Random Thoughts

Today is the last day of blogging month!  I saw the abbreviation for what the event is actually called but I forget what it was NaBloPoMo or something.  Anyway, I can't really think of anything interesting to say today so here are the random thoughts that are flitting through my mind.

-Josh put swatches of our paint colors on the wall to test and they look really good.  Pictures will be forthcoming.

-I remember the first load of laundry I ever did.  Mom had let me stay home from Vacation Bible School so I decided to do a load of clothes to thank her.  As much as a I love Jesus, I Hated Bible School.  I got paranoid that the water would overflow so I sat in the floor with a book and a phone the entire time the clothes washed.  I don't know who I was going to call.  Not 911, that was extreme, not Mom, I wanted to try to fix it first.  Thankfully, the laundry was safe.

-We had really good chicken noodle soup tonight.

-Why are there suddenly So many zombie shows on tv?  Are zombies the new vampire?  For instance, Josh DVR'd The Walking Dead and we watched it some recent night and now he is watching a different show where a guy is swinging around an amusement park swing killing zombies as he goes.  I bet the makeup takes eons to do.

-I want to make fudge but the weather isn't cooperating.  Maybe soon it will clear up.

Now I think it is bedtime.  I promise to continue to post often since I am now in the swing of things!

Christmas Songs

Let's talk Christmas songs.  The radio station that we listen to at work has gone to totally Christmas songs so I am feeling the holiday cheer.  I would rather some carols were interspersed between regular non-Christmas songs, but whatever.  So I'm listening and I hear the first part of this song that starts Dear Mister Jesus but then my head was in the hood so I couldn't hear the rest.  Well, a few days later, after a particularly peppy song like Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree (I think) the song plays again and I had to look up the lyrics.  Here they are:

Dear Mr. Jesus, I just had to write to you
Something really scared me, when I saw it on the news
A story 'bout a little girl beaten black and blue
Jesus, thought I'd take this right to you

Dear Mr. Jesus, I don't understand
Why they took her mom and dad away
I know that they don't mean to hit with wild and angry hands
Tell them just how big they are I pray

Please don't let them hurt your children
We need love and shelter from the storm
Please don't let them hurt your children
Won't you keep us safe and warm

Dear Mr. Jesus, they say that she may die
Oh I hope the doctors stop the pain
I know that you could save her and take her up to the sky
So she would never have to hurt again

Please don't let them hurt your children..

Dear Mr. Jesus, please tell me what to do
And please don't tell my daddy
But my mommy hits me, too.

Please don't let them hurt your children...

Geez oh Pete!  Here I was all peppy and jolly and then I started tearing up.  Now my lower lip starts to tremble every time it comes on.  And what really makes this a Christmas song?  Nothing so far as I can tell!  So, to recap, it makes my heart very sad and has nothing to do with the holidays.  Sigh  :'(

I Cannot Believe...

that I forgot to tell you all about my honeymoon!  It was a month ago and I have yet to tell you about, falling down on my job lol.  Soooo...yeah...turns out that we aren't cruise people.  I mean, we had an okay time.  There were moments that were cool and I'll tell you about them, but first...the other stories.  So we decided that cruising is great if A) you are a people person/in a group, B) like to drink a lot and can afford the Exorbitant prices on board, C) you have kids to watch splash in the pool.  We don't fit in any of those categories. 

Then there was the destination.  After we got back people said "Oh I knew going to the Western Caribbean was a bad idea but I hated to tell you".  Next time, tell me!  I thought, This will be great, we've been married long enough that we won't be all googly eyed and not see anything in the ports.  I want to get out and see as much as possible.  So we went Western Caribbean so we could see as much as possible.  We were going to Cozumel, Isla Roatan, Belize, and a private Carnival Island.  Here we hit a different issue:  weather.  So I checked the weather, I researched the weather, I read about the weather.  Turns out, all that did Not keep a hurricane from cropping up and destroying the itinerary.  We didn't get to go to two ports.  We went to a different port in Mexico.  One that was Shady!  Like, lots of men with fully automatic honkin' big guns.  There was so much poverty that it felt so incredibly ostentatious to be frolicking about, sun bathing, and drinking margaritas.  Western Caribbean < Eastern Caribbean.
 
