again!

My birthday cake - apparently I've had a pink & brown addiction for quite some time. Do you see HIS birthday cake in the background? Not sure why we thought we needed two cakes! And no, I did not turn 26 this year...I was actually 30 but Brad likes to pretend he forgets how old I am each year. You'll see what I mean with the next photo.

2006:
I think my birthday snuck up on us with regard to the cake this year...or else I had a major E cake obsession! And apparently I aged 2 years in one, since I am now 28 (really 31).

2007:
There are no festive birthday photos of me this year. Shoot, I was 9 days postpartum and not thinking clearly. That's the only excuse I have. We DID go out and celebrate - my mom babysat little newborn Nyssa while we went first to Carter's to get some winter clothing for her and then to On the Border for dinner. I made the mistake of calling Mom on our way back home and could hear Nyssa crying in the background. I felt horrible and cried on the way home! How could I have left my brand new baby?! Looking back I am glad we went and laugh at how distraught I was. This photo has nothing to do with my birthday other than the fact that it was taken on my birthday. Isn't it so sweet, though?

2008: - see above!

Unwanted House Guests

2008-01-01T21:40:00.000-06:00

A mouse.

In the house.

Times three.

UGH!

It's the product of living in a brand-new subdivision where these field mice are having their homes disrupted by the construction coupled with the fact that our builder left a decent-sized hole in the storage closet under the stairs.

The first mouse I learned about while at worship team rehearsal for Christmas Eve services the Thursday before Christmas. I received a text message from Brad, "Bad news. I had to kill a mouse upstairs."

I gasped and groaned and was generally unhappy that our home had been invaded by a rodent. I got home and heard the story - Brad had Nyssa on his back, and his brother Brian and daughter Haley were here. They were all upstairs in the craft room, when the mouse darted between Brad and Brian. Long story short, Brad trapped the mouse in the closet and then stomped on it.

Mouse number 2 has the funniest stereotypical story. Brad and Nyssa were out running errands on the Sunday before Christmas. I was at home making a rum cake and had sat down at the computer to answer emails while waiting for the cake to finish baking. Out of my peripheral vision I saw something run across the hearth in the living room. I glanced up as my mind tried to process what I had seen. Was it a bug? No, it was too fast for a bug. Crap, it must have been another mouse. UGH. I called Brad and muttered quickly, "There is a mouse in the house. There is a mouse in the house!" At that moment, the little rodent decided to peek his little rodent head out from behind the speaker and look at me. I screamed in Brad's ear, "THERE IS A MOUSE IN THE HOUSE!!!!!!!!!" He told me he was right out front and to sit tight, he'd be right there to take care of the problem.

He walked in the door and handed Nyssa to me. He laughed because I was sitting on top of the bar in the kitchen. Nyssa was hungry, so I stayed on top of the bar with her and nursed her. Brad grabbed a wrought iron curtain rod to use as a weapon and started moving the stereo equipment and television to find our furry friend. Well, at that moment the plumber showed up to fix our leaking sink in the master bathroom. Brad paused his mouse hunt to let the plumber in. The plumber laughed at our predicament, completely entertained by Nyssa and me sitting up on the bar.

The mouse got brave and darted from behind the stereo across the living room and back into the laundry room. The funniest sight I have ever seen was my husband darting across the living room wielding the wrought iron curtain rod and yelling, "Come back her, you little...!"

Unfortunately, the mouse was pretty quick and dashed back into the aforementioned hole in the wall in the storage closet. *sigh* I knew we'd be contending with this creature again soon.

The next morning at 5:20, I heard a rustling on Brad's side of the bed. "Brad. Brad. BRAD, wake up! That stupid mouse is in our bedroom!!! He can't climb into the bed, right?" Brad reassured me that the mouse couldn't climb (I've since discovered evidence that this is not the case, they are apparently proficient climbers...more on that in a minute) and that Nyssa and I were safe in bed. He got up, went to the bathroom and got the stick to the toilet plunger, then turned on his bedside lamp and started looking for the mouse. The little guy darted into a pile of clothes in the middle of the floor. Brad threw a blanket on top of the clothes, scooped the whole pile up, and threw it all into our bathtub. Then he removed all the clothes and blanket, and I heard, "GO!" *whack* "TO!" *whack* "SLEEP!!!" *whack*

Mouse # 2 died a quick death and we were safe again...or so I thought.

