B'z Place

Phantom of The Opera

2011-12-18T16:57:00.000-08:00

Shortly before we left our church in California, I held a Women's Ministries meeting based on Phantom of The Opera.

One of the tablescapes.

SNOW DAY!

2011-12-05T08:50:00.000-08:00

This morning, just before I woke up, I was dreaming that my yard was beautifully green. I woke up suddenly, looked out the window, and, instead of seeing green, it was SNOWING! I sat up and yelled "IT'S SNOWING!" I've been in the snow lots of times, but I've only seen the snow actually coming down, one other time. Now I live where it snows! Guess this So. Calif. girl needs to buy some REAL winter clothing or I'll freeze my patootie off! Will post snow pix later, as right now, the camera battery is charging.

TTNT, B

2011-11-30T19:16:00.000-08:00

Well,it's been over two years since my last post. MUCH has happened! I have not fully recovered from the stroke, but I have made significant progress.
I no longer live in So. California. We have moved to the rip-roarin' town of Poteau, Oklahoma. We came here to take advantage of Choctaw Health Care for me. We left our church, family and home and moved, with our four cats, half way across the country. We now have a new church, other family members, and a new home. It's been very difficult, but we are adjusting.
It's been so long since I've blogged, I couldn't remember how to access my blog, but finally figured it out. Typing is good therapy, so I will try to post often.
TTFN,
B

Still "Incapacitated

2009-07-12T18:48:00.002-07:00

Today marks 2 months, 1 week, and 5 days since the stroke hit ne. I wanted to be tracking my progress here on my blog but there hasn't been much to write about.
I'n still typing with one finger. Hubs got me a program that is voice-actvated so
Icsan IM easier, only I don't know how to operate it and Ialready have to disturb "H"uubs enough for necessary things that I hate to assk him for things that aren't necssary.

I am still in the wheelchair as I am unable to walk, but my speech has improved and my blood pressure is finally down so
I'n hoping to be able to return to physical therapy this week.
To "Anonymous"that writes to me in a foreign language: Please write your comments in English:
I appreciate you writing to me and would love to be able to read your notes and get to know you.
To anyone who is a follower of my blog: Please know that
I appreciate you taking the time to read my humble little blog, but for some reasone the followers' names don't show up on ny computer, so please let me know if you are one of the fllowers.
To each of youy who have been praying for me; THANK YOU AND PLEASE CONTINE. Ican feel your prayers and "Icontinue to believe that God will completly heal me.
This has been one of the hardest trials I'ne ever had to go thru and I know it's because of the prayers of my friends and family that I'm still here and still trusting God for a miracle. Ilook forward to hearing from each of you. Til next time...

Stroked!

2009-06-01T22:03:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been away so long, I've been incapacitated by a steroke on May 2nd. I spent 3 1/2 weeks in the hospital(my first time ever to hospitalized) and I don't have very good use of my left hand, soI am typing everything with one hand. Iwon't be postin for a while but will be reading, so please leave me comments.
I wll still be treading all your blogs, but pleaase understand why i'm not commenting Hope to be back soon!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T14:35:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter to anyone of my, er, um, former(?) followers, that is, if you still bother to come over to my blog. I just realized it's been almost 3 weeks since I've posted anything. And I was doing to so good at posting something every day. Okay, so I blew it. But, here I am today, on this beautiful sunny day in So. Cal., to say Happy Easter, Happy Resurrection Day to all of you!
Today's service was awesome! The church was pretty full with regulars and visitors alike. But the most important person there was Jesus! His Spirit was so prevalent during the whole service. Everyone "sensed" it. From the first note of the first song during worship, the anointing was there. Such a wonderful presence of the Lord could be felt throughout the whole worship service. Then the choir presented the program we've been working on for the past 2 months. They did an outstanding job. We had a couple of technical difficulties, but they overcame, and were awesome!
Across the street from our church is a small park. Every year, our Children's Ministries workers take the kids over to the park for an Easter Egg Hunt. Today was no different, with the exception of this: The workers had just finished hiding all the egss and they were about to take the kids out, when, all of a sudden, the park's sprinklers came on! Never before, in the history of us using this park on Easter Sunday, has this happened. And I'm talkin' 22 years now!
One would think this might put a damper on the festivities for the kids, but not so! They didn't care - they just wanted those eggs. I was told that one little girl, who was all dressed up in a frilly dress, looked at the teacher and said, "It's just water. I'll dry!" and bee-lined it into the middle of the grass area, sprinklers and all. I think it turned out to be one of the most fun egg hunts they've ever had!
So, it turned out to be a great day, in all points. Thank You, Jesus, for going to the cross for mankind, and me in particular, and that You rose from the dead in triumphant victory. Thank You, Jesus, for pouring out Your Spirit on us and blessing us with Your presence!

Tablescape Thursday

2009-03-25T17:29:00.000-07:00

Go to Susan's blog at Between Naps on the Porch for more beautiful and creative tablescapes.
Last week I posted pictures of my church's women's group's "Spring Fling" from last year. Today I am showing this year's "Springtime".
This first picture is an overview of the entire room.

We used to always set the long banquet-style table side by side, but lately we've been forming them into a U-shape, so that no one has their back to anyone else when we're seated.
I used white tablecloths, and skirted the inside of the U-shape, then put the centerpieces and decorations along the inside edge of the U.

I used green placemats with wicker "chargers" and pink plates. The green napkins and pink tableware sat in the individual "napkin thingy" holders I made.

All the chairs were covered in white, with alternating pink and green ties. Pink and green tulle, topped by silk ivy made the runners. I used glass cylinder candle holders with green candles, and little votive cups from the 99 Cent Store held miniature bouquets of silk roses and hydrangeas. I made three "scenes" in jars for the centerpieces - each contained a birdhouse, birdnest and a music scroll that had the words "His Eye Is On The Sparrow".

This is a tea cart that sits behind the banquet tables.

The food table had my large decorated-with-bird-things birdcage as the centerpiece, and tall silver buckets of fuschia, green, and white gerbera daisies flanked the ends.

Tomorrow I'll have pics of the cute "nest" things I made, as well as the rest of the yummy food the ladies made, on Foodie Friday. Stay tuned!

2009-03-24T11:50:00.000-07:00

Been doing ancestry search lately. Last night I found this picture of my paternal great great grandmother (she's the one on the left).

She lived in the mid-1800's. This, so far, is the only picture I have of any of my ancestors on my father's side.
I love doing ancestry research. I've been spending mass quantities of time on it lately. I love mysteries and doing this research is like solving a mystery. When I find new information, it almost makes me cry. I don't know why it affects me like that, but it does. It makes me wonder what these people were like, why they lived in the places they did, etc. My ancestors from my mother's side of the family originated in Georgia, but ended up in Oklahoma Indian Territory, and intermarried with the Choctaw Indians. Why did they leave Georgia? Why did they settle in Oklahoma? Many questions, but not nearly enough answers to satisfy my curiosity. So, I continue to search and make contact with other relatives, and, little by little, I get more answers to my questions.

It's A Special Day Today

2009-03-22T14:04:00.000-07:00

Not only do Brenda @ It's All Good and I share the same name, but we also share the same anniversary date, just one year apart. And, today is also my friend Laura's birthday. So, that makes today's date pretty special! Happy Annivesary to Brenda & Hubby, and Happy Birthday to Laura!

29 Years and Counting

2009-03-22T07:38:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary, Happy Anniversary, Happy Anniversary, Ha-a-a-py Anniversary! Does anyone remember Fred Flinstone singing that to Wilma? I think the tune is William Tell Overture. Anyhow, today is #29 for Hubby & Me. It's pretty amazing we made it this long. There've been times for both of us when we wondered if we would last. But, thanks to the Lord being the center of our lives, and our marriage, we have made it. So, Happy Anniversary, honey. I love you! :-)
P.S. This is the same pic from last year. We haven't taken any new ones together. I know, I know...sad, but true. lol

Nesting

2009-03-21T00:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, all day, I was busy "nesting", or making nests, that is. I made these cute little "nest" cupcakes for the women's meeting today.

I also made these little nests out of chow mein noodles and they will be filled with egg salad, also for the women's meeting.

I will be serving mini pita pockets filled with alfalfa sprouts and chicken salad. They, too, will look like little nests.
On yesterday's post, I showed you the "before" of this stand, and today, you get to see the "after". I painted the whole thing white, and made the little flower bouquet to go inside the hole where the handle was missing. I lined it with paper doilies, because I'll be serving those little egg salad "nests" on this piece.

I think it definately looks better white than black. But, should I change my mind, all it takes is a can of spray paint ($1 buckeroo at WalMart), and badda-bing, badda-boom, it can be black again (or any other color I get a "hankerin" for).
For all the pics of today's women's meeting, check back on Thursday for Tablescape Thursday. In the very near future, I'll be starting another blog, exclusively for pictures and information from our women's group. But until then, I'll keep posting them here.

Just Some Stuff

2009-03-20T09:13:00.000-07:00

A few months back I had broken one of my apothocary jars. I had taken it to a friend's house to use for a party. We decided not to use it, so I set it down on the carpeted floor next to my purse, to grab it when I left. I accidentally kicked it over and it broke (how this happened on a very thick carpeted floor I have no idea, but it did.) I saved the jar and the lid, thinking I might somehow glue it back together, which I never got around to trying, and it probably would have looked very bad had I done it. Here's what it looked like:

A couple of days ago, I went by one of my favorite stores in town that was in the process of moving to a new location, and I found the same jar that I needed, only with no lid, and it was reduced for clearance at $12.95 with 75% off. Since I knew as soon as I saw it that my lid would fit perfectly, I snapped that baby up in a heartbeat. I paid a whopping $3.25, and no sales tax. Here's the new jar, without the lid:

And here it is, with it's new, perfectly fitting lid:

I also bought this serving stand. I didn't realize until I started to paint it, that it was bent in places, but since it is wire, it was an easy fix. I also noticed that it's missing a handle at the top. I figured that's okay, because I will stick some flowers in the hole. I painted it white, but haven't taken pics of it's new paint job yet, so taht will come later.

And here's a pic of the finished birdhouses I was working on last week. I made a scroll out of music scrapbook paper, and wrote on it "His Eye Is On The Sparrow". I got the cute little nest at Joann's and put them all into one of my apothocary jars, with grass. There are three of them and they are the centerpieces for our ladies' meeting this coming Saturday.

Tax Time - Blech!!!

2009-03-19T18:39:00.001-07:00

So, today I've been working on getting all my receipts together for Hubs, so he can get the tax stuff ready. I am not very consistent at filing, so my receipts were all over the place and in no kind of order. The only consistent thing is that I had about a gazillion receipts from Michael's. But I finally got them all collected, put in order, and labeled as to what category they fall under for tax purposes. The bummer is that I also had about a gazillion receipts that are not tax deductible, so that's a big bummer. (Note to self: buy stock in Michael's. Then if purchases are not tax deductible, at least your paying into your own stock. lol)
On a brighter note, I have some pics to put up, but have to put them on the computer first, and before I can do that, I have to charge the battery in my camera. So hopefully, I'll get that all done tonight and be able to put up pics tomorrow. At the store in my town that moved and had the 75% off sale, I was able to make a couple of really great purchases. That's what I want to show you all.
Okay, I'm tired from all that tax stuff - it taxes my brain. I don't like it when I have to think too hard about things that I don't like to think about. Does anyone else feel that way, too? I'm sure you're out there, whoever you are. :-) Check back tomorrow and hopefully I'll have my pics up.

Tablescape Thursday

2009-03-18T18:01:00.000-07:00

Today I am posting pictures from last year's "Spring Fling", our women's group from church.

I made these "napkin thingys" out of scrapbook paper. I found the pattern online, and cut them all out, made the little bows. I had found a stamp at Michael's in their Dollar Bins that said Spring Fling, so I stamped it onto the green round and glued them to the fronts.

I got these topiaries at Joann's after Easter for 60% off. They had purple eggs, so I painted them pink and added in some pink and green flowers to match the color scheme.

I bought these boxes at the 99 Cent Store, wrapped them in decorative paper and glued them on top of each other with ribbon and a little bird's nest at the top. They flanked the food table.

Here's the buffet table:

I also made this cute little cake with a bird's nest on top:

This coming Saturday, our women's group is having a "Springtime" Brunch, again with a pink & green color scheme. However, the tablescapes and other decor will be quite different, so I'll post it next week for Tablescape Thursday.
For more yummy tablescapes, be sure to stop by Susan's, at Between Naps On The Porch.

Instructions

2009-03-17T17:03:00.001-07:00

On Sears hair dryer: Do not use while sleeping.

On a bag of Fritos: You could be a winner! No purchase necessary. Details inside.

On a bar of Dial soap: Directions: Use like regular soap.