Everyone raved about the food on board.  There was a truly amazing dessert.  Like chocolate coma inducing deliciousness but otherwise the food was just okay, nothing to be enthused about.

I think my biggest grievance was the whole port thing.  The excursions were expensive (read:  we are frugal and spent 80% of our time figuring up different money scenarios) but I talked to people who said that was no problem that you could find them cheaper in port.  That is true and that's what we did, but they didn't tell me that you HAD to have an excursion.  There were no white sandy beaches to walk on, no umbrellas to sit under, no way to get to the water without some sort of excursion.  The ports are gated so you can't get out, and the beaches, well I never saw the sand there are pictures of.  We did go to a man made beach, but it was made largely of shells. 

We went, we saw, we were ready to come home by day two, by day five we were even missing work.  I think next year we will just do something simple, like Charleston. 

Here are some of the good highlights of the trip:

 Books, sunrise, water (I was dehydrating and grateful for the wonderful H2O I finally got hold of)

 Sorry bout the cleavage, the camera angle kinda does that

 Bronty the Brontosaurus.  My fav towel animal

This last one, by FAR our fav day.  If every day had been like that, you would hear only one complaint and that would be that our digestive tracts are not suited to real Mexican food, call us wimps if you must.  Otherwise, it was great.

That was our trip:  some good, some not so good.  There was also a really bad banana cake, lots of talking, and a piano bar, but nothing else to major.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

This is my new Christmas candy dish.  I had a nice pumpkin one and now it is no longer pumpkin season.  I want to make fudge and put on it.

This was my great grandmother's dish. I set it on the table but haven't found anything to put in it yet.  I think the red and gold look great though!  This way too, I get red and gold in the kitchen/dining room and my other colors in the living room.

This is my beautiful tree!  I love it!  It is so very sparkly and nice.  My goal was to put up our first tree in our first home for our first married Christmas.  Goal=accomplished!  Our engagement and first Christmas ornaments are front and center too.  And, bonus, they match super well!

Bedroom Renovation Part Un

My husband is like God.  Once there was no light in our bedroom, now there is.  He made light.  Okay, well not quite that, but he did put in  a new light and ceiling fan.  Josh decided that we should go ahead and start on the bedroom work because once we have the bed it will be difficult to move.  Dad and Josh worked on the fan for Seven hours!  There was much sawing and wiring involved.  It started with a screwdriver sticking out of my ceiling.

Nice new light switch

New light and fan!  Pretty huh?  We like it!

This is my kitchen table.  It has all the supplies for sheetrock and painting parts of the project.  Guess we have to eat out til all this is done ;)

Black Friday, It Was Late And Black Outside

Did you shop til you dropped?  Golly gee I did!  Mom and I started at 10 pm and I finally hit bed at 6:15 am.  Wal-Mart was INSANE!!!  Seriously.  I was standing in line waiting for a gift and then suddenly there was this Awful screeching and tearing and breaking of glass because it was time for the pallets to be unwrapped.  If I hadn't known what the cause was, it would have been pretty frightening.  I stood there and contemplated how I was buying stuff for people who didn't need them, to store where they don't have room.  It was a cheery thought process.  Then I switched with Mom and clustered around another pallet where I was nearly choked to death in pursuit of this gift.  Then the gift was then thrown and hit me in the face.  It was a hard fought battle but we got everything we wanted.

I got Rubbermaid and a chopper cause my chopper broke earlier this year and my Rubbermaid is like my socks and has completely disappeared.  I don't understand it.  I have the lids, I don't have the dishes.

I also got a candle at Bath and Body Works because I LOVE the Slatkin & Co candles.  They smell so strongly.  My house smells yummy.  It was a two fer deal so I picked Mom one up too.  Everyone in Bath and Body seemed very frazzled.  I mean Wal-Mart and Target were Cah-Rah-Azy, but the B&BW people seemed way more harried.  I wanted everyone to have a chill pill.

Then I got a tree at Kmart.  It was on sale (not surprising, as it was Day After).  I have a grand total of four ornaments so I have written to a dear friend of mine in hopes that she is in town and we can go to Hobby Lobby.  Do you love Hobby Lobby?  More of a Michael's person?  WHY are ornaments so expensive?!  Anyway, I have to choose a color palette before I buy.  I still can't decide what colors to go with.  I like the blue and silver but the red and gold is more festive.  This isn't that big of a deal so I don't know why I can't decide.  Eye roll at my lack of decision making.  It's pre-lit.  I've never had a pre-lit tree so I'm anxious to see how that works out.

