Dear Santa

Dear Santa,
For Christmas, I really want one of these. No really, I'm serious. I could ask for a boyfriend for Christmas to help me with all of those projects around the house that require a second set of hands, but I think this will be more reliable. The only thing better would be a new car, but this will be easier for you to get in your sleigh, and it is much cheaper.

Your Friend,
Stacey

Because I Have THAT Kind of Humor

I can't even pick a favorite!

It's that Time of Year Again

What is my biggest pet peeve during the holiday season? Yep...people who decorate their cars. I saw my first wreath a week and a half before Thanksgiving, but today a saw one that takes the cake. A woman had actually put antlers and a red nose on her SUV. Yes, the woman made her car look like Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer! All i have to say is if you feel the urge, fight it!

Add This to My List of Favorite Songs

I don’t know how long this song has been out there, but I heard it for the first time yesterday on Slacker. Kind of one of those “right song at the right time” kind of things. The song is beautiful and so are the words.

What Faith Can Do
by Kutless

Everybody falls sometimes
Gotta find the strength to rise
From the ashes and make a new beginning
Anyone can feel the ache
You think it’s more than you can take
But you are stronger, stronger than you know
Don’t you give up now
The sun will soon be shining
You gotta face the clouds
To find the silver lining

I’ve seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn’t ever end
Even when the sky is falling
And I’ve seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That’s what faith can do

It doesn’t matter what you’ve heard
Impossible is not a word
It’s just a reason for someone not to try
Everybody’s scared to death
When they decide to take that step
Out on the water
It’ll be alright
Life is so much more
Than what your eyes are seeing
You will find your way
If you keep believing

I’ve seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn’t ever end
Even when the sky is falling
And I’ve seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That’s what faith can do

Overcome the odds
You don't have a chance
(That’s what faith can do)
When the world says you can’t
It’ll tell you that you can!

I’ve seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn’t ever end
Even when the sky is falling
And I’ve seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That’s what faith can do
That's what faith can do!
Even if you fall sometimes

You will have the strength to rise

Ban

I think I'm going to petition the networks to ban all Zales, Kay, or any other jewelry retailer who has a sugary sweet Christmas commercial with some over the top wonderful guy giving some girl a piece of jewelry. Can't handle it right now and I can't afford to replace my TV when I succumb to the knee-jerk reaction to throw something at it.

What Was I THINKING?!?

That pretty much sums it up. My first Etsy sugar cookie order was a learning experience (that’s the nice way to put it).

First, how long does it take to make, decorate, and individually wrap 84 red Volkswagen sugar cookies with flames on the back? Answer: 20 hours approximately (maybe a little more).

I mixed the dough up Friday night, and then got up early Saturday morning to starting working on them. Naïve me thinking “oh, I’ll get these done early so I can do some house cleaning this evening.” Uhhh, didn’t happen. I started at 7:30 a.m. and finished decorating them at 9 p.m. I did take two short 15 minute breaks and had to get up and move a few times during the day, but I basically spent the entire day making cookies. And other than a small bowl of cereal and a handful of pretzels, I didn’t eat either. By 9 p.m., this is how things were looking:

My kitchen at 9 p.m.

This is how much space 84 cookies (actually there are 97 I think) take up on my kitchen table.

Almost finished product. Those look like flames right? Say "yes".

You would think from there I would have gone to bed. I WISH!!! I was having my bible class over for dinner the next evening, so I did some house cleaning while the icing set up. At midnight, I was putting cookies in little plastic sacks and tying them with a bow. Bedtime came at 1 a.m. I SOOOO didn’t charge her enough.

Fast forward to Sunday night. Bible class group left at 7:30 p.m., so I’m thinking “YES! I can curl the ribbon, box them up, and make it to bed by 10:00.” I go to retrieve the container of cookies and much to my dismay, the wheels had bled on over half of them! WHAT?!? I’ve never had this happen before. At first I’m thinking it’s just one or two. Oh no, well over half of them had black icing bleeding a good half inch onto the red. Shoot me now! I’m panicked. I want to cry. I can’t redo all of these cookies. Not only is there not enough time, but my hand is killing me still from the day before.

I’m now doing this mental check list in my head…“what did I do differently this time that I haven’t done in the past?” I had just used the same black icing the weekend before to decorate Halloween cookies and they didn’t bleed. Maybe I didn’t let the red icing set long enough. I have no idea, but it was too late at that point.

Cookies Saturday night, wrapped and ready to go.

Cookies Sunday night. Thankfully they were not all THAT bad.

This morning I emailed the lady and explained the situation. I told her I could keep them and refund her money (my office would have been eating sugar cookies for a LONG time) or I could ship them and if she’s not happy with them I would refund half her money. I’m praying she’s nice and that doesn’t happen because if it does, I will maybe break even on the deal. Why you ask? Because even though I did some research, I way underestimated the cost of shipping. My expenses came to almost half of what I charged her.

Did I mention I did NOT charge her enough? And for all of you out there that said I should be charging more, please don’t say “I told you so.” I get it. Lesson learned. LOTS of lessons learned to be exact.

Cookies, Glasses, and a Flashback to the 80’s

Cookies
These are the Halloween sugar cookies I made this weekend. Believe it or not, it’s the first time I actually made Halloween sugar cookies. I bought a new “boo” cookie cutter and had a fun with it. I named the green cookie “Frankencookie”. It was actually an accident, but my favorite once I was done. I took pictures so that I could it to my Esty site next year.

Glasses
Because of too much extra money I have in my cafeteria plan this year, I decided this would be the year to replace my frames. I’ve had the same frames since I got glasses seven years ago. Since I don’t have to wear them all the time they’ve held up well, but I was bored with them. Plus I also needed new prescription sun glasses because the ones I have give me a headache because they’re too tight and they couldn’t loosen them up. To my delight, EyeMasters was having a “Buy One, Get One Free” sale with no exclusions. Score! Of course, I couldn’t pick out glasses on my own, so I had to call in reinforcements.

Saturday morning, my friend/fashion advisor met me at the mall to help me pick out glasses. No joke, I think at one point we had close to 20 pairs of frames in our hands. Just randomly trying to narrow it down wasn’t working, so we divided them up by style and narrowed down each style, then narrowed down what was left. It took us a while, but we finally found a winner (sunglasses were thankfully easier).

One of the sales people asked me on numerous occasions if I had finally found frames. He was laughing by time I took the final selection to him.


Flashback to the 80’s
My bible class had an 80’s Party on Saturday night. It was actually a lot of fun. (Side note, anyone else notice lately how “80’s” many of the current styles are. Scary!) Here are a few pictures from the event. I didn’t do a great job of getting very good pictures, but you get the gist. Awe, the good ‘ol days.

Date

I know that title has some of you excited. Don’t get your hopes up. Friday afternoon I had my yearly date with Cody. Cody is the guy who inspects my house for termites. He’s the kind of guy I’m often attracted to, but would never let myself date. He has that cute “bad boy” thing going for him, but what little I’ve learned about him over the years tells me that our “values” are very different. I do have to give him props…he doesn’t smell like cigarettes anymore. I didn’t like that much. So thank you Cody for the date. It may be short and sweet, but they’re the best dates I have all year long. How sad is that?!?