On some Swanson frozen dinners: Serving suggestions: Defrost.

On Marks and Spencer Bread Pudding: Product will be hot after heating.

On packaging for a Rowenta iron: Do not iron clothes on body.

On Nytol Sleep Aid: Warning: May cause drowsiness.

On most brands of Christmas lights: For indoor or outdoor use only.

On Sainsbury's peanuts: Warning: Contains nuts.

On a child's Superman costume: Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly.

On shin pads for cyclists: Shin guards cannot protect any part of the body they do not cover.

On a take away coffee cup: Caution: Hot beverages are hot.

On the bottom of a cola bottle: Do not open here.

Rules on a tram: Beware! To touch these wires is instant death. Anyone found doing so will be persecuted.

On a can of air freshener: For use by trained personnel only.

On a bottle of baby lotion: Keep away from children.

On a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle: Some assembly required.

On a can of pepper spray used for self defense: May irritate eyes.

Directions for mosquito repellant: Replacing battery: replace old battery with a new one.

On a birthday card for a one year old: Not suitable for children aged under 36 months or less.

On a toilet cleaning brush: Do not use orally.

On a TV remote: Not Dishwasher safe.

On a washing machine in a launderette: No small children.

In a dishwasher manual: Do not allow children to play in dishwasher.

2009-03-14T19:09:00.000-07:00

If you can start the day without caffeine,
If you can get going without pep pills,
If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,
If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,
If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it,
If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time,
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,
If you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend,
If you can conquer tension without medical help,
If you can relax without liquor,
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,

Then you're probably the family dog.

And you thought I was going to get all spiritual with this, huh?!
Have a great day!

A Little Birdie Told Me

2009-03-13T17:33:00.000-07:00

Today I've been preparing for a meeting tomorrow at church for our Children's Ministries. But I squeezed in a little bit of time to do this birdhouse, which will be used in the centerpieces for next week's ladies' meeting. The birdhouses (there will be 3 altogether) will be paired with a small nest of eggs, plus a music scroll from His Eye Is On The Sparrow, and the whole thing will be under glass in jars. At least that's what I'm planning. The "thinking" behind the decor of this little house was to try to match it as closely as possible to the napkin thingys I made earlier this week.

More Brenda's Wise Buys

2009-03-12T16:10:00.001-07:00

I didn't get to participate in Tablescape Thursday this week, so I'm posting pics of my sale finds from yesterday. I went to a store here in town that I frequent alot. They are in the process of moving to a new location, so everything left in the store is 60% - 75% off. I got these, tax included, for $27 buckeroos!

The birdnest will be a perfect accent to the decorations for next week's Women's Ministries meeting, and the 3-tiered stand just "tickled my fancy" so I bought it.
By next Thursday, the tablescapes should be completed for our WM and I'll post the pics for Tablescape Thursday.

Another "Napkin Thingy"

2009-03-11T14:53:00.001-07:00

So, yesterday I posted pictures of stuff that I had bought at Michael's to use next week at our ladies' meeting. Today, I made the "napkin thingys". They turned out so cute. I amazed myself at how good they look. Hubs asked if the idea was my own or if I got it somewhere else. It's all my idea and my design. The little perch on the front of the birdhouse is a piece of toothpick that I cut and glued in place. The "roof" is made of ribbon that I hand-cut each piece to fit and then glued in place. They are velcro'd onto the boxes that I got in packages of 12 at the Dollar Tree store. Ya gotta love that place. I get the best random things there. But, I digress - here's the finished product, sans the napkins and tableware.

Without God

2009-03-11T10:52:00.000-07:00

Received this email today...thought it was a good one.

Without GOD, our week would be:

Sinday, Mournday, Tearsday, Wasteday,
Thirstday, Fightday & Shatterday.

If you are not ashamed of GOD, pass it on.

Wise Buys

2009-03-10T20:32:00.001-07:00

Today I went shopping at Michael's. They're having a sale on "all things Brenda wants to buy" (lol). I got lots of goodies to use in decorating for our upcoming Women's Ministries meeting next week. The theme is Springtime and our colors are pink & green, and because of spring, we're doing a birdhouse/birdnest thing.
To make our napkin thingys (as Esther & I so fondly call them), I got this stuff.
I will use the little wooden house for a pattern to cut birdhouses out of the pink foam, then decorate the "roof" with the striped ribbon, and glue the little flowers around the bottom. I got the white party favor boxes at the Dollar Tree (12 @ $1 Buck), and will glue the little birdhouses to the fronts. Napkins and tableware will go inside.
Centerpieces for the tables will be my big glass jars with these little birdhouses (painted cute, of course), and birdnest, and (hopefully) a music scroll with the words "His Eye Is On The Sparrow" printed on it. I have more of the paper lanterns and will hang them from the ceiling.
I love these giant Gerbera daisies and I plan to use them in floral arrangements for the food table.
I also bought a package of two silver candy scoops that I used a 40% coupon on, but, sorry, I didn't take a picture of them. You'll just have to use your imagination. :)
The total of everything I bought today (Oh, yeah, I also bought some candy, but you know that didn't make it into a picture - in fact, it didn't even make it home! hee hee) was $35. Not bad for all I got. And that, my friends, is Brenda's Wise Buys for the week!

But God!

2009-03-07T14:47:00.000-08:00

The Scripture tells us that satan brings things on us because he means for them to harm us in every way possible. But God, in His loving kindness and tender mercy, uses those very things for our good.
For the last four years, my brother has been battling cancer. During this time, there have been a number of complications that have happened that should have killed him. I say, should have, because that's how satan intended it to be. But God has performed a miracle each time, and brought him thru each crisis.
The most recent thing that happened is that there was a tumor on my brother's spine that, if not shrunk, would result in total paralysis, which would result in death. He was scheduled for surgery yesterday. The surgeon was hopeful that, at best, he could remove part of the tumor, enough to relieve the pressure. But he also warned that death could occur as a result of the surgery, too.
So many people were praying for a miracle yesterday. When the surgeon finally got to the tumor, he found that, from previous chemo and radiation, the tumor had hard jagged edges on it, and that made it possible for him to be able to get hold of the tumor and remove the entire thing! Satan meant this to kill my brother, but God! God performed another miracle. And today, less than twenty-four hours after the surgery, he not only left ICU, but he was up and left ICU in a wheelchair instead of a gurney. AND, awake and alert!
I am so thankful to God that, once again, He has performed a miracle and spared my brother's life. I am thankful that He's given strength to my brother as well as my sister-in-law. I am thankful that our oldest brother was able to be at the hospital with them, as none of the rest of our family lives in the same state.
God is so good! When you go through trials, remember, satan means it for your harm, but God will turn it around for your good. Always trust in Him! He'll never leave us nor forsake us!

Homegoing

2009-03-06T19:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the Homegoing service for our "Murr", who passed away last Sunday afternoon. The presence of the Lord was in our midst, as everyone rejoiced at knowing Murr had made her landing safely in heaven.
Her daughters, a couple of grandchildren, and several friends remembered special times with Murr. It was noted that she had written five songs and two books. During the service, one of the songs she had written was played from a tape she made of herself singing it. At the end of the song, she spoke about how the Lord had given her those songs, and that "in two days, I'll be 90 years old". It was so cute to hear her voice. She had made that tape two years ago, since in about 6 weeks, she would have been 92. In addition to the songs and books she wrote, she had helped start several different ministries over the years. So her legacy lives on, not only in her children and grandchildren, but in the lives that were and continue to be won for the Lord because of the example she was and seed she sowed.
It wasn't a sad service, although we grieve for ourselves, at our own loss - at the thought of her no longer being with us here on earth. But instead of a lot of tears, there was laughter and joy at all the remembrances of her life. We weren't there to mourn her, but to celebrate her life and her lifetime of dedicated service to God. We will all miss her greatly, but we look forward to seeing her again, when we get to other side. Her desire was summed up in the words of a song that was played yesterday, "Just be there".

Tablescape Thursday

2009-03-05T00:06:00.000-08:00

For this week's tablescape, I decided to show the setting from my blog header. This was a tea party last year on the first day of spring. It was an online party, hosted by Risa, The ParTea Planner.

This china is called Royal Albert American Beauty Rose. It was a Christmas gift to me from my hubby a couple of years ago. I don't know the pattern name for the vintage silverware - I picked it up really cheap at a yard sale.
At each place setting is a little box/bag containing a teacup shaped cookie that I made, plus a tea strainer, and a couple of little packages of loose-leaf tea. These were the party favors for my guests to take home. The little teapots sticking out of each box/bag are the name cards.

For my centerpiece, I used a wreath of dark and light pink and white silk roses. In the center, I put a hurricane candle holder. I had little ceramic egg cups in pink and green that I put tea light candles in at each place setting. The tablecloth is a pale pink floor length cloth with a lime green organza overlay.
On the sideboard next to the table, is all the food.

I served cucumber, egg salad, and chicken salad sandwiches, and mini quiches. Apricot scones line an antique silver Bride's Basket. Paula Deen's brownies with raspberry mousse were yummy along side homemade mini coconut pies. And the mini cupcakes looked so pretty under glass.
A tall vase of pink tulips and a green ceramic water can filled with sweet peas completed the tea table.
Here's a quick glance at my friends and I at the table.

We all ate til we almost couldn't move, and by the time we drank so much tea, we were totally relaxed and ready for a nap. It was a really fun day with the girls.
For more beautiful tablescapes, go to Susan's blog and then click on everyone else who is participating in Tablescape Thursday.

2009-03-03T21:16:00.001-08:00

Here's some recent photos of my kitties. Remember the beds I bought for them? Here's Lucy in her fave.

Here's another shot of her laying on a blanket.

When Lucy first came to be "our" cat, she was not friendly at all, and did not like human contact. In fact, she had pretty much been just thrown to the wind by her previous owners. It wasn't until she got an absess (spelling doesn't seem right to me)and we kept her inside to care for her, that she began to warm up to us. Now she loves being indoors and being pampered. One of her fave things is to lay on "Poo-Paw's" (hubby)lap and sleep. We're not sure how old she is, but she is pretty young. I don't think she's very much older than her babies, and they are all a lot bigger than she is. But they all think they are tiny and they love their mama and constantly want to be next to her. That's why she likes Poo-Paw's lap so much...it's one place she can get a respite from them.
Here she is with Cali.

And with George:

Here's George with his back turned to me. I suppose he is mad at me for making him leave his mother alone, so he's just not gonna look at me. "So, there", he says!

This is my little buddy, Prowler. He likes to sit on my lap and watch TV with me.

So, there they are, my babies. Sometimes I could just wring their little necks, but mostly, I just love them to pieces and spoil them rotten! Isn't that what they're here for? :-)

In Memory

2009-03-02T17:16:00.000-08:00

Yesterday our church family lost another of our members. "Murr", as she was fondly known, went to be with our Lord yesterday afternoon. She was just a few weeks shy of her 92nd birthday. She was the oldest member of our church.
Her passing was not unexpected, but still, when the time comes, it's a blow to all who knew and loved her. We will have her Homegoing service on Thursday. She will be missed.

(Murr - center)

"DUH!!!"

2009-02-28T18:40:00.001-08:00

I'm so mad at myself. Today was Hubby's annual Pastor's Prayer Breakfast, for which I do all the cooking and decorating. I did have help from another lady, who made the gravy 'cause I don't do gravy! lol Anyhow, I had decorated in a black and white motif and tried to make it as "manly" as possible. I thought I did a pretty good job. I put my brand new camera in my purse so that I could take pics of everything, and guess what I forgot to do? That's right, big DUH!!! I completely forgot all about taking pictures until everything was cleaned up and we were about ready to leave for home. I could just kick myself. I was going to not only take pics of the decor for next week's Tablescape Thursday, but I was also going to take pics of the food for next week's Foodie Friday! How could I have done such a dumb thing! Well, I was just in "Do" mode to get everything cooked and on the table, and then once I got the food served, I sat down in exhaustion and never gave pictures a single thought. O well, what can I say. Next time, huh?
O, and trying to chase down Miss Cali Cat to give her the meds today was almost as much of an ordeal as yesterday, trying to catch her to go to the vet's office. One down, one more to go...for today. Then it's the same routine twice a day for at least the next 6 days. O JOY in the morning! :=)

It's A Tazmanian She-Devil!