Finally, I found this extremely amusing at all hours.  I mean, I get it and all, but still "butt paste" is a funny phrase.  Say it once out loud (but quietly if others are around).  You smiled didn't you?  I figured so.  :)

Final word on the subject:  If you have to wear a mask to be safe around the common populace, Black Friday probably isn't the best day for you to shop.  Also, PLEASE for all that is good and holy, bathe before you come out.  Everyone is in such tight spaces that any BO just seems magnified like 3 fold.  It was a little rough.

Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Blogland!  I hope your day has been full of turkey, family, and fun!  Just about to head out to shop.  I will regale you with tails tomorrow, if I don't sleep all day.

My Award Acceptance

The winner of this year's Cleanest Stove Top goes to...SIERRA!!!  Roaring applause 



Oh My Gosh!  Thank you so much!  I...I was just  not expecting this.  It's just...such a shock.

I mean, wow, I didn't expect this to be such an emotional experience.  Sniff, sniff, WAIL!!!  I'm just so HAPPY!!!

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank so many without whom this award would  not have been possible.  First, I'd like to thank my husband, who stood next to me and stared at the offending and dirty stove top and tried to think how we could get the black and brown and assorted stain colors off.  I'd like to thank my mother, who taught me everything I know about cleaning.  She encouraged me to never let a stain beat me.  I'd like to take a moment to remember some that gave their all in the effort to achieve this:  my fingernails.  Some nails sacrificed their very life to make my stove top as clean as it.  Their efforts will be remembered with great affection.  Finally, and most importantly, I'd like to thank Arm and Hammer for the production of some truly fine baking soda, without which I would not be standing before you accepting this beautiful statue. 

Next year, I'm taking the oven cleaning award too suckas!

If you didn't catch on, I accomplished a great feat today.  I got my eyeless stove top cleaned.  It had been hounding me for weeks, beating me at every attempt.  Today, I bested it.  If you didn't catch my enthusiasm, I'd be happy to try to compose a little song and dance number about it.

Finally, thank you to all my wonderful blog readers, whom read my drivel and even laugh at it!

Happy Thanksgiving one and all, may all your stove tops be clean!  (But not as clean as mine :)

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Confessions

I have an obsession.  It's severe.  I am In LOVE with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  I've been excited about it all week.  It's almost here! 

1.  I know what time the parade starts but I can't sleep on Thanksgiving morning because I am so excited.  I get up at like 7 and wait with baited (bated?  I forget which one, who really cares raise their hand...no one...great, moving on) breath in front of the tv. 
2.  I want to be as close as possible to the screen so I can be as close to the action as the pixels will possibly allow.  I honestly sit in the floor.  I have a great couch, it So does not cut it for the parade. 
3.  At Thanksgiving I RUN to get clothes and makeup and put them on in front of the tv.  If you have seen me run then you understand why this is a big deal and very laughable. 
4.  I can't just watch it on one channel.  I watch Channel 5 and Channel 11. 
5.  I do not leave before Santa comes by, even though lunch has started by the time I get to Mamaw's.
6.  Every year at the end I say "Next in New York, next year at the parade" with all the reverence that a Jew says "Next year in Jerusalem, next year in the Holy Land".  One day I will go...it will happen!

I hope you are as excited as I am about the parade! 

I Cain't Say No

Seriously I really can't.  The blog title is a reference to a song from Oklahoma by the way.  Here's the story:  Today I was at work ten and a half hours...and it was Monday All Dadblasted Day Long!  I swear if it was not one thing, it was another.  A couple of my co-workers are off all week so I am doing their stuff and some of it is stuff I have no clue how to do.  I also had a major fight with a label printer.  It was bad.  I had to call Josh.  Anyway, we had a vendor coming to inspect our biosafety hoods.  I was supposed to leave at 3:30 cause I'm working 8 hours instead of 9 this week and I still got there at normal morning time.  This guy didn't show up til after mid day even though he was supposed to be there at like 8:30.  Huff, okay, I can deal.  Then he wanted to get four hoods done.  That automatically meant I wouldn't get home til after 4:30.  Then at 4:30 he decides he wants to do just one more so I didn't leave til five til 6.  I was ready to cry by that time. 