Ugh!

Besides the fact that I’m having one of those “frustrating” days/weeks for reasons I won’t go into (because I’ll get more frustrated), my attempts at a cheap…because that’s all I can afford…80’s Party Costume have not been successful. The skirt I bought one size larger than I normally wear at Goodwill because I didn’t want to try it on turned out to be two sizes smaller. Ugh! Back to the drawing board. I just emailed a friend and told her I was going to make my hair stand on end, spray paint it a neon color, go naked, and be a Troll Doll. It might come to that!

Very Funny

My co-worker/friend Sarah sent this picture to me.

They are "ear cuffs" designed to protect you from burning your ears when curling your hair. Sadly I am infamous for burning myself with with heat styling tools (and sadly, not just in the head region). And the fact that I have no feeling on the upper tips of my ears made burning the tops of my ears a common occurrence. So sad I didn't think of it first.

De-li-laaah

I won’t even beat around the bush. I CANNOT STAND Delilah (you know, the radio show host). Her voice bugs me. Her “oh-so-thoughtful” act (that I don’t buy) bugs me. Her “life is a bowl of cherries” attitude bugs me…it doesn’t feel genuine. And normally her advice/relationship counseling bugs me. If I have the option and I will turn the radio station as soon as I hear her voice. But last night for some strange reason, I didn’t change the station. Maybe because I had a feeling the caller who was requesting a song for her and her fiancée had one of those stories that makes you think “oh brother, where do they find these people.” Whatever the reason…I didn’t change the station.

The caller asked Delilah to pick a song to play for her and her fiancée (remember, she gave Delilah permission to pick the song). The woman went on and on about how great her fiancée was. How he took such great care of her and her kids. In true Delilah fashion, she probed for more information. The caller had two kids. The caller and her fiancée had been together for 4 months and were getting married Mother’s Day of next year. The caller’s youngest child was 4 ½ months old.

Delilah expressed her concerns (I don’t think the girl quite had a counseling session in mind when she called…she just wanted to dedicate a song to her honey for the world to hear). Delilah was already telling the girl to take it slow. To not be so quick to jump in to a relationship. That getting engaged so quickly was a risky thing to do, especially when she was already so young with two children from other relationships. Delilah was justifiably concerned that maybe this girl only THOUGHT she found her knight in shining armor. And when she found out that she and this guy has only been together 4 months and she had a 4 ½ month old child, she flat out told her “so you jumped from one relationship into another”. Can’t believe I’m saying this, but GO DELILAH! She wrapped up her phone call by advising the girl to take it slow and not rush into anything.

And the song that Delilah played for this girl and her fiancée…“You Can’t Hurry Love” by Diana Ross.

LOVE IT!!!!

Long Overdue

Here is the latest in the list of "home improvements"...the upstairs bathroom (a.k.a. the roommate bathroom). I should have posted these almost two weeks ago, but Facebook was as far as they got.

The yellow turned out a little brighter than I intended, but I think with other color accents it might be fine. It actually looks lighter in the pictures than it does in person. Right now I have a roommate again, so it's staying as is, but I MIGHT eventually try painting it a lighter shade of yellow...we'll see.

People of Walmart

Be forewarned that some of the commentary (and a few pictures) are not quite PG, but so VERY funny! Check out the People of Wal-Mart.

I don’t know if any of you saw David Letterman’s show last night, or like me, saw this clip this morning, but am I the only one who is seriously disturbed by the fact that the audience was laughing? I mean, I got the feeling he was being about as serious as a comedian (who naturally have a tendency to use humor as a defense mechanism) could be. The situation is sad/humiliating/wrong and by no means a laughing matter. He’s married, he has a child, and he just admitted to some very inappropriate behavior. What is wrong with people?

Paging Dr. Freud

I’ve been to busy to post this earlier, but days later I’m still thinking about this dream.

The other night, I dreamed I went to the Wal-Mart Market and when I got there, all I saw were gray cinder block walls and empty boxes. I asked where the groceries were and the lady asked me if I was single or married. What did that have to do with anything? She said there were two different parts to the grocery store and I had to shop in the appropriate area. Well this made mad. I was shopping for groceries and for something I needed for a baby shower and I didn’t see why I should only be allowed to shop on the “single” side. The lady called the manager. The manager and I really got into it. The manager tried to kick me out. I ran and found myself in the single side, but was desperately trying to sneak into the married side so I could get the stuff I needed that the single side didn’t carry. There was a lot of hiding behind stuff and covertly maneuvering myself through the grocery store without being discovered by the manager (who was still searching for me.) I woke up before I finished my shopping trip.

Analyze THAT Dr. Freud!!!

Longing for the Day

I am longing for a day when I can sleep in and not wake up until my body decides it is time to wake up. I'm sitting here wondering when was the last time I got to sleep in. I don't remember. My days off have been spoken for for way too long.

Why am I lamenting? Because I woke up this morning EXHAUSTED from my day yesterday and so badly wanting to stay in my nice warm bed, only to be reminded that tomorrow...Saturday...my only free day each week, has once again been spoken for and I have to get up early AGAIN.

I really need a day off that is in fact a day off. I mean, this was premier week...my favorite week of the year when the new fall shows start...and I didn't get to watch any of them. I have hours of recorded shows that need to be caught up on. Priorities!!!

So this was my weekend…

Friday Night: Grilled chicken for dinner for me and a friend. After dinner we went walking until we started feeling it sprinkle. After I got home, I went to the back patio to put the cover on the grill, and this is where it gets interesting. I flipped on the light, and opened the door only to hear a noise. Looked down, saw what I thought might be a cat so I closed the patio door really quick because I didn’t want it running into the house. Squat down to get a better look through the patio door only to see a long tail and two hind feet flailing. There was an opossum stuck between the propane tank and one of the legs of my grill. Freak out and run out to catch my friend, who suggests I call a neighbor friend to help me free it/get rid of it. Good idea. I head back into the house to get my phone and check once again on the status of my uninvited guest only to see it had freed itself and was now long gone. Whew! I really do wish I could have gotten a picture or video because it was a funny sight.

Saturday: Finally managed to create a new flower bed in my back yard and plant some bulbs. I will need to eventually put a border around the garden or the lawn guys will mow them down, but I have until spring to get that done. But hey, it’s a start. Also got more work done on the bathroom (and once again forgot to take a picture before I started). The humidity has made it difficult to get the doors and drawers finished because the paint stay tacky longer. I’m hoping by tonight to be able to turn everything over and finish painting the other side. All I have left after that is to paint the walls and put shelf paper in. Wish me luck.

Sunday: I cannot believe I’m about to admit this, but last night when I got home, I got out of my car and went to put the trash dumpster on curb before going in the house. I proceed back to my car to open the passenger side door only to find that I had once again locked my keys in the car. I didn’t even remember locking the door when I got out of the car. Thankfully I still had a spare key hidden in the garage (sadly, I have locked myself out of the house going into the garage MANY times). I went upstairs and got my spare key to the car and proceeded back to the garage. Guess what I discovered…my car was unlocked. The power locks on my car are operated by the drivers side door lock. Earlier in the evening, I was getting stuff out of my car and instead of locking all the doors, I only locked the passenger side door. Next time I’ll check better.

