I Know It's Wrong

And it does not portray a Christian-like attitude, and some of you are judging me right now, BUT…

I LOVE THIS SONG! It makes me laugh. So sue me!  (And for the record, I have no one in mind that this goes out to...just think its funny.)

I Pray for You
Jaron and the Long Road To Love

I haven’t been to church since I don’t remember when
Things were going great til they fell apart again
So I listened to the preacher as he told me what to do
He said you can’t go hatin’ others who have done wrong to you
Sometimes we get angry but we must not condemn
Let the good Lord do his job, you just pray for them

I pray your brakes go out runnin’ down a hill
I pray a flower pot falls from a window sill
And knocks you in the head like I’d like to
I pray your birthday comes and nobody calls
I pray you’re flyin’ high when your engine stalls
I pray all your dreams never come true
Just know wherever you are, honey, I pray for you

I’m really glad I found my way to church
Cause I’m already feelin’ better and I thank God for the words
Yeah, I’m gonna take the high road and do what the preacher told me to do
You keep messin’ up, and I’ll keep prayin’ for you
I pray your tire goes out at 110
I pray you pass out drunk with your best friend
And wake up with his and her tattoos…

I pray your brakes go out runnin’ down a hill
I pray a flower pot falls from a window sill
And knocks you in the head like I’d like to
I pray your birthday comes and nobody calls
I pray you’re flyin’ high when your engine stalls
I pray all your dreams never come true
Just know wherever you are, near or far
In your house or in your car
Wherever you are, honey, I pray for you
I pray for you

Just When I Think It Can't Get More Disturbing

I've mentioned before how the Old Navy Supermodelquins really creep me out (along with the Burger King and the Quaker Oats commercial guy), but they've reached an all time low in my book.  Have you seen this commercial?

I don't even know where to begin its just so wrong!!!!!

Videos

Been super busy and no time to post (not much too post worthy has taken place anyway). But for sake of updating, I'm sharing my two favorite videos from our Brazil trip.

Dia's Video of the Toilet Flushing

Water swirls in the opposite direction south of the equator, so Dia filmed it. Maybe you had to be there, but WE found it HILARIOUS!

Jason's Video of Our Ride Down From the Christ Statue

If you listen close, you can hear some commentary in the background. The laughter was more nervous than anything...trying not to think about the fact that our lives could come to an end around any bend. Brazilian Driver + Winding Mountain Road = Recipe for Disaster!

An THIS Is Why I Will ALWAYS Be Single...

This picture was taken on Sugar Loaf Mountain by two cute guys from New Jersey who were also traveling in Rio. Sarah titled this picture "Worst Flirters Ever" and pointed out that at least she SPOKE to them (though I did have to point out I spoke...I told the guy he didn't have to take a picture with my camera, I would just get a copy of Sarah's. Pathetic, I know). They were nice. The one who took the picture tried to chat with us (his friend was a male me...he didn't speak either). They even seemed to follow us around a little...but eventually gave up.

I wanted to talk to them, but part of me was self-conscious because Terry (our trip sponsor) was close by. But really, when it comes down to it, it's just the way I am. Generally it takes me FOREVER to warm up to people. It's not that I don't want to talk to people...I'm just overly guarded around people I don't know. It's so rare for me to be chatty with someone right off the bat. I have no idea why I'm that way and I really wish I wasn't. I try not to be, but I'm rarely successful at overcoming it.

So people...this picture is all that came from our encounter with the cute guys in Brazil. But look at how BIG my smile was. Ha! Yep, I will be single forever.

It’s Not “OK” in Brazil

So, its been a while since I posted (over a month it appears). I’ve been a little busy with Relay For Life (June 11 with hurricane force winds…it was lovely) and my mission trip to Brazil (just got home this past Monday). I will try to include some pictures of my trip on here at a later date…but for now I have a little story to share.

Picture this…it was our last night in Campinas, Brazil before we flew out to Niteroi, Brazil. We had gone to a local mall for dinner and were doing a little shopping before the mall closed. The “must have” item on our trip was Havaianas (really comfortable flip flops). Brazilians are not tall people and don’t have big feet, so for a team with quite a few women who are above average height and have above average shoe sizes, finding our size was a challenge.