The thing is he asked me what time I normally left and was staying later okay.  Even though I was mentally saying NO NO NO I want to go home now!  I Could Not force it out of my mouth!  All I could say was "I'll stay as long as you need me to".  What is wrong with me???  It isn't just this guy, this isolated incidence.  I am basically incapable of speaking my mind.  Josh asked me this weekend where I wanted to eat.  He got the options down to a few different things.  I had an opinion.  I knew where I wanted to go but I COULD NOT just say it.  All I can say is "whatever you want".  My brain is screaming my thoughts but they do not translate to vibrations in my vocal cords and thus do not become words. 

Hello, my name is Sierra and I am a complete and total people pleaser.  It makes me mad.  I need a 12 step program.

To make matters worse, I even invited the man to my house because I didn't want him to have to eat alone, even though I was sort of hoping he wouldn't come because I had no chicken thawed.  I'm a sick, sick person.

What about you?  Can you say no?  HOW do you say no?  Or, like me, are you a people pleaser?

Sunday

Nothing much happened today.

-We went to church.  We are looking for a new church nearer to our house cause the church that we loved just went through a schism.  It was sad.   I hate church looking.  Today the church we went to had like 100 people.  One woman took it upon herself to introduce us to as many people as possible.  The service took 45 minutes (say what?!?  That was something I've never experienced)!  So we were home at like 9:30.
-I had to do some laundry cause we were at Mom's all yesterday.  I know, I know, honor the sabbath and keep it holy.  But Josh was going to have no pants to wear tomorrow, so does that mean my ox was in a ditch?  I'm going with it.
-Then it was nap time which I love dearly.
-I've been reading Travels with Charley by Steinbeck.  Not my fav, but it is next month's book club book.  I lack 29 pages so maybe I can push through tonight.  I do not like Steinbeck.  Sorry if that's sacrilege to you.
-Watched Gilmore Girls.  I heart that show a lot.  I hate that it is off.
-I've been contemplating the meaning of life.  Okay not that, but I am trying to find a goal.  I have no goal and that makes me very anxious.  I am goal driven so right now I am floating with no purpose and I HATE that.
-I made hot chocolate that wasn't as good as last weekend.  Shrug.  Oh well.

I'm dreading Monday much.  I hope your week beings great!

Bedroom Help

 So we are starting on a bedroom renovation and I need some help with decorating ideas cause decorating is not my strong suit.  So this is our current bedroom situation.  As you can see pretty much anything would be an improvement at this point.  We had a bed, but we are getting a new frame so the mattress is on the floor.  We had carpet but the previous owners had a dog and the carpet had bugs.  Shiver.  It had to go.

The new bed has been ordered and will be in shortly though I need to call and see exactly when that will be.

 We are getting hardwood (and basically starting the whole thing after the new year).  We have this hardwood (on left) but we don't like it cause it is too light and the slats are too narrow.  We like the other one but we're not sure if they need to match.  The one we don't like is more expensive to put down.  I hate to pay more for something we don't like but I like things to match.  Thoughts?

We want to paint.  I am thinking blue.  A medium blue.  Maybe this one or maybe one of the bottom three of the second row.

 

I want a new bedspread because that one is not my style.  It was free and that was GREAT!  I am of two minds about a breadspread.  I like the blue tones because blue is soothing and sleepy but I like the contemporary feel of the black and white.  More thoughts?  I am all about hearing your opinions and thoughts cause like I said, I am out of my depth here.

Dogs Should Be Seen Not Heard

Have you seen the new Hallmark commercial?  Take a second or 33 and watch.  I'll wait.  Hum, hum, hum, waiting.

Would you like to take a guess about what bothers me about this commercial?  I'll tell you; it's the phrase "Storytime isn't for reading".  Say huh??  I tend to watch tv out of the corner of my eye and at first I thought, kind of annoying dog cause he keeps barking and interrupting but cute stuffed animal overall.  Then I paid more attention.  I honestly am having a hard time putting into words how much this even bothers me and why.  Storytime IS about reading!  Why does reading get such a look-down-the-nose-treatment??  Sitting and reading isn't bad.  That little girl was into before the stupid dog starting yapping.  She was for storytime without the battery powered extras.  The whole thing just blew me away.  And I think story time is most written as two words.  Harrumph!