Random Stuff

We have a new guy working on our copier. I don’t think he knows what he’s doing. I’m nervous.

For some reason, I have been waking up at approximately 3:30 every morning for so long I can’t remember when it started. And when I wake up, I’m totally freaked out that there is someone in my house and it takes me a while to go back to sleep. Which means I am ALWAYS tired…and sleep aids don’t help.

I am not a big salt person, so I bought some unsalted pretzels. Note to self, some things need salt. Didn’t want to throw them out, so I got the BRIGHT idea to make taco seasoned pretzels. Mixed everything up according to the recipe and put them in the microwave. Seems the microwave owned by the creator of the recipe is not quite as powerful as mine. I took them out to stir them half way through as directed…and they weren’t burnt! Not a little toasty burnt, but about to burst into flames burnt. I’m not sure if I’m happy or concerned that the smoke didn’t set off my smoke alarm. The ones that aren’t burnt are good. Moral of this story…don’t buy unsalted pretzels.

As a result of the above, I tried opening up my house last night to let it air out. Like many other things on my house, the screen door isn’t quite up to par and some flies quickly found their way in. They didn’t last long…and if any of my neighbors were listening, they heard a crazy lady yelling “die fly!” multiple times. Last count…flies 0, Stacey 4!

Watched a rerun of NCIS recently and in this particular episode, Air Force 1 landed in of all places, Wichita, Kansas. In the course of dialog, the “coroner” says he has jurisdiction in “Wichita County”. Wichita County? Okay, NCIS writers, do your research. You can get the name of the airport right, but you can’t get the name of the county right? FYI, Wichita, Kansas is in Sedgwick County and a good 250 miles from Wichita County.

I hate it when gas prices are low until I go to fill up with gas or go down the day after I fill up. Seriously, for almost a week, prices were under $2.20 (yeah, I know…some of you live in areas that would die to have gas prices that low). Monday, they were $2.15 on the corner and I should have filled up then, but I was busy. Yesterday, they were $2.25. 10 cents that quick?!? I know…quit whining, but I really could have used some cheap gas this month. Ugh!

Last but not least, I am now among an elite 2 (maybe 3) to be the proud owner of the new window decals for my church. I know you’re jealous, but you too could be a proud owner in just a few short weeks. If this isn’t encouragement to read your bulletin, I don’t know what is.

We're So Funny

A friend and I decided to get motivated and help each other get up and work out every morning during the week. We started the end of June calling each other every morning at 5:30 to get up and work out. We did well for a few weeks...then I went to camp. We still kept calling each other, but sometimes one or both of us would just go back to bed. So we decided maybe just Monday, Wednesday, Friday. This was today's email:

Me: By the way, are either of us actually getting up at 5:30? I’ve had every intention the last two weeks, but haven’t. :o) I just keep going to bed too late…no matter how hard I try to go to bed early.

Friend: No :o) I’ve been wondering why we’re making ourselves get up to call only to go back to bed…haha!

Now, I have been at least still working out everyday (well, I have missed 3 days this week and probably will miss tomorrow too). But getting myself motivated to get out of bed lately has not been easy. Bed is a good hiding place (unless there is some creature hiding under your covers like in "The Grudge"). So we're going to try again after time change. Ha!

I'm Going To Go Bald

I want to pull my hair out, but I can't say why and I can't really do anything about it, which makes me want to pull my hair out even more. I know I have to wait on God's timing, and trust me I have really really really tried to be patient, but after many years of this, its beyond wearing on me. Seriously, what is the point in all of this?

Badger Car Salesman

This is some of the funniest stuff I've seen in a long time!!!

Badger Car Salesman

More Beautiful You

This has become one of my favorite songs lately. If you haven't heard it, go here. The message is so true, one that I really wish more women (of any age) would listen to. It breaks my heart to see so many of the teenage girls at camp focus so much on what is on the outside instead of learning to love and develop what is on the inside.

More Beautiful You
By Jonny Diaz

Little girl fourteen flipping through a magazine
Says she wants to look that way
But her hair isn’t straight her body isn’t fake
And she’s always felt overweight

Well little girl fourteen I wish that you could see
That beauty is within your heart
And you were made with such care your skin your body and your hair
Are perfect just the way they are

There could never be a more beautiful you
Don’t buy the lies disguises and hoops they make you jump through
You were made to fill a purpose that only you could do
So there could never be a more beautiful you

Little girl twenty-one the things that you’ve already done
Anything to get ahead
And you say you’ve got a man but he’s got another plan
Only wants what you will do instead

Well little girl twenty-one you never thought that this would come
You starve yourself to play the part
But I can promise you there’s a man whose love is true
And he’ll treat you like the jewel you are

There could never be a more beautiful you
Don’t buy the lies disguises and hoops they make you jump through
You were made to fill a purpose that only you could do
So there could never be a more beautiful you

So turn around you’re not too far
To back away be who you are
To change your path go another way
It’s not too late you can be saved
If you feel depressed with past regrets
The shameful nights hope to forget
Can disappear they can all be washed away
By the one who’s strong can right your wrongs
Can rid your fears dry all your tears
And change the way you look at this big world
He will take your dark distorted view
And with His light He will show you truth
And again you’ll see through the eyes of a little girl

There could never be a more beautiful you
Don’t buy the lies disguises and hoops they make you jump through
You were made to fill a purpose that only you could do
So there could never be a more beautiful you.

Level Two...I Don't Think So

So I wrote a while back about a new work out I was trying. It was harder than it appeared, but it was a good hard. Since I'm the type that likes to test things, I decided to put the "30 Day" part to the test. Since August 1, I have done this workout every day. I felt like I had mastered Level 1 well enough to move on to Level 2.

What the heck!?!?!?! I was definitely sweating, but the problem is that she LOVES jumping jacks and any other movement that involves jumping. I on the other hand have knee and lower back problems from injuries I received as I child. I am not allowed to do jarring movements. That's why I'm not a runner...doctors have told me for years it's not allowed.

With the first level most of the jumping was for cardio purposes, so just substituted those movements with less impact/equal calorie burn activities. That is going to be a chore with this level. I'm going to have to replace 90% of the moves. Why bother then? I'm not completely giving up on level two...though I may have to put it off until Saturday when I have time to try to come up with some adjustments. But I don't dare try that again without modifications because I was hurting all night...and it was not a GOOD hurt, it was a "I've injured myself hurt" and that is not good.

UGH!!!

Commentary on Commercials

I have to admit I am a self-proclaimed a TV commercial critic. Nothing annoys me more than a stupid, low-budget commercial. My theory on the subject is if you can’t do it well, don’t do it at all. A cheap looking TV commercial will just shoot you in the foot.

That being said, here are currently the top two on my most hated list and the #1 on my favorite list.

Most Hated Commercial #1: LifeTel’s Bob and the Big Burrito

If you haven’t seen it, I’m not quite sure where to begin. First of all, I get the feeling their trying to make some sexual innuendo when it comes to the big burrito…but its not funny and pretty stupid. The guy is also wearing an obviously fake mustache. I guess they’re trying to make some point that because Bob doesn’t have LifeTel telephone service, he can’t call his girlfriend (who is too pretty for him) and has to eat his big burrito all by himself. LifeTel, fire your ad agency and get a new commercial.


