Fresh-Cut Flowers

A Birthday to Remember

2012-02-12T20:10:00.000-06:00

Wow, what a day. I've had almost 24 hours to recover and honestly, I'm still a little tired. I'm not sure where to begin, so I guess I'll start at the end, that's always a good place. At around 7 pm I stood just outside the church sanctuary with a platter of mini-cupcakes and tried to guess how many people were affected by my acts of kindness and I could not come up with an answer. And that, to me was a good number.

Please be prepared for a rather lengthy post as I recap the 33 Acts of Kindness.

At 7 am Eric, Lyndsay, Peanut and I arrived at a local coffee shop. I unloaded a few things from my trunk as Eric carried in a case of water from his. Inside I dropped off half a dozen pumpkin chai muffins, some apples, an orange and three bananas for the Enid Runner's Club. They were excited, though I do question their sanity as it was 16 degrees and they were out running. Next I gave a similar gift to the two hard working baristas and bought a $25 gift card and asked them to use it until it ran out. They gave me my coffee for free since it was my birthday. Peanut dropped off our 3 pairs of shoes plus a pair that YogaTeacherLibrarian had given to me to drop off for her, in the Soles 4 Souls donation box. With the first four acts of kindness down we sat and enjoyed a cup of coffee, a visit from a friend that came to drop off shoes too, and prepared ourselves for the bitter cold day ahead.

Our second stop was at one of the four fire stations Enid has where we gave them some donuts. I picked the one closest to my house because if I'm ever in trouble they will be the ones to come rescue me. The fire station has three firefighters at all times. They have 10 twelve hour shifts a month we were told. The first guy we met gave us a quick tour of the fire station. If you haven't ever done that I recommend you do so. It was a fun experience.

The third trip was one of our collective favorites. Just down the street from the fire station is a Laundromat. I have never used it but that doesn't mean that at some point in my life I won't need to. Nickel had give me $26 worth of quarters earlier that week so I armed my mini army with $2 of quarters each and we went inside to hand them out. The first lady I spoke to didn't really want to take my quarters at first but I explained that for my birthday I was giving instead of getting and it would really make my day if she would take my little gift. She did and so did the other 7 people in the Laundromat. Every single person in that place had a big smile on their face as we left and we felt great about it!

Next we donated clothes and moved on to the post office. Inside I took my box that was full to the brim of books, snacks, a magazine and a card for a US Soldier. I have no idea who will get my box, when they will get my box, or if they'll even like anything in my box (but I did put two kinds of girl scout cookies in there so maybe whoever it will like at least one of those), but I hope they do. I also sent my nieces and nephews some Valentines and candy that I'm sure they need. And then I mailed a few cards to some really cool kids that I know. I want them to know just how awesome I think they are. I don't think kids in general hear that enough.

By 9:30 am we had the first 10 acts of kindness down, but the rest of the day wouldn't pass as quickly. We set off from the library and met up with RebornGirl at the nursing home her uncle currently lives in. We took him some cookies made with Splenda and told him to share with his friends. If there are any left that is. I also gave the nursing home a large print copy of The Help by Kathryn Stockett. It is an amazing book that I'm sure any of the residents that like to read would enjoy reading. RebornGirl also went with us to Leonardo's Discovery Warehouse where she donated some costumes her daughter had outgrown and I made a small cash donation.

Our next resting stop was Public Library. We gave the wonderful librarians hard at work a plateful of cookies that Lyndsay had made. Then gave a homeless man that comes to the library frequently a game of UNO. He likes to play cards, is good with math, and is small enough for him to carry around in his bag. He was really excited. I wish we would've had time to play a game with him but he was busy using his computer time. The final act of kindness there was simply taping 5 quarters to the vending machine so that someone got a free soda!

Here's where the day turned complicated. The next two locations I had planned out were closed on the weekends. Or at least their offices were. One was the YWCA and the other a boys home. So we took some cookies to the Enid Police Department and the cook staff at one of the local hospitals. At the hospital we asked our cookie recipient if she knew of anyone that needed flowers. After a moment's thought she directed us to the 5th floor south's nursing station. There we met a Nurses' Aide that had recently lost her brother. We gave her a small bouquet of flowers. She seemed pleased but she still had sad eyes. Maybe she's sick of flowers. I don't know.

We ate lunch at Chilis and afterward we gave the waiter a big tip and I bought a $20 gift card. As we were leaving I handed the gift card to woman who had just sat down wit her two kids. She was flabbergasted that a total stranger would just hand her a gift card to use for lunch. That was another one of my favorite gifts of the day.

We took about 50 Valentines and a bag of Smarties to the skating rink where one of my friends work. She agreed to put the Valentines and candy in the shoes of the kids so that they picked them up as they were leaving. I hope some of those kids smiled.

You know how crazy Walmart is on a Saturday? Well we went there anyway. I wanted to take one or two shopping carts back to the store because they were everywhere all over the lot. Peanut and Lyndsay got a little carried away and were trying to push about 12 back to the store. They got as far as the front door when two Walmart associates stopped them and said they'd get in trouble if the girls pushed them in. I think what they meant was they'd get in trouble by being shown up by two girls (one of which is 11 years old). Then, since the Homeless Ministries is closed on the weekends I bought some oral hygiene care products that I will drop off sometime during the week. And since Walmart is crazy I let another customer go ahead of me in line. The guy checking us out that I was insane and more so once I told him I was doing 33 nice things today. Oh well, can't please everyone.

After all that we were thirsty again so we stopped at a Sonic. In Enid, the Sonics have drive thrus as well as the pull up and park spots. We went through the drive through and while paying for our drinks I also paid for the car behind me. It was happy hour and they had only ordered two drinks, it was a little over two bucks, but they saved two bucks! Then we took the hard workers at EMS our last batch of cookies.

After that we took a little break. Eric had left us after lunch to go practice with the bands he was playing with this weekend and I dropped Lyndsay back off at her mom's house so she could play with her nephews. Peanut and I went home and I managed to take about a 33 minute nap.

At 5:30 Peanut and I met back up with Lyndsay (Eric was there too but he was busy getting ready to play in the worship band). The three of us greeted the attendees and gave them their weekly bulletin. Peanut passed out carnations to the women and I handed the kids Valentines. I gave both Lyndsay and Eric thank you cards with little gifts inside and I also gave the Nursery worker who takes care of Baby Butter when he doesn't sleep through church and the Children's pastor and his wife a little card and gift as well.

My final act of kindness, as you know from the start of the blog, was handing out mini-cupcakes after church. Lyndsay and I both took a door and so did LibrarianFriend (she made the cupcakes AND took off the little papers before hand). As people exited I told them it was my birthday and asked if they wanted a little bit of birthday cake. We gave the kids cupcakes too of course as their parents went and fetched them.

The day was long but it was worth it. It was, by far the most memerable birthday of my life and out did last year's crappy birthday by a long shot! Will I ever do this again? Probably not just like this. I do think everyone should do something like this at least once in their life because it is a truly amazing experience and I will gladly help anyone that wants to tackle something like this themselves. But I probably will make giving a part of my birthday ritual. We'll see what next year brings.

The Itinerary

2012-02-09T18:48:00.000-06:00

I've had a few friends ask me about my itinerary for the Saturday's 33 Acts of Kindness. Here's where we're going to be starting at 7am and ending around 7pm:

Davincis

Fire Station on North Grand

Suds Yer Duds on North Grand

Hope Outreach

Post Office

Highland Park Manor

Leonardo's

Library

Sequoyah Enterprise

YWCA

Skatetown

Lunch--unknown location at this time

Walmart

Sonic

Enid First Assembly

Several of these are just going to be quick 10 minute or less drop offs. Others will be more time consuming. And most have more than one act of kindness associated with it. Further details will be provided the day of the event.

Getting Things Ready

2012-02-03T19:38:00.000-06:00

With my birthday just a week away I'm trying to get a good start on the things I know I can have done before the busy day. Today I spent part of the day getting my valentines ready to go in the mail. Which reminds me, I need to get one address from my mom. Note to self....

I wrote out some cards to a couple of kids I know telling them that I think they're pretty awesome and to keep up the good work. I still have lots to do though. One of places we're going is the skating rink and I need about a hundred valentines ready to go into the shoes of these unknown to me children. It's a little thing, but a valentine and a piece of candy when they pick up their shoes might bring a smile to their faces. Candy usually works that way for me at least.

There are still plenty of things I need to do between now and then though. I need to clean out the closets and gather outgrown shoes and clothes for Soles for Souls and Hope Outreach. And then there's the baking, but I'm saving that for the 10th so that everything will be good and fresh. And finally there are some phone calls to make. I'm exhausted already thinking about it, but it's going to be so worth it!

Almost Seven Years, But We're Not Counting

2012-01-31T21:25:00.000-06:00

I've had several conversations lately about this blog. People always seem amazed when I tell them I've had it for nearly 7 years. In some ways it doesn't feel that long but in others it defiantly does.I've met some pretty amazing people, strengthened acquaintances and formed lasting friendships thanks to this blog.

I've introduced you to my family through pictures and stories and I don't see an end to this blog for some time even though my posts are sporadic at best these days.

Here's the first picture of Peanut I ever posted here in August 2005 with her then new dog.