P.S.  I just realized I write about reading a lot.  Sorry.  I like reading.  It's a part of my life :)

Sparkle Sparkle Little Vampire

I'm about to offend some of you...are you ready?  Okay, let's do this.  Let's talk Twilight.  Twilight is...so so many things, none of which is very complimentary.  I read all four books.  I've seen two of the movies (well, that is a stretch because Josh and I kissed a lot during the second one).  I read all the books because someone told me the third was the best and by the time I had read that many I felt like I was too far in not to finish.  I say all that to say, I know of which I speak.

Let's start with the writing in general.  Excessive use of adjectives.  I love an adjective as much as the next person but how many does it take to say Edward sparkles in the sun?  A bigger beef than that is that the characters Don't Develop!  Basically, this series could have been one book.  In the first, oh, ten or so pages Bella falls in love with Edward (for no reason because he is good looking and...he ignores her).  He doesn't like her.  He does like her.  He isn't good for her.  He leaves.  She cries.  Blah blah blah.  The characters just don't grow.  They don't progress.  They are boring.

Of course one of the biggest things is the blatant disregard for the rich vampire history.  Vampires Don't Sparkle In The Sun!!!  They burn.  Period.  End of story.  Vampires aren't really something I read a ton about but I do love Bram Stoker's Dracula and I've read Ann Rice's Interview With a Vampire.  Those were manly vampires.  Edward, well, he's wimpy. 

Next is of course, Edward himself.  Beyond sparkling, he has something like 90 years worth of knowledge in a 17 year old's body.  That is creepy!  Creepy in that he is into a 16 year old girl.  Ewwww.  It's about more than the sparkly bod ladies!  And if he isn't, he borders on emotionally abusive.  You don't see it?  He was going to kill himself over Bella.  He is controlling to her.  He dictates who she can see and what she can do.  And yet I have read reports that say women are actually Leaving their husbands because they aren't More like Edward.  I'm sure that wasn't their only problem (gosh, I hope not) but Still that it was a factor at all is a sad commentary on society.

Finally, and this one really got me, so vampire bodies don't change.  They don't age.  They remain the same.  Are you getting the picture?  So, how did Edward get Bella pregnant?  The act itself would require a change in the body, not to mention the viability of 73-ish year old sperm.  And the chromosome stuff, HUGE huff, give me a break.  That was the most absurd think I've ever read.  There was no research done into this.  Pissed me off.  No joke.  And then after this STUPID pregnancy the book continues...and NOTHING happens.

At first I was just happy that pre-teens/teenagers were reading cause reading is great, but this lacks anything that approximates good literature.  Plus I hate the messages it is sending to girls about what constitutes a good guy.  I just shake my head.  I hope you find a good book to read this weekend!

Let Me Coach You Through It

As promised here is my rant about the school system.  It is mild, my brain doesn't feel focused.  They may be a second part at some point.

I went to public school.  I got out.  I got a degree.  I went to college.  I got another degree.  So, as this shows, you can make it through public school and be fine, BUT I have some major beef with the local school systems.

The biggest one that is currently driving me Insane is affectionately called:  If Your First Name Is Coach, Don't Teach Math.  This is not a hard and fast rule but in the combined span of years that my little bro and I had, neither of us has had a math teacher/coach that actually taught.  For some reason math is definitely the weakest area for teachers in our region.  I have had several teachers who were not Mister anything, they were Coach, whatever.  I honestly had one that finally said "if Sierra can't do the problem, we won't do it".  No pressure though.  This isn't a good teaching method.  That guy (a football coach) was too busy watching game footage to really care about what was going on in his classroom.  From his "teaching" such as it were, I don't think he really understood the material well enough to teach it.  The phrase goes "those who can't do teach" but that is a bunch of malarky.

There was a group of us that started in engineering straight out of high school.  Boy oh boy.  It was rough.  We had no background.  We were swimming in the deep end having no training in the baby pool.  It isn't fair to the student to get shafted like that.  It carries on beyond the one year that one teacher decided not to give their full effort. 

