Before you click on this picture please read the "share" post below. It will make more sense to you that way. ;-)
BTW, she didn't have big hair in this particular pic but give me time, I'll find a better one. hehe
Oh and mom? If you're reading this... What in the sam hell is that thing on your finger? Was it gum you were saving for later or what? hehe
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Share?
My father-in-law once told me I should write a book with all the stories and characters that were part of my life when I first met my husband. I was an only child who listened to adult conversations a lot. Too much in fact. I had a single mother who dated some characters & a dad with a big family and who managed a 7-11. So people were part of my daily life. I always felt lonely so I started being a "fly on a wall" and analyzing people regularly at an early age. That's when I wasn't singing songs about saving the world in my grandmas backyard. I had grand plans. ;-)
So, here's one of my stories:
My mom was shopping by herself in a Home Improvement store when she was probably in her early-to-mid 30's. She had big hair, always wore makeup, and wasn't afraid to be ultra stylish (which makes for great pictures to make fun of her today). She was a fox really, I'm glad I have her genes!
So, here she is mindlessly pushing the cart around browsing the store. After awhile she hears something almost inaudible but she ignores it. "air?". A few more minutes go by and she hears it again:"Share?"
She keeps pushing away and hears it again, a little louder this time, "Share?"
Bewildered, she looks behind her and about 25 feet back there is a small mexican man (read the quoted words above with an accent) behind her slowly wheeling his cart and looking right at her. Perplexed she continues walking, a little faster now*. The man behind her picks up his pace to match hers saying louder, "Share? Now she's really freaked out because she has NO idea what this man is saying but she knows he's saying it to her. They go around the store for a minute or so like this, her speeding up and staring straight ahead and him picking up the pace and yelling, ""SHARE?!". It must have been a sight!
She finally has enough** and she stops dead in her tracks, turns around and says to the guy, "What?! What do you want from me?!" To this he replies meekly and a bit starstruck: "I take picture? You Cher?.
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! SHe was floating on a cloud singing "If I could turn back time" for weeks. And it was only 5 years ago that she started wearing colors again, she only wore black for years after that. And fringe.
You can thank Melissa for inspiring me to tell this story. She had a similiar float-on-a-cloud moment due to looking like a celebrity. ;-)
* A trait my mom has that I haven't talked about yet is that she was/is addicted to true crime stories/novels so everyone is a suspect and out to get her.
** Despite this trait she's a face-em-head-on kind of woman where I'm more the hide-in-the-closet-and-pray type of woman myself.
So, here's one of my stories:
My mom was shopping by herself in a Home Improvement store when she was probably in her early-to-mid 30's. She had big hair, always wore makeup, and wasn't afraid to be ultra stylish (which makes for great pictures to make fun of her today). She was a fox really, I'm glad I have her genes!
So, here she is mindlessly pushing the cart around browsing the store. After awhile she hears something almost inaudible but she ignores it. "air?". A few more minutes go by and she hears it again:"Share?"
She keeps pushing away and hears it again, a little louder this time, "Share?"
Bewildered, she looks behind her and about 25 feet back there is a small mexican man (read the quoted words above with an accent) behind her slowly wheeling his cart and looking right at her. Perplexed she continues walking, a little faster now*. The man behind her picks up his pace to match hers saying louder, "Share? Now she's really freaked out because she has NO idea what this man is saying but she knows he's saying it to her. They go around the store for a minute or so like this, her speeding up and staring straight ahead and him picking up the pace and yelling, ""SHARE?!". It must have been a sight!
She finally has enough** and she stops dead in her tracks, turns around and says to the guy, "What?! What do you want from me?!" To this he replies meekly and a bit starstruck: "I take picture? You Cher?.
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! SHe was floating on a cloud singing "If I could turn back time" for weeks. And it was only 5 years ago that she started wearing colors again, she only wore black for years after that. And fringe.
You can thank Melissa for inspiring me to tell this story. She had a similiar float-on-a-cloud moment due to looking like a celebrity. ;-)
* A trait my mom has that I haven't talked about yet is that she was/is addicted to true crime stories/novels so everyone is a suspect and out to get her.
** Despite this trait she's a face-em-head-on kind of woman where I'm more the hide-in-the-closet-and-pray type of woman myself.
Snoopy's in the genes!
