an award!

 

I won! Karen at Gberger let me know that I won an award for being a Versatile Blogger.

I guess I’m nothing if not versatile. Little of this, little of that..sometimes wading in the shallow end and other times diving off the high dive of the topic pool.

I’m supposed to pass this on to 15 people but… I don’t have a lot of time for that right now. So!

I will skip the passing it on part…cuz I’d give it to you and you and you…way in the back. So consider yourself tagged and take it if you’d like.  

She also wants me to list 7 random things about me. Hmm…

1. I have a new hobby. (hopefully a post coming soon on that)
2. I am reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan and it’s making me a wreck, in a good way.
3. I am also still reading Laura Bush’s book. I’m kind of nibbling at it, just picking it up for a minute or two when nothing is going on. It’s really good.
4. I love Hobby Lobby. One of the reasons is because they always play instrumental hymns over the speakers. When I want to just be by myself and think and ‘get out for a minute’, that’s where I usually head.
5. I’m watching much less tv these days  and I’m not really missing it at all. I love that it frees my mind up to think something other than “I wonder which house they’ll pick on House Hunters”.
6. BSF starts up again this week. I’m excited and a little bit intimidated.
7. I wish I could wiggle my nose and send all our pollen to the moon.

I know you won’t believe this, but this silly post has taken me several sittings to finish and I still couldn’t think of anything really interesting for my 7 things. But see #7…I’ve had brain fog for a while now, thanks to grass and ragweed. : p

Thanks again for the award!

Hugs! : )

Random Dozen

1. What insect are you most afraid of? Feel free to post a picture. Stinging and flying things. I don’t want an unpredictable bug getting on me while I try to kill it.

2. What is the greenest/most organic thing about you or that you do? I bought a set of cheap washcloths and use those to wipe down the counters. I probably have 25 or more and I wash all of them every week, thus saving at least 50 paper towels a week! Woot!

3. Tell me about a recurring dream that haunts you. ??? I got nothin’.

4. Have you ever missed a flight? What were the circumstances? Nope.

5. What do you consider your best feature? I have no idea. Um..my eyes. My empathy for others. I know that’s not a feature, which we tend to think of as a physical characteristic, but I was trying to go a little deeper.

6. What was the last concert you went to? Chris Tomlin!!! Loooved it!

7. Describe the most embarrassing church moment you ever experienced. Ohmigosh! This question alone is the reason I decided to jump into the Random again this week, even though life has been kinda busy lately. My husband and I used to go to a church that was very um..shall we say ”high church”. They had an orchestra and only sang hymns and the ‘special music’ was very VERY traditional. One Sunday there was special music. An older lady went up and began to sing. She had a beautiful voice. But it was kind of...operatic sounding. Lots of high notes. And we couldn’t understand what she was singing. And for some reason we both looked at each other got tickled about that simple fact. And we both (silently) giggled and giggled until I thought we were going to bounce right out off the pew. We were both so embarrassed that we ‘lost it’ like that, and we had the hardest time reigning it all in and moving on. We couldn’t even look at each other through the rest of the service, lest we bust out laughing. Another story involved us going to a wedding and the mother of the bride standing up in front of everybody at the start of the wedding but at the wrong time and letting out a loud “&^%$#*” and sitting back down. Awkwaaaard!

8. Are you a whistler, hummer or singer? I can’t whistle. I think I am mostly a singer, but only in a crowd or when nobody else is listening. I miss the years my daughter was oblivious enough that I could just belt it out off key along with the cd and not be embarrassed or hear a “mo-om!”.

9. George Washington Carver said, "I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in." What is God saying to you through nature today, or this very minute? That it is all His and I need to be in awe of Him every moment.

10. On September, 1, 1752, the Liberty Bell arrived in Philadelphia. What memorable event will take place in your life on September 1, 2010? Um..another day of homeschool.

11. Taco Bell or the Liberty Bell? (You must choose.) I am a patriotic sort, so the Liberty Bell. But I’m not exactly a history buff..and I like mexican food, so maybe Taco Bell instead. (although I don’t like Taco Bell!)

12. Do you believe men and women can have purely platonic friendships? yes.

To see how other people feel about the Liberty Bell and what bugs they’re afraid of and a bunch of other stuff, head on over to Linda’s place at 2nd Cup!

I’m Random again!

 

I know I haven’t participated in the Random for a couple of weeks. I don’t have a good reason, other than blog related brain fog. I just didn’t feel inspired to write anything, even with a prompt.  I know..sad!

1. What is one really fast, know-by-heart "go-to" meal to fix in a pinch?  I know this is lame and you’ll probably say ‘gross’, but this is one I learned when our son was sick. Desperate times call for desperate measures.  I keep canned chicken from Sam’s Club, which I have to put a little plug in for Sam’s Club chicken.. it’s really good. It’s not smushy the way other canned chicken is.  The main reason I keep a Sam’s card is for this stupid chicken. Anwyay.. cook egg noodles, dump the chicken in the water at the end. Drain and serve. Green beans from another can, optional. To go all fancy, you can drain it and add a can of cream of chicken soup and reheat in the microwave to warm the soup. We just eat it plain, though. We also call this “the mowing meal” because I used to make this on yard work night. We don’t do yard work anymore (don’t hate), so I don’t make it unless I’m in a pinch or super tired, but we still call it the mowing meal. I’d rather call it the mowing meal than the sick kid meal, so I guess it’s all about perspective.

2. What is one item you won't leave home without. (Purse and license do not count.)  Cell phone. Chapstick..Avon Care Deeply actually. Eye glass wipes because it drives me nuts when I get a smudge right in my line of sight and I’ve got this fancy dancy non glare coating (love hate relationship with said coating for the same reason) and I can’t just wipe it off on my shirt tail..that would just swirl it around. Like I said. Love hate. I know that’s more than one.. sorrrrry. : )

3. Where is one place you never tire of visiting? The mountains. Been to different mountain areas in Colorado numerous times from when I was a kid through just a few years ago. It never gets old.

4. Share one factoid of your family's history. Little joke ‘saying’ between the hubs and I lately.. “We come from Klassy stock”.  I guess that speaks for itself. ; )

5. Complete this sentence: "Once upon a time I ...." … thought life was simple and carefree. Now I don’t.

6. If you could win a one year's supply of anything, what would it be?  Chick-fil-a.

7. "One quirky thing you may not know about me is ...."  Just one???  Um.. I don’t like nuts ‘in’ things like brownies. That is just wrong to mix smooth things.. the brownies.. with crunchy things.. the nuts. Thankfully hubs is the same way. We heard Alton Brown say one time that at his house raisins are “always optional”. Well at my house, nuts are always optional.