Now I hear what you're saying "If your first name is Coach where should you teach?"  I don't have issues with school sports, I really don't.  Teamwork, socializing, work ethic, these are all things that can be learned in school sports.  But often it is at the expense of education.  It would even be a marginally different story if our teams are good.  Alas, they aren't.  The band is good.  So, back to where Coaches should be.  I advocate for history/PE (a great place)/driver's ed.  History, while important (though not something I use a lot), doesn't change a lot.  In 2nd grade George Washington was the first president, in 5th grade George Washington was the first president, and, wait for it, in 9th grade George Washington was the first president.  In math though, in 2nd grade you learn how to do 2+5-3, in 5th grade you learn to graph on a coordinate plane, in 9th grade you graph algebraic equations.  If you didn't have the foundation you are in deep trouble by the time you get that far along.  That isn't the student's fault.  They can't help the quality of teacher they get.  But they will pay the price for years yet to come.

I wish there was a wonderful moral to this story, something you could vote on to make teacher's care more about their student's than their athletes.  I have no great words of wisdom besides, be prepared for extra homework help needed if they say Coach X is their teacher for algebra. 

Here is a funny/depressing story to end the night on:  I have been asked to leave two different classrooms in my high school career because the teacher said he didn't plan to teach anything I didn't already know.  True story.  It happened twice.  I was embarrassed, but honestly kudos to them for not wasting an entire semester where I could have been doing something else.  Better to be upfront...if bordering on rude.

From Jenny to Big Lou

Yesterday and today there were workers in my office trying to fix the HVAC.  It is seriously 83 degrees in my office.  That is only pleasant if there is a sea breeze and a drink with a little umbrella.  Anyway, I asked the guy how the work was going and he said it was nothing to write home about.  Here I meant to think to myself, but I spoke (Does that happen to you?  Please say yes.).  I told the guy I had already written my mom about it.  Now I didn't mean to say this because of his resultant expression of confusion.  So I begin to ramble, I explained that nothing really happens in my life and nothing really happens in Mom's life but we like to talk.  More confused expression.  I continued to say that Mom doesn't feel like something is clean until she tells someone so when she cleans a toilet or something she writes me.  Continued confusion, then he said it "couldn't be that bad".  I responded with "Oh it isn't!  It's great!"  Then I walked away because he still looked confused and bemused.

My Mom and I have a relationship that is unique.  I know no one else that has this sort of relationship.  We are really close, like telepathically, crazily close.  Do you know the show that used to be on, Gilmore Girls?  We are like Lorelai and Rory.  We LOVED that show because it was so us (besides the sleeping around, that's not our style).  We have our own "bits".  Two of them are long running.  I'll share them with you.

When I was young we read books called the Mandy series.  It was set in the early 1900s and had two maids who spoke in the stereotypical southern African American dialect.  To make cleaning more fun we pretended to be these maids.  Mom would throw herself into it giving a long monologue and then I would reply "yuh" cause my dialect sounded more like I had a hairlip than anything else.  My accent has improved greatly though and we still carry on these conversations.  Sometimes I will even email Mom entirely in this dialect.  Example:

Big Lou,

Lawsy, I can smell yo cleanin' supplies all da way up inta town!  Thay house sho is gonna shine like a fancy new penny by da time Miz Mandy and Missuh Joe be comin down ta celebrate da holidays.  Whatch you goin cook?  I do shorely hope you goin make sum of yo famous dumplins.  I kin eat a whole pot of dem without movin from my place!  I betta go get my own work dun fo' my Missuh come hollerin' that I ain't worth my keep.

Love,
Jenny

Big Lou and Jenny were the characters but I bet you picked up on that.

Our other long standing bit is The Boy Scouts.  Mom hates to get rid of stuff that might possibly be ever in any way useful to someone else.  One day she came to me and asked if maybe the Boy Scouts wouldn't need some broken item, they did, after all, come around and collect canned goods and it was canned goods time of year.  I assured her that I thought they would indeed take whatever broken item it was and that their special receptacle was the trash can.  At least a couple times a month she calls and asks if the Boy Scouts are doing a drive for broken Swiffers or old remotes or something.  The Boy Scouts are always doing a "drive" with their special receptacle.

My Mom is great and I love her.  If I had been more attuned to the date she would have been super high on my Facebook list of things I'm thankful for but, yeah, I totally forgot to start on the first and I don't like to be late.  It's sort of like having a stream of consciousness outside your body.  I can call and say "you know that blue shirt" and she knows instantly.  I can say "do you remember that one time...at the beach..." and she remembers.  I don't have to start the conversation with the pleasantries I can jump right on in to "You would NOT Believe what just happened!"  I hope if I have a daughter we have relationship like that, but I don't hold my breath because I think relationships like this only come around once every hundred years.