When I was in elementary school I wanted the part of Snoopy in the school play SOOO bad I could taste it! Almost as bad as when I wanted the part of Wendy in Peter Pan. But, my low voice didn't cost me the part of Snoopy because he didn't speak, just held up signs. I LOVED being the comic relief! I remember my mom putting my hair into pig tails dog ears. I even remember calling my grandmother and excitingly telling her I got the part! To have that excitement again over something so small!
A couple of weeks ago I read a 4-H e-mail that there was going to be a show in town for our county. In our 4-H group they were casting a Peanuts play. I asked my oldest if he wanted to be in it (the rest are Cloverbuds or younger) & he said he did. I asked which part he'd want and he immediately said "Snoopy!". Later on I told him I was Snoopy too, pretty cool. Well, he got the part because we're probably the only family up as late as the time that the e-mail came.
So, I had less than 2 weeks to get creative and make a Snoopy costume. I have a lot of creativity in my head folks but executing is a very different story for me. But, I'm proud of the end result:
A couple of weeks ago I read a 4-H e-mail that there was going to be a show in town for our county. In our 4-H group they were casting a Peanuts play. I asked my oldest if he wanted to be in it (the rest are Cloverbuds or younger) & he said he did. I asked which part he'd want and he immediately said "Snoopy!". Later on I told him I was Snoopy too, pretty cool. Well, he got the part because we're probably the only family up as late as the time that the e-mail came.
So, I had less than 2 weeks to get creative and make a Snoopy costume. I have a lot of creativity in my head folks but executing is a very different story for me. But, I'm proud of the end result:
It was cute and all but it was L---O----N-----G. And apparently the teenagers in officer positions thought a good way to entertain us all was to drink soda and belch into the microphone for laughs. I'm.dead.serious. Yeah.
I think this picture illustrates best how dad, the kids, & I felt by the time it was over:
So, being the corny folk we are (it really rubs off on the youngin's which is quite fun to watch!), I had to take this shot right before we left. He had gotten his tail stuck in the door and we all thought this was hilarious. Maybe we were just so happy to be outside again! ;-)
*No fictional dogs or real children were harmed in these photos*
**Please ignore how filthy my van is**
Have a great weekend!!!
Friday, January 11, 2008
A lake I'd never swim in...
I love burning candles. I especially love the tart burners. I take great pride in my home smelling like pine or cranberries or lavender. White cotton, Cucumber-Melon, Vanilla sugar, Mmmmmmmm. Sometimes I think about if it's really healthy but especially when we have guests coming by, or it's a lazy weekend in, I just love having a wonderful smelling home.
But there's one scent I wouldn't buy. Sewage. And yet, that's what my home has smelled like lately. Lovely eh? No matter how many White Lily & Rose tarts or Citrus blend candles I burn it's always a la sewage. Doesn't cover it up at all. Just makes the first whiff a bit tolerable which is great for say the UPS guy but friends, relatives, and US - no. Doesn't help.
We've also been plagued with odd stomach viruses. So once we identified a possible sewage problem my brave dad went to the great down under and found something we were afraid of. A lake of sewage. *sigh*
So, we begged our plumber to come out ASAP and he did, today. He was 3 hours late and acted like he was 3 hours early but he's still a welcoming sight at this point. He's a very matter-of-fact, laid back, thoughtful (in action, not in words due to the matter-of-fact trait) guy. He walks into the house and asks, "Sewage problem?" I tell him we think so and he says, "Is that what I'm smelling?". I could think of a dozen wise ass answers at this point but the man is our only hope so I said we thought so. So, he goes down into the abyss with my father who's already down there. You really have to picture this next scenario so I'm giving it it's own paragraph.
My dad is germaphobic & a neat freak. It comes in handy at times but being under the house is not appealing to him, even without sewage. He's armed with lights, plastic, and a Lysol bottle in lieu of bug spray. He's wearing full body coveralls (thanks *L*, he LOVES those), socks over his jeans, boots, a long sleeve shirt over the coveralls, gloves, and a mask. And he's still freaked out. So he brings the plumber to the area where the lovely lake is. The plumber, bare handed, jeans, short sleeved shirt, casual as can be says it looks like sewage. As they ponder that the guy takes his BARE hand, puts it in the water waving it underneath. THen he scoops up some of the water, watches it run off and says, "yeah, there's definately some sewage in there".
YUCK! I think my dad wanted to hurl right then. But to him it's no big deal. That's kind of cool that the human species can adapt that well to their profession.