2009-02-27T15:37:00.000-08:00

Oh. My. Goodness! Just came back from the Vet's office with Miss Cali Cat. She has been having a swollen bottom lip and not acting like herself. This cat seriously NEVER let's us pick her up, so it's hard to know when something is actually wrong with her. But the last few days, I've been picking her up, totally against her will, and that's how I noticed her mouth. All red and looked like she had some sort of infection in her gum. So off to the doc's office we went.
As soon as I started trying to pick her up, she ran and hid under the couch. When hubby tried to shoo her out, she ran into our bedroom and under the armoir. Okay, I thought. Now I can catch her. NOT HAPPENING!!! I was laying in the floor so I could reach under the armoir, and I was able to grab her by the nape of her neck. But, I could NOT pull her out of there. She dug her claws into the carpet and was NOT going to come out. I grabbed her by the front legs, and she managed to fight her way loose from me and ran back into the livingroom and under the couch again. With Hubby helping, we finally managed to get her to go into the hallway, where she actually sat still long enough for Hubby to pick her up. He brought her into the diningroom, where I had the carrier setting on the table, awaiting her "arrival". Hubby shoved her inside, and before he could get his arm out and I could shut the door, THAT DARN CAT managed to turn herself around and run out of that carrier. Not more than 2 seconds, man. It was so fast that I didn't even realize what had happened, until Hubby was trying to grab her, as half of her body was hanging off the table. I grabbed at her and he grabbed at her, and all the while she was like a tazmanian "she"-devil, flopping all around. She clawed Hubby all over one hand and arm and brought blood. She managed to wrangle free and again, ran down the hallway. This time she hid under a china cabinet at the end of the hallway, and while I pulled her out, AGAIN, Hubby came with the carrier. As soon as I got hold of her, we shoved her in the carrier and slammed the door shut before she could escape again.
After it was all over with, I started to think about how this whole scenerio must have looked, and I started laughing hysterically! Then we were both so worn out and out of breath, that we had to take a minute or two to regroup ourselves before we could load her into the car and go to the doctor's office.
O, and once we got there, the doc had to practically pry her out of the carrier with a crowbar, just to examine her.
So he says she has some kind of infection, probably from getting her mouth hung up on something, either inside or out. He gave her a shot, and now I have to give her antibiotics two times a day until it's all gone. The doctor said to me, "Sqeeze the medicine into the dropper and 'gently' squeeze it out into her mouth". O, yeah, easy for him to say. She's quiet for him. For me, she's a tazmanian she-devil, I tell ya! O, and could I have a tranquilizer for her before I have to give her the meds every day? Thanks, doc!
And, here's a pic of the little "angel":

Tablescape Thursday & Tea For Three

2009-02-26T00:16:00.000-08:00

Susan, at Between Naps on the Porch, is hosting Tablescape Thursday. Go check out her great blog, and all the other wonderful tablescapes you can find there.
This is the tablescape I used when I had my two high-school friends over for tea. The dishes are Homer Laughlin "Chateau". I made the tablecloth and matching napkins from a remnant found at Joann's. The centerpiece is all silk, purchased for pennies also at Joann's.

Sharing Hearts - A Valentine Story

2009-02-24T22:03:00.000-08:00

See, I promised I would eventually get up some photos taken with the new camera. This was our Women's Ministries Valentine's meeting last Saturday, Feb. 21, 2009. The pic of the food table is before the food is placed, but there was heart-shaped sandwiches, and heart-shaped cupcakes, pink salad, and pink and red candies, as well as lots of other goodies to eat. We exchanged valentine cards with one another, just like we used to do as kids in school...remember doing that? It was fun! Our theme for the month was "Sharing Hearts", and we shared our hearts with our Food Pantry by bringing in enough food to fill eight boxes of food that were given out to families on Sunday. Once again, our ladies are just so awesome, and they truly do give of themselves and "share their hearts" with each other, our church family, and with our community.

A Great Recipe

2009-02-23T22:00:00.000-08:00

This was sent to me in an email. Thought it was a good recipe to share with everyone.
1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Talk to God about what is going on in your life.

3. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, 'My purpose is to enjoy life today. I am thankful for having God in my life.

4. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

5. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli , almonds & walnuts.

6. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

7.. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

8. Eat breakfast like a king , lunch like a prince and dinner like a
college kid with a maxed out charge card.

9. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

10. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

11. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

12. You are not so important that you have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

13. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

14. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

15. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

16. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'

17. Forgive everyone for everything.

18. What other people think of you is none of your business.

19. GOD heals everything - but you have to ask Him.

20. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

21. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick . Your friends will. Stay in touch!!!

22. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

23. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: I am thankful for all my blessings. Today I accomplished every thing i set out to do.

24. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

25. When you are feeling down, start listing your many blessings. You'll be smiling before you know it.

2009-02-20T00:03:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, I still haven't posted any pics taken with the new canera. I have been taking lots of them, though. The reason I haven't posted anything is because I still haven't put the new software on the computer. Tonight I did sit down and removed the software from the old camera. I probably didn't have to do that, but I didn't want to take any chances of the old conflicting with the new. Tomorrow I have to decorate for Saturday's women's meeting, and I'll be taking lots of pics of that, you can be sure. I'm going to do my best to get the new camera software loaded by the weekend, so that as soon as Saturday's meeting is over, I can come home and load all my pics into the computer. Then I'll be having lots of new blog fodder for your viewing pleasure. (I know, you're rolling your eyes back in your head right now, saying to yourself, "O brother, she really thinks people are interested in her stuff")
Brenda sent me over to this blog, which is hosting Tablescape Thursdays, and I already have a post, complete with pics (old ones) ready to go for next Thursday. I'll be joining in on that fun every week, and showing off my "flare" for setting a pretty table. I don't know what it is about me and dishes - I've always had this obsession with pretty dishes and setting a beautiful table. Decorating for our Women's Ministry meetings every month has given me the place to let my obsession run wild! And now, with Tablescape Thursdays, I can go double-duty wild with my obsession! Hooray!
Well, guess it's time to turn in for tonight. Pictures to follow VERY SOON, I promise. :-)

Condensed Milk

2009-02-18T17:49:00.000-08:00

Saw this over at Heidi's blog and just had to post it here. Too funny!

see more pwn and owned pictures

2009-02-16T16:06:00.001-08:00

Today is President's Day. It's been raining most of the day here in "sunny" southern California. In fact, it's rained so hard and so much today, that we were prevented from attending a funeral in Bakersfield. So, since it's President's Day, we've been watching a documentary on all the presidents, on the History channel. It's been very interesting and I've learned some little tidbits about some of our former presidents that I did not know before.
That's about it for today. O, except I did go out to Michael's today to use up the 50% coupons I had from there. Then I stopped by the grocery store on the way home. Just as I was coming out of the grocery store, the sky literally opened up and it POURED rain. I was parked about 15 yds. away from the door of the store, and it was raining so hard that by the time I got to my car, I was drenched! It was kind of reminiscent (sp.) of the night the valve blew off the bathtub faucet and I was trying to stop that. My shoes were soaked, my pants were wet (and no, I didn't pee - lol) and my hair was drenched. I had water dripping down my face, and had to wipe my face down before I could even see to drive home. I'm not sure the three items I purchased were worth ALL. THAT. WATER.! We should have just ordered take out for dinner.
Tomorrow, possibly, I will post some pics taken with the new camera. I still have to load the software onto my computer. Okay, peeps, hope it's dry where you live. I really do like the rain, but, really, only when I can stay inside! :=)

2009-02-14T00:08:00.000-08:00

I visited over at Jen's (Dust Bunny Hostage)yesterday, and got this cute little Meme.
"If you would like to play, here's how: tell me by leaving a comment on this post {SAYING THAT YOU WANT TO PLAY} and I will assign you a letter. Then post ten things you love that begin with your assigned letter on your blog. Explain the rules with your ten things and when others comment requesting a letter, assign one to them; thus, the chain continues."
My assigned letter is "B". Here goes:

1. BEING a Christian - It's a great day every day, knowing that Jesus is my Savior and that He walks with me daily and is always by my side.
2. BLOGGING - I began my blog as a way to journal, but have met some really wonderful people along the way.
3. Watching BRIDAL shows on tv - Rich Bride, Poor Bride, Get Married, etc. I get some great ideas for event decorating.
4. My BLUE Sapphire jewelry - all bought for me by Hubs.
5. My two handmade BLANKETS - one crocheted by my sister-in-law, the other, cut & tied fleece made by my friend Esther. Both are so warm and snuggly.
6. BUYING teapots/dishes - I've always been "freakish" about this. I cannot resist pretty dishes, especially teapots/tea sets.
7. BROWNIES - chewy, nuts preferred, no frosting, except for Paula Deen's recipe with raspberry mousse on top...YUMMO!
8. BABIES - of almost any species (human, animal, rodent - not reptilian, though), even veggies.
9. BACON - Who doesn't love a nice crispy slice of bacon with their eggs, or on a burger, or a BLT, of just as a snack.
10. BISCUITS & Gravy - I have the best recipe for homemade buttermilk biscuits. Now if I could learn to make gravy as good, life would be perfect!

Okay, that's my 10 "B" things that I love. Now it's your turn to play along.
Make it a great day!

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

2009-02-13T07:55:00.000-08:00

For a while now, I haven't been able to take or post any new pictures because my camera had decided not to work anymore. So yesterday, as an early Valentine's Day gift, Hubs bought me this:

An Olympus Sylus 840. And she's pink, kids, hot pink! A friend of mine says it's "hot pink for a hot mama"! Well, I don't know about that part! lol Anyhow, it's up and running and I'll now be able to take pictures again, so be expecting a barage of them in the upcoming days. I'll be taking pictures of everything I can, just to be using it. Now I just have to load the camera's program onto my computer, figure out how this camera operates with the computer, and we'll be in business! :=)

2009-02-12T00:17:00.000-08:00

No good blog fodder for today. Yesterday I spent the majority of the day searching records on Ancestry.com. I keep hoping that I'll be able to finally break thru those brick walls that I've been running into for the last several years. My ancestors moved waaaayyy too much, and when they did move they went to parts of the country and at times, where there were no records made of important events, like births and deaths. Plus the census takers back then were definately not the sharpest knives in the drawer. I will keep trying, as every little tidbit helps piece together the big picture.
Speaking of pictures, yesterday I posted pictures of two cat beds we had bought. We decided to let the cats make the choice of which style they like the best. With the exception of Cali, they seem to all prefer style number one. With it's high sides, they like feeling all snuggly when they curl up inside. So I think we'll be getting two more of that style.
I'm also in the market for a new camera. I liked my old one - a Canon PowerShot - but am open to something new. Anyone have any recommendations? Lemme know.

Cat Beds

2009-02-11T00:15:00.000-08:00

Hubs has been getting pretty tired of never having a place to sit in our livingroom because the cats are always laying in the chairs or on the sofa. He doesn't "have the heart" to disturb them from their naps, so we went to PetSmart and bought two kitty beds. If they like them, we'll get two more, so they'll each have their own little "spot". These are the two styles we got:
This one, in pink:
and this one, in blue:
We brought them home, and so far, only Lucy will sleep on the blue bed. None of them like the pink one. We'll give it a couple of days and then decide if and which style we should get more of.
What's your choice?

Wet Pants

2009-02-10T00:02:00.000-08:00

Come with me to a third grade classroom... There is a nine-year-old kid sitting at his desk and all of a sudden, there is a puddle between his feet and the front of his pants are wet. He thinks his heart is going to stop because he cannot possibly imagine how this has happened. It's never happened before, and he knows that when the boys find out he will never hear the end of it. When the girls find out, they'll never speak to him again as long as he lives.
The boy believes his heart is going to stop; he puts his head down and prays this prayer,
'Dear God, this is an emergency! I need help now! Five minutes from now I'm dead meat.'
He looks up from his prayer and here comes the teacher with a look in her eyes that says he has been discovered.
As the teacher is walking toward him, a classmate named Susie is carrying a goldfish bowl that is filled with water. Susie trips in front of the teacher and inexplicably dumps the bowl of water in the boy's lap.
The boy pretends to be angry, but all the while is saying to himself, 'Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!'
Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy is the object of sympathy. The teacher rushes him downstairs and gives him gym shorts to put on while his pants dry out. All the other children are on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk. The sympathy is wonderful. But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his has been transferred to someone else - Susie.
She tries to help, but they tell her to get out. You've done enough, you klutz!
Finally, at the end of the day, as they are waiting for the bus, the boy walks over to Susie and whispers, 'You did that on purpose, didn't you?'
Susie whispers back, 'I wet my pants once too.
May God help us see the opportunities that are always around us to do good. Remember.....Just going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car. Each and everyone one of us is going through tough times right now, but God is getting ready to bless you in a way that only He can. Keep the faith.
This prayer is powerful, and prayer is one of the best gifts we receive. There is no cost but a lot of rewards. Let's continue to pray for one another.
The Prayer:
Father, I ask You to bless my friends, relatives and those that I care deeply for, who are reading this right now. Show them a new revelation of Your love and power. Holy Spirit, I ask You to minister to their spirit at this very moment. Where there is pain, give them Your peace and mercy. Where there is self-doubt, release a renewed confidence through Your grace. Where there is need, I ask you to fulfill their needs. Bless their homes, families, finances, their goings and their comings. Amen.