This picture pretty much perfectly sums up our relationship (and everyone else in response to our relationship):

Love you Big Lou!

Edited to add:  I literally this second got a note from Mom saying the Boy Scouts really are coming for canned goods this week.  I rolled.  She hadn't even read the blog yet.

After reading, Mom would like to apologize to anyone who reads about us and feels confused.  That is apparently the default reaction to us, our antics, and our odd relationship.  She sends special apologies to anyone in a foreign country who is reading this, though I think Americans are equally bemused by us. 

This Was My Day

-Took Benedryl and slept like a rock.  It was blissful and wonderful and amazing.
-Went to work.  Men worked on heat in my office ALL day long.  Got very little done because someone was always sitting in my chair.
-Felt like the bear in Goldilocks "Someone has been sitting in my chair!"
-Had one of those moments where you intend to think to yourself but you find your mouth is moving.  It was going to lead to this evening's post, but I am completely worn out.
-Made PW's meatloaf.  The grease splashed onto the bottom of the oven.  It stunk like crazy.
-Tutored the little bro in trig.  Yet another rant is coming on the failure of our current educational system.  Look forward to that gem on Wednesday.
-Came home and discovered house still smells like burned grease.  Crap.
-Tired.  Now bed.  Good night world.  Tomorrow and Wednesday already have posts being made in my mind.  They promise to be more interesting.  May you sleep like you've taken Benedryl and may your house never smell of burnt grease.  Amen.

Snuggly Christmas Commercials

Tonight my head is full of sinus crud, I have had hot chocolate and am warm and cuddly in what can only be described as the least attractive but most comfortable pajamas in the world.  It is beginning to feel like the holidays.  Once or twice a year when I feel like this I look up the early 90s Christmas commercials because they were some of the best ever.  Here are two videos of them.  I hope you are equally warm and snuggly and enjoy watching these!

My Day in Pictures

Today was productive and here are the pictures to prove it. 

I unpacked a lot of the remaining stuff that had been left at my parents house.  Among the things was this little guy.  Dad got him for me Christmas last year or the year before.  He thinks there is a resemblance.

Then I cleaned my toilets and did laundry but there is no picture of that.  I know you are disappointed.  Then I moved this bed frame, mattress, and most of the box springs up the stairs.  I say most because Josh came home when I was one third of the way up the stairs with the beast and helped with the last bit.  It was heavy.  I had to turn a crappy corner.  I am woman, hear me roar.

The new king sized mattress were put in our room!  Woo hoo!!!  We have room to sleep!  There is now hope of sleeping!  We ordered the bed frame today as well.  It should be in here in about two weeks.

Josh got a propane tank for the gas logs so we don't have to shiver in the living room anymore.

Mom made chicken and dumplings for my belated birthday dinner.  We had cake.  It was wonderful.  I have a ton left.  :)

I got my mixer!  I'm so excited!  It looks great.  I also got saddle oxfords.  All in all, a very good day.  (I have no idea why this is sideways.  I rotated it and saved it upright, the thumbnail shows it correctly.  Just turn your head and look.)

 I hope your Saturday was equally good!

What Disney Taught Me

I'm watching Aladin cause my husband loves me and DVRed it for me when it came on abcFamily the other weekend :).  I LOVED Disney movies when I was a kid.  Okay, let's be honest, I Love Disney movies now.  Nothing has changed, except that I get more of the references they include to keep adults from being bored to tears.  A lot of parents are hesitant to let kids watch tv because some research says it will dull their minds (that is vastly paraphrased).  While I can't see that some tv shows do much good for kids (Teletubbies anyone?), I was thinking about what I learned from Disney movies.