8. You have one dollar in your pocket. What will you buy? Tea at Sonic during Happy Hour. It’s about the only thing I’d be able to afford with only $1.

9. "One thing that always makes me laugh is ...." … the hubby. He can always make me laugh!

10. What is one thing you could do today to help yourself reach a personal goal? Eat less. See # 6 and 8.

11. What is one thing you could do today to bless someone else? Hug them.

12. What is one thing you're looking forward to soon? Summer. : )

To check on more Random, hop on over to Lid’s place at 2nd Cup.

It’s random time!

1. How do you feel about "Gladiator" sandals, also called "Roman" or "Jesus" sandals? A fashion yea or nay? I guess if you’re 6 feet something and a size ‘zero’ than maybe they would look ok. But for your average Joanne, umm.. not so much.

2. What is your favorite pizza? The girl and I get ‘the works’ without cheese. And since cheese makes me sick, then I guess that is my favorite.

3. There are plans in the works to sell roughly 1,000 items from Star Trek: The Experience in Las Vegas. This means you could buy Picard's chair for your family room. If not a Star Trek item, what prop, background, set, etc. from what TV or movie would you buy if you could?
[Ex: Hurley's "I Love my Shih tzu" shirt from LOST, the plantation home "Tara" from Gone With the Wind, or Tracy's tambourine from the Partridge Family.]  I would love to have the front porch from Andy Taylor’s house. (Andy Griffith Show)

4. Name a local food or restaurant that your area is famous for.  Corn dogs were ‘born’ at the State Fair of Texas, as were a bunch of other artery clogging fried things that I won’t mention.

5. What is your current favorite snack? I’m on a Chex Mix kick right now..but I don’t eat the pretzels or those funny looking skinny white things. Neither of them have any flavor. And it bugs me because I pick them out and it seems to be about 50% chex stuff and 50% pretzels/weird white things. Seems like a bit of rip to me.

6. Hypothetical: You are required to be a reality show contestant. Which show would you choose based on your probability of success? (You cannot choose "none.")
A. Dancing with the Stars
B. Biggest Loser
C. Survivor

Let’s see..can’t dance. Never have and don’t plan on starting now. And frankly, I just don’t know that I could pull off that hot and bothered look that Pamela Anderson some of the female contestants seem to have mastered. So there goes DWTS.  And I think I would cry if I had to live out in the elements and eat bugs and get eaten by them, so no Survivor for me. I guess that leaves The Biggest Loser. Hey.. I need to lose some weight, so that might work for me. I would be the whiny one.  Hey, I’m not proud.

7. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being uninhabitable and 10 being cleanliness that meets the standards of OCD, how clean is your vehicle's interior? It’s decent. It’s got some clutter, but nothing gross. Probably a 7.

8. It doesn't feel like Spring until _________. .. it gets warm.

9. Something that made you laugh really hard recently is ____. The other day, the girl was working on a science worksheet and hubs walked past her door and overheard her reading the question out loud and saying “Psssth, I don’t know the answer to that!” (it’s called learning…you do it with books) Hubs told me what he heard and I think I laughed harder than I’ve laughed in a long time. It just struck me funny.

10. Tell me about a goal you're working toward.  Getting all the photos from the little kid/sick kid years into books so we can look at them. I’ve begun the process and Boo has enjoyed seeing pix of herself she’s never seen. That has made me feel bad and spurred me on to complete the task.

11. Share a thought-provoking or inspiring quote this week. This is something that has come to mind over and over as I’ve been studying the crucifixion in BSF and being asked to answer questions about various events. “Satan is a great help heavenward.” I believe E.M. Bounds said that and it’s just so profound and applicable sometimes.

12. Name one thing that you do as a parent that you absolutely know will make your kids happy. If you're not a parent, feel free to substitute "friend" or nomenclature that works for you. Working on the photos. She’s already enjoying the fruits of the little bit of labor I’ve put into the process.

To check on other’s Random, hop on over to Linda’s place at 2nd Cup of Coffee.

I have a confession to make. I haven’t been a very good Random’er lately. I link up on Wednesday mornings and then head out to BSF. When I get home, I usually try to get a jump on the homework. And by the time I get back to the random, I feel like I’m the last one to the party. But I will try harder to check more of you out this week.  : )

First April Random

1. Define a great relationship. I love this question!  A great relationship is one where you show up not wearing makeup and nobody notices or cares. Mutual service… putting the other ahead of themselves. I’m really thinking about girl friends.. I’m not getting into spouses and all that stuff.

 
2. Why is it called a "drive-through" if you have to stop? (Real question: What was the last food/drink you purchased at a drive-through?) Chick-fil-a sandwich and large unsweet tea.  I really love CFA sweet tea, but I don’t need the extra calories, so I’ve been adding Sun Crystals instead.  : (

3. As I type this, the Butler Bulldogs are getting ready to play in the NCAA championship game. Every Hoosier is hysterical about this except me. So in honor of the Bulldogs ... what is your favorite breed of dog? (I tried.) Poodle. (Not the big kind.) We had one when I was a kid and that was the best and smartest dog ever. I still miss him sometimes..especially when my cat goes on a hating spree.

4. If you had to move to a state besides the one you currently live in, where would you move?  Hmm.. somewhere warmer? Florida maybe?

5. If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be? pass on this one. : )

 
6. Who's the funniest person you know? My husband! I never know what he’s going to say next. I think we both embarrass our girl by laughing and carrying on sometimes.

7. Did you get enough sleep last night? Nope. (wrote this on Tues)

8. What's the first thing you thought about this morning? Don’t forget to make lunch for the girl. I forgot yesterday and had to take it up to the school.  Just needed a big sign on my head that said “Pre-occupied. Watch out!”.

9. Grilled or Fried? –HONESTLY Fried! See the drive thru question! I love fried food. But I try not to eat it very often. Chick-fil-a is just about my favorite thing ev-er, so I get that one fried.