Can You Read This?

2009-02-09T00:24:00.000-08:00

Took a break from blogging yesterday. I probably will on Sundays from now on, as Sundays are usually very busy for me. But, today, I'm back, with this:

To my 'select ed' strange-minded friends:
Only great minds can read this. This is weird, but interesting!

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too. Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed i t whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

2009-02-07T00:10:00.000-08:00

This is my new "baby". Isn't she purdy? :=) In yesterday's post I told about my washer dying. Hubs found this one online and went out in the 'pouring' rain and picked it up and brought it home to me. Wasn't that sweet of him? He had an alterior motive, though. He just wanted me to be able to do laundry so he'd have some clean clothes to wear! He got it home and I helped him unload it off the truck. Then he hooked up everything, and soon it was purring like a kitten, washing and swishing away at all that dirty laundry. It's not a super-fancy washer, but as far as appliances go, I'm not into all that super-duper-makes-it-hard-to-operate kind of stuff. For me, simple is better. Less to go wrong. So, I am a happy little housewife, happily doing laundry in my brand new washing machine. Now I just hope the dryer doesn't poop out any time soon. hee hee

2009-02-06T11:40:00.000-08:00

Seems everything is dying around here lately. Two weeks ago, Bunno died. Then lady at church died. My camera has died. And now, the washing machine has died. AND, I have a TON of laundry to do! AND, it's pouring down rain today. AND, I haven't done a thinga all week long because I've been sick with this stupid cold or flu or whatever it is but-I-wish-it-would-go-away already. And now, my voice is dying, too. It's Friday, but Sunday's on the way, and I have to be ready to lead worship. Hard to do with no voice! At least on the washing machine front, Hubs found one online at Sears and he has gone to "fetch" it so I can get some clean clothes around here. Hopefully that will make me feel better. Hubs always says "Underwear is how you feel", so if I get some clean underwear, it should make me feel clean and good, right?! lol Anyhow, been working on entering genealogy data into my Family Tree Maker program. Have entered over 400 names and dates so far. Once Iget everything entered into the computer, I can start "writing" my story. Been finding some new info lately thru the message boards on Ancestry and Genealogy websites. Doing this research is so addicting. I've been working on it for about six years now, and have been able to trace my lineage on both my mother's and father's sides of the family to the early 1600's in England. Found some interesting facts and some "juicy" tidbits, too. Maybe I'll share someday. But for today, can't wait for Hubs to get home with that new washer so I can have clean clothes! :=)

Wild Waterfall

2009-02-05T00:47:00.000-08:00

For several months now, the faucet in kidlet's bathtub has been leaking. Hubs has kept saying he's going to fix it, but hadn't gotten around to it until yesterday. I had been complaining about it because it went from a small, intermitten drip, to a full-on stream of water that NEVER stopped. But yesterday, he finally went in there and fixed it. No more leaking faucet. Thank you very much. So, later on that evening, kidlet goes in to take her shower and all of a sudden I hear this MASSIVE gush of water coming from the shower, and it's not the sound of a normal shower! She comes running out of the bathroom and yells that the whole faucet blew off. Sure enough, I went in there, and water was shooting straight out across the tub from the cold water faucet. Now, I remember this happening once before, many years ago, and I knew that the valve just needed to be turned off. However, I couldn't get anywhere near the valve because of the shooting waterfall. Hubs wasn't at home, he had school, so it was up to me to figure out what to do. And, I've been sick, so there I am, snot running down my nose, and every time I try to "get to" the valve, I get shot in the face with water. Good thing, since it could wash that snot off. Okay, this isn't going to work. I have to shut the water off from outside. But I know that the valve at the house is froze up and won't do anything. I know it has to be shut off at the street, but I have no clue how to do that. So, I'm in my pajamas with no shoes on, and having been sufficiently wet down by the "waterfall", I decide to go to the next door neighbor's house and ask for help. Totally. Embarrassing! Luckily, the neighbor was home and he got a wrench and turned the water off at the street. Thanking him profusely, I go back inside the house and Instant Message Hubs at class, telling him "EMERGENCY!!!! Ring me up right away!" It was about an hour later before he got my message, and his response was a very calm, "Okay, I'll fix it when I get home." No big deal to him. Of course, what could he do at that point anyhow, right? I supposed he could have run from his class, screaming EMERGENCY as he ran out the door. But, no, just a simple, calm message. So we had to wait, with no running water, until he got home from class, and then wait for him to fix it before turning on the water. Do you know how thirsty one can get, just knowing you can't get a glass of water? Or how many times you will suddenly need to go pee and flush the toilet, which only works once when the water is shut off, then no more flushy for you, baby! But, alas, the faucet got fixed, and we survived, and I got another "incident" to blog about out of it. So I guess all is well. :=)

Possum, All In A Row

2009-02-04T00:31:00.000-08:00

So, yesterday morning, as I do every morning, I let my cats outside for their morning romp. A little while later I went to the kitchen for a second cup of coffee, and, as I looked out the back door, I saw three of my four cats out on the patio, looking rather intently out to the backyard. Lately, another cat has been coming over to our yard for a not-so-welcome-by-my-cats visit. I figured by their behavior, this visitor was probably out there and my cats were getting ready to have their usual "fit" about it. So I walked outside, just in time to see what they were actually looking at. Up on the block wall that runs along one side of my yard, was a really big possum. As I further investigated, there wasn't just one possum, but three, all prancing single file along the wall, coming from the very back of the yard up toward the patio. Now I started to have a "fit" because I knew if the cats were to tangle with those possums, the outcome would not be good. So I began trying to get the cats to come inside. Of course, being the obedient little darlings that they're NOT, they immediately ran further out into the yard and totally ignored my pleas for them to come into the house.
The possums kept coming closer and closer, until finally one of them either jumped or fell into a rose bush. Ouch! This made the cats really go crazy! Finally, Cali, whose nickname is Scaredicat anyhow (because she's always been afraid of every little thing), got spooked enough that she ran to the back door and waited for me to open it so she could get inside. But the boys, Prowler and George, continued to ignore me. I heard the possum make a little crying noise, I'm sure it was getting its hiney full of thorns off that rose bush, and that scared George into the house.
Prowler ran back toward the back of the yard. One of the possum, not sure if it was the same one that fell in the rose bush, actually charged Prowler. I didn't know possum did that, but Prowler was sitting under the arbor, and this possum came running right toward him at full speed. When the possum reached him, he turned and ran to the house, and the possum turned and ran back into the bushes.
My camera is not working, or I would have gotten a picture of those possum all lined up on the wall. From tiem to time, we've had possum live in our garage and in the drawer of a chest on the patio, but I've never seen more than one at a time, and certainly not three adults, nor did I know they would actually "charge" another animal.
Hopefully, the cats will think twice about ignorning me the next time there's another animal in our yard. I doubt it. :=)

Blech, I'm Sick!

2009-02-03T09:31:00.001-08:00

I've had this agenda to post something on my blog every day. So far, I've posted 33 days in a row. Yesterday and today, Blech, I'm sick and don't feel like posting anything, and yet, here I am, writing this dumb post, just to have something on today's date. Over at Brenda's It's All Good, she did an interview. One of the questions was Why do you blog? I started my blog almost two years ago as a result of comments I'd heard at a funeral. And, also, blogging is something I could ACTUALLY do! I'm not computer saavy at all, but I managed to set up the blog all by myself, and have learned how to change and rearrange it all by myself, too. So, I've set this goal for myself, to blog every day, but I think I may have bit off more than I could chew. I know there are lots of things to blog about, but on days like today, I just don't feel like messing with it, but yet, if I don't keep it up, I may fall back into my habit of blogging only once every couple of months. And I definately don't want that to happen. So, here I am, once again writing drivvle for your not-so-pleasureful reading. And now, I'm going back to bed.

2009-02-02T03:30:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we were surprised to see and have lunch with our nephew and his family. In June 2007, I hosted this baby shower for his wife, April, and their new baby, Ruthie. Baby Ruthie is now about eighteen months old, and she is just the cutest little girl. She has grown so much. She has a little button nose and big, brown eyes, all topped off by a "crown" of curly locks all over her head. I haven't seen her since the summer, at our family reunion, as they live about two hours away from us. Ruthie's grandparents are Hubs' sister and brother-in-law who were in town this weekend for the funeral at our church on Saturday. Even though for a sad occasion, we got to spend time this weekend with a lot of our family. It made the sadness of the occasion a lot easier to bear.

2009-02-01T20:01:00.000-08:00

Congratulations, Pittsburg Steelers! I'm not a football fan anymore. I used to be many years ago, and I was a Steelers fan. That was way back when Terry Bradshaw was QB. I had no vested interest in today's game, but since I used to like the Steelers, I'm glad they won.
That's all I've got for today. :=)

2009-01-31T10:15:00.001-08:00

Just came from breakfast with Hubs, his two sisters and their husbands, and one brother & wife, plus one nephew. It is our "tradition", if you will, to get together whenever the sisters are in town. One sister lives in Georgia, the other lives in California, but several hours away from us. It's always fun to get together with the family, although the reason for this meeting is because everyone is in town for the funeral today. We always have these early morning get-togethers, so I'm always sleepy upon arrival, but once we get to laughing and chatting with each other, it's so much fun. I love them all dearly, and even though they are here for a sad occassion, I'm glad for the chance to get to be with them. The death of our friend brings it home even more, the need to spend as much time with family as possible, because none of us are getting any younger, sowe should savor every chance to be together that we have.
Btw, today is day 32 of posting at least something every day. So far, so good, as for my daily writings, or ramblings, as I prefer to call it. I'm hoping next week will be a little more calm and I will be able to get over to visit all of you and have a little "chat" on your blogs, too. :=)

For The Romance Of It

2009-01-30T00:42:00.000-08:00

Today I found uot that my friend Becky has a new blog. It's about her space at an antique mall in our area. She also has a "shop" set up in her home that's filled with beautiful antiques and lots of shabby chic things. She's still brand new to the world of computers ( in fact, her brother set the blog up for her), but stop by and visit her at For The Romance Of It, and leave her a comment to let her know you stopped in for a visit. I told her that she was going to be my blogpost for today. If you love antiques and shabby chic, you'll love her shop.

2009-01-29T01:18:00.000-08:00

It's been a crazy week so far. On Sunday we dealt with losing our little bunny. On Monday we lost a dear friend and church member. We are doing the funeral this coming Saturday. It was supposed to have been the annual Pastor's Prayer Breakfast, but we've had to postpone that because of the funeral. Been working this week every day with one of our guitar players and our bass player on some new songs for church. In three days, we've learned three new songs, and worked on a fourth. The fourth song is going to require LOTS of work and lots of time. At least for me to learn it on the keyboard. Today I will be working on the music for the funeral. The husband of the lady who died told me she wants a full-on church service for her funeral. So that's what we'll be doing. It's going to be a celebration of her life, and that will be a really cool thing!
So far this month, I've posted something every day, even though some days (like yesterday) (and probably today, too) have been dumb. It's almost 30 days, but the "habit" hasnt' kicked in yet. I spend lots of time on my computer, but not so much time attending to my blog. Don't know that it will ever become a habit. It is a habit to read all your blogs every day, even if I don't comment back. Well, I'll just keep plugging along and hope it will eventually become a habit to write every single day, without having to work so hard at it.
Our church is providing a dinner for the family after the funeral and I'm planning to make lasagna, so maybe tomorrow I'll post my recipe. Or maybe my biscuit recipe, as I was planning to make those for the breakfast. We'll see.
Anyhow, if this post seems to be "rambling", it's because I actually wrote it last night at about 10:30 p.m. after a long day and I was exhausted. So the old "gray matter" is pretty gray and dull. And if you're still reading this far, you deserve an award for reading the longest, dumbest post ever at B'z Place. :o)

2009-01-28T22:01:00.000-08:00

Just realized I hadn't posted anything today. Been very busy and just forgot. So, my post for today will be very short. My camera is on the frits again. It won't take any pics at all. I've looked at my manual under the Troubleshooting section, but it doesn't list any of the "symptoms" my camera is displaying. I'm going to try to get it repaired, but, o darn, I just might have to end up getting a new camera. O, wouldn't that be a terrible thing? lol O well, that's about all I've got for tonight, and it's already almost tomorrow according to the clock, so I will close this post, and try to think of something to write for tomorrow. Peace out.

2009-01-27T19:40:00.001-08:00

"To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord". That's what the Scripture tells us. Last night, a lovely and dear friend and member of our congregation went to be in the presence of the Lord. We take comfort in the knowing that this isn't "Goodbye", but simply, "I'll see you in a little while".
I thank the Lord for Tammy and the life she lived for Him. I'm thankful that she was a part of my life for the time I've known her. I thank the Lord that she's not suffering anymore, but is at peace in the presence of Jesus. We will all miss her. But we know that we'll see her again someday soon.