So it’s around 9:45 p.m. We’re supposed to meet our group at the entrance at 10:00. Some were still shopping in one store, but I needed to go back to a previous store and look to see if I can find a particular pair of Havaianas. Robin (she and her husband are the missionaries there) goes with me because I don’t speak the language. A sales girl asks Robin if she can help us and Robin tells her what size I’m looking for, but the girl is trying to sell me on styles I’m not interested in.

Because it’s the World Cup, they had lots of Havaianas for different countries. Robin asks the girl if they have USA ones…they didn’t. The sales girl tells Robin they have ones for France. Now, Robin is very much the extrovert and very silly and has lots of energy. She’s being her silly self and tells the sales girl she doesn’t like France…so the sales girl turns the shoes around backwards and puts them back on the sales rack. Robin thinks this is funny and proceeds to tell me what just took place.

Now, I was really focused on trying to get my shopping done before we had to meet the group. So when Robin tells me what just took place, she asks me if that is okay with me. Not even thinking, I look at Robin (who is standing next to the sales girls) and make “OK” signs with both of my hands.

If you’ve ever been to Brazil…you know where this is going. In Brazil, giving someone the “OK” sign is like flipping them off…I’m told even worse. I knew this before I even went to Brazil, but at the moment it just didn’t occur to me. As soon as I did it, I realized what I had done. I put my hands over my mouth and then start apologizing profusely. Robin’s jaw is on the floor and then immediately turns to the sales girl trying to explain to her that the “OK” sign means something different in my country. That I didn’t mean to offend her, and that I’m a good Christian girl who would NEVER do something like that on purpose.

Yes, I went to Brazil and almost caused an international incident. The sales girls seemed to accept the apology…but didn’t find the humor in it. My group on the other hand found it very funny and would ask me if things were “OK” just to see if they could get me to do it again. Lovely.

So the moral of this story is…its NEVER “OK” in Brazil!!!

Welcome Summer!

I love summer! Though there are things I enjoy about spring and fall, I LOVE summer. I love being able to spend time in the water. If I had a pool or lived near a decent lake, that is where you would find me ever spare moment. Brad Paisley’s new single “Water” should be my theme song (minus the wet t-shirt part). As a kid, if there was water, I always managed to “accidentally” fall in.

I love having/going to cookouts. I love grilled hamburgers and homemade ice cream. I love baseball games, and fireworks (LOVE LOVE LOVE fireworks). I love shorts and sandals. I love working in the flower beds. I love watching fire flies (I get those in my back yard). I also love driving thru Kansas during early summer and seeing the wheat about to be harvested. Harvest time in Kansas and cookouts by the river are still my two favorite childhood memories.

So here’s to you summer. Please don’t fly by too quickly. I’ll enjoy fall when it gets here, but it can take its time.

I Have Been A Busy Woman

So, I took a few days off last week to get some stuff done at home. It spilled over into every evening last week and this past weekend, but after numerous trips to Lowe's and Wal-Mart, here is what I accomplished:

Put some plants & mulch in the front flower bed. Also "transplanted" some mum plants I've coveted from my neighbors. I know, I know...sounds like stealing, but in my defense the new tenants aren't taking care of them and their landlords didn't plant them and I KNOW Lynn (the lady that did plant them) would want me to have them...and it's not like I took all of them, I just took a few small sprigs.

I finally put border around where my tulips are and added a few new plants that you can't see yet because I started them in the house and the still aren't very big. I still need to add mulch to the big flower bed, but I want to plant a few more things before I do.

End table that I painted black.

Coffee table that I also painted black. I still plan to frost the glass, but that will probably have to wait a few weeks.

Some of you will be glad to know I FINALLY finished painting the stairwell. That lamp is so dang ugly, but it is staying for now.

Now for the biggest project of the last 9 days. My neighbor/friend down the street and I had been talking about taking the carpet off our stairs. Her husband said I had to go first. So I did. And for once, I have full before, during, and after photos:

This carpet looks so much better in the pictures. It was was horrible in real life.

After the carpet was removed (mid-tack removal).

I cannot believe I'm posting this, but it was too funny of a sight not to share (Facebook Profile Pic? I don't think so). The mask was to help with allergies and the goggles were for the tack removal process. I didn't have time for a trip the the ER because some wood chip or tack flew into my eye...I am accident prone (and I'm going to spare you the photos to prove it this time around).