A few nights later I was trying to get Nyssa to go to sleep while standing in "the magic spot" (at the bar-height countertop, facing the kitchen, with the laptop in front of me). Out of my peripheral vision I saw something dart under the front room doors. I turned to look, saw mouse # 3 and squealed, "ANOTHER MOUSE!" as the creature darted back into the room.

Brad got up from his computer, grabbed the toilet plunger from the front bathroom, and started his mouse hunt. Now, this front room is currently being used as a playroom/gigantic toybox, so it is full of great hiding places for a small rodent. Brad blocked off the entrance to the room and told me to watch and make sure he didn't escape. The mouse ended up getting trapped in the closet and his life ended shortly thereafter.

Brad has since plugged the hole in the closet under the stairs and we have not seen any more mice. We have seen evidence of mice in the way of droppings and a half-eaten Hershey's Special Dark bar in the pantry (which was my proof that they can climb, as it was near the top shelf, about eye level with me). I am not sure if this evidence is from the three mice that got into the house or if there are more that are lurking. Here's hoping it's from the dearly departed - I am tired of mice!

Three Works

2008-01-01T21:00:00.000-06:00

Three works I want God's hand on in my life in 2008:
1) My worship team ministry at church as I proceed as a lead worshipper
2) My photography
3) My marriage

There are lots more, but these three are the most important (and are not in any particular order other than the order they came to me).

This is all part of the Home Sanctuary's Company Girl Sanctuary in the Small Things. Click on the Company Girl graphic to the right to read more!

Hot, hot hot!

2007-12-26T16:10:00.000-06:00

We received a hot cocoa kit for Christmas from Brad's aunt and family. The warning on the outside back of the box says, "Keep away from heat." So how am I supposed to use this kit, exactly? MMM, cold cocoa!

Feliz Navidad!

2007-12-25T21:48:00.000-06:00

In honor of my daddy:

In my stocking was a bottle of vanilla creme room spray. I'm a little scared to use it. On one side of the bottle it says, "This product is environmentally friendly and does not contain propellants." Below that reads, "Caution: Keep out of reach of children and pets. Non-toxic product. Not for human consumption."

And on the other side, the label says, "
FOR CHEMICAL EMERGENCYSpill, leak, fire, exposure, or accident, call Infotrac day or night." Ok, so if I knock the bottle over at 3 am and spill it, I should call Infotrac?

I wanna win...

2007-12-22T20:27:00.001-06:00

So go here: December Scrap Bribing give-away and leave a comment and let her know you got to her by way of me so you can have an entry and I can have another entry! And then post about it in your blog so you can have more entries! :-)

I wanna win...

2007-12-22T20:27:00.000-06:00

so go here: http://www.iowageekonline.com/2007/12/december-scrap-bribing.html

Lose 4 pounds in 24 hours!

2007-12-18T16:34:00.000-06:00

Just get a nasty stomach bug! Thankfully I am feeling better today, but Sunday evening and yesterday were MISERABLE.

The good news (?) is that I'm now 3 pounds under my pre-pregnancy weight. My original goal was to be there by the time Nyssa turned one (next Wednesday). Woo hoo, except I'm sure once I start eating normally again I'll gain it all back! Oh, well.

Why I'm baking from scratch

2007-12-09T16:55:00.000-06:00

I thought I'd let my readers (all two of you) know why I'm baking pizza crust from scratch.

In two words: food allergies.

We found out early on that Nyssa is sensitive to dairy, so I cut all dairy out of my diet. It was very challenging at first, but I learned how to surround myself with yes foods (Oreo cookies are dairy-free!) and eventually find proper substitutes for my dairy cravings.

And then Brad had allergy testing done. Besides being allergic to 16 types of trees, all molds, grasses, and weeds (hello, lawn service), he is also allergic to shellfish, peanuts, eggs, corn, and soy. Take a look at the ingredients of just a few of the processed foods in your pantry, and chances are ALL of them will have some form of corn and/or soy. Pretty much any chocolate will have soy lecithin (an emulsifier) in it. I did find an organic chocolate bar at Target that does NOT contain the soy lecithin, so I've been buying those for him. Oh, and Breyer's ice cream is the purest stuff out there - all of the other brands at the local Kroger had corn syrup in them.