A Better Day

2009-01-26T16:22:00.000-08:00

Today is going pretty good so far. Met with two of our guitar players at church this morning to work on some new music for worship. (And we nailed down two more songs, and, I don't change voices on the keyboard for either of them, lol) It helped take my mind off the loss of our little Bunno, who died yesterday. In times of great heartache and some of my hardest trials, practicing music with my band and just hanging out with them for fellowship, hs been such a blessing to me and helped me concentrate on the here and now and the blessings of God in my life. This Saturday will be Hubs' annual Pastor's Prayer Breakfast for all the men in the church. After the breakfast, we are planning a whole-band practice, then will instroduce another new song on Sunday for worship service. Our goal is to learn at least one new song each month. So far, we've learned two for January and now another two for February. We're on a roll. I think I shared in a previous post that our band virtually never gets to practice, and our music has become pretty stale. But everyone is pumped up to have more practices and to learn more music, so we're excited to be a part of exciting changes that are planned for our church as a whole. :-) More on that at another time. But, toodles for now, peeps.

2009-01-25T14:47:00.001-08:00

Bunno died today. He lived a good life filled with lots of love. I will miss him.

Bunno

2009-01-24T00:27:00.000-08:00

Cheryl asked me to do a post about my bunny rabbit. I did a short one about him yesterday (he had to go see the doc). So I will tell you the story of how we came to be the proud parents of Bunno, the bunny rabbit.
We were happily living our lives, pet free, when one day I went out on the patio and there sat this cute little black rabbit. I thought when he saw me, he would be frightened and run away. But not so. I've never had any dealings with rabbits before, except the children's story of Peter Rabbit. So, I went over to him and bent down and started talking to him. He didn't move. I petted him for a couple of minutes, and he still didn't move. I figured he might be hungry and thirsty, so I went inside and got a little dish of water and brought it to him. I called Hubs, who was at his office at church, and asked him to stop by the store and pick up some rabbit food. He asked why, and I told him about the rabbit. He said to give him some lettuce. Duh, why didn't I think of that? Anyhow, Hubs said he'd get some rabbit food. At this point I didn't plan on the rabbit being here for good, but I figured if he was going to hang out in my yard, I could at least give him a little snack and some fresh water.
Hubs brought home the food, and we gave him a little dish of it. Kidlet came home from school and immediately fell in love with him. "Can we keep him"? she asked. I said, "Well, he's not ours. He just showed up here. I guess he can stay as long as he wants, if no one comes looking for him." He hung out for about two weeks. Then one day he disappeared. At that time we had holes in the fence around our backyard, and that's how he had gotten in our yard in the first place. And apparantly, he used the same hole as an escape hatch. Kidlet was so sad. She had grown quite attached to him and he seemed to really love her, as well. She went around our neighborhood, going door-to-door, asking if anyone had seen her rabbit. No one had seen him. We were a little disappointed, but not terribly heartbroken. Life went on as normal.
A couple of weeks later, we arrived home from church one Sunday to find a note on our door. It said "We have your rabbit. Plese come for him right away." And there was a phone number to call. When we called, we found it was the house directly behind ours. Apparantly, bunny had been sleeping under their house. They had sold the house and it was scheduled to be tented for termites the next day, and they didn't want the bunny to die. So we retrieved him, and he's been our Bunno ever since. Hubs repaired the fence so he couldn't escape, and we bought him a cage to live in. But he only went inside the cage at night. The rest of the time he had free run of the yard. He seemed to be a happy little guy and was enjoying his life. That winter it got really really cold, so we were afraid he'd freeze outside. So we decided to start bringing him inside at night only. We bought a baby gate so we could lock him inside the kitchen, where we figured he couldn't do any damage to the floors or furniture. Then, little by little, we started letting him come into the livingroom sometimes. Hubs would lay down in the floor, and Bunno would run over to him. As long as Hubs would lay there and pet him, Bunno was content to stay put and move a muscle. That's how he became a most-of-the-time house rabbit. He still goes outside every morning and gets his "ya-yas" out running around the yard, but he likes to come in and get his food and his loves from his humans.
Cheryl asked if he did tricks and if he was litter box trained. Yes, he is litterbox trained, but he doesn't really do any tricks. He does things that are funny and unexpected, but I don't think they're really tricks. I've bought him toys and tried to play with him with them, but he just looks at me like I'm nuts and why am I putting this dumb thing in front of him. But he does sit up on his hind legs, and shows his teeth. It's so cute. And sometimes he just decides to "flop" over on his side or roll over on his back and play dead. We crack up when he does those things. He doesn't like being held. Apparantly rabbits are afraid of heights. But I do pick him up and snuggle him. I tell him he's my little snuggle bunny. And he does snuggle up to my neck. He's extremely soft. His fur feels like velvet. His ears are the stand-up kind, not floppy. And he's solid black with black eyes. We've taken many pics of him over the years, so here's a few.

Ailing Bunz

2009-01-23T10:51:00.000-08:00

Just came back from the vet's office. Had to take my rabbit in. He needed his nails clipped, but he's been not feeling too well the past day or two, as well. So we loaded him up and went. We love our vet so much. He's been our family pet doctor for over 20 years now. He's treated our cats, our hampsters, and Bunno, the rabbit. So he examined Bunno and said that he may have a type of "colic" like babies get. He gave us medicine to give him every day for one week, and prescribed pineapple yogurt. He also said that Bunno has lost a lot of weight, almost three pounds since the last time he was in (about six months ago). That's not good. Doc also said that he (the rabbit) is at the end of his life expectancy, which is about seven years. We're not sure exactly how old he is because he was a stray that we adopted when he showed up in our yard after living on the streets. We've had him for five years, and we figure he was at least one year old when we adopted him.
Anyhow, doc says to give him the meds and the yogurt and call him in a week to see if we need to pursue further treatment. Say a prayer for him, 'cause we love the little guy so much. He's given us a lot of love and enjoyment over the last five years, and it will be very hard to say goodbye to him if that's what has to happen. Here's a pic of him in his Christmas "finery". Isn't he cute!

2009-01-22T00:54:00.000-08:00

I'm running out of subjects for blogging. Cheryl says I could write about recipes, pets, crafts. Recipes? I could do that. Of course, they wouldn't be my own recipes, but then I'm told there's no copyright on recipes. Is that true? I don't know if it is or isn't. Sometimes I use someone else's recipe and then do my own thing with it. Sometimes it turns out pretty tasty, and sometimes it doesn't. And sometimes, no matter how exact you follow the recipe, it just isn't the same as the original. did anyone ever see the episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond" when Marie was going to teach Debra how to cook? She put a fake label over the bottle of one of the spices in the recipe so that Debra's wouldn't turn out good. Sometimes I think when you've followed a recipe exactly and it doesn't turn out right, that's what's happened. The writer of the recipe secretly changed an ingredient, just so no one could duplicate it. Of course, I would never do something like that. Or would I? If I were to post a recipe here, you'd just have to try it to see if I listed the real ingredients. And if you thought it didn't taste just right, you'd never know if the recipe was just not a good recipe, or if it really was a good recipe and you just didn't know how to cook it right. Hee hee, I have a devious little mind, don't I! lol In reality, I'm not that great of a cook. There are a few things that I make really well, but most things I make are just so-so, or no good at all. Hubs sometimes will ask me to try a new recipe. I'll ask him, "What if it doesn't turn out good?" His reply is always "Then we'll just eat the evidence and no one will ever know".
And, there you have it, folks, another blog post full of the nonsensical ramblings that disguise themselves as my thoughts. :-) Peace out!

Habits

2009-01-21T08:27:00.000-08:00

Today is January 21, 2009. I have blogged every day for 21 days. They say if you do something for 30 days in a row, it becomes a habit. That means I have nine more days. I am not quite sure it will magically become a habit on day 30, though. It has been, at times, a struggle to write something every day. On some days, a subject has just "fallen" into place. Other days, like today, it's hard to find a subject to write about. But here I am, writing about not having anything to write about. Seems like a colossal waste of time and taxation of my brain, but if I keep it up, maybe, just maybe, on day 30 the "writer's block" will magically disappear and the habit of writing every day will be so ingrained in me that the words will just flow like a river onto the pages of this, my be-it-ever-so-humble blog. Toodles!

Ancestry

2009-01-20T00:16:00.000-08:00

For several years now I have been researching my family history. Anyone else out there a genealogy buff? I got interested in it when I married my hubs. His last name is the same as my mother's maiden name, and our families come from the same general area of the country. I worked really hard at first, but I don't really know much about how to research a family history without having some key information from living relatives. A person has to have a place to start. Over the years, I've been very fortunate to be able to make contact with people online who have been extremely helpful in my search for my ancestors. But I had sort of hit the proverbial 'dead end' and decided to put everything away for a while. A couple of days ago, my friend Esther and I were talking about research each of us had done on our respective family histories, and it sort of put a 'bug' in my mind to do a little more research. I went online to Genealogy.com and browsed thru the message boards. On a whim, I clicked on a random link and found the names and birth, death, marriage dates of grandparents eight generations back. Now I plan to re-subscribe to the ancestry sites and try to find even more information. If anyone has any tips on how to do genealogical research, please drop me a note. I'm very much an amateur.

2009-01-19T10:33:00.001-08:00

"Monday, Monday, ba da, ba da da da, ba da, ba da da da"...anybody remember that song by the Mamas and the Papas? I was a kid when that song first became popular.
I think that most people don't look forward to Monday, since it's the first day back to work for those who's jobs require Monday - Friday. I actually look forward to Mondays. Being the pastors of our church, our primary 'work' days are Saturday and Sunday, with Sunday being the 'major' work day for us. We do work during the rest of the week, as well, however, we are privileged to sort of 'make our own hours'. Sundays are very long days for us. We are up early and go all day long at full speed! By the end of the day we are exhausted! So we look forward to Monday, which is our "day off", if you could say we have an actual day off. Monday is our equivalent to most people's Saturday. So, on this Monday, I'm enjoying my 'day off'. Slept in, lazed around drinking coffee and watching wedding shows on tv, then hanging out on my computer, not doing much of anything. Feels good! Hope you all are enjoying your Monday. Make it a good one! :-)

2009-01-18T00:02:00.000-08:00

Okay, so yesterday was the big "ice palace" day. It was soooo beautiful. The ladies walked in and were "oooing and awwwing" all over the place. "O, it's so wintery", said one. "It's like a winter wonderland", said another. "It's just gorgeous" said yet another. But when I heard the comment "It's an ice palace", I said "Yeah, baby. That's what I'm talkin' about!" She "got it"!
I was so upset with myself. Before I left the house, I had opened a brand new package of batteries and put them in my camera because I didn't want to take a chance on old ones running out before I had all the pics I wanted. I got there and snapped 4 pictures, and the camera went black and the screen flashed "change the batteries". Luckily there were several others there with their cameras, so between all of us, we have plenty of pics. My friend Esther emailed hers to me and the others are supposed to be doing likewise. But I will show you what I have.
Our Women's Ministries director, Helen, always does such an excellent job of bringing the devotion, but this was an exceptionally great lesson she gave us. Our theme for the year is Ladies In Faith Together...Seeking God's Best For Your Life. The lesson was on God's guidelines for a better life. Don't live in the past, but look ahead at what God has for your life. Look to God, not yourself, for direction. Look at life with its briefness in mind - know that we are dependent upon Him. Live your life in the way God wants you to live it, not how others are doing their lives. We have such a wonderful group of ladies, who truly love God and love and care for one another. I feel blessed and privileged to work side by side with these incredible women!
Okay, enough of me running on and on, here's the pics:

We ate chili, chicken tortilla soup, "foo-foo" salad, corn muffins, poppyseed muffins, and oatmeal muffins, plus Esther made cupcakes decorated with cute little snowflakes on top. We "warmed" ourselves by the candles and drank hot coffee. The ladies are excited to begin a new year of service to the Lord! :-)

2009-01-17T08:21:00.002-08:00

Just in case I don't get a chance later today to do this, I wanted to do some kind of post for today, just so I keep up with my goal. This morning will be our Women's Ministries meeting in the "ice palace" (will post pics either tonight or tomorrow), then in the afternoon we have a funeral, then back to the church to tear down the ice palace. :-( The ice palace turned out sooo good, and I was able to get a ton of the decorations for, literally, pennies. I went to Party City and they were trying to get rid of the last of their Christmas/winter decorations, so the manager said I could have whatever I wanted for 25 cents per item. Then I went to Joann's and got some winter garlands that were reduced to 90%. That meant the garlands, which normally cost $29.99, were only $2.99. Hooray! And back in this post, I showed you the pics of the icicles I got on clearance at the Dollar Tree for only fifty cents for every two icicles. I think I got some pretty good buys, huh! :) When I show the pics later on, you'll be able to see everything finished, candles glowing, maybe the new pics will show the "foggy haze" in the room that was an added bonus to see!