-Vocabulary:  words like "urchin" and "mad" (as in crazy) as well as a few random words like that "poisson" means fish in French
-Themes:  liking to read is cool (Beauty and the Beast), marriages used to be arranged, and drugs make you crazy (Alice in Wonderland, okay so maybe that was a later learned lesson)
-Love of Showtunes:  the music in Little Mermaid and Aladin, ahhh, they had some good music.  Alan Menken was great at what he did.  Tim Rice wrote some of the music and he went on to write the music for Aida, the Broadway musical.
-Actors:  there were some quality voice actors at Disney!  Robin Williams as Genie, the guy who played Charles Winchester as Cogsworth, Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Potts, and later Anika Noni Rose as Tiana.
-References:  the stories referenced mythology, pop culture, and other Disney movies.  Now, I Love to see movies with hidden references like that (I don't know why and it is hard to explain)

Relieve your childhood.  Watch a Disney movie!
What was your favorite Disney Princess movie?  I'm gonna make a poll about it, cause I love polls!

They Be Passin Out the Good Drugs

 Our computers just got reimaged at work.  Besides screwing up every setting I have giving me a new OS, it also gave my co-workers and I something to muse and cackle over.  There are some people at Microsoft who are seriously TRIPPING on some hard core drugs.  Tuh-Ruh-Ip-Ing.  In order of what I consider least to most disturbing, I offer to your eyes "Characters":

Okay, so this is a little weird, but sort of like anime.  I mean anime can be trippy in its own right, but this is sort of like a cuter cuddlier Pokemon.  The cat like thing at the bottom is a little freaky cause it's blue, in a pink suit.  It makes me think of cotton candy.

Ooookay, so this is...weirder.  A little Grateful Dead meets Terry Pratchett.  Definitely some drugs going on.

Are these little Caspar babies?  Are they screaming?  Are they laughing?  Why are they holding their legs like that?  Are their eyes made of candy?  I have so many questions, chief among them:  who approved this for general release??

Um...wow.  It's like Tim Burton goes to Candyland.  Trying to think of something nice to say My what attention to detail.  What in the Heck are the things in the yellow hoods????

I...I just don't even know.  I feel disturbed and pastel and like I would need some powerful hallucenogenics to understand what was going on this illustrator's head.

 Sweet Mother of Abraham Lincoln!  Hides behind hands.  Peeks.  AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!  This freaks me the heck out.  It is just...seriously have been sitting here looking at it for a couple of minutes and can't even come up with how to describe this. 

I'm guessing there are no random drug tests at this company?  Just a thought.

Glasses

Let me first begin by saying, I don't normally have this mid sentence, confused look on my face.  I need new glasses and Josh went to look with me.  I tried these on and loved them.  I thought they made me look like a smart owl.  They are different than anything I've had before.  Josh took one look at them and said if only I had a wand I could be at Hogwarts.  Mom kind of got the same Harry Potter vibe.  Was HP your first thought when you saw these glasses?  Too much for my face?  I still like them, but others seem...more hesitant.

On This Day 23 Years Ago...

...I was born!  If you are my Facebook friend, then you might have seen this.  If you wished me a happy birthday, thank you!  It has been a great day!  Josh got me an iPhone (that he gave me early because "we had to check if it was working" lol).  Because he wanted me to have something on my actual birthday he brought me flowers during work.  They are beautiful.  He also got me a card with a duck that said "Shake your tail feathers" somehow that was related to birthdays, but I can't remember how.  My co-workers got me cupcakes and we took almost an hour break and snacked and talked.  Then Josh and I went to Chop House.  I never want to eat again because I am so full.

Once upon a time, there was a time before digital photography and pictures were actually on film.  I was going to post a picture of me as a baby, but that would mean scanning pictures and going to my parents to get said pictures.  So here is me as a little girl.

It also made me think of the year I was born, so here a few interesting factoids:
-A stamp cost 25 cents
-Gas was $1.08/gallon...PLEEEEEAAAASSSEEEE let me go back to that price!!!
-Milk was $2.30/gallon...while we are back getting gas can I pick up some milk too?
-Ronald Reagan was president (but Bush was elected on this day).  Side story:  One year on my bday Mom said she considered naming me Reagan since he was elected that day.  Looong pause.  "No he wasn't.  Big Bush was."  Looonger pause.  "Oh yeah, I was busy and didn't vote.  Good thing I didn't name you Reagan!"
-The greenhouse effect was discovered.
-Josh was born.
-My mother began tying jewelry onto me because she desperately wanted a girl to doll up.  She also made sock with THREE yards of lace Per Sock!!

Perhaps those last two were not of national import but they were in my life :)  Happy my birthday to you!