He's being a great trooper - he's finished two weeks of a four-week elimination diet (eating a LOT of grilled chicken and rice and salad with olive oil and vinegar) and has lost 6 pounds just doing that. After the four weeks are up, we will start testing the allergens one at a time in the purest form possible to see if he reacts. Based on the type of reaction, it'll be up to him to decide what foods to allow back in his diet and what to avoid completely.

So anyway, the reason I was making pizza dough from scratch is because all of the pre-packaged stuff contains either corn, soy, or dairy!

Measure Twice, Cut Once

2007-12-08T19:35:00.000-06:00

Or, how I managed to ruin two batches of homemade pizza dough this evening.

The recipe is as follows:
1 (.25 oz) package active yeast
1 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
1 teaspoon sugar

2.5 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil

Combine yeast, sugar, and water in a bowl and let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

Add flour, salt, and olive oil and mix until smooth. Let rest 5 minutes.

Turn out on pizza stone, roll into a circle, top with toppings, bake at 450 degrees for ? 20 minutes? I don't recall, as I didn't get that far.

I put two cups of water in the microwave to heat it to the 110 degrees. I added the yeast and the sugar and let it sit. Then I added the flour, salt, and olive oil and let my Kitchenaid do the mixing. After a few minutes I realized something was wrong. I thought maybe I had mismeasured the flour, since I was counting 10 quarter cups of flour instead of washing my one-cup measuring cup. I added another half-cup of flour and the dough was still not the consistency so I dumped it and started over.

Once again, after reviewing the recipe, I warmed two cups of water in the microwave. I repeated the exact same steps, but used a one-cup measuring cup this time to make sure I got the right amount of flour. I started mixing, and guess what? It looked the same. After wasting another half-cup of flour, I gave up.

Then I went to the recipe and looked at it, trying to figure out what I had done wrong.

ONE FREAKING CUPS OF WATER RUINED MY DOUGH!!! I used twice as much water in the yeast, TWICE! UGH. What's the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over expecting different results? *sigh*

I would have tried a third time, but I was out of yeast.

Use Your Ruler

2007-12-03T22:36:00.000-06:00

Or, objects in mirror may be smaller than they appear.

I thought it would be nice to get Nyssa her first baby doll for Christmas. I found this Waldorf doll and thought it would be a nice doll.

http://www.willowtreetoys.com:80/product/KK74197

The website describes the doll as being 8 inches in length. Apparently my mind thinks 8 inches is twice as big as it actually is.

My order arrived today. That doll, while really cute, is about the size of a Beanie Baby and fits in the palm of my hand. It's not at all what I had in mind for her first dollie! And it was $20!!! To say I'm disappointed is an understatement.

Next time I will be pulling out the ruler to get a visual of just how big eight inches is!

Remembering Daddy

2007-12-03T18:09:00.000-06:00

The first thought on my mind today about today's date was not, "Daddy died 6 years ago today." No, it was, "Hey, it's Michelle's birthday!" I am happy that I am finally at a point where I think of my friend's birthday before thinking of the day my dad passed away.

I'm really sad that he never met Brad or Nyssa, even though I know they'll all meet some day (hopefully FAR FAR FAR in the future).

My dad had a knack for a mean chess game and could play anything on the guitar. My two favorites were "Gentle Breeze" from the Music Machine record, and "You Can Close Your Eyes" by James Taylor and remade by lots of people - Carly Simon, Kate Taylor, Linda Ronstat, Richie Havens, Maureen McGovern, and probably others that aren't listed on the website that came up when I Googled it to find out who originally wrote it. I know there's a recent version that gets played on easy listening stations, as it'll come on sometimes when Brad and I have gone out to eat. It always, ALWAYS results with me in tears after picking up just a note or two of it. I tried to sing it to Nyssa once, and didn't even get through the second line without choking up. Fortunately, she was asleep by then and didn't notice (that, and she was 6 weeks old so she probably didn't care anyway).

Speaking of chess, Daddy taught us to play when we were really young. He showed us how to win a chess game in four moves, but unfortunately it only works with a novice chess player - any seasoned player will see it coming and thwart it immediately.

We always went roller skating as a family on Sunday afternoons. I was skating about the time I started walking, or shortly thereafter (or so I'm told anyway!).