No Excitement Today

2009-01-16T01:21:00.000-08:00

Nothing exciting happening today. Just trying to get the decos finished up before tomorrow. Below is from an email I received a few days ago. Knowing that I would, at some point, run out of things to blog about every day, I saved the email for such an occassion as this. (I'm also writing this post on Thursday night, and scheduling it to post on Friday, so my Thursday was pretty uneventful, and I actually do have a fun Friday planned. Does this make sense?) Anyhow, here's the email:
Women over 50 don't have babies because they would put them down and forget where they left them.
A friend of mine confused her Valium with her birth control pills... she has 14 kids but doesn't really care.
One of life's mysteries is how a 2-pound box of chocolates can make a woman gain 5 lbs.
My mind not only wanders, it sometimes leaves completely.
The best way to forget your troubles is to wear tight shoes.
The nice part about living in a small town is that when you don't know what you are doing, someone else does.
The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight because by then, your body and your fat are really good friends.
Just when I was getting used to yesterday, along came today.
Sometimes I think I understand everything, and then I regain consciousness.
I gave up jogging for my health when my thighs kept rubbing together and setting fire to my knicker's.
Amazing! You hang something in your closet for a while and it shrinks 2 sizes!
Skinny people irritate me! Especially when they say things like...'You know sometimes I forget to eat!' .....Now I've forgotten my address, my mother's maiden name and my keys, but I have never forgotten to eat. You have to be a special kind of stupid to forget to eat!
The trouble with some women is that they get all excited about nothing and then they marry him.
I read this article that said the typical symptoms of stress are eating too much, impulse buying, and driving too fast. Are they kidding? That's my idea of a perfect day!

Sneak Preview

2009-01-15T00:22:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I told you yesterday that I'd post some pics of the finished "ice palace" today. It's not 100% finished, though. I'll be going back today to add some final touches, such as some color to the tables, and some candles, and chair ties. But here's a few shots to show how it's shaping up. It's not the "picture" I had in my head for it to look like, but it looks good anyhow. And the weirdest thing is that when you walk into the room it looks like there is a kind of haze, as if it really were an ice cave or like it's super cold inside. I'm excited about that part. The pictures don't show it, but it's really there. I think it's the presence of the Holy Spirit "hovering" about the room, cause God always seems to bless our decorating efforts so much. So here's a few pics:

Getting Old

2009-01-14T00:22:00.000-08:00

Man, I'm getting old! Or maybe it's just that I'm old, fat, and out of shape. Ya think?!! Yesterday I was climbing up and down a ladder, trying to "drape" the ceiling of the church fellowship hall. See, I'm trying to create an ice palace. I've been watching all those wedding shows on tv, and they show all these great rooms that have been draped in white, then given "character" with special effects lighting. Doesn't look that hard. I mean, after all, how hard can it be to staple some fabric to a wall and stick a colored light behind it? Probably for a person about 25 years younger, not fat, and IN shape, it wouldn't be hard at all. But for me, a major chore! AND, after all the huffing and puffing and grunting, I'm still not sure the room is going to have the effect I'm looking for. Today the fun part begins. Today we will add the snowflakes and icicles (is that how you spell it? It doesn't look right to me at the moment.) Anyhow, we'll dress the tables, add candles and flowers, and the rest of the lighting to, hopefully, create the look of an elegant ice palace. I'll post some pics when it's all done.

It's A Scam!

2009-01-13T02:32:00.001-08:00

You know how you always hear on the news how people get ripped off for tons of money by some scam that looks really legit? I always look at those stories and think how dumb the victims must be to let that happen to them. I still think that. But yesterday, we were the target of one of those scams. Hubs is opening the mail when he says "Hey, what's this?" I look over and he's holding a check for $4,495.00 and he's reading a letter that accompanied the check. He says to me, "This must be a scam. It has to be a scam." I start reading the letter, and it sounds really legitimate. "You were chosen a winner in blah-blah sweepstakes, and we've made several attempts to contact you to give you your winnings...blah, blah, blah". Hubs and both look over the check and it appears to be a real, honest-to-goodness legitimate check made out to Hubs' name in the amount of $4,495. And, the letter states that this is the "down-payment" of the total winnings of $250,000.00US dollars to be paid to us upon receipt by the sweepstakes company of $2,495.00 paid by us as the tax liability payment. Hubs says, "This is the scam right here." I said, "But, isn't this check more than enough to cover the taxes? We could cash this and still have money left over. But I will go look up this company online and see if they are legit or not." So I go online and enter a search for the 'sweepstakes company' name, and the very first website that pops up is a report from someone else who go the exact same check and letter in the mail, and that it is a big scam. This person had taken the check to his bank and the bank said it was a fraud, and that if they would have cashed the check it would have wiped out this man's entire bank account. Several other sites followed, all of them stating this is a scam. I was not surprised, but, I must say, I was a tiny bit disapointed. Come on, who out there wouldn't like to get a nice tidy little sum of money in the mail?! I told Hubs the old addage: If it sounds too good to be true,it's because it isn't true! Well, at least we had the good sense to check it out before getting ripped off.

2009-01-12T00:01:00.000-08:00

So, yesterday in Sunday School class, one of the young girls said her family was late for church because of her sister. The sister spoke up and said she made them late because she was looking for something to wear. She told us that mostly she always wears jeans and band t-shirts. So I told her that we would just have to take a pic of our band, have it made into t-shirts, and then she could wear her jeans and band t-shirts. The other sister spoke up and said, "What's the name of your band?" I said, "The Geezer Band!" For those of you who may not know, the youngest member of our band is almost 41. I know, I know, 41 isn't old and definately not "geezer" old, but I said he's the youngest member of the band. So just let your imagination fly with that one! lol And, yes, I'm reaching to have something to blog about every day. hee hee hee

We Did It!

2009-01-11T14:41:00.000-08:00

So, we did it. The new songs, that is. Three of our band members ended up not being there, but we went for it anyhow. Not. Too. Bad. If I do say so myself. I was so nervous, and I think I messed up a little bit on the first song, which was also the hardest one, but since it was new to most of the congregation, no one knew that I had messed up. Good anointing on the music anyhow, and the second new song went really well. I had changed the voice on my keyboard for the second song, and at the end of the song, I was trying to change back to a different voice, and somehow, I hit the wrong button, and got all messed up. Everyone was waiting for me to do the intro to the last song, and there I was, messing with buttons on my keyboard, totally confused as to what had happened. Sometimes I'm such a dunce! Anyhow, good service. Helen presented our annual theme for Women's Ministries today, and, as always, she did an excellent job speaking. After church we were invited to lunch by a family in the church. Went to T.G.I.Friday's. I had never been there before. The food was really good, and the fellowship was better. All in all, not a bad morning.
And now, I'm 11 days in a row posting. And they said it wouldn't last. Ha! What do they know? And who are "they" anyhow? :-)

Makin' Pretty Music!

2009-01-10T13:06:00.001-08:00

I am Soooo blessed! I think our church has the best band in the whole world! I've been trying for 5 years to learn this particular song, and I've spent the last 2 weeks working really hard on it. Today we had a band practice, and the rest of the band, after 2 hours, NAILED IT!!! They are so awesome! All my ignorance on the keyboard is heavily masked by their skill and excitement. Everybody loves this new song, and they are rockin' it big time. The second song they had perfected in about 10 minutes. So, tomorrow we debut 2 new songs for worship.
And remember, we are the Geezer Band! lol

2009-01-09T08:52:00.001-08:00

Today is day number nine in my quest for blogging every day. But today? I got nothin'! It's Friday, so that means it's laundry day. I hate doing laundry. It's one of those things that is 'never' finished. Interruption: I'm not sure, but it just felt like a small earthquake. I'll have to check the news to see. If it was, it was either very slight, or very far away, because it was a very slight jolt. Or it may have been one of the cats hopping around. Don't know. O well.
Besides doing laundry today, I will be getting music ready for tomorrow's band rehearsal. Has wanted to start the new year off last week with new songs, but we didn't get there. Half the band was sick, and I never completely learned the new songs. So this week I've been working on them and we're having a rehearsal tomorrow.
O, and I took this picture of George the cat last night, four-pawin' it after a hard day of sleeping. See what a big ol' goober he is?

Snowflakes and Napkin Rings

2009-01-08T00:28:00.000-08:00

If you've been following me on Twitter the last couple of days, you will have seen me writing about making napkin rings for the upcoming Women's Ministries meeting next week at church. I finally finished them, and decided to let you have a gander at them. Here is the napkin ring itself, and then with the napkins that we'll be using.

MEAT!!!

2009-01-07T06:51:00.000-08:00

Wow, I posted yesterday about how I was rudely awakened by my cat jumping on my head, which made for kind of a "sucky" start of the day. But a little while later, doorbell rings and there was the UPS guy with a package for us. It was a very LARGE package, from Omaha Steaks. It was full of MEAT!!! I tell you, that made my day perk up REAL fast, cause I LOVE MEAT!!! There are steaks, and more steaks, and pork chops, and burgers and gourmet franks! It was a totally unexpected gift from a family in our church. And so we'll be eating VERY WELL for a while. I'm so excited, I can't wait until dinner so we can cook up some of it. :)
And...now I have a blog post for another day! lol

A Very Rude Awakening

2009-01-06T09:32:00.000-08:00

Was wondering what I would write about for today's post, but an idea was "given" to me by my cat, George. I was sleeping so soundly this morning, when I was very abruptly awakened by George. He was in the window up above my bed and decided to jump down. He landed right on my head, with one of his claws digging into my head, just above my left eye. He got my wrist with another claw. Talk about a rude awakening! I screamed at the top of my lungs, partly from shock, partly from pain. As I reached up to feel my eye, I immediately felt it was wet, and I knew it was bleeding. By the time I could get up out of bed and get the light turned on, there was blood running all down my face and onto my shirt. I ran into the bathroom and started washing it, and finally got the bleeding stopped enough that I could see what had happened. I have about a 1/2 inch gash in the browbone of my left eye. It is pretty deep, but since it stopped bleeding fairly quickly, I didn't think it warranted stitches. But it will probably leave a nice little scar. Thanks, George!
After I finally composed myself, I threw all the cats outside. About 10 minutes later I heard whining at the front door. I opened the door and there was George. He ran in the house and followed me all over, whining non-stop. I think he was trying to tell me he was sorry. So I picked him up and loved on him for a few minutes to let him know I wasn't mad at him.I'm trying to look on the bright side of this - at least I had something to blog about today! :)

2009-01-05T14:25:00.000-08:00

Here we are, the 5th of January already! My,how time flies when you're having fun. Being determined to blog every day, I will just say today that the weather is nice today, about 70-ish and sunny. When the sun goes down, though, it will turn chilly. Yesterday I posted a pic of the invites I made for our upcoming Women's Ministries meeting, which will be in two weeks. The invites came out so-so and I wanted to jazz them up a bit. So this morning I went out to Michael's and bought a bottle of glittery. dimensional writer glue. It wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but didn't realize that until I got home and opened it and tried to use it. O well, I drew three snowflakes on the front of each card, then sprinkled with white glitter. The result is three puffy, glittery little snowflakes "falling" from the sky above a snow-covered mountain. Not great, but good enough. As soon as they get dry, I will pop them in envelopes and be ready to pass them out on Sunday.

Sunday Funday

2009-01-04T14:24:00.000-08:00

So we didn't get to have our band rehearsal yesterday, and I did not learn the new song. But I'm getting there. We are planning to have a rehearsal this next Saturday, by then, hopefully, I'll have the song down and the rest of the band will pick it up fast. They are awesome! If all goes well, we'll be able to do the song next Sunday for worship.
Today's service was good. Lots of people absent - most from sickness. Including our drummer and bass player. But the crowd was still good and the worship was good, and the best part was the God was there, He is always good!
So last night I made the invitations for our Women's Ministries meeting for January. I'm not totally happy with the way they turned out, but it was the best I could do. I'm going to try to find a snowflake charm of some kind to attach to the front, just because I think it needs a little "jazzing up". But here's a pic:
And there you have it, folks, I'm now 4 for 4 in blogging! :)

Icycles

2009-01-03T14:23:00.000-08:00

Okay, so here it is, January 3rd, and I'm writing my 3rd post for the year. I'm 3 for 3 so far. lol
I just came from the Dollar Tree store where I bought these icycles to use in decorating for our upcoming Women's Ministries meeting. They are so pretty in person. You can't really see how pretty they are in the pics. I'm planning a Dr. Zhivago type scene inside the room. I've got white draping for the ceiling and the walls, and will use cotton batting to create snowdrifts. We'll hang these icycles and some giant snowflakes that belong to my friend Becky from the ceiling. We'll use blue lighting to create the feeling of an ice palace. Silver and "snowy" white florals with clear glass candleholders sporting glittery white candles will complete the tablescapes.
We are planning to serve hot soups and yummy breads for the meal. If it's a warm day (two weeks from today) we'll have to turn up the A/C to make it seem like we're really in an ice palace! :) Hope the hot soups and hot air from all those women talking won't "melt" the ice. lol
I'll post pics when the event is over.