My gosh is she just a little thing. Snoogans looks the same though even though the leash has faded into an ugly, dingy, ratty blue.

Here is Peanut in a recent photo. I mentioned in my last blog that she had recently attended her first winter formal. She's in middle school and they think they need to dance with boys in middle school. Yuk! Bleck! Ew!!! They have cooties. But she doesn't seem to care as much as she did once upon a time.

All grown up, my girl. Isn't she beautiful?! She's not finished amazing me yet. And her brother, well, he's just getting started on his adventure. I hope you'll continue to watch my family grow and mature over the years.

Leave me a comment. Let me know I'm not here by myself.

Copy Cat? Nah

2012-01-30T21:22:00.000-06:00

My friend Danielle asked me tonight if I really made all those cookies on my blog.

[insert my confused look on my face]

I pulled up my blog on the computer.

[insert a confused look on her face]

She whipped out her phone and brought up my blog. Only it wasn't my blog. The name was ever so slightly different.

FreshCutFlours.blogspot.com is an adorable website (started 3 years after this blog I will only note is a hushed whisper) where this lovely, I'm sure, lady named Terri makes some wonderful looking cookies. Her blog is better designed and I will admit that I'm a little jealous.

But I also don't update this blog like I did once upon a time when Peanut (who just attended her first winter formal) said such clever things. As Butter grows up he'll be saying and doing more fun things that will require a blog post I hope and then I can blog like the wind again.

But anyway, go check out Terri and her beautiful cookies. Tell her hello from the other fresh cut flowers. :)

12 days and counting

2012-01-29T18:49:00.000-06:00

In 12 days....well really, in 300 hours....or in 18015 minutes I will begin celebrating my birthday. My birthday has always been my favorite holiday of the year. It is closely followed by my very least favorite holiday, and that's Valentine's Day. But if you want to read about my hatred of V-Day you'll have to read about it here because that's not what this post is about.

No, this about about my birthday. The happiest day of the year. Well, at least is for me. But this year I want to share the happiness with my friends. With total strangers. With you.

How? Well, if you've been within talking distance or on this blog you've probably heard me talking about my birthday wish. That's to do 33 Acts of Kindness for my 33rd birthday. I don't mind people knowing how old I am, mostly because they usually don't believe I'm that old. Thank you mother for giving me life and great skin!!

So today I had lunch again with my friend Eric. We were joined today my our mutual friend Lyndsay who kept me entertained with her phone saying "Expecto patronum" every time she got a text message (it's a Harry Potter thing if you don't know already). Our details are all set with the day broken down into two hour blocks of time and we're ready to go. More or less. The easy part is done. The work has yet to begin.

On February 10th I will be making one batch of muffins and three batches of cookies. There is some shopping to be done as we will be mailing out a care package to one of our brave soldiers overseas and valentines to some pretty neat kids. I need to gather up shoes we've outgrown or just don't wear for Soles for Souls, and clothes for Hope Outreach. And I also need to prepare about 100 valentines to be given out to random kids at the skating rink.

But we can do this.

And wouldn't it be crazy if we did MORE than 33 acts of kindness in one day? Is it possible? What would happen if you spent an entire day doing one act of kindness after another?

The possibilities are unimaginable.

T Minus 26 Days and counting

2012-01-15T21:28:00.000-06:00

When you last heard from me on this blog I was telling you about a crazy idea for my birthday. Well guess what, my birthday is closer and I'm still on board for this crazy idea.

What crazy idea? Well, in case you have slept since my last post, or are just too lazy to scroll down a tiny bit to read it I'll recap. Ready?

33 Acts of Kindness
1 Day

There, now you're up to date.

Today I had a late lunch with my truly amazing and talented friend Eric (FollowEricdotCom). Eric has masterfully coordinated a few blog-a-thons (which you can read about on his blog) in the recent past and I decided if my plan was to work I needed someone even better than me at planning this day out.

I went in to our meeting with a list of a baker's dozen of intentional acts of kindness I'd like to accomplish. Only one did we really cross off. Giving blood would be great but I can't actually give blood, I had just written it down after seeing it listed on a website.

Throughout our meal we brainstormed and I was in awe of how much we came up with. Our list doubled in just an hour with the possibility of more after some phone calls are made.

Giving to local charities is high on list as is giving to people who serve our community. I see a lot of baking in my future.

Do you want to help?

Several of my friends have expressed the desire to help out with a couple of the Intentional Ats of Kindness but don't want to commit to the whole day. That is fine! In our next meeting Eric and I (and anyone else that wants to join in on the fun) are going to map out our plan of attack. Because of the time limits I have placed on myself (roughly 12 hours) we want to minimize travel time and will zone these acts of kindness the best we can. Anyone interested in helping can comment here on the blog, comment or message me on facebook, or call/text me if you have my number.

Want to help but can't be in Enid or just have other plans on February 11th? Well, we're taking donations. Gently used clothes, shoes, and canned goods will all be donated to various charities throughout the day. You can give me any of those items up until we drop off.

Like to bake? Well, I have a list of baked goodies I'd like to pass out from sugarfree (or rather Splenda-made) cookies, to brownies and cupcakes.

I'm really looking forward to my birthday and I hope that follow along and join in with your own intentional acts of kindness!

Acts of Kindness: Planning Stages 1

2011-10-30T07:01:00.000-06:00

Already ideas have been pouring in for my birthday celebration. Thank you to those that have tweeted, facebooked, and simply just bounced ideas around with me.

The feedback has been very positive with only a few raised eyebrows and a reminder that I would only have about 45 minutes per act of kindness IF I worked the 24 hours straight. I plan to sleep a few hours of that day starting somewhere between 6 and 8 am so really I'm looking at 12 hours or roughly 20 minutes per act of kindness. But I still feel this is possible with the help I hope to have. That and some great planning.

Some of the ideas I've got so far are (remember this will be just days before V-Day)

Giving away homemade valentine cookies
Giving out valentines or just special notes under some windshield wipers
Prepaying for someone's coffee (or several someones)
Helping elderly put groceries in their cars

There have been other really really great ideas but I don't want to give everything away already! Some of these things will require more than my allotted 20 minutes but other things will take much much less so I'm confident that this will all work out. I want to hear from you so please keep your thoughts and ideas coming!

Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind. --Eric Hoffer

I Need Your Help

2011-10-29T09:42:00.000-06:00

A Call To Action.

Actually, it's Saturday, nearly 10 am and I'm not exactly pumping on all cylinders here yet. But I do have some ideas percolating along with my coffee. Or at least the coffee in my mind as I'm currently at work and am drinking the hard stuff- Coke.

A thought has been rolling around in my mind for a few weeks now. Now normally, I don't start planning my birthday before Halloween but this year is different. On my next birthday I will turn 33. That's 1/3 of a century and reason enough for me to go all out.

But I'm not going to celebrate in what many would consider a normal way. There will be no big party, no balloons, ~~no cake~~(there will be cake) and heaven help us all if there is another blizzard and my husband and kids have the flu this year.

Next February I'm going to celebrate my birthday with 33 Acts of Kindness. There are only 24 hours in the day so this will take some careful planning (probably involving a few lunch meetings) to map out a plan for these 33 Acts of Kindness.

My friend Eric has already signed up. He's always looking for a good reason to have a blogathon and helping me perform acts of kindness sounded like fun. I, of course, am taking additional volunteers and more importantly, I'm taking ideas. I have five or six already and am also checking out the ideas from HelpOthers.org but that's far from my goal of 33.

So the call to action that I mentioned earlier, here's where you come in. Comment here (if blogger will let you) with your ideas or support, comment on Facebook, or tweet your help to @leslee79z.

I'll try to update this blog at least monthly as more information becomes available. I look forward to hearing and reading all your ideas and implementing them as well.

Road Trip

2011-10-15T19:55:00.000-06:00

My friend Eric loves any excuse for a blogathon. Today he and his merry troupe of friend a doing a road trip blogathon. They got up early this morning and after breakfast set out on a road trip taking in some of the sites, and coffee and food along the way. You can read about it about here.

Nickel and I have been on a few out of town trips. Some more fun than others. I can recall a road trip I took with three friends about six months after graduating high school that ended with my head next to a tree on the side of a mountain, but that wasn't so much fun as it was scary, at least part of it. But none of which I really feel are worthy of a blog. So instead I will bore you with vehicles that may or may not be fun to take a road trip in. Enjoy.

The stiletto. Everyone woman needs at least one pair of these in the closet and one in the garage is what I'm saying. Lipstick to match is must!

For a short bus, this big yellow is pretty pimping!

I think the turtle and the duck should go together. For those friends with large groups that have to take more than one car. I call shotgun!

Peanut would love to have a purple and pink shark to cruise around town in.

The snail and horse and carriage are pretty steampunk! I love them! And bonus with the snail, the kids ride on top!!

And last but not least, the Oscar Mayer wiener van. "Oh I wish I was an Oscar Mayer wiener..."

Be Still

2011-07-27T22:10:00.000-06:00

It'll take more than 140 character to express my love for silence so I have to blog instead of Tweet. Darn, right? The three of you that read my blog might appreciate a few extra words now and then.