This was the results of my gap-filling mishap. It spray in gap filler SAID it wouldn't over expand. So I sprayed it in, cleaned up the foam that did expand, waited an hour before I went to bed to make sure it didn't expand out any more, and when I got up the next morning that stuff was all over the place. This picture is after I had trimmed it down and sanded some of the mess.

The stairs after a day of sanding.

After the painting.

And the "almost" finished project. I have a college student moving in with me today and so I was trying to get it stained and polyurethaned before she moved in because you can't walk much on the polyurethane for 24 hours after. But the stain bled through the tape onto the white (what I get for not using the Frog Tape on all the stairs. The two I did use it on didn't have this problem). So since I now had trim work to do and because there were some flaws that need to be fixed better, I'm holding off finishing them until the college student moves out at the end of the summer. They at least "look" finished for now.

Its the Little Things That Make Me Happy

Call me crazy, but I’m in love with this thing…

It’s my new washing machine! Isn’t it pretty? I have never had so much fun doing laundry. It’s like I have a new toy. Poor dryer, I don’t get as excited about it.

On a totally unrelated note, but one that deserves some mentioning, this is my latest cookie project.


Frogs, Fish, Flowers & Butterflies for my friend’s Sonshine School Pre-K class. Still working on designs I like for the butterflies, frogs, and fish but I’m pleased enough for something that will be gobbled up in less than a few seconds. ;o)

I’m also still working out the best method (and amounts) for using my decorating bottles. And thanks to my wonderful mother, I now have 6 bottles instead of 3…which helps to speed things up. Now if only the kitchen fairy would swing by my house before I get home.

Where Do I Start

So my weekend was a little on the nuts side. Here is just a taste (warning, this will be long)…

Critters
I finally got the hole fixed leading up to my attic, and since I hadn’t heard a single critter in my attic since early January, so I decided to take advantage of the fact that my mom was at my house and had no problem pulling the trap out of my attic (I don’t know why I’m such a chicken when it comes to that). When we pulled the trap out, this is what we found…


Nothing triggered the trap, but something ate all the corn. Thinking I might be putting some Decon up there sometime soon (though a little afraid something other than mice will eat it and then I’ll have a real mess on my hands). So after months of not hearing a peep, at 3:44 Saturday morning, I woke up to the sound of a something overhead. Oh yes, there was another raccoon in my attic!!! What are the chances? Since inspection of my house doesn’t show an entry point on my property, then once again its getting in on my neighbor’s property and making its way through the eves to my attic. I’ve decided to resort to coyote urine and either a super soaker or water balloons (since I won’t go any farther into my attic other than lifting the opening).

Washing Machine
Another highlight of my weekend was buying a washing machine. I suspected that it would take me more than an hour with it being the first day of the Oklahoma Cash for Appliances program, but never dreamed it would take 3 hours!!! We got there at 8:50 a.m. since I couldn’t make a purchase before then. There were people who had been there since 6 a.m. I took a number (#29…didn’t seem too bad), picked out my washer and waited for them to call my number. Seems the state’s rebate website kept freezing up. By 10 a.m., they were still working on #5. By 11:00, one of the employees found a way to get people entered and by noon I had my rebate form (though not without issue…the website didn’t recognize my address b/c the person on the other end of the phone entered something wrong). I’m supposed to be in possession of my new washing machine by this evening, but the phone call I had this morning isn’t sounding too promising (stupid tornados).

Porch Light
You thought that was it… not quite. I also recently installed a new porch light that has a photocell in it so it turns itself on at dusk and off at dawn. The first one stopped working after a week. So I finally took it down and installed returned the malfunctioning one and got a replacement. I really like this porch light, so I was hoping I just got a dud the first time around. Maybe not. The new one took several attempts to get it to work and it flickers some when it is on. I don’t see how I could get the connection any better than it already is, so I think it’s just poorly made…but I will keep it there until it dies.

Alarms
Finally, I got to put my new alarm system to the test Saturday night when my friends/neighbors came down to see if I had started my next home improvement project yet. I thought I had disarmed it, but when I opened the front door, we all got a scare. Yeah, it’s loud…and I shouldn’t have a problem hearing it upstairs.

Okay, so now I’m done. A week’s worth of posts in one day.

From Smart Cars to Barbies

Has anyone seen one of these?



