My Daffodills

My Daffodills

Definate Kodak moment (in this case, Fuji). For the second year EVER, my daffodills bloomed -- and for the first year ever, I got more than one. They're a little sad looking (I've been informed I should have fertilized them), but they bloomed and that's all I care about. Now if I could get my tulip to do the same. My poor tulip didn't even come up this year. The ground cover on the other hand... Well let's just say if anyone wants some ground cover, I'll transplant some for you. I've transplanted it 3 times already and you don't have to do anything to it. I don't even water it. Now, I just have to plant something that will bloom in my back yard this summer (other than weeds). Maybe yardwork should be part of my Saturday schedule...we'll see.

Questions I Have

Yep, it's a two post day. Below are a list of just some of the questions I have been pondering the last few days. Enjoy...

Why is spit so stringy?

Why must men and women be so confusing to each other?

Why do I have to work all day on the days I have nothing to do since I’m going to have to work late on the days that I do have something to do?

Why can’t cars just run on water?

Why do I keep waking up at 6:19 a.m. when my alarm isn’t set to go off till 6:20 a.m.?

Why have I never gotten my $5 for posting the comment about “Hot Eric” on the conclave? (Excuse me, it’s now $3, because I owed Lindsy $2.)

Why do they insist on pronouncing it Ar-Kan-Saw? (Yeah, I’m not going to let this die).

Why don’t people have a pen and paper ready when they call YOU for a phone number? (Happens here at work all the time.)

Why when I’m dating someone, do people insist on asking me if he’s a nice guy? No, I prefer to date total jerks. What’s up with that?

Why do my hands get dry so easily?

Why are robins the first bird of spring (and why do they show up so early…it’s false advertising)?

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?

Why do our noses and ears never quit growing?

Why do people who drive ice cream trucks freak me out so bad?

Why do we have appendixes when most of us will have it removed before we die anyway?

Where is the elevator at Memorial Road (my place of employment)?

Well, this is by far not the end of my never-ending list of questions, but I better stop there.

Letting Go

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. ~ Joshua 1:9

This is my favorite verse in the Bible – has been for a long time. But lately it’s started hitting home again for me. I have been so stressed about whether I was making the right choices in my life. Stressing over whether some of the things that have been taking place are God’s will or my will. After a brief conversation with a respected friend the other day, it finally dawned on me that I’ve been praying about these situations for a long time and that by worrying about it, I’m not leaving it God’s hands. My heart is in the right place, my intentions are good, and I just need to let God use me as He sees fit and remember that He knows what He’s doing.

Anyway, I have this verse scheduled to pop up on my computer every morning, but this morning, it just reminded me that I’m not alone in this.

Peeps

Peeps

Let me start by saying that I think this is the nastiest candy ever made, but hey, it's almost Easter and since these seem to be an Easter staple for some, I thought I would print these interesting facts that I found. By the way, want to know more? Go to the Official Marshmellow Peeps website.

Peep Prep

Have you ever wondered which came first, the marshmallow or the Peep? Well, we've got the answer. Follow along on our tour of the Just Born, Inc., candy plant in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and you'll know a lot more about those cute little chick and bunny peeps that show up in your Easter basket every year.

1. Mixing and Whipping
A mixture of marshmallow, sugar, corn syrup, gelatin, and a few other special ingredients are whipped into a marshmallowy goo that will become the shaped candy figures.

2. Coloring the Sugar
All sugar starts out white. Since yellow Peeps were being made the day we visited, yellow food coloring was added through that little arm outside the barrel. The barrel rotates like a cement mixer to color all the sugar.

3. Spreading the Sugar
Sugar is loaded into a spreader (the gray piece in the background) by hand. The spreader distributes the sugar all across the conveyor belt that the candy will ride during production.

Fun Fact
Just Born, Inc., produces 1.2 billion marshmallow goodies each year for all occasions -- that's a heap of Peeps. Chicks and bunnies are the most popular shapes and are made year-round at the plant.

Peep Population

4. Peeps Are Made
No photos are allowed of the machinery that actually pumps the marshmallow into the right shape. That's top secret. We can tell you that it's basically the same technology that was developed in the 1950s by the Just Born company.

5. Bring on the Breeze
Naked Peeps make their way along the conveyor belt (yes, they travel backward the whole way!) toward the wind tunnel. This is where air will whip the sugar around so that it sticks evenly to the warm, wet marshmallow.

6. Recycling the Sugar
The sugar-coated candies slide off a solid conveyor belt on to a grated one that lets extra sugar fall through. That sugar will be reused.

Fun Fact
In 1953, Peeps were made by hand with a pastry tube. Making one Peep took about 27 hours. Today, Peeps can be made in just six minutes.

Peep Packaging

7. The Eyes Have It
This machine gives the Peeps their peepers, which are actually tiny dots of an edible wax. The machine can pump out 3,800 eyes per minute.

8. Hop in the Box
The final stage of the conveyor takes the candies through a very cold area so they can firm up enough to easily drop off the conveyor belt and into boxes. As you can see, chicks stick together five at a time. When it comes to bunnies, it's four per box.

9. It's a Wrap
The next stop for the boxes of candy is a wrapping station. Boxes are sealed with plastic wrap, either individually, two at a time, or three at a time.