Day 2, 363 To Go

2009-01-02T08:34:00.000-08:00

So I said yesterday that one of my goals for this year is to blog every day. So here's my post for Day 2. Only 363 days to go.
I took pics of my cats before Christmas, wearing a little set of reindeer antlers. However, George is the only who would actually "sit" for his photo. So here it is: Doesn't he look so cute?! I love this cat so much. He's just a big ole goober who reminds me of the Pink Panther. He can be so sweet, and then he can be so mean, especially to his sister (she growls at him like a demon). That's part of what I love so much about him. You know, he just CAN'T be sweet all the time. Sometimes he can't help himself and he just "has" to be naughty. He's kind of like me! lol
Happy January 2nd everyone. :)

It's A New Year & A New Beginning

2009-01-01T19:05:00.000-08:00

Well, here it is, already January 1, 2009. Hard to believe. I don't know where 2008 went, but you what they say, "Time flies when you're having fun"! I don't know about fun, but time certainly did fly by quickly this past year.
I slept in the new year. How about everybody out there in blogland? What did you do to bring in 2009?
What are your new year's resolutions? I don't make resolutions, 'cause I don't end up keeping them. But I do have a few goals that I'd like to reach, one being blogging every day during this next year. A friend of mine wrote on her "Twitter" that blogging can be theraputic. She's right about that. Sometimes I start writing and I "write out" all my feelings and agressions, and then I go back and re-read what I wrote and about 99% of it has to be deleted, because it's not fit for public consumption. lol
Well peeps, this is my first entry for the year. I pray for a wonderful year full of wonderful blessings for each of you and will look forward to "chatting" with you all more this year! :)

2008-12-31T20:09:00.001-08:00

Hope your 2009 is happy and blessed!

2008-12-24T16:44:00.000-08:00

Graphics & Myspace layouts

Merry Christmas, everybody!

50 Things About Me

2008-12-19T00:01:00.000-08:00

Saw this at Brenda's and just had to play along. If you'd like to play along, too, just answer all these questions and let the rest of us learn more about you.

1.Do you like cheese? Yes, with a capital “C”!
2.Have you ever smoked? No, tried once, but nearly choked to death, so decided it wasn’t for me.
3. Do you own a gun? No.
4. Do you like listening to Christmas music? Yes, but glad it’s only around once a year.
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? A little, although I haven’t been to a dr. in over 15 yrs.
6. What do you think of hot dogs? Good once in a while, with chili on top.
7. Favorite Christmas song for all time? O Come All Ye Faithful
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Coffee
9. Can you do push ups? More like “flop downs”.
10. Who is your favorite Grey's Anatomy Character? Don't watch it.
11. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? Gold locket. Was a gift from Hubs.
12. Favorite hobby? Playing card games on the computer.
13. Do you eat "exotic" foods? Depends on what is considered “exotic”. Escargot - no. Caviar - no. Chocolate chip cookies - YES!
14. Do you have A.D.D.? Depends on what you want me to pay attention to.
15. What's one trait do you hate about yourself? Inability to stop myself from eating too many chocolate chip cookies.
16. Middle Name? If I gave you that information, I’d have to kill you so you couldn’t tell anyone else.
17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment? How should I answer this question. I don’t have any chocolate chip cookies in the house. Need to stop blogging and write out my Christmas cards.
18. Name 3 things you bought yesterday? toilet paper, bread, chocolate chip cookies.
19. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Coffee, diet Pepsi, water - in that order.
20. Current worry right now? Getting thru this weekend and the Christmas program at church.
21. Current hate? Lies.
22. Favorite place to be? Home.
23. How will you bring in the New Year? Probably snoring in front of the tv.
24. Where would you like to go? Nowhere. Just like being at home.
25. Name three people who will complete this? Probably Cheryl, and I don’t know who else.
26. Do you own flip flops? Yes, are there any other shoes to wear in the summer?
27. What shirt are you wearing? Short sleeve sweater.
28. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? No, they cause you to go slip-slidin’ away.
29. Can you whistle? Yes
30. Favorite color? Pink.
31. Would you be a pirate? Would I get to wear one of those cool eye patches and say things like “Ahoy, matey”? Yep, then I would.
32. What songs do you sing in the shower? I don’t sing in the shower.
33. Favorite girl's name? Hannah.
34. Favorite boy's name? Maxwell
35. What's in your pocket right now? money
36. Last thing that made you laugh? Conversation on IM a little while ago with my friend, Esther.
37. Bed sheets as a child? Cotton
38. Worst injury you've ever had? Ripping a hole in my leg from jumping on a broken chair as a kid. One and only time I’ve ever had stitches, and it left a big nasty scar that I still have.
39. Do you love where you live? No, don’t like it very much at all. Too many people.
40. How many TV's do you have in your house? Three, but at the moment, one of them is sitting in the middle of the floor, waiting to put in the trash.
41. Who is your loudest friend? CAN'T THINK OF ONE AT THE MOMENT!
42. How many dogs do you have? None
43. Does someone have a crush on you? I seriously doubt it.
44. Do you get embarrassed easily? No.
45. What is your favorite book? The Left Behind series.
46. What is your favorite candy? See’s Nuts ‘N Chews.
47. Do you know all the words to the Fresh Prince theme song? Not all of them.
48. What song do you want played at your funeral? You Picked A Fine Time To Leave Me, Lucille. O wait, my name’s not Lucille. O well, I’ll be dead, right, so what difference does it make? lol
49. What were you doing at 12 AM last night? Posting my last blog entry.
50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? I want to stay in bed a while longer ‘cause it’s too cold to get up right now!

Food Network In Super-Size!

2008-12-18T00:01:00.000-08:00

We got this new tv for our Christmas present to each other. 42" - it's HUGE! (And it's on the Food Network most of the time-hee hee) In order to fit it in our livingroom, we had to totally rearrange the furniture. That meant everything had to be taken out of my entertainment center, everything removed from the top of the piano, in fact, everything had to be removed from every piece of furniture in the room because every. single. piece. of. furniture. had to be moved. We did this last week on Thursday. Today we finally got the furniture placed and I put stuff back in/on the furniture. Now I may actually be able to put up a Christmas tree. Not too bad - it's only one week until Christmas. Last year, after I decorated the church and decorated for our women's party, I was burned out on decorating. So at home, all I put up was a little 3' tabletop model. It was white and I decorated it with some old pink and blue victorian ornaments that I had made a million years ago. When kidlet came home from school, she said it looked more like a baby shower tree. This year I plan to put up my 7' green tree and decorate it in red and gold. I'll have to move furniture a little more in order to have a place for it, but I'm thinking tomorrow night I may actually be able to get it erected and decorated. Keep your fingers crossed! lol

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

2008-12-17T14:13:00.000-08:00

So, I haven't done a single bit of decorating my house for Christmas, but got the church all deco'd, plus deco'd for and enjoyed the Women's Ministries Christmas party at Esther's house.
Most of the pics from the party came out blurred - again - I DO NOT know what is going on with my camera, but it's really starting to get on my nerves. Anyhow, here's some pics of the church, and I'll post a few from the party that aren't too blurry. These are pics from the lobby.

This is looking into the lobby from inside the sanctuary, one side wall (there are poinsettias inside those windows), and the communion table, which sits in front of the pulpit.

And here's Ester's front porch on the night of the party:

A few pics from inside:

So, there you have it. Now I'm bored with this post, so on to something else. Peace Out, peeps!

A Christmas Meme

2008-12-09T07:55:00.000-08:00

Saw this Meme over at Brenda's at It's All Good and thought it was a fun one to do.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial

3. When do you put up the tree? Usually the day after Thanksgiving, but still not up yet this year.

4. When do you take the tree down? Usually on New Year’s Day, but it has been known to stay up until February.

5. Do you like eggnog? No.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? When I was 10, my older brother bought me 5 brand new outfits for my Barbie.

7. Hardest person to buy for? Kidlet.

8. Easiest person to buy for? Hubs.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? We have a “Post Office” (a pocket holder that hangs on the wall) at church and everyone exchanges cards that way. I never seem to get around to mailing cards to people who don’t go to our church.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Cookies and hot glue sticks. From Hubs. The first Christmas after we had just bought our first home. No money, but it was the thought that counts, right? lol

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? It’s A Wonderful Life.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually after our Christmas program at church is completed. Then I run out and shop like a crazy woman, and most of the time, I get it all done in one day.

14 . Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not that I recall.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? See’s Candy. Nuts ‘N Chews.

16. Lights on the tree? Absolutely.

17. Favorite Christmas song? O Come All Ye Faithful

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Home.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Doc, Dopey, Sneezy, Sleepy,…O that’s the seven dwarfs, huh! Lol Just kidding. Blitzen, Comet, Cupid, Dancer, Dasher, Donner, Prancer, Vixen, and, of course, Rudolph.

20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? One on Christmas Eve, then Hubs reads the Christmas Story from the Bible. The rest of the gifts are opened on Christmas morning.

21. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Too busy usually to just enjoy the season.

22. Favorite ornament theme or color? Red & Gold.

23. What do you want for Christmas this year? To just be able to enjoy being with my family.

Playing "Catch Up" With Pix

2008-11-29T18:54:00.000-08:00

I know, dumb title, huh! But I got nothin' else, so there you have it! lol It's a little late and definately out of chronological order, but here are some pics that I got from my friend Esther (remember my camera made everything green, so had to borrow pix)of our September Women's Ministries meeting. We had decided to take our church Food Pantry as our project for the year, so we decorated everything with food items.

Also, the "price of admission" was to bring in at least one food item for the pantry. Here's part of the bounty:
We also ate good,
and Esther made this cute little cake to celebrate the Fall season:
I am so proud of our Women's Ministries at our church. We are a small church of about 85 people, which, in turn, means our Women's group is also small. But these ladies are so awesome! You give them a project, and they always go above and beyond the proverbial "extra mile". We provided enough food to fill 30 baskets for Thanksgiving, and we have leftovers to start on Christmas. And you saw the pix I posted of the day we put the boxes together. There were so many ladies who came to help that we were completely finished within about 15 minutes. These ladies love to give and they truly show the Love of Jesus in their giving. I love them so much. I am so thankful for the pleasure of working side by side with each and every one of them!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-25T20:46:00.000-08:00

Gobble, gobble, gobble, fat turkeys, fat turkeys. Gobble, gobble, gobble, fat turkeys are we. We're not here for living; we're here for Thanksgiving. Gobble, gobble, gobble, fat turkeys are we!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!

Work Day

2008-11-24T20:16:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend our Women's Ministries at church put together food boxes for Thanksgiving to give out to the homeless. Here we are in action:

Storms

2008-11-22T12:58:00.000-08:00

Don't tell God how big your storms are, instead, tell your storms how big your God is.
I just read this on someone else's blog and wanted to pass it on. I'm not going thru any personal storms at the moment, but am sharing some pretty major storms with some people who are very close to me. And I am telling those storms that my God is bigger than any storm the enemy can throw our way. The scriptures tell us that God is our Provider, our Healer, our Peace - He will supply our EVERY need, if we will only trust in Him!
So if you're going thru a storm, don't tell God how big it is, He already knows all about it. Instead, tell that storm that you have a great big wonderful God Who loves you beyond measure and will come on the scene at exactly the right moment and take you right thru that storm with flying colors!

Happy Veterans Day

2008-11-11T08:11:00.001-08:00

Today I just wanted to give honor to all those who have, or are right now, working to defend our country and the freedom we are able to enjoy because of their sacrifice. I am deeply grateful to live in a country where I'm able to voice my opinions and live the way I choose without fear of being arrested. That is because of the bravery of our service men and women, and also their families who make huge sacrifices for their loved ones being in the military. I say Thank You and may God continue to bless America.