Today my supervisor took me out for a milkshake on our break today. She was worried that I was overstressed and perhaps unhappy with my job. Overstressed yes, but for the most part I really do love my job. I'm surrounded by books all day long. I get to talk about books all day long. And I get paid! What's not to love there? Now, the people well there lies the problem. I'm teasing. Mostly.

Over the last seven months I've met a lot of people. Several of these people don't have jobs. Several of these people probably don't sleep in a house most nights. But most of these people are still very kind and polite. And after seven months I've even started remembering names and faces. I know there aren't very many people in their lives that care enough to remember who they are. One gentlemen, I know, lives in his car. He stays in the library for most of the 12 hours we are open. I guessed his name when he walked up to the counter the other day and he smiled the broadest smile because I knew his name. We may exchange only three or four sentences every day or two and he never expected me to remember. But it's not just the names of the everyday homeless that I remember. A well to do patron comes in every so often to bring us gifts of books he just couldn't wait to read and went out and bought himself. Several months ago he was telling me about some Michael Connelley stories (author of Lincoln Lawyer and Fifth Witness) and mentioned another series by this author that we didn't have in our collection. I requested them and a volume containing three stories was purchased. When he was in a few weeks back checking out different books I asked if he had seen the one we had just bought. He was surprised I remembered a conversation from back in early spring. Some people, some conversations I do remember. Others I don't. But it's people like these two guys that make me really love my job. That make me look forward to going in to work to help.

The flip to that coin though are the patrons that come in that have had a bad day. Or just a bad life. They're rude. They're never satisfied. They're impossible to please. They are no fun to be around. But they're everywhere, in every job especially jobs that deal with the public. And then there are the children. The children whose parents come to play on the computer for two hours while their children loudly run amok with no supervision. The children whose parents kick them out of the house at 9 am and expect their kids to stay gone all day long so they can sleep or whatever, and no they don't always go home for lunch. This group of people I don't like, or rather the irresponsible lazy parents of the children and the mean people. This group of people tends to dominate the library in the summertime. With temperatures rising peoples nerves are getting thinner. Luckily, school here starts in just a month and hopefully our days of 100+ degree weather will end soon as well.

But no matter what kind of day I'm having, good or bad I look forward to when I'm off work, the children and Nickel are in bed fast asleep, and when the house is totally quiet except for the hum of the air conditioner. When I close my eyes and take a deep breath and just savor the peace. Savor the quiet.

Psalm 46:10a says “Be still, and know that I am God". Often I shorten that verse even more and remind myself "Be still, and know". And when I'm savoring the quietness I shorten it even more to simply "Be still".

More Crack!

2011-07-24T19:24:00.000-06:00

Baby Butter doesn't talk. Well, he doesn't talk much. He's three years old now, has an 11 year old sister so mostly he points and grunts. His needs are provided for him sometimes even before he needs them. And he communicates very well without words.

Recently he has woken me up at 5 in the morning holding a cup and a the bottle of juice. Two guess as to what he wanted and the first one doesn't count.

One of my closest (and newly married!) friends is a speech patholigist so we've gone to see her a few times. I'm not overly worried about his lack of verbal communication, but a little help never hurts in my opinion. With her we've been working on some baby sign language as well as the actual words. The signs make it clear what "Mo" and "Jew" mean.

Tonight Butter again brought me a cup and the bottle of juice and he said "Mo" and "Jew". We're still getting the hang of two word sentences. After seeing to his thirst he showed me an empty bowl and asked for "Mo". We walked to the kitchen and said "More crackers?"

"Mo Crack!" he replied. I laughed. Close enough.

The Update

2011-07-13T18:14:00.000-06:00

I intended to post this a week ago but as life goes, it was busy, hectic, and after my sigh of relief I just moved on.

The Results
The ultrasound results came back on July 5th. Everything that should be there was there. Everything looked like they were suppose to look. And the doctor saw nothing abnormal.

First sigh of relief.

I did have to wait a couple of days for the results from my HE4 blood test. It too came back fine. PTL!

Another Dr. Visit
Baby Butter turns three this month. That of course meant a visit to Dr. Pontious. Since I haven't seen him myself since he removed the child from me for just a general health check up I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone.

Gee, it looks like my blood pressure is up. I don't know how that could've happened. Honestly though, I've been having headaches for several months and I just ignored them, took ibuprofen and called it good. I'm still adjusting to the blood pressure medicine that doc put me on. Hopefully the minor side effects will ease quickly.

So there it is. The update of my life for anyone that's interested in reading this blog. Next post will probably be about a certain little boy's birthday.

Feeling Nervous

2011-06-29T15:49:00.000-06:00

This isn't going to be one of my funny posts. Or at least it's not suppose to be. If there is laughter, it's a nervous laughter.

A week and a half ago I went to my doctor to have my yearly check up. I always request a CA125 blood test when I go. The CA125 is an ovarian cancer pre-screening blood test. You see, I have this particular type of cancer in my family. Up until a year ago it was only on my dad's side of the family, his mother died when I was about 8 years old. Last summer my mom's sister also fell victim to this horrible cancer. I do what I can to watch for this almost silent until it's too late, killer by the blood test.

Last Friday the doctor's office called. My levels were up. The CA125 is not a definitive test. And my levels were not high, just up. "Don't worry," they said. Ha. And and I say Ha-Ha! Don't worry? I roll my eyes, two people in my family have DIED because of this cancer and I'm not suppose to worry?!

So today I found myself entering a hospital for further testing. Another blood test, this time and HE4. Another ovarian cancer screening blood test and an ultra sound. I was alone, but that was by choice. I knew I would be a basket case if I allowed my friends to accompany me as they requested. Nickel of course didn't ask to go and I didn't ask him. That would have been harder. As it was, I managed to keep a brave face the entire time.

I won't have any results for a day or two. All I know is the tech that did the ultrasound took lots of pictures and measurements. She wasn't allowed to tell me anything good or bad. So I wait. I hate waiting. Hopefully by this time tomorrow I'll have good news and I can cry and release all this tension I have built up. But for now I head back to work.

Isaiah 30:18
But God's not finished. He's waiting around to be gracious to you. He's gathering strength to show mercy to you. God takes the time to do everything right—everything. Those who wait around for him are the lucky ones.

Blogathon revisited

2011-06-28T18:44:00.000-06:00

I have ~~stolen~~ borrowed, my friend Eric's IPAD. It is pretty awesome. I want one. Eric doesn't seem to mind that I've ~~stolen~~ borrowed his IPAD. Today we are celebrating his birthday in typical Eric fashion with a blogathon. I'm not one to pass up on a blogathon so here I am in the cafe blogging! He's a little distracted. I wonder just how far I can make it out the door. I'll try that later when he's not looking.

Meanwhile in the real world I need to report an addition our family. Her name is Phoebe Kat, and yes she's a cat. Was it obvious? She is fluffy and grey and she loves attention. I'm still undecided on how much I like her. And as a side note, I have sang "Smelly Cat" to her on more than one occasion.

Updates

2011-06-23T20:35:00.000-06:00

It's hard to update my blog when nothing noteworthy is going on in my life. I've read several books. I've worked. I've played with the kids who are growing up way too fast. In fact, Baby Butter turns three next month. We are without our big pool this summer so we're thinking about having cousins, aunt, uncles, grandparents and friends meet up with us at the Tulsa Zoo then possibly a dip in my BIL's pool. It's still in the planning stages. But since it's just a few weeks away I better get on the ball!

Peanut recently spent a couple of weeks on the pretty side of the state. The first week she stayed with my parents who doted at her. The second week she went to the church camp I went to from the ages of 9-19. It's pretty cool that she's experiencing some of the same things I experienced at that age. Peanut jets off for her next church camp adventure next week. She's very excited. I'm excited for her. I always hate to see her leave but I know she needs these experiences and having one less kid underfoot is sometimes a mild relief. The rest of her summer calendar is open if anyone else wants to take her! ;-)

Nickel and I celebrated our 12th anniversary this month. We went out for lunch and yes, we took the kids. That's what happens when grandparents insist on living on the pretty side of the state. Not that we would've done more had we had the sitters. We're just not that couple. We acknowledged it, kissed each other and told each other how much loved them but that's about it. 12 is not so special even if it is rare in today's society. I hear that at 17 years some couples celebrate by going to see Harry Potter. I don't know that we'll ever get that crazy!

So that in a nutshell is what's going on in Fresh-CutVille.

I did warn you it wasn't noteworthy.

Posting Comments

2011-06-14T07:36:00.000-06:00

For the last couple weeks I've noticed that blogger has had some difficulty allowing people to post comments. And I've had trouble posting comments on other blogs as well. This does not make for a happy blogger.

But what really upsets me is the fact that the spammers don't seem to be effected by this. At all. I have comment moderation and allow all the comments from people I know but fliter out the spam. I get so excited when I see a comment waiting for me in my inbox and then the anger I feel when it's just another spammer leaves me a little on the Hulking side.

However, I've made a few little tweeks to the commenting portion of the blog and hopefully you will be able to post comments again.

I hope so.

You wouldn't like me when I'm angry...

Who is your most fabulous friend?

2011-06-03T20:00:00.001-06:00

The third question today comes from Constance and she asks:

Who is your most fabulous friend? ;)

Well, Constance. I have to tell you, I don't have just one most fabulous friend, but rather a small, elite group of friends. They are my GNO friends (and that G in not silent because there is nothing silent about this group of ladies).