We'd spend the weekends with him after my parents split up. Sometimes he'd take us to Crystal's Pizza and we'd sit in the cartoon room and watch Little Rascals or Pink Panther and then get to play skee ball and other video games. Sometimes we would just order pizza from there and have it delivered, and play Nintendo games at his house.

He would pick us up after school and take us to Baskin Robbins. I always got either pralines and cream, daquari ice, or on the rare occasion, bubble gum. I'm sad that they have changed the way they make the daquari ice and it no longer looks or tastes like it did.

My dad spent a TON of time teaching me things when I was very small. He read to me constantly and as a result of the time he spent with me, I was reading when I was three years old. I knew the Greek alphabet when I was 4 (I did not retain that knowledge, however!). Dad was insistent on us not only memorizing the Lord's Prayer, but also the Apostles' Creed (which I also do not remember - the Creed, that is...I will never forget the Lord's Prayer!).

My mom has a Christmas decoration that is a train where the cars spell "N-O-E-L." We would always find that train saying, "L-E-O-N," after Dad had visited.

My friends from my childhood most likely know that my dad was a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic. He spent a lot of time in the VA hospital in Big Springs. He would function pretty well when he was taking his meds, but when he stopped, he'd have a breakdown and have to go back to Big Springs.

He called my brother once requesting that he send him a post card. With a horse on it. It was just like my dad to make goofy requests such as that.

The last conversation I had with him was out on my mom's front porch on Thanksgiving day. He talked about how he considered his cigarettes prayer sticks and as he smoked them, he prayed for his brothers and sisters (he had 14 of them). I don't remember much more from that conversation other than in the last 2 minutes it turned ugly and I had to walk away from him and go into the house. A week later my mom called to let me know he had died suddenly (and quite unexpectedly). I felt awful that the last conversation we were to have on this earth had ended so poorly, but was thankful for the first 43 minutes that had gone well.

My dad was a very giving person, to a fault at times. His "friends" knew it and often took advantage of it. He was always wanting to help out anyone in need. He always tipped the Sonic car hops (and now I do it in memory of Dad). When he would take us to the Sonic on North 1st in Abilene, he would always park his car so that the big neon COKE/Coca Cola sign was visible from the parking spot.

There's a street just on the south side that has a significant dip in it - he was always willing to give us kids a thrill by driving as fast as he could down the road (within reason, of course). I wish I could remember the name of that street - I wonder if they've fixed it or if you still get air time if you go over it fast enough.

My absolute favorite memories of my dad are of him playing his guitar and us singing together. I have a recording of my dad and me singing when I was a very young child. It used to be on a cassette tape, but now it's on a CD (which is packed in a box somewhere at the moment). If I knew where it was, I'd share it, but I am not sure right now where it is.

I can't believe I almost forgot to mention that we shared a birthday. He was exactly 24 years older than I, right down to the day. He always said I was the best birthday present ever. We came up with a secret little handshake when I was little that we continued to do even after I was an adult. There were times as a teenager that I would roll my eyes in my mind, but as I got older I enjoyed our little 1-2-3-4 pinkie shake. Silly, yes, but it was special to us. He always signed his letters with "1,2,3,4."

When I moved to Santa Barbara, he would send me $21 a week so I'd have $3 a day to eat on. I never asked for it, but was always glad to get it as money was pretty tight then!

He was a faithful letter writer. Somewhere upstairs I have a box and an envelope with letters from him.

He was an MP in the Army. He was in Korea during the Vietnam war. He was a 100% disabled Veteran. I seem to recall him working for the post office at some point, but need to verify that information with my mother. He hung sheetrock in the Abilene Mall when it was being constructed. I know he probably had other odd jobs at different times, but most of the time he didn't work because he couldn't. He'd think he could, so he would get a job and his VA benefits would stop. Then the stress of the job would take its toll and he'd end up back in the hospital, and it would take some time for the VA benefits to kick back in again. I know he always felt guilty for taking money without working for it.

It's hard to believe he's been gone for six years already. Daddy, I miss you.

Stupid Comment Spam

2007-11-28T12:54:00.000-06:00

Apologies to my readers/commenters, you are going to have to enter the word verification to leave a comment now. I've been spammed and I don't appreciate it!

I don't know why they call it word verification, when the letters make up no English words with which I am familiar!