It is a ForTwo Smart Car. I wish I had the picture of the one I saw. It was grey with pink and black trim. All I have to say is that I would hate to get hit by a Mack Truck driving one of those. Seriously, my Barbie jeep was bigger than this thing.


Speaking of my Barbie jeep...my Barbies used to travel like the Clampetts when they took Barbie road trips. I would put a couch across the back seat and at least 8 were good to travel (Skipper often had to ride under the couch and the luggage got shipped to the destination...but they all fit).


I miss my Barbies. Actually my mom still has most of my Barbie stuff. She was holding on to it so that my daughter could play with it. Not looking good for that to be happening. It may be time to consider selling off the Barbie collection. I think there are at least 3 tubs of them in her basement (dolls, accessories, and furniture). Sadly, most are not worth anything for a collector...a few of them had hair cuts. Did you know that you can't cut bangs on Barbies?

This Week

This week has been a difficult week. This week I feel like the world is against me and no matter how good or sincere my intentions are no one else sees it that way. This week I want to scream “please cut me some slack because there is no way I’m going to be able to make everyone happy…sometimes I need to just say ‘no’.” Actually this week might have been better if I hadn’t said “yes” to so many things I knew I really didn’t have time to do. I’m ready for this week to be over so that I can start over next week.

I've Not Heard Everything...But Close

Are you kidding me? I read a story on MSN earlier about how a website has been started to raise money to help Stephen Baldwin (the dorkier of the Baldwin brothers) pay off his $2.3 in debt. And according to the article I read, people are actually donating to it!!! Check out the website for yourself at Restorestephenbaldwin.org.

Now, I don't have anywhere near that much debt (I also don't have near the assets he does either), but I would love to have total strangers willing to pay it off for me. Maybe I'll start a website called "If it can works for Stephen, it should work for me."

Well, I can promise you one thing, I will NOT be donating to his website. But if you want to donate to me, I'll set something up on PayPal. ;o)

Update on Washing Machine

Last night I finally felt like I was finally making some headway on one of my "must take care of immediately" to-do's for the week. I researched washing machines and found 3 at Lowe's that would qualify for the Cash for Appliances program in my state. But when I went to ask a store employee a question about one of the washing machines (AND an additional discount Lowe's has right now) he informed me that the start date for the program had been bumped to May 8 instead of April 22. Sure enough when I checked online this morning...doesn't start until May 8. So you better bet I'm going to find a way to get by without a washing machine until May 8.

When Life Give You Lemons…

…chucking them at the world seems so much stress relieving than making lemonade. I try not to worry or stress about financial woes. Somehow it all works out and I’m sure that somehow, some way it will this time too. But its hard to imagine how at the moment. Don’t get me wrong, I have a decent sense of humor about recent events…but it could turn to tears at any moment. Beware.

So in the last month I have had…

- One unforeseen car repair, and looking at a sooner than later break repair;
- An incident at home that has required me to make some security upgrades;
- And I just learned I need to purchase a new washing machine.

I’m also very aware of my blessings, but I’m too afraid to list them for fear that what ever force is attacking me right now will just find more ammunition. I shouldn’t be too surprised, I have NEVER had good luck. You don’t want to take me to Vegas…trust me.

So if you hear a loud banging somewhere, its just me beating my head against the wall.

Can't Complain One Bit

I can't complain about this past weekend one bit. Here is the bullet point run down:

- Found white leggings for $4
- Hung out with good friends
- Planted grass in the backyard (the kind you mow, not the kind you smoke...but stay tuned)
- Got the most "comical" pedicure to date (consisted of an little Asian man who had to be close to 50 who was dressed like a Rock Star, cold water, and purple toenails...which I chose)
- Had Easter lunch with friends (it was fun b/c I don't get to do the "family Sunday Lunch" thing very often).
- Wrapped up the day with a Bible study that consited of an unwanted guest in the form of a snake and neighbors smoking pot (told you to stay tuned).

Yep, can't complain one bit.

There Should Be a Cosmic Rule

I think there should be a cosmic rule that if you have a cold, you don't have to also suffer with allergy symptoms. It's not fair. My head has felt like it is going to explode for days now and cocktail of prescription/OTC drugs is concerning. At this point I almost don't care if I OD...I just want to be able to breath some place other than the shower (hot water has been my friend lately). This morning I got up early because I couldn't sleep anyway and I was still 30 minutes late to work because I had to tend to my cold/allergy symptoms every 5 minutes. Ugh!