In the beginning there were four of us. We met about once a month to drink coffee and tell stories of the things happening in our lives.

Pictured here from top to left: Abby, Julie, Vickie, and myself

Then we added a couple more.

From left to right: Abby, Constance, Vickie, Julie (in the back) and Melodie

Our lives continually change. Abby moved and Julie will soon move away too. But I know that no matter where I am in my life I can pick up the phone or drop by their house and these girls will make me laugh when I am sad. Feed me when I am hungry. And love me despite all my flaws. They are my besties. Not to be confused with my Beasties, they're obviously Boys. ;)

Beastie Boys

Why do gnats always try to fly into your nose and eyes?

2011-06-03T19:00:00.006-06:00

Our second question of the Blogathon comes again from ibmeloudious and she asks:

Why do gnats always try to fly into your nose and eyes?

UGH! I hate gnats. And what's up with the silent G? Is it really necessary? It's as annoying as the little flying bug itself. Without going back to school to ask a college professor I've come up with some reasons why gnats are attracted to your face.

Their life purpose is to make your life harder.
Eye Gnats (one variation of gnats) are actually attracted to eyes because they feed on mucous or sebaceous secretions, pus, and blood. Yum-O!
They like decaying stuff. Like trash. Or bad breath.

If any of you have more information regarding gnats and would like to share with ibmelodious please feel free to comment, refute, or gripe in the comment section!

What would you do if I handed you a squirrel in a sweatshirt?

2011-06-03T18:00:00.046-06:00

If you missed the post From the Stacks you might not understand, but then again, you might not care. The gist of things is for my friend Eric's Blogathon I've opened up my blog in a "Ask the Librarian" sorta way.

The first question I received came from the adventurous ibmelodious and she asked

What would you do if I handed you a squirrel in a sweatshirt?

Wow. What a great question because you never really know when you're going to be faced with this type of situation.

For instance, perhaps you bought this cute little squirrel at Sugar Bush Squirrel for 28.99 plus S&H.

If that were the case, I would simply say "Thank you it's adorable! I can't decide where I want to put this little treasure." And a week later you would receive a thank you card in the mail or handed to you in another social occasion.

But if I were handed a live squirrel wrapped up in a sweatshirt I would probably just throw the sweatshirt down and run away as fast as I could like a girl screaming my head off. You know squirrels. They have fangs and stuff.

However, if this squirrel were injured and that is the reason it is wrapped up in a sweatshirt I will ask you "Where was your towel?" then we could contact one of the local wildlife rescue people and after the adventure we would sit in one of the local area coffee bars and retell the story over and over until it grew in epic proportions and Lifetime asked if they could make a tv-movie of the event. We would of course agree and then pick out the actresses we would like to play us. I'm going with Sandra Bullock or Tina Fey.

From the Stacks

2011-05-30T20:59:00.001-06:00

I told my friend Eric that I would have this post up the Friday before the great Blogathon of 2011. But with so many things going on it didn't happen. Hopefully this will still work like I hope.

So, here's the thing. Eric and Ben are going to blog, vlog, and drink coffee for 24 hours. Why yes, yes they are a little crazy. But it's going to be fun too. I asked Eric if I could hang out and participate and he told me that he was going to ask me the same thing. I love it when things happen like that! So my part of this Blogathon will be this:

You ask the questions in the comment section of this post and I'll answer them.

Sounds easy enough, right? I'm even going to change my settings to allow even non-bloggers to post comments. But it'll be more fun if you at least sign your name to your comment. If I deem the question awesome I'll even answer it in its own blog post during the Blogathon. So... what do you want to know.

*P.S. I feel the need to say that ridiculous questions will most likely be answered with ridiculous answers. :)

**Edit** I should mention to any new readers that the reason I'm doing this is because I work in a library. Every day people call or come into the library because they have questions and believe that the people working in the librarys will have the answer. Sometimes we do. Sometimes we just point them into the direction they will most likely find their answers. Sometimes we spell words like "Sapulpa" for them.

A 24-Hour Blogathon? Sign me up!

2011-05-22T17:55:00.000-06:00

My friends Eric and Ben are a little crazy. That's why I love them so much. A few months ago they dreamed up this crazy idea of staying up for 24 hours and blogging about different things to do in this flat town in the middle of nowhere. I believe copious amounts of coffee will be involved (major selling point for me!). The dream grew and grew and there is quite a little following now. Various other blogger friends, Melodie and Abby are just a couple of my girlfriends that are joining up with these guys with me. We're going to have a blast and you should check it out, participate, and support us with tons of comments.

Friday, the 27th will be a preview night and look for a new blog post here at Fresh-Cut Flowers and check out exactly what my contribution to the Blogathon will be! But for more information now check out Ben and Eric.

See ya then!

A Buttery Good Day

2011-04-24T18:50:00.000-06:00

I work every other Friday. Though, I don't particularly like working on Saturday to get these Fridays off I make the most of my Fridays. I try to arrange my schedule to run errands and make appointments to these Fridays off but lately there hasn't been much going on. That means Baby Butter and I get to have a day of F-U-N!!!

This last Friday we slept in. Late. We're talking 7:30 am! Amazing, I know. After being lazy we finally got dressed and made our way to Winchell's for donuts. Here is my Baby Butter enjoying his chocolate donut with sprinkles.

After we washed our hands we went to the library. You'd think after spending all week there that would be the very last place I'd want to go on my day off. Well, here's the deal. When Peanut and later Butter were smaller I hated going to the library because they never let me look at books. I'd let them play and they'd scream when it was time to go to the other side of the library for mommy to look at books and as you know, screaming is not allowed in the library. After a while I just stopped taking them. Now that I work there I see the books when they're being checked in, shelved, or are unpacked from boxes before processing. I often take books home and am never want of a good, or at least different, book. (Don't get me started on all the bad ones I've started this year that after a hundred pages or so I just couldn't finish.) So now I don't mind taking the kids to the library anymore because I don't need to looks at books and can just let them play and look at books and when we're done, we're done and we go home.

Batman...I mean, Butter-man likes the puzzles. I'm mean and make him put the one he's torn apart together before he can get the next one out. Well, that's what we're working on anyway. More often than not I end up putting 3/4 of the forgotten puzzle back together so he can move on. But it's a learning process that we're working on.

He's also a big fan of the chess board. We're still working on the rules of this game but he tries. He just forgets that he can't move the Queen in his first move. And more often than not the Knights end up kissing somewhere off the board. Or maybe they're just talking about horse power. ;)

So there you go, updated pictures of Baby Butter.

Nazca Lines

2011-04-15T16:47:00.001-06:00

Have you heard about the Nazca Lines? There are several geoglyphs (a drawing in the ground) in southern Peru that date back a couple thousand years, best guess. They are really awesome and you should check out the pictures online.

I learned about them a few months ago when it was a slow night at the library and my coworker and I were looking up crop circles. The Nazca Lines are not crop circles but in our exploration I stumbled on these.

Flash forward to today when another coworker said "Have you ever heard of some lines in South America in animal shapes?" and I replied, "Yes, yes I have." I quickly did a Google search and voila! there was all the information for her. I'm sure she was impressed.

I will never again complain about being so bored at work that I'm "forced" to play on the internet. Because I just never know when that information will come in handy.

:)

The Last Lecture

2011-04-07T20:20:00.000-06:00

I did it again. I read a book that made me cry. You'd think after reading The Art of Racing in the Rain I would've learned my lesson. It appears I have not.

I've been eyeballing this book ever since I started working at Hastings. I saw an interview with Randy Pausch on Oprah and was blown away by his story. In case you don't know, Randy Pausch was diagnose with terminal cancer and as a professor he was able to give a final speech, or Last Lecture. Go here to watch the YouTube of it. I dare you not to cry. It's a little over an hour long but worth every minute of your time.

Seeing as I ~~am terrified~~ don't like to cry I purposely avoided the book but still I was drawn to it. I'll never read it, I told myself as an excuse not to buy it. But then I started working at the library and I was no longer tempted to buy the book. Instead, the local library not only had the book but they also had the book on audio. So one day, I took the plunge and checked out the BOCD.

Though I teared up regularly, Randy used humor and inspiration in his book that's not about dying, but about living. Here are some of the things I took with me from this book.

Two quotes from his father, "never make a decision until you have to". And, "just because you're in the driver's seat, doesn't mean you have to run over people." The first I had never really thought about but makes sense. How many times do I make snap decisions when another choice would've been better? Plenty. The second one just makes sense period.

When you see yourself doing something badly and nobody's bothering to tell you anymore, that's a bad place to be. You may not want to hear it, but your critics are often the ones telling you they still love you and care about you, and want to make you better.

I recently had my 6 week review at work. For the most part it was a good review but there were a few things said that stung just a bit. My three month review will take place in the next few weeks but I'm no longer dreading it. They're taking the time to tell me what they see I can improve on. They still care. That's a good thing.

Brick walls are there for a reason. They give us a chance to show how badly we want something.

Ah, isn't this the truth? So many things in life are too easy for us and the generation coming up. We need challenges in our lives to show us just what it is we're willing to fight for. This next quote is closely related.