The good news is the leak is from our SINK in the kitchen, NOT sewage. A few months ago we had a sewage pipe repaired and the leftovers didn't dry up properly so when the new leak started a lake it stirred everything up. Lovely. I'm sure you all wanted to know this right? hehe
So, it was a-quittin' time for Mr. Laid Back but he's coming back bright and early. After some lime and replacing the cast iron old piping we should be good as new.
At least we found out why our heating bill was so high these past few months. Apparently the hot air was going through an unfinished vent and into the crawlspace. No wonder the cat liked being under the house so much!
I'm thinking about marketing a sewage scent tart candle, maybe plumbers would buy 'em. ;-)
But there's one scent I wouldn't buy. Sewage. And yet, that's what my home has smelled like lately. Lovely eh? No matter how many White Lily & Rose tarts or Citrus blend candles I burn it's always a la sewage. Doesn't cover it up at all. Just makes the first whiff a bit tolerable which is great for say the UPS guy but friends, relatives, and US - no. Doesn't help.
We've also been plagued with odd stomach viruses. So once we identified a possible sewage problem my brave dad went to the great down under and found something we were afraid of. A lake of sewage. *sigh*
So, we begged our plumber to come out ASAP and he did, today. He was 3 hours late and acted like he was 3 hours early but he's still a welcoming sight at this point. He's a very matter-of-fact, laid back, thoughtful (in action, not in words due to the matter-of-fact trait) guy. He walks into the house and asks, "Sewage problem?" I tell him we think so and he says, "Is that what I'm smelling?". I could think of a dozen wise ass answers at this point but the man is our only hope so I said we thought so. So, he goes down into the abyss with my father who's already down there. You really have to picture this next scenario so I'm giving it it's own paragraph.
My dad is germaphobic & a neat freak. It comes in handy at times but being under the house is not appealing to him, even without sewage. He's armed with lights, plastic, and a Lysol bottle in lieu of bug spray. He's wearing full body coveralls (thanks *L*, he LOVES those), socks over his jeans, boots, a long sleeve shirt over the coveralls, gloves, and a mask. And he's still freaked out. So he brings the plumber to the area where the lovely lake is. The plumber, bare handed, jeans, short sleeved shirt, casual as can be says it looks like sewage. As they ponder that the guy takes his BARE hand, puts it in the water waving it underneath. THen he scoops up some of the water, watches it run off and says, "yeah, there's definately some sewage in there".
YUCK! I think my dad wanted to hurl right then. But to him it's no big deal. That's kind of cool that the human species can adapt that well to their profession.
The good news is the leak is from our SINK in the kitchen, NOT sewage. A few months ago we had a sewage pipe repaired and the leftovers didn't dry up properly so when the new leak started a lake it stirred everything up. Lovely. I'm sure you all wanted to know this right? hehe
So, it was a-quittin' time for Mr. Laid Back but he's coming back bright and early. After some lime and replacing the cast iron old piping we should be good as new.
At least we found out why our heating bill was so high these past few months. Apparently the hot air was going through an unfinished vent and into the crawlspace. No wonder the cat liked being under the house so much!
I'm thinking about marketing a sewage scent tart candle, maybe plumbers would buy 'em. ;-)
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Painting with children
OK so I took Dys' advice and decided to take on more household projects with my kids. Our 2yo is just not ready to paint (although he thinks he is) so while the others were helping I gave baby *T* a clean paint brush with a bowl of water and a clean wall to "paint". All good, right? Would I be blogging about it if it was? LOL!
So, I'm deep in paint-land thinking to myself, "Wow, this isn't so bad after all. Everyone is doing a great job!". Then I turn around. Somehow little Mr. Sneaks-a-lot got his little brush into the rolling pan. And so he painted a wall we didn't have any intentions on painting.
But, it wasn't that bad.
And he was SO happy.
And it was my risk.
So, we just laughed and took lots of pictures. Looking at that wall makes me smile.
Enjoy!
So, I'm deep in paint-land thinking to myself, "Wow, this isn't so bad after all. Everyone is doing a great job!". Then I turn around. Somehow little Mr. Sneaks-a-lot got his little brush into the rolling pan. And so he painted a wall we didn't have any intentions on painting.
But, it wasn't that bad.
And he was SO happy.
And it was my risk.
So, we just laughed and took lots of pictures. Looking at that wall makes me smile.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Vote by Issue
Try voting by the issues, not by the candidates personalities. It was an educational experience that solidified my vote! :-)
Monday, January 7, 2008
Yoga with children
OK so I'm really, really trying hard to get into my best shape. Partly because I really want to be around for a long time and well, to be honest, partly because 2 of my in-great-shape friends want to take me to Europe next Fall. It's an awesome opportunity I'm thrilled about but not as thrilled lying on the beach in between those too. LOL Of course, I don't NEED to look my best for anyone since my husband has never stopped thinking I was beautiful but I really want to for myself and for my health.