10. Are you afraid of the dark? A little bit, yes. We had a  power outage recently during the evening. I was sitting at the computer and behind me the hubs and the girl were discussing school work at the coffee table. Poof! Everything went black. I had to hold back that panicky feeling. Hubs stumbled to the cupboard and got a flashlight. At bedtime it happened again, and I couldn’t sleep until it all came back on. So I stayed up playing solitaire on my iPod Touch waaay late into the night.

11.When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? Ya know, I really have no idea. I took a very short ASL class at summer camp one summer and thought it would be fascinating to work with the deaf, but that’s about it.

12. If you had one word to describe yourself , what would you choose? Silly. Scatter-brained. Antsy. Serious. Emotional. Thoughtful. Spiritual. Oh wait..that’s more than one word. I guess it just depends on what kind of mood I’m in, now doesn’t it?! Hubs just walked by and added ‘patient’..(NOT). He’s a funny one, remember?!

For more April Randoms, check out Linda at 2nd Cup.

Some Eastery Random

Oh my gosh.. first of all.. the button this week for the Random Dozen is so cute.  I love it! And now.. on with the show!

1. How do you feel about the marshmallow Easter Peeps? I love them. But I only like the chicks.. in yellow or pink please.

 
2. Chickens are notoriously nervous creatures. When you are nervous, what is the best way to calm down?  Step away from the moment and pray.

3. People say, "April showers bring May flowers." Do you enjoy Spring rains?  Not really. The only redeeming thing they do besides water the earth, is give a brief break from the pollen. It has been a doozy with the pollen this spring though!

 
4. When I was randomly flipping through TV channels this week, I saw a show in which tattoo parlor employees received tattoos of a co-worker's face on their bodies. I can't imagine having a portrait of a colleague tattooed on me. But if someone forced you to receive a portrait tattoo (face only) of anyone, who would it be? Why?  Probably our son.

5. Would you rather have a tattoo (any kind) or a nose ring? I would rather have a small tattoo.. NO nose rings for me. And make it a cute little butterfly.

6. Do you have any special plans for Easter? Nope. 

7. Cadbury Eggs or Reese Eggs?  Neither. They both have milk in them. *sad face* If I could eat them, I’d love both of them equally. 

8. What was the last thing/person you took a picture of?  I took some snapshots of some old pictures that belonged to my parents.

9. What book are you reading now, or what was the last one? I haven’t been reading very many things of late because of doing BSF.  But I’ve started reading the new Lysa TerKeurst book and an old book by Sandi Patty.

10. What do you think is the most difficult task when it comes to Spring cleaning? Window screens.

11. How many pairs of flip-flops do you own? One. I use them when we go to the water park. They are the same ones I broke my foot in. I’ve kind of lost that lovin’ feelin’ about flip flops after that unfortunate incident a few years back. But I’ve been toying with the idea of giving them a second chance.

 
12. Which color makes you happiest? PINK. I know you’re shocked. :  )

To check out everybody else’s Random-ness, hop on over to Linda’s place at 2nd Cup!

some SouthlakesMom random!

1.  What is your favorite sign of Spring? WARMTH. I am actually wearing shorts and going barefoot today and I’m loving it!

  
2.  Did you remember to spring forward on March 14?  If not, how did it impact your day? It didn’t. I went for an errand later in the day and I had forgotten to change the time in the van and thought I was doing really good on time until I remembered about the time change,though. duh.

 
3.  If soil, time, talent and climate were no problem, what vegetable would you plant in a garden this year? Tomatoes. Oh wait, is that a fruit also?  Well to me, it’s a veggie, so I’m still going to say tomatoes. 

4.  If soil, time, talent and climate were no problem, what fruit would you plant? Cantelope.

5.  What is your least favorite insect?  Roaches and flying stinging things.

6.  March 22 was World Water Day. To celebrate, here are some water questions. Do you drink bottled water? If so, what brand? Sometimes. Ozarka,  Dasani and Sams Club. They’re both done with reverse osmosis. I don’t like carbon filtered water. It tastes yucky.

 
7.  Have you ever been somewhere that it was not safe to drink the local water? If so, how did you handle that?  I haven’t.

8.  How many glasses of water do you drink per day? I drink 8 glasses of water every day. For a long time, I didn’t drink enough and I could definitely feel it, so now I’m pretty militant about it and I feel a lot better. OK.. so I mix in tea every now and then, but my total is still 8!

9.  March 24 is the birthday of Harry Houdini.  Have you ever watched a professional magic show? Share. No.

 
10.  Have you ever been a participant in a professional magic show (up on stage!)? No.

11. March 24 is also the birthday of Steve McQueen and Clyde Barrow. Do you like Westerns or gangster movies?  If so, what is your favorite? I don’t like that kind of movie.

 
12. (Really random)  What U.S. state that you've never visited would you like to visit someday?  Hawaii.  Or maybe an RV trip to the Rocky Mountains.

This week’s Random Dozen is being hosted at Southlakesmom/I Didn’t Know That, so click here to visit other participants. 

Random-nyness

1. How old is the oldest pair of shoes in your closet? I have a pair of shoes in my closet from my early 20’s. That’s about half my life ago. crud.
2. Did you buy Girl Scout cookies this year? If so, what variety? I never buy GS cookies.
3. Do you know how to ballroom dance? If not, would you like to?  No. Aaaaaand no.
4. Were you a responsible child/teenager? Yeah, I think so. I got my first  job when I was still 15 and from then on bought my own clothes, cars etc. I could buy a new car without a co-signer in my very early 20’s.
5. How many of this year's Oscar-nominated movies did you see? I don’t know which movies were nominated and I haven’t seen many movies anyway. Come to think of it, have I seen any movies?
6. If you're going to have a medical procedure done, such as having blood drawn, is it easier for you to watch someone else having the procedure done or have it done yourself? I can watch all day. I hate having blood drawn. But if the person I’m watching is my child, I would have blood drawn all day long if I could protect them from the pain. But as I know all too well, it doesn’t work like that.
7. What is your favorite day of the week and why? Friday! The work week is over and we’re FREE for the next couple of days. 
8. Do you miss anyone right now? Not really.
9. Do hospitals make you queasy? Not really. I always feel better when I’m with somebody at a hospital… because someone else is doing the bulk of the caregiving instead of me, and it feels like a load off, to some extent that is.
10. At which store would you like to max-out your credit card. Not that you ever would, you responsible person, you. Gosh. I have no idea. How about a store that carries things that I would like to wear and would fit me, especially jeans… I have two pairs that I like right now and nothing in the stores seem to fit… now, you tell me the name of that fantasy store and I’ll fill in the answer. : ) Or maybe just Hobby Lobby!  
11. Are you true to the brand names of products/items? Not for clothing. But for things like toothpaste and such, I am if it works. I am a big generic person when it comes to groceries though. I bought some generic deodorant recently and it works better than my old brand name stuff, so you can’t always tell a book by it's cover.
12. Which is more difficult: looking into someone’s eyes when you are telling someone how you feel, or looking into someone’s eyes when he/she is telling you how he/she feels? Gosh I dunno. I’m an eye-looker anyway, so I guess it doesn’t matter. But perhaps it might be harder to look at them in the eye if I’m talking.. ya know.. insecurities and all that jazz.