Most Hated Commercials #2: Quest

Okay, if you’re a single male reading this and you have been thinking about calling Quest because you’re looking for a hot woman to date, I have some news for you…it ain’t going to happen. Let me clue you in on a few things. First of all, women do not sit around their houses in slutty outfits with our hair and make-up done. We don’t go to that much trouble to sit around the house and talk on the phone. Second of all, women like THAT don’t generally join phone chat lines unless there is something not quite right about them (think Fatal Attraction). Sorry, you will not be talking to the girls on those commercials on the phone.

There is one more thing that bothers me about the Quest commercials…actually one in particular. The girl in the commercial says her name is Melissa. She looks 16 with big hair and lots of make-up. Are they now trying to attract the clientele that has a fetish for under-aged girls? I think so. But don’t they already have enough sick psycho clientele without reaching out to more?


Now for my FAVORITE commercial showing right now: Toyota Prius

Okay, these have to be the best directed/orchestrated/choreographed commercials I have EVER seen. The first few times, I just thought they were bright and happy…until I realized those are PEOPLE! I still watch with amazement. Click here and you can see all three, plus the making of the Harmony commercial, and even download the music. Well done Toyota. If I could afford your car, I would consider buying one...but only if I could see people running around in nature costumes everywhere I go.

In Mourning

If you know me well or have followed my blog from the early days, you know that Grant Johnston has been on my local celebrity crush list for quite awhile. So you can only imagine how distressed I was to hear on the news that he is leaving. WHAT!!!???!!! NOOOOO!!!!!! Sad but true, he is leaving but since he's leaving to attend a seminary school, I was able to find peace in the situation...especially considering his faith in God is what put him on the list in the first place (I bet you didn't know that). So farewell Grant. I will miss watching you on the news and the phone calls from my friends with Grant sightings. Good luck on your new endeavors.

Now I just need to find a replacement for the list.

Just When I Thought They Couldn't Outdo Themselves

This was the message left of my Facebook this morning by my neighbor/friend Krista:


So...what is that weird blue thing covering your neighbors front door? I've noticed it the last couple mornings when I've been leaving for work and I keep forgetting to ask.


Yes as if the "garden" in the front yard wasn't enough, my neighbors have taken yet another step in attempt to win the "Eye Sore of the Neighborhood" award (they're competing with Jason & Krista's neighbor).


To get the full affect...let's take a look at my half of the yard...



Now let's look at their half of the yard...

The blue thing is (to the best of my knowledge) is their cheap alternative for a screen door. When I saw it the other day, the door was open and I thought it was painters tape and that they were doing some work in their house. Nope, it's just a tack-it-up yourself, screen door alternative. It zips up the middle.

The plants by the front porch are cherry tomatoes. The other thing I thought was a weed, but now I think it's some sort of melon plant. I guess because I tore down their melons that were growing up the side of MY house last summer, they decided to try the front yard. I used to be annoyed by the maple tree they had growing in that spot (and then tried to transplant in the middle of the front yard and then moved to their backyard).

My neighbors are nice enough, but they drive me NUTS with the piano playing at all hours, the what sounds like the moving of furniture late at night, and the running up and down the stairs.

On a much happier note...my flowers in the front flower bed are doing MUCH better this time around!

Someone Needs to Take a Refresher Course in Customer Service

No joke...today I got a call from some from Cox Communications trying to get me to purchase more of their services and they lady sounded like she was eating lunch while she was talking to me on the phone. Considering it was around the lunch hour, I consider this to be very possible. Whether she was eating lunch or not, she most definately was chewing on something. Really?

A Good Lesson to Learn

I was reading my Bible last night and came across this story:

2 Kings 2:23-25
From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. "Go on up, you baldhead!" they said. "Go on up, you baldhead!" He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths. And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria.

It kind of made me laugh. I don't recall ever hearing THIS story in Bible class when I was a kid. Probably because they thought it would scare us, but maybe they should. It would teach kids a good lesson -- make fun of people older than you and you might get mauled by bears.

Quote of the Week

When discussing the fact that my car does not meet the requirements for the new "clunker law," my friend replied, "No offense, but your car IS a clunker."

I have to agree.

By the way, while I was on the above site, I found a link to this site. I found it really interesting.

Not Another One

I don't know what is going on, but there really has been a string of celebrity deaths lately. I think I am the most upset about this one.

And I'm Off

Twenty-four hours from now (if all goes as planned) I will be on my way here:



The only constant in my life for the last 26 years. I have spent at least one week (sometimes two) at this place since I was nine. It holds many fond memories (and few traumatizing ones). Many of the staff are like my second family and the week is like one big reunion.


It's changed a lot over the years. New mess hall with a/c. New cabins with a/c. The old chapel is gone, a new one is being built (may be done by time I get there). The trees that used to encircle the lake have been removed. But no matter how much changes, in many ways it's still the same. And if I ever have children, I hope they love it as much as I do.

Craziness

My first "hometown" had some excitement yesterday. Read the story here. I spent my childhood two blocks from here. And the driver of the trash truck lived across the street from us and his kids were childhood friends of my brother and I. I promise you, this is possibly the most excitement this small town has seen since the Farmer's Oil Company exploded when I was a child.

I Did This!!!

And ALL BY MYSELF!!!




Okay, I did make one phone call to a family friend before I turned the power back on to make sure something I had to do wouldn't cause my house to burn down. But he wasn't there and I had already finished before I called. It was actually easier than I thought. I might have to replace more light fixtures in the future.



If you looking closely and wonder why the light bulbs don't match...it's because the larger globe light bulbs (which is what the box said to use) wouldn't work in that one light fixture. The bulb worked, just not in there. I think the part you screw the light bulb into was crooked and since the bulbs were a tight fit, I don't think it was going in straight. Considering how much I paid for it I'm not surprised. But the fixture had to be replaced and I couldn't find anything I liked, so I bought something cheap that would do for now.

Ironic?

I found this picture on a slide show from the Michael Jackson Memorial:

"Elephants from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus are marched on Tuesday, July 7, 2009, through downtown to the Staples Center in Los Angeles, where the memorial service for Michael Jackson will be held. The predawn pachyderm march is a decades-old tradition for the circus, which opens Wednesday at the Staples Center."


Anyone else find it ironic that the "Greatest Show on Earth" is following the greatest "show" on earth?

July 4th Rule #1

Rule #1 for going to watch well-done fireworks anywhere other than your backyard is be prepared to wait in a long line of traffic. It’s annoying for all of us. I don’t know anyone who enjoys it…but it is part of the package. If you also follow Rule #2 (Take turns…let someone in ahead of you, then you go) everyone’s trip will go much better. Why is it when everyone is trying to leave the same place at once the Golden Rule seems to get thrown out the window (along with a few choice words and gestures).