Drum Roll Please...

After years of trying, I have finally managed to get 4 tulips to bloom (and 3 more should follow before the week is up)! This is by far the best thing that has happened to me in quite a while. Pathetic I know.



I guess now I need to get on the ball and do something about the rest of the flowbed before this gets mowed over. Of course because of some recent unfortunate circumstances, it might be a wile before there is a "real" border around this. May just be sticks and strings for a while.

But before you get too jealous of my tulip success story (go along with me here and pretend you are...I need someone to be jealous of something in my life right now)...my other flower bed has a HEALTHY crop of weeds growing. I think weeding is on the agenda for this weekend.

Welcome Spring

What's better than the 70+ degree weather we're supposed to have today? Spring inspired sugar cookies!




I signed up for March Birthdays at work and since I had been dying to experiment with my new cookies cutters AND try out my new Pampered Chef Decorator Bottle Set, my office is getting sugar cookies (and peanut butter kiss cookies because I didn't get get as many cookies out of a batch because of the size of the cookie cuters).


By the way, LOVING the Pampered Chef Decorator Bottle Set. I wasn't sure if they would work as well as the bag method, but for what I am using them for, they made the job so much faster. I only wish I had another set. 3 bottles just isn't enough. There are a few things I will do differently next time, but all things considered, not bad for a first run...and I have something to update my Etsy shop with (which has been neglecting lately).

Multiple Post Friday

Oh where do I start? Let's start with the good news.

Tulip Watch 2010 is well underway. I am so excited that I might actually have blooming tulips this year!!! Heads are starting to appear among the leaves. I am a little nervous about this weekends unnecessary/unwanted/unseasonal snow storm so I will be going out after work today and covering them with plastic to shield them from the cold. I did not come this far to let a little weather ruin my tulips!!!

See...lots of tulips making an appearance this year. I better get a border up before they start mowing or they'll be goners!

If you look close, you can see one of the heads starting to appear. There are at least 3 of these so far.

Now for the frustrating news. The owner of the unit next to mine finally did something about the hole in his siding that was allowing critters into my attic. Not the most professional job, but the hole had been patched...at least for now. But it seems that these critters are not deterred by a little patch job. Instead of taking a hint and going elsewhere, they found a new way in. The little boogers just peeled back the screen on one of my eve vents. Actually, since both the patch job and the hole in eve vent just appeared in the last week, I'm thinking they got trapped in by the patch job and found a new way out. You would think they would learn, but it still sounds like they are having a hay day in the casing around my fire place.

This hole is actually big enough for a raccoon to get in...which is unsettling.

Not wanting them to take up permanent residence there and not wanting them to rediscover my attic (oddly, trap has remained untouched in the attic for almost 3 months now)...I was planning to pull out the big guns last night and toss some poison in the eve and fix the hole myself, but sadly my 13' extension ladder is not quite tall enough to reach. So for now I just have to deal until I can hire someone to come fix it.

This is why I can't fix it myself. My 13' ladder only makes it to the bottom of the window.

Oh and if you'll look at the board just above the roof line, they've done a number on that recently too. I can't tell if there is a hole there yet or not. There better not be!

My Career as a Cookbook Author May Be Short Lived

Long story how this has come about, but I have been formatting a cookbook for my church camp in my off time. In the process, I have been reminded of one of those minor pet peeves I have.

As a person who likes to cook…it annoys me to get a recipe and not have all the ingredients listed together at the top. Why? Because it never fails, I’ll be in the middle of making something and halfway through when I’m at a point where I can’t stop, I realize that there is a necessary ingredient that I don’t have because it was tucked away in the ingredients and I didn’t have it on my check list.

So to all of those people out there (who probably aren’t reading this anyway) who submitted recipes to the camp cookbook…if you are offended because you’re recipe is not entered verbatim the way great-grandma whoever gave it to you…tough. Your recipe will be included, but in a functional, organized format. And if you submitted a recipe for – let’s say cinnamon rolls – and you left out the ingredients for the filling…I just co-authored your recipe. Can’t make cinnamon rolls without the cinnamon filling. Just say’in.