To check out some more Random-nyness, hop on over to Linda’s place at 2nd Cup of Coffee.  ps… tell me.. do you like me to skip lines in between my Q&A’s?  Which way is easier for ya?

some Random on the new computer

 

It’s Random Dozen time… and I’m using a new computer. Just arrived in the mail yesterday. And my fonts and sizes are all weird and the keyboard is different and we’re still working on the settings and all that stuff. We can’t figure out why my fonts are different on my blog… very weird. But anyhoo..here we go!

1. Do you prefer even or odd numbers? Any particular reason?  Even numbers.  I can add them easier. I’m not exactly a mathematician.

2. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being "not at all" and 10 being Carly Simon-worthy, how vain are you? I would say 1 but I don’t like to go anywhere without fixing my hair… I’ll go without makeup, but I don’t leave with sloppy hair. And I’m so not a stylin’ chickadee as far as clothes go…. so maybe a 4?

 
3. Among these Irish stereotypes, with which do you identify most closely? Talkative, Proud, Inquisitive, Love to party, Hot-tempered How’zabouit talkative… I think my husband would agree to that one.  Aaaaaand inquisitive. Also known as nosey around these here parts.  Reeeeeeeal nosey.

 
4. How lucky do you consider yourself?  Not very. I don’t believe in luck. But if there is a contest or something on a blog, I always think it’s silly of me to enter because I won’t win. So maybe I believe in bad luck! Dunno. LOL Hubs entered a contest online one time and won a pretty nice camera… now totally obsolete, but it was nice in it’s day.  35mm WITH A ZOOM.  I have many close ups of my toddler daughter’s drooly face because that’s when we got it.

 
5. What is the subject of your favorite post that you've written? I like most of the posts I’ve written about relationship with God and I’ve enjoyed (?) working through my thoughts on grief here as well.

6. Describe March weather where you live in three words.  Sorta getting better.

7. How apt are you at detecting blarney when you hear it? (Smooth talk, flattery) Pretty good. It gags me.

8. How "green" are you, environmentally speaking?  A little. We recycle here, so I’m always breaking up boxes and rinsing out two liters. But I don’t have those nice little reusable bags for going to Walmart etc. And I don’t buy all ‘green’ things. So maybe I’m in the middle on that. 

9. What is your favorite song this week? I found myself savoring the words of What a Friend We Have in Jesus the other day just out of the blue and it is already one of my favorites. I’m not a ‘hymns only’ kinda girl, but I do like them.

10. You are walking along and see a coin on the ground. What denomination does it have to be before you will stop to pick it up?  Hmmm a dime or a quarter.

 
11. Complete the sentence: "Every time I look outside my window ...." ….  I wish it were warmer!  Spring is coming on the slow train this year and I am READY for it to get here.

 
12. What was the #1 song on the day you were born? See this site to find out. Help! by the Beatles. I have no idea what that song is. These questions make me giggle because I am so not into music… at least not popular culture music.

To see everybody else’s answers, hop on over to Linda’s place at 2nd Cup!

last February Random!

Yes.. it’s Random Dozen time. I feel like saying “hellooooo out there” since I haven’t been on much lately. But I’m still getting over my bronchitis and the after affects of the meds. : p And then there are allergies and cold weather and then the whole “I really don’t feel like I have anything to say” deal. So anyhoo, here goes with the Random!

1. Have you ever fired a gun or shot a bow and arrow? No. I think I would be scared to do that… would probably freak out after I did it.

2. Do you know where your childhood best friends are? No, I have no idea, nor do I care to try to find them on Facebook. Life has moooved on, thankyouverymuch!

3. Do you usually arrive early, late, or on time? Early. I feel weird when I arrive just ‘on time’ and a place is already packed and I’ve got to find a place to sit etc. I would rather be a little early and scope things out and find my spot etc. Don’t even get me started about ‘the late’. Drives me nuts.

4. Are you more of a New York or California type? I have no idea. I used to get bugged when I’d watch David Letterman or Johnny Carson (yes, I am stinkin’ old!) and some comedian would be discussing the differences between New York and LA. Like I am supposed to know.. or care. Has anyone not informed those people that there are a vast many states in between NY and LA? To answer your question.. neither. Hubs has been to NYC and he came home telling me I would hate it. And I have zero desire to be an uppity LA person either. I am a van driving mom from the burbs and I like it.

5. Do you have a special ring tone? It’s a doorbell and I love it! It’s very discreet and not obnoxious. My old phone ring tone was the Animaniacs theme music.. so I think I can say a thing or two about obnoxious!

6. What is your favorite type of chip? Baked Tostitos if I’m being good and regular ole bbq Lays if I’m not.

7. Best comedy you've ever seen is ....I have no idea. Hubs and I used to watch Seinfeld and think there aren’t many that can top it.

8. Have you ever cut your own hair? To quote Dr. Phil, "How'd that work for ya?" I have not. And I don’t plan to take up home hair care with the Flowbee either. Although I *do* cut my hubby’s hair and it turns out good.

9. If you were going to have an extreme makeover, would you rather it be about your house or your personal self? I would rather buy another, bigger house and then have THAT house made over.

10. Are you allergic to anything? Can’t eat dairy.. not allergic to it, but it makes me sick. Allergic to codeine.

11. Why is it so hard to change? Because we are sinful people and often blinded to the fact that we are wrong and need to ‘change’.

12. One last question dedicated to February love: CS Lewis said, "To love is to be vulnerable." Please share one example of that assertion or share any thought you'd like to about this topic. Pfffffth. I dunno.