Brick walls are there for a reason. And once you get over them -even if someone has to practically had to throw you over- it can be helpful to others to tell them how you did it.

I've faced a few brick walls in my life. Some I can tell you about easily. Others are still a little hard to talk about but I will if you ask me. I hope the next time I'm up against a brick wall I look at it like this, with these filters over my eyes.

There were dozens of other things I wrote down in a journal of things I wanted to remember from this book. Simple things that I already know, but need to remind myself of from time to time. If you have the chance to read or listen to this book I hope you will. At the very least, I hope you'll take the time to watch his last lecture. You won't be disappointed.

The Art of Thank You Cards

2011-04-06T20:48:00.000-06:00

Growing up my mother, the saint that she is, taught me to send thank you cards for my birthday presents. I wasn't always consistant with it but I did try. As I grew older I realized that not very many people seemed to do it. And now it appears to be a lost art form in many homes.

After Nickel and I got married my mother kindly suggested I send out my thank you cards promptly so I wouldn't forget. I will admit that the first half did infact go out promptly. The other half...well, lets just say I hope they were not terribly offended when they didn't get one.

I was a little better about my cards when Peanut and Butter were born. And when Peanut was old enough to write "THANK YOU" I too taught my daughter the Art of Thank You cards. She, like her mother, is not always consistant, but she tries.

One year when Peanut was very young we went to the farm to visit Nickel's grandmother. I handed over a card to Grandma who asked if it was Mother's Day card, as it was near that season, but I said no, it's a thank you card from me and Peanut. She confided in me that my sister-in-law and I were the only ones who ever sent her thank you cards. This made me sad. My sister-in-law and I were both fairly new to the family, she had married in just a year before I did. Did no one ever bother to tell her thank you before that? I couldn't believe it. But then again, Grandma had all grandsons and we were the first granddaughters to come along, so maybe I do believe it.

Thank you cards take less than five minutes of my time. I often find myself in Hallmark or in the stationary isle in Walmart admiring the different cards. Mostly I just buy the blank ones with pretty front covers because they can be used for so many purposes. They're perfect for a quick note to say thank you for a recent gift, you were on my mind, or I love you. And since I have two or three boxes at any given time I can choose the one that best fits my mood or purpose for the card. A note, in my own writing lets the person I'm sending it to know that I, me myself, took the time to express my gratitude. I know when I do get thank you notes myself it means a lot to me.

So next time someone gives you a gift surprise them with a thank you card.

Tough Choices

2011-03-23T21:07:00.000-06:00

I recently bought this book The Highlander's Touch, book 3 in Karen Marie Moning's Highlander series. The first two were wonderful with a perfect blend of paranormal, romance, and highlander historical fiction. I highly recommend this book to my friends that enjoy all of those qualities in books. And for the record I bought books 4 and 5 in the series as well, leaving books 6 and 7 for after the next pay check.

THEN a book I requested at the library came in. Bitter is the New Black : Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smartass,Or, Why You Should Never Carry A Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office by Jen Lancaster is a book I've been eyeing for nearly three years. From what I can tell this book is about a spoiled brat finally growing up. And it's funny. I mean, you can tell that just by the title, can't you? The prologue, the only part I had time to read during my break today was funny and I can only imagine what chapter 1 will entail.

But now I'm torn between really wanting to read two books. Well, in a way it's really 4 books because I have three book from the Karen Marie Moning series ready to read (we won't discuss the fact that Nickel gets paid tomorrow and would mean that I can go buy the last two for that series) and I have three whole weeks to read the Jen Lancaster book before it's due back at the library. Oh! What to do, what to do?!!

So many books, so little time.

Hodgepodge

2011-03-22T21:14:00.000-06:00

hodgepodge — n 1. a jumbled mixture 2. what happens when a blogger is too lazy to make three seperate blog posts

Today marks Peanut's 11 year on this earth. I don't remember age 10 having this big of an affect on me. Eleven just seems so much older. So much more mature. In a way, I miss the 5 year old that would tell me wild, often exasperating stories about penguins and sharks. But mostly I'm just excited to see her growing up and having adventures. She recently had an adventure with her grandma in Tulsa for Spring Break. She came home with a new haircut, some clothes and shoes, and high praise from her grandparents who said she was polite, kept her room clean and even made her bed! I was so proud of her!

While Peanut was away Nickel and I went on a date. We took Butter with us of course. That's how our dates have been for 11 years now because I'm too cheap to hire someone to watch my kid for a couple of hours. Our big date was dinner and a trip to Walmart. HA HA! At Walmart I finally broke down and bought a Digital Converter for our tv. We turned the cable off last summer because we didn't really use it. Peanut did but since she doesn't have a job to pay for it her vote didn't really count. Besides, we have Netflix and are able to watch tons of stuff there. Anyway, after hooking it up we discovered that we were able to get 4 or 5 channels which is enough for us. Tonight, I put Sesame Street on for Butter while Nickel went to take a shower and I settled down at the computer to catch up on email and blogs. A while later Nickel came and asked if I had changed the channel on the tv in the bedroom. I had not but there Butter was on the bed watching Star Trek, his grandfather's favorite show, with this head propped up by his hands perfectly relaxed. Sometimes it's a little freaky just how much he's like his grandfather, whom he's named after. Personally, I think it's really cool how much he's like him. It's kinda like we still have him around, just in a much smaller version.

I'm fasting from Facebook for Lent. My Twitter updates show up on Facebook. I'm not sure that that is really a good thing though. I had set it up that way after a friend told me it wasn't fair that I would be depriving her of my updates. But now that I know that my updates are going to Facebook and I won't go read the responses is starting to make my fingers itch a little bit. Not knowing what was going on in everyone else's lives, not that all that many earth shattering event have been posted on Facebook, but you just never know when it'll show up and I'm missing them! But then I think to myself, most of the people I'm friends with on Facebook I hadn't talked to since 1997 to 99. My truest friends have my phone number and call or text me anything I really should know right away. And of course there's always email which I'm sure is listed in my profile information if someone really truly wanted to talk to me. So the fact that I haven't really heard from that many people in the last 14 days should tell me something, right? LOL, it tells me that people have lives seperate from mine and I'm cool with that. I'll be ok for a few more days I think. ;)

So, that's what's going on in the Fresh-Cut world. Please, leave me comments. I could use some communication here.

Treasures

2011-03-11T13:05:00.000-06:00

"Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being." Matthew 6:19-21 Message

This verse came from a devotional I read today. It made me think, like a good devotional should. What are my treasures? Where do I place them? Then I switched it from the church-y sounding verse to the Message.

The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.

For all the stalkers out there, I spend a bulk of my time at home when I'm not working. I'm often sitting around reading a book or playing with the kids or just hanging out with Nickel discussing life and family.

One or two times a week I have coffee with friends. I really like my time in the coffee shops because paying $4 for a cup of coffee seems to make people happy. Or maybe it's because people go there with people they like to be around and visit with while enjoying a tasty beverage.

Another place I like to be is in church on Saturday Night when my pastor is speaking. When I have to miss one of his sermons my week just doesn't set right. You can imagine my funk when over the last few months we've had special speakers and he's had to take off for one reason or another. I do get out and do other things but they're not very important to me.

So where I keep my treasures are at home in a book and in an expensive cup of coffee? Uh... is that really where I want to keep my treasures?

But today's passage gave me cause to pause. Sometimes even the obvious isn't obvious without at least taking a moment to think.

My home isn't my treasure. It's my family that fills it.

The coffee shop isn't my treasure. That's where I spend time with my friends through laughter and tears.

My church isn't my treasure. That's where I go to interact with fellow believers, where I worship, where I learn, where I grow spiritually.

My could be destroyed and yes, I would miss my things but as long as I had my family I would survive. I could never have another cup of coffee or chai in my life and I would survive, but without my friends I would be miserable. I could stop going to my church for one reason or another and I would miss it terribly because of the people and the experiences but I'd take God with me because He's in my heart, with my friend and my family, my treasure.

-where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars...

A Day Without Facebook

2011-03-09T23:14:00.000-06:00

Ah Facebook. A place where you can be "friends" with people you haven't spoken to since you graduated from High School (no matter how long ago that was) or never met in your real life. A place where you can "like" what's going on in your "friend"'s lives. A place where millions of people waste hours of time playing games like Farmville and Frontierville. Frontierville was my game and I know plenty of people that play both and then some others.

My phone has this handy little button that if I press it, takes me straight to my Facebook home page and I can see who likes what, who posted where, and what other people are saying. Since my phone is by my bed at night often when I woke up at 3 and 4 am I would pop online from the comfort of my pillows and see what had happened since I fell asleep. Then I would crawl out of bed and come to my computer and play Frontierville for an hour or two depending on what kind of missions I was trying to accomplish. I would check it again before going to work. At work I would check Facebook on my breaks and comment and like what was going on with my friends. At lunch, if I wasn't reading a book I'd usually be on Facebook. Then again while supper was cooking. When things get real slow at night when I do work I'd find myself wanting to get on Facebook "real quick" and struggling with not actually doing it. Then as soon as I'd get home I'd get on Facebook. Are you seeing a pattern here?

Yeah. Me too.

Obviously, I need a change.