The lady in the parking lot with us Saturday night obviously had NOT been schooled in “The Rules”. Of course as soon as the fireworks end, everyone tries to start leaving at once. In the true spirit of the rules, we were doing our best to abide by them and wait for our turn to back out. As we’re backing out, my friend notices the lady next to us is also backing out. So my friend stops and waits for the lady to notice she was there. Oh, the lady knew we were there…she just didn’t care. She proceeds to back out in such a way that my friend is trapped. She can’t back up, she can’t pull forward. But there wasn’t much space between us and the cars heading the opposite direction in the parking lot, so surely the lady will wait for us to finish backing out. Nope. She squeezes her car in-between all the cars (as we held our breath for sure she was going to hit us) and heads towards another exit.

I’d like to say it ended there, but it didn’t. We ended up pulling behind her at the other exit, but she didn’t want to wait in line to get out of the parking lot, so she backs up AGAIN and flies back the other direction in the parking lot, to try to get out that way. We’re all laughing at her knowing she’s not going to get out any faster the direction she was going. We probably had been waiting in line a few minutes when my friend’s daughter yells out that she was getting out of her car. No joke, the lady gets out of her car and walks up the truck in front of her and yells at him for not moving!!! Where did she think he was going to go? He was trying to merge into traffic and the street was bumper to bumper traffic.

We kind of wanted to watch the show, but we did have to keep the flow of traffic going and she ended up out of our view. I have a feeling the conversation that took place wasn’t very PG.

Flower Mishap

Because my neighbor's front flower beds look like rednecks live there (sorry, I should have taken a picture), I decided to plant flowers in mine on Saturday so it didn't look as bad. Sadly almost half of them have died already (two of them were dying by Sunday evening).

I got drought resistant flowers, I planted them where it said to plant them. What else can a girl do? I'll tell you what...take them back. I bought them at Lowe's and they have a guantee and you better bet I'm taking them up on it. I just hope I have better luck the second time around.

Guess I know what I'll be doing on my day off. ;o)

If I Ever Have Children

I HOPE that I am able to raise them in such a way that they don’t feel entitled. It really drives me nuts when I encounter teens or college students that feel the rest of the world needs to yield to them.

Today’s experience at the grocery store is what has me so fired up at the moment. Sadly, it’s not the first time I’ve had this experience. The parking lot of said grocery store has weird traffic flow to be able to exit. I had been sitting there waiting for my turn to pull into the lane I needed to be in when a college girl in a pick up truck decided that she shouldn’t have to wait and cuts me off. Then before I had a chance to pull in behind her the teenage girl coming from the other direction also felt she didn’t need to wait and cut me off again. Seriously?!?!

I was fuming and wanted to yank them out of their cars and ground them (hey, it’s what my dad would have done to me), but since you can’t exactly do that I just called them stupid spoiled brats. I’m sure it didn’t faze them one bit.

Conspiracy Theory of the Day

I’m not 100% convinced Michael Jackson is actually dead. He has always had such odd behavior I would be surprised if this is all some big elaborate scheme to be out of the spotlight forever. I bet the come back tour was all part of the plan to make it more believable. And before any big debate gets started here…I’m kind of kidding…or am I?

Happy Birthday Lauren

My friend's daughter is turning 11 this week. Her party is today and she wanted a purse cake. Since my friend couldn't find anyone who either had time to make one, would make one, or wouldn't require she order one that served a minimum of 25...we decided to take on the task ourselves.

She found the directions on the Betty Crocker website. She baked the cake, I made the icing and we converged last night to put it together.

It was almost tragic. First the cake wanted to tip over to one side and nothing was helping. After several failed attempts to level it and many minutes just standing there staring at it, I came up with the idea to build the icing up on the side that was leaning to prop it up...and it worked. We also had a problem with the chocolate cake crumbs coming off in the icing. We tried every trick I knew of and nothing was working. Finally we just decided to put it in the fridge after we got the thin layer on and let it set up and use all the remaining icing to put a thicker layer on (which meant no black icing accents as originally planned).

But when we were finished, we were pleased with our final outcome. Not too bad for to amateurs on their first attempt. I don't foresee this being my new career though. I will stick to sugar cookies...they're easier. ;o)

Ode to the Alarm Clock

This is my alarm clock.

I have had this clock since I was eleven. It has woken me up every almost every morning since. Its lavender and has never matched my decor (especially now). My dad won it at some conference he went to. My brother was mad that he gave it to me, to which my mom replied "do you REALLY want a lavender alarm clock?" Yes, I know that I'm a grown up now and that I could easily afford to replace my alarm clock with something a little more stylish, but honestly, now that I have had it for so long I kind of want to see how long it will keep working. I have no intention of getting rid of it until it bites the bullet.

So why am I writing about my alarm clock? No reason at all other than I found it fascinating when I realized how long I have had it.

One Day Down

VBS started today. I tried declaring our offices a VBS-free zone, but it didn't last long. It was a strange day.

On a non-VBS related note (but yet still related to the title), I started a new workout this morning. I was getting bored with the one I had been doing. I found this on Amazon really cheap and decided to give it a try.

Since I'm still recouperating from what ever it was that made me sick this weekend, I watched the first level last night (it's only 20 minutes). My thought was this "seriously, you expect people to loose 20 lbs in 30 days doing that? I sure hope the other two levels are harders." After 15 minutes, I was having trouble keeping up. It kicked by butt! Granted I am still not at full capacity, but I under estimated this workout.

Relay For Life 2009: Should Have Known

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…

Okay, so not necessarily the WORST. There have been far worse things that have taken place in Relays past, but things were off to such a great start.

Before I tell you about this year, I may need to share a little history. 2005 I decided to start volunteering with our local Relay For Life which is the premier fundraising event for the American Cancer Society (click on the link to learn more about Relay For Life). I had found myself in a bubble and was looking for a way to get to know people in my community outside that bubble and since my mom is a cancer survivor, it seemed like a good opportunity. I served for 3 years as their Logistics Chair and then fell into the roll of Event Chair for the 2008 and 2009 Relays…a position that was a great learning experience, but a lot of work. Enough for the history, but I do encourage anyone who has been touched by cancer in some way to check into getting involved with your local Relay For Life by either forming a team or making a donation.

So now the moment I KNOW you have been sitting on the edge of your seat for (haha)…

We were off to a great start on Friday. Yes it was hot, but things were going pretty smoothly. Considering the amount of help we had, we got set up by a decent hour. Normally, the two hours before the event takes place, I’m running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to put out “fires”. But this year I had time to sit down before the Opening Ceremony. I wasn’t stressed. The campus police weren’t trying to kick us off campus. Everyone that was supposed to be there was there. I actually got to EAT before 9 p.m. Everyone was having fun. It was a good evening. And then the phone rang.

This was my 5th Relay. Before I joined the committee they never had to move it indoors because of weather. My first year, we had to find a back up location at the last minute. Since then it has rained every other year. This was supposed to be a “rain” year, but as of Friday morning, the forecast only had a 20% chance of rain. In Oklahoma, 20% chance means you’re not getting rain. Ha! Around 9 p.m., I started getting phone calls saying that we had weather moving our way. And in the age of iPhones, everyone is a meteorologist and had their own opinion on how bad the weather was going to be. At 9:30 p.m., I finally gave in and called my friend at one of the local news stations and asked him what his weathermen thought. They said the weather we had coming our way was not going to be severe, but we were going to get wet so we decided to move our Luminaria Ceremony up by 15 minutes so we could try to beat the rain.