To hop on over and see how other people feel about extreme makeovers and cutting their own hair, check out Lid’s place at 2nd Cup!

some sniffy randomness

 

Since I’m still feeling cruddy and sniffy, I’m enjoying the random this week.  All I have to do is play along.  So here we go…

1. Are you pleasant when you're ill, or are you a grumpy, fussy patient?  I’m kind of fussy and whiney.

2. When you find out that school is canceled (due to inclement weather) what is your gut reaction? Woot! We can all stay in!

3. What is one domestic skill you wish you could improve? Sewing.  I can sew, but nothing fancy. I would love to learn how to quilt, but you really need better than average skills to do it.

4. Do you decorate your home for Valentine's Day? Nope.

5. What song is on your mind today?  Nothing.  I haven’t listened to any music this past week, since I’ve been under the weather with the creeping crud. 

6. Do you prefer contemporary movies or classic? Contemporary.

7. How well do you "compartmentalize" your feelings? For example, how well can you put aside a really trying moment to deal with the immediate situation which is not related to the trying moment, e.g., putting aside a tiff with your spouse in order to finish wallpapering a room.   Pretty well.  Had to learn to live that way when our son was ill. 

8. What is the first thing that attracted you to your spouse? (Or if you're single, to your best friend.)  He was really nice. And soft spoken.  And funny. And cute. Oh wait.. you said ‘first’.  Sorry.  : )  But all of those were ‘firsts’ since I knew him for a while before we dated. 

9. When was the last time your heart raced?  Pttth. I dunno.

10. What are your memories of Valentine's Day at school? I hated it.  The teachers always ‘made’ the kids put a valentine in every box but I never got one from everybody. I think about that now and think ‘who cares’, but that is big stuff to a little kid. I always thought the sentiments on them were stupid too.  Who really says that kind of stuff?

11. If you were going to receive candy for Valentine's Day, which would you prefer?  Reese’s Pieces.  I love them and I can eat them without getting sick. If it weren’t for milk problems, then chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate!

12. Red or pink?  PINK!  (duh) lol

This week’s questions were fun and easy.  So glad. Don’t think I would be up to answering any heavy stuff this week.  Go visit Linda at 2nd Cup to see who else played along.

It’s the Randomness that get’s you

1. How good are you at delaying gratification?  It depends on what I’m waiting for.  It is hard to wait on things sometimes.

 
2. Maybe a marshmallow wouldn't be too difficult a temptation for you. What food (or anything else) would be most tempting?  (there was a video with the preview of these questions of a kid left in a room with a marshmallow and told to leave it be etc.. very Candid Camera) I think a marshmallow would be hard. That’s one of my favorite junk foods, but I seldom eat them. Actually I like marshmallow cream much better.

 
3. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being saintly) how patient are you?  Probably a 5.

4. Have you ever waited for something in life only to be disappointed upon realization of the goal/object/etc.?  Often that is the case with our desires.  We get it and think ‘oh’. Sometimes big things don’t seem like as big of a deal when we finally get/purchase etc them.

 
5. Are you a person who takes shortcuts?  I try not to, because they seldom lead where you want them to.

6. Which line is hardest to wait in? the express lane

7. Did you wait to discover the gender of your unborn child until its birth?  no.

8. Are you more patient with children or the elderly?  about the same

9. Did you ever sneak a peek at a present? Yes I did. And it ruined Christmas for me. I had to ‘fake’ being surprised about a really  nice stereo. Not cool.

10. What is the longest you've ever waited for anything? Gosh I don’t know… Waited two years after we married to buy a house. I worked and we saved that money so we could use it for the down payment. That seemed like a very long wait, since I wasn’t very fond of living in an apartment.

 
11. Who has more patience, you or your significant other? DEFINITELY my significant other. I am always amazed at how patient he is with evvverything.

  
12. Which of the following songs about waiting is your pick for the best? (OK, you may substitute another, if you like.)
A) Anticipation by Carly Simon
B) The Waiting by Tom Petty
C) Right Here Waiting for You by Richard Marx
D) Wait for Me by Rebecca St. James

The only one I’ve ever heard is “A” and I think that was on a ketchup commercial, so I guess I’ll go with that.

For more of the random, check out 2nd Cup this week! : )

‘

Random Dozen

1. So I was thinking about how Jon Bon Jovi never seems to age much. His hair is smaller nowadays, but he still manages to look like a boy somehow. And then that made me think of the story of Dorian Gray. Question: If you physically lock in one age for yourself, which would you choose and why?  My hair is sort of 80’s/90’s and I’ve been trying to grow it out, but I have a hair appointment on  Thursday. I think I might have given up on it.  I don’t like flat hair on me…. so what decade is that?

2. What is the best dish that you cook or bake (your piece de resistance?  I dunno.  I used to make this chicken casserole thingy. It’s super easy and I got the recipe from my MIL.  I’ve made it for just about everybody we know.. either when they came over or when they had a baby or something.  I don’t make it much anymore. It has cream soup in it and we don’t do that very much these days.  But I knew of a friend who’s husband asked me to bring it to them again just for funzies.

3. When you feel blue, what is one strategy you use to help yourself back to normal?  Get out. Change my surroundings, if I can. Read my Bible. Pray.

4. When was the last time you danced in public? Ummm… oh yeah.. never.

5. Do you consider yourself a realist or dreamer? I think I used to dream more, but now I am more of a realist.  And sometimes that makes me sad. I guess I just had to adjust the dreams a bit as time has gone on.

6. As a parent, what is one thing that you have done well? I dunno. Ask me in ten years. LOL

7. Which is your favorite character on the Andy Griffith show? Gosh.. how to pick!  Probably Andy. He was a patient and wise parent.

8. On a scale of 1-10, how much do you know about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.?  Probably not enough.

9. Have you never been mellow? Have you never tried … to find a comfort from in side you? (Sorry, Jorge was singing that song just now, and it just seemed to be perfect timing as I was creating this week’s questions.) REAL question: What is your #1 driving pet peeve?  Texters, cell phone talkers, makeup put-er on-ers, tailgaters, speeders. A petty one is the back into the parking space person.  That drives me nuts. They take up the whole parking lot while they maneuver their car around to back in. : p

  
10. Which color best represents your mood today? Care to elaborate? Yesterday… dark gray.  Is that the color of PMS? I feel better now, so PINK!  : )

11. If your spouse were an animal, which would he/she be?  I dunno.  That’s a weird one, Lid!

12. What activity takes up the bulk of your time on an average day?  Cleaning. Laundry, Kitchen stuff.  Computer stuff blogging.