The Tree is Up!

2007-11-26T13:28:00.000-06:00

We got a gorgeous pre-lit 9' slim tree from Wal-Mart for a really great price. Brad picked it up last weekend, and we put it up yesterday. I was shocked at how quickly it went together. The thing is so beautiful! Now we just need to get ornaments on it.

I have to admit that I hate real trees. First of all, Brad and I are allergic to pretty much all kinds of Christmas trees. It's not fun to spend your holiday season sneezing and rubbing your itchy eyes. Other reasons I hate real trees include the following:

They're high maintenance.
I stress about them catching on fire.
It's more trouble to go shopping for the perfect tree than to lug the fake one out of the attic each year.
They leave needles EVERYWHERE.
They're hard to get level and straight in the tree stand (at least, that was my experience growing up - seems like when we had real trees, they were always crooked).
I can barely remember to water the plants on my front porch; having to water the tree in my living room is more than I want to hassle with.
Getting rid of it at the end of the season seems like it would be a big production.

So Nyssa will grow up only having experienced a fake tree each Christmas. Poor, deprived child, huh?! :-)

Thanksgiving!

2007-11-25T16:15:00.001-06:00

We went to Barrington, IL for the Thanksgiving holiday to celebrate with Brad's mom, her husband, and their daughter. We flew out Thursday morning and returned home late last night. It was a pretty good trip. It was cold, and it was snowing a little bit when we arrived.

To entertain ourselves on the drive from the airport to Barrington, I put the language for the Hertz Never Lost GPS on French. On the way back to the airport yesterday, it was on German. I wonder what the next people who rent the car are going to think. :-P

I was without a camera for most of the trip simply because I was being too lazy to carry it around with me. I missed a few good photo opportunities, such as the hundred or so geese all congregating around a sign that read, "Beware of dog."

We went to a mall on Friday afternoon. It actually wasn't very crowded at all, but then, this particular mall doesn't even have a Starbucks (I was sorely disappointed, as I have an addiction to the soy chai latte these days). The six of us posed for a photo with Santa. He was a pretty creepy Santa and looks none too pleased with our little group in the photo (that I will share later when I get to the disc that it's on).

Inside this mall there was a candy store called "Fannie May Candies." Are the mortgage industry and housing market in THAT much trouble?!

'Tis the season for Christmas carols. It's pretty sad that Thanksgiving weekend isn't even over yet and already I have grown weary of, "Let it Snow." I swear, if I hear it one more time, I may scream. *note to self, check iPod Christmas play list!

"Do You Hear What I Hear" used to be one of my favorite Christmas carols. That is, it was a favorite until yesterday when I realized just how incredibly dumb the following line is:

"A child, a child, shivers in the cold.
Let us bring him silver and gold."

I don't know about you, but if I knew that a child was shivering in the cold, I'd be bringing warm blankets and a nice coat, hat, and set of mittens! Gold? Silver? Really, now?

I am really just poking fun at the lyrics of the song, not the actual visitation of the wise men. Notes about the wise men - 1) the Bible never says there were three wise men. There were three gifts (gold, francensense, and myrrh). 2) They did not arrive the night of the birth of Christ, so nativity sets that have the wise men as part of them aren't really accurate. 3) My uncle's favorite joke of all time is the following:

Q: Did you know the wise men were firemen?
A: Yep, they came from afar. (a fire, said with a prominent west Texas accent).

I always thought it would be neat for our family to make a little birthday cake on Christmas day since it's Jesus' birthday (well, the day we celebrate, anyway). However, with Nyssa's birthday being the day after, that's a lot of cake to have sitting around! So I am going to let go of the idea of baking a cake for Christmas day.

I am FINALLY ready to celebrate Christmas! There were several stores that started putting out their Christmas decor in October, before Halloween! I like to celebrate my holidays in order, so let me please get through Thanksgiving with fall leaves, pumpkins, turkeys and other orange decor before you start pushing red and green and ornaments and lighted garlands on me, please!

I am mindful every day of the gift of Christ, but love the month-long emphasis of Christmas. I do get overwhelmed with the commercialism of the holiday and frustrated at the attempt of so many to reduce October/November/December to "The Holiday Season" and not make any mention of CHRISTMAS DAY in an effort to be politically correct. I could go on and on, but I will stay off my soap box for this one. Suffice it to say, we are celebrating Christmas in this home - celebrating the birth of Christ!