The Luminaria Ceremony was beautiful and going smoothly. They were half way through their silent lap when my phone started ringing. Seems that a section of sprinklers had not been turned off as requested and was spraying water onto some of the luminaria. I go to find the campus employee who was helping me with the lights to see if he knew how to turn off the sprinklers…which he didn’t, but was calling someone who did…when the phone rang again. The sprinklers were now on throughout the entire park area.

Yes, sprinklers were going off INSIDE many of the tents, and if they weren’t going off inside the tent, then they were spraying into the tent. As everyone is rushing around trying to cover up sprinkler heads, the rain starts falling. Water was coming from both the ground and the sky. Our perfect evening had a damper put on it…literally. When my friend called after the 10 p.m. news to see how things were going, I started laughing and said “I’m wet.”

We had few teams leave, but most stayed. Our DJ almost bailed out on us, but he ended up coming out after all (which we were VERY thankful for…it would have been a long evening without him).

I would like to say that was it for the evening, but about 1 a.m., I got really sick and kept getting sick throughout the rest of the evening. I think I just got dehydrated, but I spent the last half of the evening laying on a couch in the accounting room…that was NOT fun.

But hey, it wouldn’t be Relay if something didn’t go wrong. At least this year I wasn’t running around trying to find a missing gator (check out the “not so funny highlights” from this post.)

The Muppet Movie Says It Best

The Muppet Movie is one of those movies that is a favorite, that I forget is a favorite. This song is becoming a theme lately. Change the "she's" to "he's" and the chorus pretty much says it all.

You can't live with 'em, you can't live without 'em.
There's somethin' irresistabullish about 'em.
We grin and bear it 'cause the nights are long.
I hope that somethin' better comes along.

It's no good complainin' and pointless to holler.
If she's a beauty she'll get under your collar.
She made a monkey out of old King Kong,
I hope that somethin' better comes along.

Ah, but what could be better than a saucy Irish setter
When puppy love comes on strong?
Or a collie that's classy, a laddie needs a lassie,
A lover and wife gives you a new leash on life.

I hope that somethin' better comes along.

The Joys of Adulthood

In the last month, I have replaced a furnace and A/C coil, replaced springs on the garage door, and have to take my car to a mechanic tomorrow night because my car is making noises that shouldn't be ignored. Really? Shouldn't there be some cosmic rule that major repairs need to be spread out over an extended period of time? Yeah, I know...wishful thinking.

I'm Perplexed

So, here is my dilemma…I am SOOOO bored with my job I can’t stand it. It’s not that I’m not busy, it’s just not challenging for me anymore (well, not in a good way…there are days when it is “challenging”.)

The easy answer is to look for a new job. I’ve tried doing that; the problem is I have no idea what I want to do when I grow up. Nothing sounds appealing and it’s hard to look for a job when I don’t really know what you’re looking for. If I were viewing this from someone else’s position I would say its laziness, but really I enjoy staying busy. I would get bored sitting around all day. But I want to enjoy going to work (at least most of the time, I know everyone has those days when they dread having to go to work…but that is a part of life.)

Last summer I was contacted about a position working for an auction firm and the job would require traveling and handling the logistics of all their auctions. Though it was in another town and I might not have been able to accept the position for logistical reasons, I was really intrigued and a little disappointed that I never heard back from them the second time…but oh well. That is the only job I have run across that REALLY sounded interesting…ever. I’ve interviewed for some stuff that I thought would be a good change, but never felt like the best fit.

And don’t get me wrong, I KNOW how blessed I am to have a job, and there was a time when I loved my job, but I’m just one of those people that once I have “mastered” something, I’m ready to take on something else. I’ve pretty much done everything I can (and care to) do where I’m at. I need a new challenge.

Ugh! After all this time, you would think I would have this figured out by now.

Answer Me This

I noticed this morning that my Bath & Body Works bottles had this disclaimer on them "Finished Product Not Tested On Animals". I'll be the first to say, I don't really take this into consideration when purchasing anything. I should be more conscience of whether or not things are tested on animals, BUT does B&B think that some how makes them socially acceptable with the animal rights groups? Do they think that will get PETA off their backs? Really. So they tested it on animals UNTIL they had a FINISHED product and then decided THAT was okay? That just seems to be a dumb statement to put on their bottles.

Boycott

I have decided that I am boycotting Subway until they get rid of that AWFUL $5 Footlong commercial with the horrible singers. Makes me cringe! I change the channel every time.

This Makes Me Happy

To see that big yellow icon so many times in one week instead of the ugly gray one we have been seeing makes me very very happy. Hopefully I'll get to enjoy some of it.

Breaking news - Celebrity Swine Flu Fatality

Rumor has it that they have a suspect.

Have To Laugh

Murphy’s Law seems to apply to my life. Yet another case in point…

Grass
In the last year, I mole decided to take up residence in my back yard. Said mole killed a large portion of the grass in my back yard. Homeowner’s associate will mow back yard, but will not repair grass (not that I really expected them to). Landscapers hired by HOA have decided not to mow in the area where most of the grass is dead, so the un-dead grass is growing tall in spots.

Solution: Buy grass seed and re-seed back yard this last weekend.

Problem: Spent over an hour preparing ground and re-seeding backyard, only to have rain storm (that I was unaware was coming) wash most of the seed into they greenbelt behind my house. Ugh.

Car
Recently, my car has started making a grinding noise. I was tempted to ignore the problem because I didn’t want to pay for car repairs, but I finally realized that ignoring the problem would not make it go away (such can be said about life). So this morning I took the car to the mechanic to find out the problem…which became 3 problems.

Problem 1: Rear breaks needed to be replaced. Thankfully I took it in before it got too bad and it was a cheaper fix.

Problem 2: Windshield wiper fluid sprayer not working (I was aware of this and asked him to look at it). A piece of foil from the bottle got stuck in the hose and clogged it up.

Problem 3: Nail in the tire, and it’s in the side of the tire and broken off. I’m not real sure that was an accident.

More Things That Creep Me Out

I dedicated a post to things that creep me out almost 4 years ago. All of those things on that list still creep me out, but I have some additions.


In addition to this...

And the the Quaker Oatmeal Guy...not the one on the box, but the plastic one in the commercials that just stands there and smiles (sorry, couldn't find a picture),

But these freak me out too!

What's worse is that it has been a while since I've been in Old Navy and today I walked into my local store and what should be standing there as you walk in the door...the supermodelquins! Seriously made me uneasy...almost turned around and walked out.

Are you seeing a pattern here? I'm starting too. I don't like things with platic smiles! The Burger King is still the worst because he moves.

Ah Ha!

Much thanks to the roommate's cousin, I now know where my critters are getting in at these days. As I thought, it is NOT on my property and unless my neighbors fix the problem, I am going to be dealing with critters in my attic. Ugh!