Check out more answers at 2nd Cup of Coffee.

that’s so random!

 

1. When was the last time you craved a food--what was it, and did you cave?  i have been craving cinnamon rolls for-evah.  Not yet.  : )

2. M & M's or Skittles?  I like M&M’s better, but since I can’t do milk, I have to settle for Skittles.

3. Have you ever read the Bible completely through?  Yes. It took me three years, but I was so pleased to have done it!

4. How long does it take you to really wake up in the morning?  Most days about 5 minutes.  Other days a bit longer. 

5. Have you ever been on a cruise? If not, would you like to? Nope.  I might like to, but hubs gets green just looking at a boat. My chances in that area are pretty slim, so I might as well not get my hopes up.

6. Who is your favorite actress?  Gosh, I have no idea.  Meryl Streep is very versatile. I watched the end of Steel Magnolias the other day.. (what was I thinking??? *sniff sniff*) and remembered how much I like Julia Roberts. I’ll read everybody else’s answers to this and go ‘oh yeah’ so I’m not even gonna try hard to think of anybody.  I’m just not that into that sort of thing.

7. ______ is something that I will just never understand.  Mean girls.  Computers.  Texting while driving.  Or just plain ole texting. I could go on and on with this one. I guess there’s a lot I don’t understand. LOL

8. How much of a technology junkie are you? See #7.  Um… I have to relearn how to text every time I have to do it. My husband has to teach me every little thing I do online, but I must have learned a little bit since I have a blog and I’m on Twitter..sometimes.

9. Do you enjoy selecting greeting cards for people, or is it more of a cultural "have to" for you?  Depends. We like picking cards for my husband’s family. It’s a big deal with all of them and the funnier the better!

10. When was the last time you got a new style/haircut?  I had long hair during the time Bub was sick and when we found out we were nearing the end I cut most of it off. I kept that short look since the spring of ‘02.  I’ve finally decided to grow it out a bit.  My bangs are out of style and I’ve been trying to want to change that up some.  Don’t know how well that’s gonna go though.  Been thinking about giving up and going short again because basically it boils down to me being lazy and I can dry short hair much faster than longer hair. I guess that just about screams “you’re old and you just don’t care anymore” when it’s all about getting it dry and moving on with my day, huh?!

11. What do you enjoy shopping for most?  Fun things. Not groceries or clothes or washing machines.  But I don’t even know how to describe fun things. Scrapbooking supplies are fun to shop for.  Books.. hooray for Half Price Books. CD’s are fun to buy too.  I heart Mardels.  I like buying things for other people. Example.. I bought a friend a nightlight that looks like a teapot at Kirklands recently.  She did a tea party for my baby shower for Miss Boo.

12. What's the last thing you think of before you leave the house?  Did you potty? Do you have your shoes on.  I’ve headed out to the garage in sock feet/barefooted before. Ooops!

To check out some more random, hop on over to Linda’s place at 2nd Cup of Coffee.

First Random of the new year

1. On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being a cranky-baby-hissy-fitter, how much of a complainer are you?  I would say a 4 or a five, depending on the situation.  Maybe a 2 in others.  It’s strange how big things can happen and sometimes they go right over my head, but something silly might go all over me.  I know.. strange.

2. When someone else is talking, do you listen, or are you thinking about what you're going to say in response? I try not to think about my response, as much as listen to them. But of course, at some point they expect a response, so there is a little bit of that too.

 
3. I just deleted 1062 messages from my email account. Do you have any plans for a clean sweep this month--of anything?  We already did.  Cleaned out my email box. I had kept emails from the dark ages and ppl I don’t even email anymore.  G.O.N.E.  And we did some other cleaning over the holidays. Felt so good!

And now, here are some brilliant questions from a gal named Angie at Angie's Ad Lib who graciously offered to let me borrow her brain. Please go over and see Angie because it was so nice of her to help me out. Thank you so much, Angie!
4. Tell us about your perfume. Was it a gift? What does it remind you of? Do you have a signature scent?  Soap and deodorant.  Perfumes can stir up my asthma. : (

5. What is your best organizing tip for the new year?  Keep up.

6. What is your favorite comic strip?   Peanuts, Far Side

7. Do you sleep with a fluffy or flat pillow?  We are verrrry particular about pillows at our house. Very!  We each bought two pillows at the Sleep Number Store when we bought our bed. (I’m a 45)  One of them is a memory foam pillow, which is firmer. And then there’s a very soft, squishy one also.  It’s always drama when we go to hotels to try to find pillows that ‘work’ for us both.  And there is always a lot of flipping going on… to get to the cold side. I even bought regular pillow cases to go with my flannel sheets because I can’t find a cold side on flannel. (Lands End)

8. What color is your kitchen? Why did you choose that color?  It’s yellow. So is my dining room and living room. They are connected. The decorator and I picked the color. And before you get all la-t-da on me…. she was a mom from my daughter’s school and she did decorating part time at the time and charged by the hour. I think I spent a grand total of one hour with her and did the rest on the fly, but according to things we had discussed.

9. What’s the most interesting bumper sticker you’ve seen?  I don’t like bumper stickers.

10. Do you prefer an expensive writing tool or whatever is lying around? (Are you a Montblanc or a Papermate?)  I have a Pilot pen that I loooooove. It’s not super cheap, but it’s not ridiculous either.

11. What chore doesn’t feel like a chore – you just enjoy it (at least most of the time)?  I like dusting with my swiffer dusting wand thingy.  Um… other than that my chores pretty much feel like chores. lol

12. If your parents often repeated themselves, what is something one of them said more than once?  I can’t think of anything, right off the top of my head.  But my mother in law always tells her kids to “be good, be careful, and have fun”. And they reply “never, never and always” and out the door they go.

To check on the random, hop on over to Lid’s place at 2nd Cup!

WFMW-posters and sticky stuff

My last post was about the totally cute poster we had made for Miss Boo.

Remember?!

I just love it. It makes me smile every time I walk past her room. It’s just so stinkin’ cute. And because one person several of you asked, (and a few of you are probably curious) I thought I’d share how this whole thing came to be.