Twenty-four hours ago, more or less, I posted a little farewell. I checked it once about 10 minutes after posting but that was the last time. I removed the little easy button on my phone so that Facebook is no longer just a click away. I removed the Favorites button on my Internet tool bar for the same reason. Sure I can still go to Facebook on my computer and my phone, but not without some thought.

Twenty-four hours without Facebook and I haven't caved yet.

So what did I do today, you might be wondering. Well, this morning when I got out of the shower I found an awake Baby Butter playing with three cars and a piece of his Thomas the Train railroad track so we crashed his cars for a good 10 minutes. Then he brought me his bucket of Little People and we played with them. I started another book later in the day. While on my dinner break I talked to Peanut on the phone while waiting for my food and then in my work's break room I worked on a Sudoku puzzle. Tonight when I got home from work after sure the children were tucked into bed and making some tea Nickel and I talked for an hour about. A whole hour! Just him and me talking. Mostly about our jobs and the kids, married people stuff. It was amazing. Not that we don't ever talk. We just don't get many hour long uninterrupted conversations. How many of those have I missed because I was playing on Facebook?

I didn't miss Facebook. Not like I thought I would. I've gone a day or two without it before, especially when I go to the land of dial-up, aka my parent's, where getting on Facebook take more patience than I usually have so a day without hasn't bothered me. And all that time with my family that I would've probably spent on Facebook...

Joel 2:12-14 Message

12 But there's also this, it's not too late- God's personal Message! "Come back to me and really mean it! Come fasting and weeping, sorry for your sins!"

13-14Change your life, not just your clothes. Come back to God, your God. And here's why: God is kind and merciful. He takes a deep breath, puts up with a lot, this most patient God, extravagant in love, always ready to cancel catastrophe. Who knows? Maybe he'll do it now, maybe he'll turn around and show pity. Maybe, when all's said and done, there'll be blessings full and robust for your God!

The book I started today.

The Simple Things

2011-03-07T22:02:00.000-06:00

I now work at the Library. I don't know if I've mentioned that here on my blog or not. Most of my readers live in the same flat state that I do, but I know from time to time I have a few visitors from other parts of the world. Anyway, I've been there three months and I can honestly say that I like my job.

Today, I saw this really cute red headed guy, probably about 8 years old, walk across the library with the BIGGEST smile of pure happiness on his face. He was holding a book. I couldn't tell which book it was, but he held it close to his heart in a bear hug. This kid looked like he'd just opened up his birthday presents and got everything he ever wanted AND a pony.

I've seen a similar look on several other people at the library, but not to this extreme. Several people when I call to tell them that books they asked to be held for are in squeal with delight. They're probably jumping up and down, I just can't tell. Obviously. And even with their smiles when they come to pick up their book they're not the pure happiness of this little red headed boy today.

It got me thinking about the simple things in life. I remember when I was growing up and would money for my birthday. It was never a lot of money, but it was to me. And with that money I was able to buy my Barbie a brand new outfit!!! I'm pretty sure my face matched that redheaded boy's today.

Is it just the innocence of age that allows children to have that pure joy over simple things? As we grow older do we just become jaded to this world of disappointments that simple things just can't produce pure joy anymore? Or is it not really and age thing but more an American thing. Here we get stuff all the time and simple things like a borrowed book from a library means so little compared to the latest electronic gizmo.

The Lenten season is upon us again. I hadn't even realized it and hadn't been preparing for it at all. I didn't plan to give anything up as I have in past years. But today I realized that Ash Wednesday is this week. And I began to think. And the more I think about it the more resolved I become in my decision. I want to find joy in the simple things so that means I need to get away from time wasters, namely, Facebook. I waste a lot of time on Facebook everyday so this will be a challenge of epic proportions for me. I like a challenge, especially one I set for myself.

I hope that boy I saw in the library today never loses his happiness in finding the perfect book. And I hope that I can find such pure joy in the simple things, like a borrowed library book.

Ketchup and Peanuts

2011-02-25T20:03:00.000-06:00

Princess Peanut has embarked on a modeling career. Recently she was photographed with a new Chick-fil-A ketchup packet and it made it to this blog. Personally, I think the photographer should've noticed that her hair was a mess and calmed it down just a smidge but the new ketchup packets was the subject at hand. Check out Peanut and my friend Eric.

Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T21:40:00.000-06:00

I don't like Valentine's Day very much. Me and him have history and I learned early on I didn't like him. Not one bit.

My birthday is the 11th of February. Growing up I received many a stuffed dog with red hearts for spots. I didn't like dogs and I didn't like hearts but people always bought me the generic Valentine's gifts instead of something I did like. I know, it should've been the thought that counted but I tried to pick out things I knew my friends liked for their birthdays I just couldn't understand why they couldn't do the same for me.

When I met Nickel and I knew that I'd always have a date for Valentine's Day and flowers that I never received from the boyfriends I never had. But he doesn't celebrate Valentine's Day. He doesn't celebrate my birthday either. Sometimes I get a card. If he remembers in time. And stops at the store for something and sees the cards. Flowers just die so he refuses to spend money on them. I like to remind him that he'll die someday too but I still shell out the dough on stuff for him. He doesn't get it. I'm lucky to get a "Happy Birthday" and a "Happy Valentine's Day" during the month of February.

Nickel did bring home supper for me the day before my birthday. I, of course, had to pay for it though.

Gosh I sound bitter.

Well, maybe I am a little bit.

One year the temps were bitter cold and our pipes froze while we were at work and it took Nick crawling under the house, a lamp, a plumber and a lot of money the next day to get water back on. That held the "suckiest Valentine's Day" award in my book. Well, until this year.

This year my whole family decided to get sick before Valentine's Day. So for Valentine's day this year Baby Butter and I went to the doctor. He has the flu. I do not. Yet.

So, instead of a nice dinner in a crowded resturant I spent a hundred bucks on flu medicine. Another 30 for misc items like tissues, clorox wipes and meds for Nickel. And then another 10 at sonic on milkshakes because none of us feel like eating.

And just as I was about to put this horrible day to bed my sweet two year old, Baby Butter walked up to me, put his little hands on the sides of my face and pulled me to him and gave me three kisses on the cheek. (blinks back tears)

Yep, this was the best Valentine's Day ever.

The Art of Racing in the Rain

2011-02-05T22:25:00.000-06:00

I read The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein today. All 321 pages in just over 6 hours with a few breaks for meals, coloring my hair, you know, normal weekend stuff. This book was hard to put down.

The narrator of this book is Enzo. Enzo is a dog and on the eve of his death he reflects on his life with Denny. His owner. His best friend. And the life they've shared for ten years. Denny is a race car driver as you might have imagine from the title. There are references made to racing but they are presented as life lessons instead of just driving lessons.

This book was emotional. I normally go out of my way to avoid emotional books. I do not like to cry. I know that crying can release built up tension and blah blah blah. If you don't build up tension then you have none to release is all I'm saying. I'm not a pretty crier and Nickel takes every chance to make fun of me for crying over movies and books so that has helped me to avoid tearful situations.

But after hearing a coworker describe this book I thought I'd like to read it. When she finished the book she gave it to me to check out and I did. Then I read some reviews. Most of the reviews at Amazon tell you how wonderful the book is. But there were a few bad reviews and I made the mistake of reading them. Suddenly I was no longer sure I could handle reading the book. The review upset me and I told Nickel that if reading a review upset me so much I couldn't imagine what the book would do to me. I tend to carry emotions from books around with me for days (which is why I stick with happily ever afters as much as possible). I asked my coworker about it and explained the review that I read. She assured me that Denny was innocent. A high school friend had also read the book and said she thought I would enjoy the book. Reassured I pushed forward with my plan to read the book over the weekend.

I didn't full out cry until the last two chapters. And then I only cried for a couple of moments at how perfect the ending was. I walked into the bedroom to put the book down and Nickel asked me what was wrong. I told him nothing, a favorite answer I'm sure, but seeing the book in my hands he said "Oh. The book." I could tell he wanted to say something sarcastic so I quickly told him, "Don't you dare make fun of me." He shut up and let me grieve for Enzo and Denny and the bond that they shared. Later I told Nickel about the book and he listened. He didn't even make fun of me when I teared up at the end. He's learning I think.

I will carry the emotions from this book with me for the next few days to come. Thinking back on the book I'm still angry at some of the characters. Amazed by others. And totally in love with Enzo. And I'm not even a dog person.

Here are a couple of quotes that really spoke to me today.

"That which we manifest is before us; we are the creators of our own destiny. Be it through intention or ignorance, our successes and our failures have been brought on by none other than ourselves"

"There is no dishonor in losing the race. There is only dishonor in not racing because you are afraid to lose."

Butter the Magician...

2011-02-04T21:49:00.000-06:00

I must remember to pick up batteries next time I'm at the store so I can take pictures of Peanut and Butter. They're growing up so fast and I'm missing capturing the best parts of their childhood in photographic memories.

Tonight would've made a funny picture and should the opportunity arise again for a picture such as this I will try my best to capture the moment.

My son, my baby, Butter he was playing and being cute as a bug full of life and energy. First he brought me Good Night Moon, one of our favorite children's books. But he didn't really want me to read the book. We just skipped around and found the "Old Lady whispering hush" and said "Shh". He likes that part best. Did I mention I was in the bathroom when he brought me this book. Yeah. not taking a picture of THAT moment, so don't worry.