As for the Second Annual Me Week, not as productive as I hoped. I did though get the hinges replaced in the kitchen. FYI, that is much more a two person job. It had its challenges, but the doors are up and all is well in the kitchen. ;o)

Good Thought

A friend sent this to me a few days ago (and actually I've seen it before) but I just got around to reading it today and even though it would have meant something a few days ago, it means more today.

A man was sleeping one night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light, and God appeared. The Lord told the man he had work for him to do, and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might. So, this the man did, day after day.

For many years he toiled from sun up to sun down, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all of his might. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain.

Since the man was showing discouragement, the adversary (Satan) decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the weary mind: "You have been pushing against that rock for a long time, and it hasn't moved." Thus, he gave the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure. These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man. Satan said, "Why kill yourself over this? Just put in your time, giving just the minimum effort; and that will be good enough."

That's what the weary man planned to do, but decided to make it a Matter of Prayer and to take his troubled thoughts to the Lord. "Lord," he said, "I have labored long and hard in your service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock by half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?

The Lord responded compassionately, "My friend, when I asked you to serve Me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all of your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push And now you come to Me with your strength spent, thinking that you have failed. But, is that really so?

"Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back sinewy and brown; your hands are callused from constant pressure, your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much, and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have.

"True, you haven't moved the rock. But your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and trust in My wisdom. That you have done. Now I, my friend, will move the rock."

At times, when we hear a word from God, we tend to use our own intellect to decipher what He wants, when actually what God wants is just a simple obedience and faith in Him.


By all means, exercise the faith that moves mountains, but know that it is still God who moves the mountains. When everything seems to go wrong… just P.U.S.H.! When people don't react the way you think they should… just P.U.S.H. When your money is "gone" and the bills are due… just P.U.S.H.! When people just don't understand you… just P.U.S.H.!

P= Pray
U= Until
S= Something
H= Happens

2nd Annual Me Week

Then 2nd Annual Me Week officially begins on Monday, but I’m a little disappointed in the current weather forecast. I was hoping for some 70’s and 80’s, but at the moment they’re predicting 50’s & 60’s. I was hoping to do some work in the yard, but my projects next week may be limited to indoors.

On the docket next week is some cosmetic work to the kitchen cabinets, house cleaning, lunch with a friend (hopefully two or three), maybe a little shopping, some reading, and of course sleep. I definitely don’t want to waste my time off and have every intention of making the most of it. I’m just praying it will warm up more so I can make even more of it. It could happen, it is Oklahoma!

I Can't Help It, I Have to Vent

I’m prefacing this by saying that I should not let things bug me. I should not post a negative comment on my blog. BUT I have to let this out before I say it out loud. I have discovered that something that I thought was a minor pet-peeve, in fact bugs me so much more than I ever thought. I can’t stand it when people drag their feet when they walk. I know. I’m awful. But I cannot stand the sound of it. I want to scream out “PICK UP YOUR FEET!!!!”

It used to bug me when I was a kid and my mom used to tell me to stand up straight, chew with my mouth closed, and pick up my feet when I walk. THANK YOU MOM for nagging!

Time For Another Injury Report

It's been a while since I included a photo of an injury, so I decided it was time.

It's a little blurry because it's hard to hold the camera still when your taking a picture with your left hand and you're right handed.

It looks a little worse today. I'm hoping I don't end up loosing the nail. That wouldn't be pretty.

The cuticles definately could use some attention...don't foresee them getting any in the near future. I work with my hands too much to fuss with my nails a whole lot. Oh well.

How did this happen? I was trying to put together the hammock stand and to make adjustments, you have to pinch these round things with pliars to loosen them up and move them. The pliars slipped and I some how managed to smash my finger. It still hurts, but typing isn't as painful as I was and I only woke myself up three times last night because I rolled over on it.

Next week is the 2nd Annual Me Week and there are several projects planned so more injury images are likely in the near future. Until then...

Question of the Day

Would some one tell me why my friend down the street who also has a green belt in his back yard has a critter free attic and I can't seem to get rid of mine to save my life. Ugh!

It's About Time

I cannot begin to tell you how glad I am spring has sprung! I had every intention of posting some pictures from the yard, but don't have a camera at home these days and forgot to borrow one from work at lunch. Maybe this weekend.

Anyway, just wanted to wish everyone a happy spring!

On a Serious Note

I’ve come to realize that anxiety and worry is how Satan gets to me…filling my head with all of the worst case scenarios in situations that I’m already struggling not to worry about.

That’s definitely been the case for the last week. And every time I convince myself that I’m stressing about nothing, something happens and all of those fears come flooding back all over again ten fold. The worst part is that I don’t think there is anything I can do about it but pray and ultimately it’s God’s will that is going to be done…and actually in this case, that is really what scares me. I’m asking myself why everything has played out the way it has if this is going to be the possible outcome. Was it all really necessary?

Useful Work Phrases

I got these from a friend today. They made me laugh.

1. Thank you. We're all refreshed and challenged by your unique point of view.

2. The fact that no one understands you doesn't mean you're an artist.

3. I don't know what your problem is, but I'll bet it's hard to pronounce.

4. Any connection between your reality and mine is purely coincidental.

5. I have plenty of talent and vision. I just don't care.

6. I like you. You remind me of when I was young and stupid.

7. What am I? Flypaper for freaks!?

8. I'm not being rude. You're just insignificant.

9. I'm already visualizing the duct tape over your mouth.

11. I will always cherish the initial misconceptions I had about you.

12. It's a thankless job, but I've got a lot of Karma to burn off.

13. Yes, I am an agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial.

14. No, my powers can only be used for good.

15. How about never? Is never good for you?

16. I'm really easy to get along with once you people learn to worship me.

17. You sound reasonable...Time to up my medication.

18. I'll try being nicer if you'll try being smarter.

19. I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message.

20. I don't work here. I'm a consultant.

21. Who me? I just wander from room to room.


22. My toys! My toys! I can't do this job without my toys!


23. It might look like I'm doing nothing, but at the cellular level I'm really quite busy.


24. At least I have a positive attitude about my destructive habits.


25. You are validating my inherent mistrust of strangers.


26. I see you've set aside this special time to humiliate yourself in public.


27. Someday, we'll look back on this, laugh nervously and change the subject. (My friend listed this as a favorite. I think this had more to do with the awful movie we watched together than work.)

OH NO HE DIDN’T!

Maybe it was his age. Maybe it was because he drove a tank of a car and thought he ruled the road. MAYBE he lives by my personal pet peeve (people who think the rules don’t apply to them). But today at lunch, I witnessed this…

Man in an “old man” type car apparently decided that waiting in line for the turn signal was too much to ask. He pulls into the lane on his left (which just happened to be into oncoming traffic). But he didn’t stop there. The light was still red. He didn’t want to wait. He turned LEFT on a red light and proceeded to go on his merry way.

OH YES HE DID!