Little Pitchers have Big Ears

2007-11-25T16:11:00.000-06:00

Brad and I were putting up the Christmas tree this afternoon. Nyssa was hanging out on my back while we fluffed the branches. I don't recall what happened, but something caused me to say, "Crap." Not two seconds later, a little voice from behind me said, "Bap." I paused for a minute, then looked wryly at Brad and asked him, "Did she just imitate me saying ,'Crap?!'"

Guess it's time to start REALLY watching what I say! I'm pretty mindful of my language anyway, but I don't want our 11-month-old (as of tomorrow) running around saying, "Crap! Crap!" That word does NOT need to be in her vocabulary list!

Trash? Treasure?

2007-11-16T18:09:00.000-06:00

Got $10 to burn? Order a something!

http://www.somethingstore.com/index.html

Very, very weird.

Friday Ramblings

2007-11-09T17:01:00.000-06:00

God's funny. Last night Brad told me the Ozarka water guy was coming today to deliver our monthly supply of water and a water cooler (we're water snobs, ok?). I asked him to find out what time he was coming so I could be home. Immediately upon waking up this morning, I called Brad this morning to find out what time and he told me all they gave him was a 5-hour window. I was NOT a happy camper about being stuck at home for five hours when I so desperately needed to go to the grocery store. I threw a small fit and so Brad called them back to ask them to move the delivery time to Tuesday. I wasn't thrilled with that either since that meant I had to get water from the grocery store in addition to everything else we needed, but at least I could get out. Not five minutes after I got off the phone with Brad, the Ozarka water guy showed up with our delivery. So we had that silly tiff for nothing! Note to self, don't make phone calls immediately after waking up in the morning.

I had a challenging time shopping today because I left our Beco carrier at home. I almost ALWAYS shop with Nyssa on my back, because it is just easier that way. She's out of my way back there, her arms and hands are contained so she can't grab at stuff, and she likes it best back there. I had a ring sling (one shoulder carrier) in my car, so I ended up using that half the time and letting her ride in the cart the rest of the time. What a pain that was! I seriously debated calling a babywearing friend of mine that lives in the area where I was shopping to see if I could borrow her Beco, but decided we would just make do this time. I will be putting a carrier in my car this evening so I don't get caught like that again!!! It was quite challenging.

While in the soda aisle I passed a woman who commented on Nyssa in the sling. She said, "You have your hands full, literally!" Well, no, actually I didn't - the purpose of the sling is so that I have my hands free! I didn't bother correcting her, what would the point have been?

I bought organic eggs. On the carton it states that the eggs are from vegetarian hens. Um...since when were chickens omnivores or carnivores? I'm a little disturbed at the idea of a chicken eating meat. On a really random side note, my cockatiel loves scrambled eggs. So what does that make her? She can't have cheese (birds lack the enzymes necessary to break down milk proteins), so would she be an ovo-vegetarian? And why do I keep trying to spell "vegetarian" with three Es, like "vegeterian?"

I ran across a very interesting video game toy this afternoon. It had what amounted to a stationary bike and the video game was a cycling route. It was geared toward children, since the bike was all kinds of crazy colored plastic and the object of the game was to collect letters of the alphabet in sequence. I guess if kids are going to play video games, they might as well get some physical exercise, too! I suppose it's no different than watching TV while riding the stationary bike at the gym.

In Order

2007-11-04T21:29:00.000-06:00

could we please celebrate our holidays in order?

oh, and i discovered the lock buttons on the dish washer and oven, thankfully!

Nonsense!

2007-10-31T23:47:00.000-05:00

So our new house has a dishwasher, microwave, and oven that all have push buttons for operating them. My daughter loves buttons and the oven and dishwasher are both within her reach.

Guess which appliance is the only one with the child lock on it?

The one she cannot reach, of course! Our plan is to barricade her from the kitchen completely.

Man Quiz

2007-10-21T21:10:00.000-05:00

Tagged by Erin, here ya go!