Later as I was laying on the couch reading a book while he played around me. He picked up his foam sword and came to where I was and began to saw me in half. SAW ME IN HALF. He's two years old and my knowledge has never seen a circus act or anyone being sawn (or is it sawed) in two. What's up with this? Are boys just born knowing this stuff?

I've noticed he likes to cover things up with his little white blanket lately too. I might freak out if he said "Abracadabra". But now that I think about that I think I remember Bugs Bunny saying "Abracadabra" and "Hocus Pocus" in one of the cartoons Butter loves to watch so maybe that wouldn't freak me out so much.

But one thing is for sure. It's feels like a two-ring circus around here some days.

Growing Up Too Fast

2011-01-31T05:19:00.000-06:00

Everyone knows that kids grow up too fast. Well, except maybe the kids who thinks it takes an eternity. As a parent I've really enjoyed Peanut as she's grown up. Oh, don't get me wrong there were lots of times when I would be stressed out so bad that I wanted her to just be 18 already (she was a very strong willed child) but those memories are fading nicely. Hard to believe that she will be 11 in just under two months. Seems like only yesterday I posted here on this blog about her kindergarten days. Getting proposed to, telling me all about penguins and other animals, and when she sat on my Camaro helping daddy fix it were just an example of my favorite memories. This blog is littered with tons of Peanut stories and I'm thankful for each of them. They help me remember that I wasn't always too stressed out to enjoy the moment.

Having Butter at the ripe old age of 29 I've been able to enjoy him more. Perhaps it's because he's an easier child. But I think it's more likely because I'm finally mature enough to be a parent. He makes me laugh. A lot. Yesterday I was making some bread dough and needed to mix the last of the flour in. This required me to mix it myself by hand. So there I stood at the kitchen counter both hands in the dough and Butter comes along and starts tickling my back! There was nothing I could do besides laugh and play along. Which made him laugh. Which made Nickel laugh when he came to see what all the noise was about and encouraged him to "get momma!". At another time in my life I probably would have yelled because I was busy and didn't have time to be tickled. This time I chose to enjoy the moment.

It is now 5 am and I've been up a good half hour. I hate when I wake up so early and can't get back to sleep. Thank goodness for the Internet and Facebook. As I sat here though, in the quiet house, I heard laughter. Laughter at 4:30 in the morning. Not common. Or maybe it is and I just don't know it. The laughter came from Butter who has insisted for the last several month on sleeping on the couch in the living room. The laugh lasted only a moment and then the house returned to it's quiet state, but for that moment, I was really glad I was awake. I wonder if he's dreaming about tickling his momma while her hands are stuck in the bread dough. Oh they grow up too fast.

Glimmerglass a Review

2010-10-06T14:28:00.000-06:00

Peanut is forever asking me if she can read one of my books. And unfortunately my answer is usually no. Because for the most part I read Romance novels and they're inappropriate for Peanut-age girls.

However, not too long ago I picked up this teen-read by author Jenna Black. Jenna writes an adult series that I enjoy reading so I picked it up figuring I would enjoy the writing and pass it on to Peanut.

But that's not going to happen this time. Though this book is sold in the Teen section and the main characters are all teenagers I feel this book is inappropriate for my 10 year old Peanut. I think it's inappropriate for my 16 year old niece too, but please allow me to give you the reasons behind my decision.

16 year old Dana Hathaway has had it with her alcoholic mother so she decides to run away to Avalon, the only city in the world that exists in both the human and the Fae world, where the father she has never met lives. Once there everything goes wrong. She doesn't know who she can trust and someone wants to kill her.

Sounds interesting, huh? Well it was. The book is very interesting, even to this mom who generally avoids teen books.

Violence: On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the max, I would give this book a 2 in the violence area. There is a scene where the teenagers all produce either knives or guns to fight off the bad guys. And Dana is attacked by a water witch. It's probably better than watching the news when it comes to the violent content.

Alcohol and Drugs: Dana's mother is an alcoholic. Once in Avalon, Dana's new friends take her to an underground keg party where she is offered a beer. At another time one of her friends fixes a hot posset (milk, oatmeal, honey, nutmeg and whiskey) and Dana decides she likes it. Did I mention that she's 16 and alcoholism runs in her family? When Dana finally meets her dad he gives her champagne. One reference is made to drugs when a boy kisses Dana and she almost forgets herself. She accuses him of using a "roofie spell".

Language: is probably PG-13, sh*t, b*stard, crazy-*ss, *sshole, whore, wanker, hell

Sex: This is the part that will keep Peanut from reading the book. I get that the teen pregnancy rate is at an all time high but life imitates art and if art is constantly throwing sex at our teens and telling them its no big deal then our teens will think sex is no big deal. Several references to sex are made like "getting lucky" or "horny". A wagon is used as a get away car because "The wagon...[is] much more comfortable than the backseat of a car." Dana's friend stops Dana from going to brother's apartment alone and brother isn't overly happy about it. Her friend also tells her that her brother has charmed other, more experienced girls out of their knickers. The kisses are often described in detail with moaning

Positive Elements: Dana does find away to forgive her friends for their betrayal.

For me, I'm looking forward to reading the next book, Shadowspell that comes out Jan 4, 2011. For my daughter, I might let her read it. When she's 18.

The Key

2010-09-27T07:14:00.001-06:00

This is a little story I wrote from a writing prompt that only gave me the first line. I could have done more with the story but the goal was to remain under 1000 words. I think it turned out ok.

Alice tried to remember who had given her the key. It was a little key compared to most so she was sure it wasn’t for a house or car. There were no inscriptions, no artsy detail, nothing to clue her in on its origin. Alice decided to save the key for further inspection later. She put her hand in the small box her grandfather had built for years before to hold all her precious memories. She pulled out a blue marble. The marble she remembered.

The summer she turned thirteen was a special year in her memory. That was the year that her family went to Yellowstone National Park for a family vacation. The first and only trip they took as a family And that was the summer she met Alan McCormick. Alan moved into the house across from her grandpa Mike. Grandpa Mike lived on Elm, three streets over and Alice was allowed to ride her bike to Grandpa Mike’s but no further. Alice always thought that was a stupid rule.

Alan was the same age as she was but he was a good six inches taller. He had shaggy brown hair and was the cutest boy that Alice had ever seen in her whole life. His dad didn’t live with them and his mom worked days so Alan would spend most of his day hanging out in Grandpa Mike’s garage helping him tinker around with Grandpa Mike’s hot rod.

On one particularly hot day Alice was visiting her Grandpa Mike when Alan showed up. “Why don’t you kids go down to the store and pick me a quart of oil,” he said wiping his greasy hands on a red towel.

“I’m not allowed Grandpa,” Alice said quietly.

“Well, if I tell you to go then I think it’s alright. If your mother has issue with it she can take it up with me. And while you’re at it you can stop in that ice cream place and get you a scoop too. My treat.” Alice beamed. She loved their plain vanilla ice cream.

At the Redman Shoppe, where Alice and Alan stopped for ice cream, Alice’s least favorite person, Lisa Brown stepped up beside Alice. “That your new boyfriend?” she asked in the most annoying voice possible after Alan left to wash his hands.

“Go away, Lisa.”

“Obviously he’s not or you would’ve said so.” Lisa smirked.

“You know what, Lisa. Yes he is. Now, go away!”

“I think you’re lying.”

“What-“

“Hi, I’m Lisa!” She said over Alice’s shoulder. “You’re Alice’s new boyfriend, right?” Alan walked around and sat down across from Alice.

“Yep,” he flashed Lisa a bright smile and turned back to Alice and ignoring Lisa. “Oh, I almost forgot, I got you something.” Alan dug into his pocket and produced the bright blue marble. “it’s almost the same shade of blue as your eyes.”

Lisa made a loud sound and stomped away.

“Thank you, you didn’t have to do that.”

Alan grabbed Alice’s wrist, turned her hand palm side up and dropped the marble, “I really did think of you when I saw it and I want you to have it.”

Alice closed her fingers over the marble tightly, that day Alan held Alice’s hand as they walked back to Grandpa Mike’s.

Alice smiled as she set the marble aside. Next she pulled a pressed four leaf clover that Alan had given her the day before she took her driver’s test. A spark plug from when Alan showed her how to change them in her old Camaro and the dried corsage from senior prom found their way out of the box too.

“What you doin?” a voice asked from behind her.

“Just digging in my box,” she replied.

“Find anything interesting?”

“Everything in my box is interesting. Even this key I don’t seem to remember from before.”

“Let me see,” Alan reached out for the key and studied it for a moment. “I know what this key is to,” he finally said. “Come with me.”

Alan and Alice walked over to his house waving at Grandpa Mike who was in his garage. “Hey Mom!” Alan called out as they walked past the kitchen. Together they walked into Alan’s room and over to his bookshelf where a small wooden box sat. “This is what the key goes to,” Alan told her and handed her the box.

Alice turned the box over in her hand. “Where did you get this?” Alice asked.

“Just open the box,” he whispered.

Alice stuck the key in the hole and turned it. The lid popped open and inside, nestled in a bed of black silk lay a simple diamond ring. Alice looked up into Alan’s gleaming eyes. “You have the key to my heart. Will you marry me?”