Monday, Monday

2008-11-10T18:50:00.001-08:00

Today is Monday. What are you doing today? I've been working on thoroughly cleaning my house from top to bottom. Today I cleaned the top and inside of the refrigerator, and cleaned the hardwood floor in my livingroom. Wow, what an exciting day! Don't you want to read more? Are you waiting with baited breath for the next installment of my mundane little life? I thought so. lol
O I almost forgot to tell you all - had to get a new vaccuum cleaner last week. The old one puked its guts and gave up the ghost. I sent hubs to shop for one without me. I told him my only requirements were that it have attachments with a long hose and be the bagless kind. He came home with this nifty little gem:

It has all kinds of attachments, including a telescopic duster that self-cleans. It's the neatest thing - you just take it out and use it like any feather duster, then replace it back in it's little canister, turn on the vaccuum, press the lever, and badda-bing, badda-boom, that puppy twirls around and sucks the dirt right out of the duster! Does this much excitement over a vaccuum cleaner make me a total moron, or just a Martha Stewart wanna-be? I heard her say before that she actually ENJOYS ironing. I'm not saying I enjoy vaccuuming, 'cause believe me, I DON'T. But I totally lurve this vaccuum cleaner. So I haven't even minded do housecleaning. O, and MY Eureka BossD4 is flamin' red. Maybe I should paint some flames on it, ya think? :)
Peace out, people!

Do I Have To Have A Title To Every Post?

2008-11-09T15:16:00.000-08:00

I was just going to post some pics from the summer months' activities, but as I look at the pics, the quality is so poor that I won't be posting. For some reason, my camera is turning everything green. I thought I had it fixed, cause I was able to take a few good pictures, but now it's back to doing it's "green" thing again, and I don't know what the problem is. O well.
Just turned on my computer and found an email from one of my old high school friends. I was just thinking to myself that I was going to write to her as soon as the computer booted up, because we haven't talked for a while. So I was so excited to open up my emials and find a letter. Great minds think alike, no?! lol
Okay, it's Sunday, and I have to leave for choir practice in about 1/2 hour, but wanted to post something, just to keep myself in the habit of blogging regularly. Went to lunch today after church with some "new" members of our congregation. Technically, they aren't really new members - they grew up in this church, but moved away for many years. Recently they moved back to town, and are coming back to church. It was really fun spending time with them. I love this family - they always make me laugh. I'm thanking God that they are back "home"!
Guess that's about it for now. Bye-e-e-e

Catching Up On The Past

2008-11-08T14:25:00.000-08:00

Way back in August (?) I said I was going to post pics from my summertime events. I'm just now getting around to it. Sorry for the delay, but I've just now got the pics off my camera and onto the computer. Something's been wrong with the camera, and I even lost some of my pics. But here goes:
Some pics from August Women's Ministry- Wedding Theme, "Extravagant Love".

Too much to put all in one post, so maybe I'll be able to do one event a day until I get everything posted. TTFN!

Car Crash

2008-11-07T19:37:00.000-08:00

Just as I was about to post my last entry, kidlet called and said she had just been involved in a car accident. My worst fear! She’s been driving for about 6 months now, and she’s not exactly the safest driver in the world. But, this time, it was not her driving that caused the accident. She was sitting at a red light, and got rearended, and the impact pushed her into the car in front of her. So, she became a car sandwich. I thank God that she, nor anyone else, was injured. Her cute little car got pretty narlied up, though. Hubs and I raced to the scene of the accident, and found that her car was the only one that seemed to have any real damage. Great! Well, at least everyone involved has insurance. And again, I’m thankful to the Lord that no one was hurt. Cars can be fixed - not always so with lives. And, just maybe, this will make her be a little more safe in her own driving. Well, one can hope, right!

My Thoughts About The Election

2008-11-06T17:11:00.000-08:00

Two days later. I've been hearing a lot on the news and hearing and reading other people's thoughts on the election. So, I decided to "voice" my own opinions. I did NOT like the outcome of the presidential race. I do not like the fact that, as a conservative living in California, my vote virtually never counts, as California pretty much always goes to the democratic liberals. But, in this particular race, well in every race, I believe God is in total control. The scriptures teach us that no one gets into a place of power without God's knowledge and permission. It's all part of His Divine plan. That gives me comfort. I believe that these next four years are going to be a very bad time for America, but my trust and faith is in God. It's really exciting living in these times, because we are seeing Bible prophecy unfold before our eyes and that let's me know the time for Jesus' return for His Bride is growing closer each day.

Just Blow My Brains Out, Please!

2008-11-01T09:10:00.000-07:00

O, did anyone go to the sale at Joann's last week/weekend? I went early in the week and was going to buy some fabric to make tablecloths for an upcoming dinner party I'm hosting. I picked out the fabric, then couldn't decide if I wanted to use the idea I had or not, so I put it back and thought I'd wait til later in the week. I was busy all week, so on Saturday (last day of the 50% off sale) I decided I'd better go get the fabric. Oh. My. Goodness, what a zoo. First of all I couldn't find a place to park, which should have been my first clue. Once inside the store, I headed straight for the fabric dept. There were so many people waiting to have fabric cut that I decided to take a number and then shop around the store. Good thing, even after I chose my fabric and looked around for a while, I still stood in line for 1/2 hour before my number was finally called and I could get my fabric cut.
Next, I went to the floral dept. and chose some silk flowers. Then I proceeded to the register to check out. Another long line, although not quite as bad as the first line. Finally it was my turn to check out. The lady at the reigster was very nice, and we chatted as she rang my purchases. After she totalled it, and I paid, it occurred to me that it was way more than I had anticipated. So I questioned it. Sure enough, she had charged me three times as much for the fabric as it was supposed to be. So she was trying to figure out how much to refund to me. I DO NOT KNOW what in the world was going thru that woman's mind, or how she learned to do math, but I was so confused I just wanted to blow my brains out. To me, it was a simple thing - just void the purchase and start over, this time charging the correct price for the fabric. I must have been there in that line for another 30 minutes, watching her write number after number on a piece of paper, none of them making sense or coming to the correct amount. Finally, a manager came up to the register, and handed me $5 bucks and some change, and asked if that was the correct amount I was owed for the overcharge. I said yes, I think so, and so she said to me that if I was happy with that amount, they were happy with it, too. So I took the money and left. I actually think I was owed a little bit more, but at that point, I said to myself that it's just not worth it. Even if it were a hundred dollars owed to me, I think it just was not worth the hassle. By the time I fought excessively heavy traffic to get home, I just walked in the house and told hubs, "Could you please just shoot me and put me out of my misery? Thanks, honey."
Later that evening I went to the grocery store to buy some pantyhose for church the next day. One little item - that's all! Every single register was a long line of people buying LOTS of groceries. I chose the shortest line, which had two people in front of me. The person at the front of the line was about to pay, when they noticed something wrong with their price total. Could this have been any better "payback" to me for what I had caused at the fabric store a few hours earlier? I just leaned back against the counter and said under my breath, "Could someone please just blow my brains out?"

Some Recent Exploits

2008-10-31T10:38:00.001-07:00

I've been away so long that I almost didn't remember how to get to my own blog! In fact, it's been so long, that I've even been considering just scrappin' this blog and starting a whole new one. But, I guess I won't.
Well, how's everybody been? I've been checking up on some of you from time to time, but lately haven't even been doing that. I've been spending most of my online time lately on YouTube, looking up new songs for worship at church.
About 3 weeks ago, we hosted our District Leadership Conference at our church. I prepared a continental breakfast each day for everyone who attended. That turned out pretty well. Also got to see some old friends that I hadn't seen for a few years. Our District spans North to South from San Diego to McFarland, and West to East from Ventura to Ridgecrest, about 75 churches total. It was a fun week and we were blessed by the teaching.
Just the week before the conference, (the Friday before, to be exact) we got new carpet installed in our Fellowship Hall. That meant that everything had to be removed from the room, then put back after the carpet was installed. Right before that, I decided to redecorate our church foyer. I stripped off wallpaper, hubs textured the wall, then I painted and rearranged furniture, and made new floral arrangements. I think it turned out pretty nice.
Since my last post I've also done the decorations for 2 women't meetings, the last of which I had to also be the speaker, as our Women's Ministries Director was out of town. I also put up all the fall decorations inside the church, and had my friend Esther, make two wreaths to put up on the double doors that lead from the foyer to the sanctuary. Also, I shopped my head off to find things to "spruce up" the bathroom, the Men's in particular. I was looking for things that would look nice, be durable in a men's room, and ABSORB SOUND! I'm sure you all get my drift, right? Thought so! Anyhow, got a lot of nice little accessories for both restrooms.
We also began choir practice last Sunday afternoon, for this year's Christmas Program. I had to re-learn all those Christmas carols that I haven't played since we finished last year's program. We'll be rehearsing every Sunday afternoon til Christmas. Ugh!!!
I wanted to show you all some pictures of what I've been doing, but haven't loaded them off my camera onto the computer yet, so I guess you'll just have to wait longer to see what I've up to all summer and fall.
Okay, I've made this long enough for one post, so I'll close and do another post tomorrow.
TTFN and all that jazz! :)

Computer Instructions-Installing A Husband Program

2008-09-03T17:55:00.000-07:00

INSTALLING A HUSBAND

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as:
· Romance 9.5 and
· Personal Attention 6.5...
and then installed undesirable programs such as :

· NBA 5.0,
· NFL 3.0 and
· Golf Clubs 4.1.

Also Conversation 8.0 no longer runs and Housecleaning 2. 6 simply crashes the system.

· Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail. What can I do?

Signed,
Desperate.

DEAR DESPERATE,

First, keep in mind,
· Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an operating system.

Please enter command: ithoughtyoulovedme.html and try to download Tears 6.2 and do not forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update. If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.

However, remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1. Please note that Beer 6. 1 is a very bad program that will download the Farting and Snoring Loudly Beta.

Whatever you do, DO NOT under any circumstances install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.)

In addition, please do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5....0 program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend
· Cooking 3.0 and
· Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Good Luck!
Tech Support

I'm Still Here

2008-08-25T19:34:00.001-07:00

I'm a very bad blogger lately, aren't I. I haven't been here in almost a month! Well, actually I have been here, and have been reading your blogs, just not commenting. I've been really busy lately. I've also been really lazy, lately. Every day I tell myself, okay, today you need to write something on your blog. And every day, I never get around to it. Guess someone needs to send me one of those little gizmos, huh! lol You know, a 'Round Tuit'. Then maybe I would get back to regular posts.
I have been doing so many parties/events lately (decorations and food) and I have taken so many pictures that I want to post, but I don't know where to begin. I'm so far behind I may never catch up! All my pios from the last two months are still on my camera. I've got to get them onto the computer this week, though, because I have to get the camera cleared for our upcoming family reunion, which I'm also in charge of. I'm making a photo booth with a fun hawaiian picture that you just stick your faces in the holes and then your face is the 'person' on the backdrop.
Hopefully, after Labor Day, I will start posting some of the pics. Please don't think I'm not part of the bloggyland anymore. I promise I will get back to posting regularly. And, remember, even if I don't comment, I am still reading your blogs.
TTNT, Peace Out! :)

I'm All Shook Up

2008-07-29T12:19:00.000-07:00

That's right, folks, I live in So. California and we just got All Shook Up by a 5.4 earthquake. The epicenter was about 15 miles from my house, so we got a real good shake here. All my poor little animals are freaked out and my heart is still beating about a mile a minute, even though it's been approximately 45 minutes ago. Only felt one aftershock and it was very slight. When the quake hit, I was here at my computer. Remember all those decorative jars I bought last year? They are all sitting up on top of my computer desk, just inches above my head. Let me tell you, when the shaking started, I thought, "O no, those jars are going to come down right on top of my head!" So I quickly got out of the way, and, thankfully, none of them came down. I did have one vintage plate fall off the top of my kitchen cupboards and break, plus an antique teacup given to me by Hubs fell down off its shelf and broke. Our damage was extremely minimal compared to what it could have been. I have glass containers and china ALL.OVER.MY.HOUSE! Hubs and kidlet weren't home, we've all been in touch with each other and everyone is okay. My animals, other than just being scared half to death, are all okay. And things? They can be replaced. For those of you who've never experienced and earthquake - the good thing is that they only last seconds, not hours like when you're dealing with a tornado or hurricane, and once the shaking stops, you know if you've survived it or not! I dont like earthquakes, but I'll take earthquakes any day over the above mentioned types of storms that occur elsewhere in the country.

Training For Congress

2008-07-18T08:15:00.000-07:00

An Indian walks into a cafe with a shotgun in one hand and pulling a male buffalo with the other. He says to the waiter: 'Want coffee.' The waiter says, 'Sure , Chief. Coming right up.'
He gets the Indian a tall mug of coffee. The Indian drinks the coffee down in one gulp, turns and blasts the buffalo with the shotgun, causing parts of the animal to splatter everywhere and then just walks out.
The next morning the Indian returns. He has his shotgun in one hand, pulling
another male buffalo with the other. He walks up to the counter and says to the waiter 'Want coffee.' The waiter says 'Whoa, Tonto! We're still cleaning up your mess from yesterday. What was all that about, anyway?'
The Indian smiles and proudly says ...'Training for position in United States Congress: Come in, drink coffee, shoot the bull, leave mess for others to clean up, dAsappear for rest of day.