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.

Shall We Gather at the River

So, what do you get when the company replacing the pump on your baptistry forgets to turn the water off and lets it run all night?

A wading pool!

The dark patch on the carpet is how far up it went. About 4 pews back.

This isn't even the deepest spot...this is from the front pew. They're estimating about 6-8 inches of standing water at the deepest point.

If you look close you can see the paint buckling where the water was flowing over at.

No one wanted to volunteer to go unplug this.

I tell about myself

So I got this email at work today:

Hello!!!!
I the lonely girl. To me of 28 years.
I have found yours E-MAIL in agency of marriage.
I have addressed in agency of marriage to find the man.
I have paid to agency of marriage 8 $ to make questionnaire.
I have in a stock there data and a photo. To me have shown photos of several men.
I at once have decided to write to you the letter.
Thus I have found you!
But I search only for serious attitudes, please answer me.
Harmony, understanding and belief also very much it is important. If you interestingcorresponder with me also.
Write to me on my personal e-mail: ##### I hope you to me, you will answer!
Your friend!!

I THINK she needs to ask the company for her money back (actually, I'm quite sure it is some sort of scam).

Belated Birthday

Birthdays are always interesting when my mom gets involved. Let me preface this by saying that my mom and one of my aunts have been cleaning out my grandmother's house lately to help my uncle get it ready to sell. They've run across some interesting stuff in the process. They've also run across a lot of pictures. My mom found this picture when they were going through stuff:

This was at my grandmother's house a LONG time ago. She never threw anything away, so there were all kinds of old clothes that we used to play in. This was my chosen attire for the day. And during the cleaning out process, my aunt found the dress...so they wrapped it up and gave it to me with this picture for my birthday. Just what I always wanted!!! ;o) Not sure who the dress orignially belonged to, but it was definately someone smaller than I am now.

Thankfully, that wasn't my only birthday present. I'll get a lot more use out of this one:

When searching for this image of the Shark Steam Mop, I found a review site that had mixed reviews. People either love it or hate it. So far I love mine. I didn't have to work as hard to mop my floor and my back didn't hurt when I got done (and I have lots of floor to mop). And it didn't leave a sticky residue like other things I had tried. I tried other methods and so far this one has been my favorite. But I have only used it once, so feel free to check back with me if you are interested in getting one.