Song of the Day

Every heard a song a thousand times and then all of a sudden pay attention to the lyrics and think "wow, how did I never notice the words to that song before?" That's today's song. I'm really liking these lyrics. ;o)

Though there are a few people I would like to dedicate this to, today it goes out to Michelle. Girl, he didn't deserve you!
------------------------

Artist: Toby Mac
Album: Welcome To Diverse City
Title: Gone

Told the girl that you should treat her like a lady and
She told me all the things you did and it was shady, man
She said that what you say and what you do are different things
While you were telling me that you were checking out them blingy rings
She said she’s had enough
Well, it sounds to me like you’re straight out of luck
And she said she’s all throughAnd life’s not blowin’ her kisses thanks to you

I wanna know, wanna know what you were thinkin’
I can’t imagine why it didn’t even sink in
They say you never know what you got till it’s gone
(Never know what you got till it’s gone)
I wanna know, wanna know what you were thinkin’
I can’t imagine why it didn’t even sink in
They say you never know what you got till it’s gone
(Never know what you got till it’s gone)
She said she’s had enough

So, it sounds to me like your still out of love
And she said you weren’t true
And life’s not blowin’ her kisses thanks to you
She said it’s gonna be alright
Cause God made a way through the pain and he opened her eyes
And she said you came crawling back
But after what you did to her she wouldn’t have any of that.

A REALLY Good Day!

I’ve been going through a real rough spell lately (actually a long lately) but TODAY turned out to be a good day and I’m hoping it lasts a while. This is the run down so far…

My friend left me a voice mail about an observance her 10-year-old daughter made about an ongoing situation in my life. It made me LOL! I saved that voice mail.

It was in the 80’s today!

Changes in tax laws went into effect and my paycheck increased slightly (just enough to be excited, not enough to go shopping).

I got my federal tax refund today. I got my state on Monday. All goes well, I am only months away from being able to afford to replace my furnace. You don’t know how HUGE that is!

Sarah got the guest speaker we wanted for the Big Hat Brunch she’s putting together as a fund raiser for Relay For Life.

New lip gloss!

Yes I watched The Bachelor this season…

And I’m mad! I’ve never followed this reality show much. I’ve usually only watched the last couple of episodes (if that) of the season. But I felt really bad for this year’s bachelor when he got dumped in a previous season (even though I hadn’t really followed the show that year).

I actually enjoyed watching it this year and really got in to it. I really liked Jillian and Melissa and was bummed when he let Jillian go but felt like I knew who he would pick and was excited when I was right and it was Melissa. I thought she was a good choice for him. But I have never been so mad as I was last night when he ended it with her the way he did AND turned right around and started pursuing Molly!

I’ll be honest…I got pretty emotional about this one. I can kind of relate with Melissa. No I’ve not met, dated, and got engaged to someone on TV – but there were some similarities to her break-up situation and I really felt for her. Can I just say the cruelest thing I guy can do to a girl when he breaks up with her is to tell her “it’s not you, you’re perfect.” As girls, if this happens enough times and we’re not totally narcissistic, then we know that obviously there is something wrong with us and the kindest thing the guy can do is be honest instead of trying to spare our feelings. Give us the opportunity to learn from our mistakes.

I do have to give her props for handling herself with dignity and grace and hope the next guy that comes along is a keeper. But if they offer her the opportunity to be the next Bachelorette, she needs to decline. She’ll probably just face more heartache. It rarely ends well in the long run.

No More Surveys For Me

I occasionally get requests from a particular site asking me to take surveys. I don’t usually have time to take them, but today I needed a break from what I was working on. I’m wishing now I didn’t.

When I came to the end, it asked the typical gender, income, education, questions. When it asked for age, I realized I have moved up an age bracket (depressing) and when it came to the typical marital status question, these were my options:

Single – dating one person
Single – dating several people
Engaged
Married
Divorced
Seperated
Single – not dating

Thank you Mr. Survey Writer for making me answer THAT question. Considering the survey questions, “Single” would have been sufficient.

Worst Movie Ever

I feel it my duty as a citizen of earth to warn everyone to think twice before watching the movie "Blindness". Seriously, I think this replaces "The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain" as the worst movie I have ever seen.

It is disturbing in so many ways, but what puts it in my "WORST" category is that the movie has so many holes in it. Lots of questions, absolutely no answers.

Actually, it was so bad that the friend I watched it with and I have vowed to never speak of it again to each other.

5th Time is a Charm

Yes, after 5 (yes count them, 5) attempts, I am finally the recipient of a valid drivers license.

I got my absolute, falling apart, original birth certificate in the mail today. So I left work for what I hoped was my 4th and final attempt to get a new drivers license. After standing there for about 10-15 minutes, it was finally my turn. When I told the lady what I needed to do, she tells me “sorry, but we don’t have anyone in the office today that can help you with that.”

I wanted to cry. Actually I wanted to bang my head on the desk. I looked at the lady and said “Please tell me you’re joking. This is the 4th time I’ve tried to renew my drivers license this week.” She was at least kind and helpful and said she would call another tag agency to see if they had someone who could help me. They did.

When I asked how to get there, they told me it was on an infamous stretch of road around here that is completely torn up and that I would need to take the access road. When I got to where they told me I would find the access road, it was closed. So I take a detour south hoping I could get there another way. Normally I would, but there was a big road crew truck blocking the way. After calling work and getting a phone number and then calling to get directions, I finally reached a destination that not only was able to help me, but they were nice.

Thankfully, no headaches or run around with attempt #5 and I am now the holder of a valid drivers license which expires in January 2013!!!

What Does A Girl Have To Do To Drive In This State?

I’m having a little trouble renewing my driver’s license. Here is how my week has gone.

Tuesday: Go to the dentist and notice while filling out paper work that my driver’s license expired Jan. 31. Like a responsible driver, I immediately go to get it renewed after my appointment. Girl behind the counter informs me (in a not very nice way) that I have to have a birth certificate to get my driver’s license renewed since it expired.

Let me interject and say that in December 2007 I went to get it renewed since I needed to have my new address on my license and it was only a year away from needing to be renewed. I guess (from the way it was explained to me) because it was 13 months instead of less than a year before the one I had expired, they issued me a duplicate instead of a new one…but didn’t tell me that and I left thinking that my drivers license didn’t expire for a few years and I hadn’t looked at it that close until it was too late.

Wednesday: Decided to go to get license renewed (birth certificate in hand) before work. Get to the location and they didn’t open until 8:30 and I didn’t have time to go back before they closed at 5:00.

Today: Take an early lunch to try yet again to get license renewed. Take in certified copy of birth certificate (which by the way I used to get my passport and have used for several other official matters). The certified copy was dated March 1974 and stamped with an official stamp. The LOVELY woman at the Tag Agency looks at it and says “that stamp isn’t raised. I don’t know that you didn’t make a copy of this and that it’s a fake.” To which I explained to her all the things I had used this for and that this was in fact my official copy. So she tells me I can take my passport down to the Department of Transportation and get my license that way. I explained to her my passport expired last year. She then tells me they MIGHT take it and then adds “but you better hope that you don’t get pulled over on your way there because you ARE driving without a valid drivers license.” Yeah, I wanted to hurt her.

As it stands, my mom is getting yet another official copy…with a raised seal…and mailing it over night so that I can try yet again to get my drivers license renewed.

I think what gets me in this whole situation is the joy the Tag Agency workers seem to get in making this situation all the more difficult.

Moral of this story…pay REALLY close attention to your drivers license.