MAN QUIZ
1. Who is your man? Brad
2. How long have you been married? 3 years
3. How long dated? 1 year and 10 days before we were engaged for 4.5 months.
4. How old is your man? 32
5. Who eats more? Brad
6. Who said “I love you” first? He did, but it was a Chandler from Friends moment!
7. Who is taller? Brad is, by far. 11 inches taller, in fact.
8. Who sings better? I guess I do
9. Who is smarter? Brad, especially with financial stuff!
10. Whose temper is worse? Mine
11. Who does the laundry? we both do
12. Who takes out the garbage? Brad does
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? which side is the right? I sleep on the west side, our heads face south
14. Who pays the bills? Brad does!
15. Who is better with the computer? I am
16. Who mows the lawn? we don't have a lawn yet
17. Who cooks dinner? I do
18. Who drives when you are together? Brad
19. Who pays when you go out? Moot point since it's all from the same checking account. Brad actually pays the bill w/his card
20. Who is most stubborn? I am
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? we both are
22. Whose parents do you see the most? My parents, believe it or not!
23. Who kissed who first? Huh?
24. Who asked who out? Brad asked me for a lunch date
25. Who proposed? BRad
26. Who is more sensitive? We both are.
27. Who has more friends? I do
28. Who has more siblings? Brad does, by far!
29. Who wears the pants in the family? The man is the head, but the woman is the neck. And she can turn the head any way she wants. In the same way, the man wears the pants, but the woman is the legs that moves them. :-)
I tag Lynn, Lindsay, and Michelle P.

Bye-bye, Birdie.

2007-09-15T22:33:00.001-05:00

Our love bird, Houdini, passed away this evening.

I am very sad over the loss of our little buddy. I have a warped sense of humor (as if you didn't know this already) and have said some inappropriate things regarding the passing of our little feathered friend.

Things like, "Well, that's one less thing to move." My husband admitted the same thought crossed his mind only after I said it. And things like, "Ugh! There's a dead bird in our freezer and it's not even Thanksgiving yet!" We're going to bury the little guy tomorrow, but didn't want him starting to decompose and stink tonight, so I made a little birdie casket from one of my stationery boxes lined with fleece cut from the covers we used to cover the birds' cages with at night time. Brad put Houdini in the box, and then put the box in a ziplock bag, and then I put the whole package in the freezer.

Apparently one of my coping mechanisms when dealing with grief is to think inappropriate thoughts. :-)

RIP, little dude.

If you want to read a more reverent tribute, go to http://missnyssa.blogspot.com/2007/09/and-then-there-were-three.html

Odd Midwest

2007-09-10T22:22:00.000-05:00

We recently made a trip to Emmetsburg, Iowa, by way of Minneapolis, Minnesota. I found great amusement in quite a few things on this trip!

Did you know there is a Minnesota Contact Lens Society? I wonder if there are Lasik surgeons attending this meeting incognito.

The Wild Rose Hotel & Casino in Emmetsburg has a daily special at the snack bar. On Sunday, it was a taco in a bag and a pop. What exactly is a taco in a bag? What kind of bag is it? Would they give you a choice of paper or plastic? I didn't care to spend the four bucks to find out.

Apparently you are not supposed to kick the side of the escalator, and dogs with no legs should be carried.

And because the pictures aren't enough guidance for proper use of an escalator...

This was in someone's front yard in Granada, Iowa.

A convenience store in Estherville, Iowa. They also have them in Emmetsburg. I guess the cost of the letter E was just too much for the chain. They must have said, "No," when asked if they would like to buy a vowel.

Ok, so I've seen international signs for no smoking, wheelchair accessibility, and even breastfeeding. I am stumped as to the meaning of this sign, which was outside our hotel room at the casino.

We departed from terminal A when we flew to Minneapolis. When we returned home to DFW, we were returned to terminal C. Dang inconvenient, if you ask me. So we hopped on the skylink and rode over to terminal A. The recorded voice announced, "Please stand clear of the doorway, do not block the doorway. This guy obviously didn't get the memo.

World Market Getaway

2007-06-10T22:46:00.000-05:00

These pictures are probably a month or so old. I have been busy with the other blogs and have really neglected this one! Oh, well. Enjoy the humorous pics.

Is it a weenie dog? Is it a devil dog? Is it a bull?

MmMM, play-doh cookies.

Did you know mini pigs were perfect for parties?

I saw this and almost bought it for Nyssa. However...

I couldn't identify the blue animal that apparently starts with a Y. Perhaps it is a Dr. Seuss animal. I suppose it could be a yak? But all the other animals in the book were their proper color. Except for the animal that starts with an X...I have no idea what that is, either!