We went to Ikea several months ago and in the pet section, they had these cute pics of cats and dogs really close up. They were cute, but all I could think of was my cat is cuter than those cats. But those large pics gave me an idea.

So I took a pic of the cat.

And had it doctored up to suit Boo’s taste.

I had noticed an ad months ago on weareTHATfamily for a place called Online Poster Printing. I had checked them out a few months back so I knew right where to send my pic of the cat to be made into a poster.

And she could not have been more pleased and surprised!

And we were thrilled with the speed of delivery and the quality. Very impressive!

So we hung it on the wall. I didn’t want to use tape because it’s kinda tacky and this was a nice poster. I’ve used these…

in the past and love the way they work so we used them again. The poster won’t slip and we can take it off the wall to move it without messing up anything. Love it.

Online Poster Printing and Command Poster Strips work for me. To see other Works for Me Wednesday posts, hop on over to weareTHATfamily.

*Note: Nobody gave me these products and nobody is twisting my arm to say anything nice about them either. I bought them myself and I like ‘em, so I decided to tell you about them! : )

Oh yeah..something else...there's another post under this one. I was a busy girl today.

last random dozen of 09!

1. Do you find it gross to share drinks with family? Friends? Yes.  Kids = backwash city! :p

2. What have you learned this year? (You didn't see a question of that weight coming, did you? At least not for #2.)  I have no idea. I guess I’m not a weighty thinker today.  LOL

3. When do you dismantle the Christmas decorations? Ha! We took them down on Christmas day. Presents gone. Christmas over. I’m always glad to see the decorations come on the day after Thanksgiving… and then glad to see them go as well!

4. Something you wish to accomplish before the end of 2009 is:  I dunno.  Get warm maybe?! 

5. How do you feel about winter (after Christmas)?  See #4. I hate cold weather.  The good thing about seeing January come is that eventually it will be warm again. Hurray!

6. Have you participated in after-Christmas sales? Nope. It’s cold and snowy and we’ve stayed in for the most part.

7. Do you have plans for New Year's Eve? Nope.

8. Is there anything special awaiting you in January? Nope.  Boo goes to the ortho to get fitted for braces. I’m kind of looking forward to seeing her in those.  I think they’re cute. I know that probably sounds weird.

9. If your life this year was a movie, what category or genre would it be? (Romance, Comedy, Drama, Thriller, Suspense, Farcical, etc.)  Drama.  My dad died this year and that was a huge, stressful deal.  But of course, my family makes me laugh every day… so ya gotta throw comedy in there too. : )

10. How much time per day do you spend blogging? Please do not lie. I will know.  What, are you Santa or something??? LOL  Um… a lot.  I read a lot. And then I write too, of course. Some posts don’t take much time, although I tend to read my posts over and over and tweak them to make sure sentences don’t read awkwardly etc. And that takes time.  And depending on the subject matter… sometimes heavier topics take longer than silly little photo driven posts. 

11. Who runs your household? Let’s see.  There are things my hubby does.  He does the bills. And he helps with homework. And I see to a lot of other things.  If there is a problem with the house, I hire whomever and get it fixed.  We remodeled and I hired and handled the contractor and the plans.. hubs never even met him.  Hubs remembers birthdays etc, but I usually buy the cards.  It’s a split.  We each have different strengths and things that matter to us.

 
12. Share one hope/dream for 2010.  Lose some weight. Spend more time with God.  Ooops, that was two things.  I hope the blog police don’t come after me. LOL

To see everybody else’s Random-ness, hop over to Linda’s place at 2nd Cup! 

Random Dozen

It’s Random Dozen time again!  

1. Gingerbread: For or against? Discuss.  I guess I am somewhat ‘for’.  I usually buy a kit and we make a house every year. But I haven’t ever made it from scratch.  Would love a good recipe for it… loaf form….to eat, not to decorate… and by good, I mean not loaded with fat.

2. Is it important to you to always stay (live) close to family?  We all just live where we live.  Hubs moved 9 hours away from home the weekend after he finished college so….. ?  It just is what it is for us.

3. Which holiday pretend character do you wish really existed?  Buddy the Elf.  We all need a little ‘happy’ sometimes. Although I think we could all do without the tights.

4. Which holiday movie best represents how you feel about Christmas or life?  A Charlie Brown Christmas

5. Is there a particular Christmas song that you're enjoying now? Any that you're tired of? Ring the Bells. Don’t know of any that I’m tired of, but I haven’t been listening to tons of Cmas music anyway.

 
6. What is your favorite way to remember those less fortunate at Christmastime?  Giving to the bell ringers, Operation Christmas Child etc. In years past, we’ve helped host parties for the less fortunate.  Had angel tree type things with Sunday school classes.  It differs year to year.

 
7. Does it upset you to see "Xmas" instead of Christmas? How about "Happy Holidays" etc., instead of "Merry Christmas?"  I don’t know.  To see what we’ve made of Christmas, sometimes I wonder if Jesus would rather we just left him out of it, to be perfectly honest. It brings out the best… and the worst in people.  Greed, coveting, and the horrible behavior in kids sometimes because they WANT. I know.. not the most popular answer. But you ask for us to tell, so I’m telling how I feel about it sometimes.  But to answer your specific question… if I’m trying to shorten Christmas, I’ll type Cmas instead.  : )

 
8. How many Christmas programs are you attending this month?  One, so far.  And there will possibly be one more.

 
9. Are you dreaming of a white Christmas? Any chance of that dream becoming a reality?  I would love some snow but not on Christmas… too many travelers…and snow cripples the south. It would just be too hard on too many people.

 
10. Tell me about a Christmas present you received as a child. Pics are always nice.  I remember one year I wanted this little electronic thing called Merlin.  I wanted it really really bad. Of course my parents had all but dashed all hope of me getting it but I got one. I loved that silly thing and played with it for years. 

11. How many Christmas parties are you attending this month?  zero.  Don’t know that we’ve gone to many CMAS parties since we had kids anyway.  Strange, isn’t it?

 
12. How do you keep yourself centered on the significance of Christmas?  Really seeking Him out and not letting the stress keep me from worshipping Him.

To check out everybody else’s answers to The Random, hop on over to Linda’s at 2nd Cup!