SO... one of the new routines I'm adding to my day is morning Yoga. My original plan was to get up before the darling little ones and have my morning coffee & breakfast bar, do a Bible study peacefully at the table watching the sunrise and then do my Yoga routine before cheerfully greeting my children as they wake with a hot breakfast awaiting. Yeah, I watched WAY too much Nick-at-Nite growing up. Damn Donna Reed and the delusions she's caused me. *sniff*
So into my world of color, my reality. I wake up with the kids and drink my coffee as they enjoy their instant oatmeal and I read through e-mail instead of being productive. Then I remember the Yoga tape and pop it in. My older daughter wants to try it too so I give her the spare mat and away we go. For the first 20mins the kids played in and out of the room and left us alone pretty much. Then my daughter got tired and gave up. I was the sole yoga survivor.
So, I'm attempting the Downward Facing Dog pose and all of a sudden I peer down my shirt from the collar (you are supossed to hang your head) and I see my 2yo peering in from the waist side and he says cheerfully, "Mum?!??". Mum is our word for nursing. *sigh* Yeah, weaning is going well.
So... onto the mediatation series. HA! I've learned 2 things. #1 I am EXTREMELY good at ignoring the rest of the world and focusing inward. & #2 My oldest son (10) finally has developed EMPATHY! WooHoo I didn't think it would ever happen folks! I didn't think they EVER developed that trait! But, as my 4yo DD was screaming in my ear that the 6yo hurt her (this is commonplace and I promise you it's almost always not as bad as she says and no, I do not normally ignore it), my 10yo came to my rescue. He reassured her and told her to "leave mommy alone, she's exercising". At this point I'm lying flat with my eyes closed deep in focus and I hear my 4yo, "Is she dead?" Then comes the Peoples' Elbow (not normally involved in Yoga). My 2yo was the elbow culprit but doggonit, I kept focus!
So, that's Yoga for ya, mommy style. I think when I'm 100 and I'm doing Yoga peacefully I will miss the chaos of today. Or maybe it will be my husband peering down my shirt unexpectantly when I do Yoga in those days. LOL
SO... one of the new routines I'm adding to my day is morning Yoga. My original plan was to get up before the darling little ones and have my morning coffee & breakfast bar, do a Bible study peacefully at the table watching the sunrise and then do my Yoga routine before cheerfully greeting my children as they wake with a hot breakfast awaiting. Yeah, I watched WAY too much Nick-at-Nite growing up. Damn Donna Reed and the delusions she's caused me. *sniff*
So into my world of color, my reality. I wake up with the kids and drink my coffee as they enjoy their instant oatmeal and I read through e-mail instead of being productive. Then I remember the Yoga tape and pop it in. My older daughter wants to try it too so I give her the spare mat and away we go. For the first 20mins the kids played in and out of the room and left us alone pretty much. Then my daughter got tired and gave up. I was the sole yoga survivor.
So, I'm attempting the Downward Facing Dog pose and all of a sudden I peer down my shirt from the collar (you are supossed to hang your head) and I see my 2yo peering in from the waist side and he says cheerfully, "Mum?!??". Mum is our word for nursing. *sigh* Yeah, weaning is going well.
So... onto the mediatation series. HA! I've learned 2 things. #1 I am EXTREMELY good at ignoring the rest of the world and focusing inward. & #2 My oldest son (10) finally has developed EMPATHY! WooHoo I didn't think it would ever happen folks! I didn't think they EVER developed that trait! But, as my 4yo DD was screaming in my ear that the 6yo hurt her (this is commonplace and I promise you it's almost always not as bad as she says and no, I do not normally ignore it), my 10yo came to my rescue. He reassured her and told her to "leave mommy alone, she's exercising". At this point I'm lying flat with my eyes closed deep in focus and I hear my 4yo, "Is she dead?" Then comes the Peoples' Elbow (not normally involved in Yoga). My 2yo was the elbow culprit but doggonit, I kept focus!
So, that's Yoga for ya, mommy style. I think when I'm 100 and I'm doing Yoga peacefully I will miss the chaos of today. Or maybe it will be my husband peering down my shirt unexpectantly when I do Yoga in those days. LOL
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