Fun Fact
Peeps chicks come in five colors, listed here in order of popularity: yellow, pink, lavender, blue, and white.

Peeps Hit the Road

10. Ready to Ship
Finally, the packaged chicks are placed in cardboard boxes for shipping. Peeps are sold in 30 countries around the world.

Fun Fact
Just Born is named for Sam Born, who grew up in Russia and came to America in 1910. He started his business with a small candy shop in New York City. The company's headquarters has been in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, since 1932.

Facts 10-1

I stole this from Lindsy too. But it's been slow this afternoon, so I was looking for something to do. I guess I need to enjoy these days while they last. I go back to running the bulletin myself in 3 more weeks.

FACTS

TEN Random Things About Me:
1. I can’t sleep with socks on
2. For the last few weeks, I’ve started waking up every morning 1 minute before my alarm is set to go off.
3. I have very uncoordinated feet. Can’t dance, do aerobics, run and dribble a basketball, etc.
4. My favorite pie is strawberry-rhubarb
5. Thanks to an $800 piece of plastic, I talk with a lisp during the day (hopefully it’s temporary)
6. My heritage consists of Irish, Czech, French and British.
7. The shoes I’m currently wearing have a hole in bottom (and yes, I’m trying to replace them, just can’t find any I like)
8. I need a haircut…BAD
9. I have a clock on my desk that probably hasn’t worked in 5 years (it’s symbolic)
10. My most hated household chore is dusting.

NINE Places I've Visited:
1. Warsaw, Poland
2. Krakow, Poland
3. Jamaica
4. Paris, France
5. Rome, Italy
6. Venice, Italy
7. Vienna, Austria
8. Salsburg, Germany
9. London, England (but I was too tired to enjoy it)

EIGHT Things I Want To Do Before I Die:
1. Get married
2. Have kids
3. Go to Spain
4. Go to Greece
5. Visit all 50 States
6. Write a book
7. Buy a house
8. Pay off my student loans

SEVEN Ways To Win My Heart:
1. Be a Godly man
2. Be honest
3. Treat people with respect (me included)
4. Do something nice for me that I didn’t expect
5. Have a good sense of humor
6. Show interest in things that are important to me
7. Open doors for me

SIX Things I Believe In:
1. God
2. The Bible
3. True Love
4. You reap what you sow (eventually)
5. The Golden Rule
6. Santa Claus

FIVE Things I'm Afraid Of:
1. Ferris Wheels
2. Being one of those old people who dies in a nursing home without any family.
3. Dark basements (I still run up the stairs when I turn the lights off at my moms)
4. Rattle Snakes (actually don’t like any snakes)
5. What’s behind the boxes in my garage

FOUR Of My Favorite Items In My Bedroom:
1. My bed (I designed it and my sister-in-law’s dad made it)
2. My antique school desk
3. My pajama collection
4. My bean bag

THREE Things I Do Everyday:
1. Pray
2. Take my pills and vitamins
3. brush my teeth

TWO Things I Am Trying Not To Do Right Now:
1. Clench my teeth
2. Find something productive to do (it’s the end of the day and it’s Friday!)

ONE Person I Want To See Right Now:
1. Ed McMahon (I could use my check from PCH)

What Did I Tell You

I'm telling you, I'm accident prone. My hair dryer blew up this morning...literally. Sparks were flying and I could not get the stupid thing unplugged to save my life. I'm amazed I didn't burn the house down. AND I have little electrical burn marks up and down my arm. They are the weirdest thing ever. They don't hurt, they just look like I have a bunch of little moles on my arm. I wonder how long it will take for those to go away?

By the way, the face is healing well. It's getting less and less red every day and I think if it scars, it won't be very visable.

The Accident Prone Queen

I think I am the most accident prone person alive – especially when it comes to anything hot. For anyone who has known me long enough, you know that I am infamous for burning myself. I’ve picked up curling irons by the barrel, I’ve had more “curling iron” hickies than anyone I’ve ever know (some of which were pretty serious). I’ve burnt my hand on the stove numerous times, and me and matches…not a good match. I even have a nice large scar on my fore arm from reaching over a steaming coffee pot to get a cup. But I think this time, I have outdone myself.

First, I’m going to share a little beauty secret with you about myself…I wax my own eyebrows. Why pay someone to do something I can do myself. After Saturday night, I will be paying someone in the future. You see, late Saturday night, I was heating up the wax in the microwave (new container by the way). Problem was, it wasn’t melting like it should, but it had already been in there longer than it was supposed to be, so I didn’t want to heat it up any longer. So I was poking around on the surface trying to see if it was even slightly soft yet when I hit a soft spot and hot wax came spraying out and hit me in the face. Yeah, not good. So I quickly ran into the bathroom to try to get the wax off. As I’m trying to take the wax off, I discover that more than wax is coming off…so is my skin.

To make a long story short, I now have this not-so-lovely burn pattern across my face that I’m desperately hoping doesn’t scar me for life. I am putting vitamin E oil on it daily to try to reduce any permanent scaring. It hurts like the dickens and I probably shouldn’t be putting make-up on it, but I am not leaving my house looking like this. I was going to post a picture, but thankfully I guess, it doesn’t show up as well in pictures.