Random Dozen #15

1. Which physical trait do you now accept--maybe not love, but accept--and no longer feel extremely self-conscious about?   Probably my ears. They kinda stick out. I’ve covered them all my life. Still do. And don’t have any intentions of changing that, but they don’t bother me like they did when I was younger.  I guess it helps that I have control of fixing my own hair now (I’m not wearing it pulled into a harsh pony tail in the back) and nobody is calling me Dumbo anymore. LOL Sometimes I wish I could just slap my hair up in a pony tail though. So I get a little jealous of all you girls with nice flat ears.  : )

2. This week Meredith Baxter Birney, best known as the mom on the favorite 80s sitcom "Family Ties" came out of the closet, which led me to formulate this question: Who do you think is/was the best TV mom?  Well, it certainly wasn’t her…even before this revelation!  Maybe June Cleaver.. so idyllic.  Maybe Claire Huxtable.   Um.. the mom on Father Knows Best.  Gosh I can’t think of many… after I post this I’m sure I’ll think of the perfect answer.

3. Do you speak any foreign languages? Are there any you'd like to learn?  Nope.  I wouldn’t mind learning American Sign Language (ASL).  Daughter is learning it and it’s just so expressive and beautiful.

4. Who is your personal hero?  People who have a real walk with God. 

5. What is one holiday food that you find extremely difficult to resist over- indulging in?  Dressing. 

 
6. Tell me about a Christmas decoration that has special meaning or sentimental value. This is the last ornament our son chose. We knew at the time that it would be his last Christmas and he loved that little ornament so much. 

 
7. How do you feel about snow?  I love it when we’re all home safe, have power and it’s a snow day.

8. On average, how many hours of sleep do you get each night? Not that I'm jealous of any number over three or anything.  7  But I am quite a napper, so I wonder sometimes if I’m getting enough.

 
9. Tell me about your first crush.  Dunno that I ever really had one… and if I did, I guess I don’t remember it.

10. You're stuck in a room for 2 hours with only a chalkboard and chalk. What will you write/draw?  I am no artist. I would probably write my name.  And then write it backwards. I know.. I’m weird. I’m a lefty and I have this thing about writing backwards.  And I’d probably doodle a couple of little things too.

11. Do you dress for the current temp or for the day's forecast?  Forecast for the day.  If it’s 35 outside but it’s supposed to hit 75, I’d be burning up in a turtleneck.  But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t bring along a jacket or a hoodie that I can shed (or add) later in the day.

 
12. Favorite Christmas movie is?  I have no idea. I was thinking about that the other day. I really don’t know.  I can think of some movies, but I can’t say any of them are “favorites”.  A Christmas Story makes me laugh evvvery year and we watch it because hubs likes it. But it gets on my nerves after a while because it seems like there’s a lot of hollerin’ and carryin’ on in that movie. 

To check out everybody else’s Random-ness, hop on over to Lid’s place.

Random Dozen #12

 

1. If you could master one sport, what would it be?  I have no idea.  Maybe something like swimming.  I’m not really into water stuff. 

2. When you make a major purchase, do you go with your gut instinct, or do you do research to make an informed decision?  Research.  Lots of it!

3. There is an old kids' game that says you can find out what your movie star name would be by using your middle name as your first name and the name of the street you grew up on as your last. What is your movie star name? I”m not tellin’.  : )

4. Would you rather give up your favorite music or your favorite food?  Seeing as how I eat three or more times a day and mostly just listen to music in the van, I guess I’ll say music. But then again… God has used music so much to bring me to Himself, so I guess I’ll say music.  Oh wait… that’s both.  Hmmm…!

5. There are two types of banana preferences. One is pristine yellow, almost to the point of being green; the other is spotty and more ripe. Which is your preference?  I like to eat the pretty yellow one, but sometimes it gives me a tummy ache.  So I watch it for the first signs of going south and grab it and eat it before it goes all ugly.  But have no fear… if it goes ugly on me, I’ll just make banana bread!

6. Your favorite tree is?  I don’t really know a lot about trees. But I’ll say magnolia, because they’re pretty.  And they look so beautiful with those huge white blooms.

7. On a scale of 1-10, how tech savvy are you? Ha!  How about a two.  I can surf the web, do email, blog, twit tweet etc. But if I have ANY problems, I have to call in the hubs to bail me out. And he’s got to teach me EVERY new thing that rolls around.  And I’m a slow learner. He really loves hearing me say “tell me again how to….”  Lovely.

8. Has H1N1 touched your family?  Not yet. I’m hoping to be able to take the girl and I to a county clinic (only places available to the public in my county right now) this Friday to get the vaccine though. 

9. Are you an analytical person, or do you just accept things the way they are without questioning or scrutinizing? I dunno… I guess I tend to spend a lot of time thinking about things.. sometimes over analyzing.

10. Is your personality more like that of a dog, cat, or Koala?  I have no idea. Probably a dog.

11. Do you keep in touch with friends you made years ago?  It depends.  As a young adult, perhaps. But high school etc.. forget it.

12. You are checking out at a grocery store. In the express lane, there are more people than the regular lanes, but of course, their load is less than those in the regular lanes. Which lane do you choose (assuming you qualify for the express lane) and why?  I give it the once over, because one full cart that’s full but unloading and getting checked quickly can be done faster than several people with a few things.  It just takes longer to pay and bag and greet and all that junk over and over. I just have to see how it all looks.  I prefer self checkout and those are usually not as crowded.  When I used to shop Kroger, I tried to always do self checkout. Even when I had $125 worth of stuff. I was a pro and could balance my entire ticket on the little platform thingy. But Walmart’s self checkout thing is so small, there is only room for the two bag holder things.  BUT they are much faster at checking me out at Walmart than they were at Kroger.

I could write a whole post on some of the dumb experiences I’ve had at Kroger. One day… I was starting to put my groceries on the belt and the checker was just standing there. I asked her if she was going to start checking my groceries.  She told me no, because she had to wait until all my groceries were on the belt, because she was timed by how long it took her to check my stuff.  I just stared back at her like, you’ve got to be kidding me,   I guess Kroger doesn’t ‘time’ the part where she stands there doing nothing BEFORE she starts checking them, then?!  *stick a fork in me, I’m done*  Yeah…not long after that, I moved my business over to Walmart.  I can get in and out faster and the isles aren’t crowded with displays.

To see other riveting bits of info like all the wonderfulness you’ve read here today, head on over to Linda’s place at 2nc Cup.