I have never understood these things.

Awww, sad wilted flower!

Everyone needs a giraffe mug!!!

Mmm, sausages. These just look gross.

This just made le laugh. I wonder if the marketing person at Heinz got fired for this. I mean, would YOU buy something with such an attractive name and packaging? What exactly IS spotted dick, or does that fall into the realm of questions you don't want answered?

They couldn't stop at gummy bears. Or gummy worms. NOOOO, they had to go and make gummy CENTIPEDES. Somehow I don't think these things really have a hundred legs.

High Priced Fashion

2007-03-31T23:53:00.000-05:00

Would YOU spend $99.89 on these shoes?!

Random Easter Crap

2007-03-31T23:42:00.000-05:00

I'll spare you my diatribe about how Easter really isn't about bunnies and eggs and marshmallow Peeps, and instead share with you some of the very silly things my mom and I ran across while shopping at WalMart a couple of weeks ago.

First, we have the Fiber Optic Carrot Lite [sic]. I guess the Fiber Optic Carrot Heavy is bigger? At any rate, every kid needs one of these.

Next up is the BIG EARED RABBIT! Couldn't have called it Oído Grande just for grins. I don't know why my phone takes pictures in mirror image sometimes. It's weird.

Gone are the days of boring pastel plastic eggs...we now have camo eggs in both green AND pink! Just how challenging do we want the easter egg hunt to be, honey?

And no egg hunt would be complete without the SPIDEY EGGS!

Finally, we have this...er...um...well, I'm not sure what it is, but it made me laugh.

Contest!

2007-03-31T21:23:00.000-05:00

Check out the contest at http://splatdesigns.blogspot.com!

Mommy Musings

2007-02-24T16:48:00.000-06:00

I used to hate having to go to Target. Now, with a 2-month old (as of Monday the 26th), a 30-minute trip to Target alone while the baby stays home with Daddy has become a great respite. Granted, my trip was to buy diapers, but still!

I was very amused last night as I wandered the Easter aisles. The first item that caught my eye was a basketball-sized and shaped fluffy sheep. It cracked me up because it was so ridiculous looking.

As I continued my wandering, I noticed something green and fuzzy. Upon closer examination, I discovered a Frabbit. It was a stuffed frog onto which a pair of white bunny ears had been sewn. I can just picture the board meeting among top executives of Fluffy Frog, Inc. sitting around lamenting that they had produced too many frogs and were losing money on merchandise that wasn't moving. The VP of Marketing pipes up and says, "Let's sew bunny ears on them and market them as Frabbit, the Easter Frog." Voila - the result was the toy I saw sitting on the aisle last night.

Have you ever noticed the sign posted on the exit door of Target that reads, "Please have a safe trip home." ??? I have been to Target a thousand times and never noticed this sign before. I wondered if it was there to make me feel all warm and fuzzy, like the folks at Target REALLY care that I have a safe trip home. I have to say that the nice sign is not the reason I will return to shop there.

Waste of time...

2007-01-30T19:32:00.000-06:00

I noticed for the first time yesterday that the tag on my Boppy pillow says, "Read before each use."

Sure, I know I'm sleep deprived and have Mommybrain, but I'm pretty sure I'm not going to forget after a couple of hours that I shouldn't let Nyssa fall asleep on the pillow or let her use it unsupervised.

I put that dang pillow in my lap every two hours around the clock, I am not going to waste 10 seconds of my life reading the tag each time.

More instructions for dummies...

2007-01-26T14:17:00.000-06:00

I really do have a hard time believing people are truly so stupid. I know it's the litigious society we live in, but still.

Two things quickly before Pineki wakes up and demands her afternoon lunch.

1) The toy bar in her bouncy seat says, "WARNING! Do not lift seat by toy bar." That's pretty dumb, given the fact that the toy bar doesn't even latch into the seat - it just rests inside two holes and comes off at the slightest pressure. It's impossible to lift the seat by the toy bar! Now if the instructions had said, "Do not attempt to lift seat by toy bar," that would make more sense.

2) The instructions on my thin plastic bottle liners say, "Do not use sharp objects to squeeze air out of disposable liners." C'mon, I'm sleep deprived, not stupid!

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