Exactly ten years from the day they met Alice Michaels and Alan McCormick were wed in a small service in Grandpa Mike’s back yard. After the ceremony Alice put the key back into her memory box with all her other precious memories.

Character

2010-05-27T21:27:00.001-06:00

The past few weeks have been somewhat trying for me. My oven doesn't work. We were without gas for three and a half days (read: no hot water), the ac wasn't working, the children were cranky, and everything else that could go wrong, did.

There were times I broke down and sobbed. Not because of one particular thing but because it all added up to a lot of stress.

I like to think of stress as a glass and water. You can hold a glass without any trouble. You can turn it over and toss it in the air. You can spin in on your finger tips. But stress is like water being poured into the glass. Now you can't spin the glass. You can't toss it into the air. But still, it's just a glass of water. But then more water gets poured into the glass until it's full. You can hold that glass for a minute without any problems. But after two minutes your arm starts to ache a little. After five minutes you're looking around for a place to set it down or longing to switch hands. But you can't. No, you have to hold the glass of water in the one hand with no where to put it and keep it from spilling. After an hour your arm starts to twitch and what was just a little glass of water suddenly feels like the weight of the world. Gosh that's a really long explanation, but it's simple in my head.

Book characters don't deal with no heat or air conditioning and hot water. They deal with murder and mayhem and mysteries of life and death. But they're all challenges and these challenges and how we deal with them add up to our character.

So I thought to myself, if I'm going to be the heroine in my own story (as is Catherine Morland's quest in Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen) what kind of character am I? I don't want to be the whiny character that can't do anything for themselves. I want to be that strong character that goes out and solves the problems all by herself, well, maybe with the help of a few friends along the way. Now, I'll be honest, I did whine a little bit. I've already admitted to crying as well. But I kept my head on my shoulders. I tried not to pass blame on to anyone else as my problems were no ones fault except my own. And now that I'm through the worst of it I look back and think, it wasn't so bad.

So, what's your character like? Do you find yourself wishing you could change something about your character? It's ok if you do, that's called character growth and is needed in any good novel (or I guess we could even say movie, tv series, etc). I like to think as a character I'm growing. And someday I will be the heroine of my story!

The Memory Box

2010-05-08T12:54:00.000-06:00

When I was in high school my upon my request, my daddy made me a wooden box. This box is about eighteen inches long, ten inches wide and twelve inches high. A good size box. He stained it and attached a plain silver handle. The box is simple and to me it is the most beautiful thing he has ever made.

For nearly 15 years I've keep odd and end little things in the box to remind me of yester-year. Today, I decided to prepare the box for the next generation. It will still be a few years before I actually hand it over but I wanted to go through it today anyway.

Inside I found cards I had recieved as a small child from my grandmother who passed from this life in 1998 and my favorite aunt whom I don't see as often as I should. The cards from my grandmother were especially hard to read without crying.

There was the medal I won at a regional drama competition as well as the remark pages we were given, the tassel from my graduation cap, and several pictures and mementos from my senior year inside my box.

I found cards from Nickel for various holidays, a couple of invitations to our wedding that was in 1999 and Mother's Day cards from my daughter. Poems that I like.

A little brown piggy bank that if I remember correctly was my great-grandmother's. My mother's senior year picture was still in an old frame along with a picture of my dad long before he knew that name.

After Nick's grandmother passed away I saved a few of her momentos like a book young Nickel wrote when he was maybe 6 and a picture of Nickel with long curly hair (if you know my husband you'll understand why this picture is important!). And a host of other memories from along the way.

Staring at these memories I want to laugh and I want to cry. Laugh at the fun I've had along the way and cry for the people that completed their jouney ahead of me, including the children two of my dearest friends have lost.

I'm not ready to turn over the box to Peanut, but already I've stored special art project she's made. Soccer pictures from the three seasons she played, the program from the ballet recital we were in, some blog posts that I printed out as a reminder of the funny things she said or the things I wanted her to know about me and my life. My hope is that she will cherish these memories in the Memory Box as much as I have cherished her.

A Writing Exercise

2010-05-02T11:10:00.000-06:00

I have a writing program that gives me various writing prompts. Then I'm to write for 15 minutes. That might sound easy but isn't when you're not use to doing something like that.

This particular exercise was fun because I've gone back to school off and on several times working towards a random degree. Please note that this piece has not been edited. There are more than likely misspelled words, bad grammer, and puncutation errors. It ends where it ends. You don't exactly write a novel in 15 minutes so I did the best I could to write a whole scene.

Please feel to make comments about good or bad. After all, it was just an exercise.

Character: Bill Teets

Goal: To get a degree

Obstacle: A former girlfriend

Bill Teets walked into the science room. He was just 4 hours from finishing his degree. The only class he lacked, Chemestry. It was a lower level class but he had managed to avoid it the whole time. Until last spring when he applied for graduation and was denied. Seems some colleges, ok, most colleges wouldn't let you graduate without these four little credit hours.

Bill was not looking forward to Chemistry. He had failed it in HighSchool when Mrs McGowan taught it. The periodic table was just a bunch of letters and numbers to him.

Bill chose a seat about half back in the third row. His eyes functioned better in the front but he didn't want to seem eager. He was anything but. Kids piled into the class and took their seats and gossiped with one another.

Bill closed his eyes for a moment. Maybe this class wouldn't be so bad. "Are we already boring you, Mr Teet?" a saucy voice asked.

Hearing his name Bill quickly opened his eyes to see where it was coming from. He groaned to himself when he saw the body that went with the voice. It was none other that Veronica Hut. The girl that broke his heart ten years prior at the senior prom.

"No." Bill replied.

Veronica turned around and picked up a dry erase marker and began to write on the white board.

This is going to be a long semester, Bill thought to himself. After class Veronica asked Bill to stay a moment while the other students left.

"How have you been?" she asked as he walked up to her desk, slinging a backpack over one shoulder.

"I've been good, V. Yourself?"

She smiled and looked him up and down. "I've been good. So tell me Bill, what brings you to my class."

"Just looking to graduate, this is my last class."

"I see, and exactly how well do you think you'll do in my class, Bill?" she asked.

"Well, I'm hoping to do alright. I've got a decent GPA and I'd like to keep it. But I never was any good at this sort of thing."

"Hmm" Veronica packed up her things into a briefcase. "I suppose I could help you." She looked back at him with fire in her eyes. He knew what she was proposing. He thought about it for a moment.

He made his decision. He grinned at her. "Mighty fine offer there Veronica," he paused.

"It's not one I give very often, in fact, you're the first."

"Well, I do feel honored to be given such attention."

Veronica walked around the desk so that she was standing next to him. She ran a hand up and down his his arm. "I could make this class very easy for you,"she whispered, "or very hard." she grabbed him and squeezed.

"Oh, I know you can."

Fairy Tales

2010-04-27T22:25:00.000-06:00

I looked up Fairy Tales in wikipedia tonight for some odd reason and read some synopsis. Some were just as I remembered them. Others I had no heard of. I don't know what I'm looking for exactly, just an example to use in my head I guess.

I've never actually read the compilation of Grimm fairy tales although some of you might be surprised at the list of fairy tales they have written. For example Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Rumpelstiltskin, and Snow White are all some of their works.

So what are your favorite fairy tales? Are you a fan of the Brothers Grimm? Do you prefer Hans Christian Andersen who wrote the Ugly Duckling, Thumbelina, and the Little Mermaid to name a few?

So Good, I Cried

2010-04-24T08:52:00.000-06:00

*insert soft melody*

I had a customer the other night that was looking for a particular title. Since she was in the book department I assumed she wanted the book. She was looking for the DVD though. No big, I can look both up. I've had no desire to this particular movie because it's sad. I don't do sad. My customer says "It was so good, I cried."

*insert abrupt end of music co-insiding with a record scratch*

Er, "so good, I cried?" That sounds like an oxymoron to me. I don't like to cry so how can anyone ever say something is good and that they cried.

"Oh! She said, but it has a happily ever after." I'm a little leary of this movie/book. Ok, all girls need to cry sometimes, just to get it out," she says. "The next time you need to cry and just get it all out, rent this movie."

Er. I don't forsee that anytime soon, but sure. If the time comes that I need a reason to cry (rolling my eyes here) I'm going to rent this movie.

So what's your take on "So good, I cried"? Do you like those chick-flick movies that make you weep tears of sorrow and joy? Do you like a good cry? Does it not leave you with a pounding headache like it does me?

Lover Mine

2010-04-23T08:22:00.000-06:00

Here is a book I cannot wait to read! Lover Mine by J.R. Ward comes out Tuesday!! J.R. Ward writes an amazing "trashy" vampire romance novels. This one is book eight of the series. They are oh so good. A little dark. A little passionate. And a whole lot of sexy. I'm just saying if I lived in that world, I'd want me one of the brothers... ;)

And Now For Something Completely Different, Only Not Really

2010-04-22T11:21:00.000-06:00

A friend and I were discussing blogging the other day. He misses me and I miss him.

I'm doing something a little new in my life. I'm attempting to write a book. A book that will perhaps someday be published. This book is a trashy romance story. No vampires in the one I'm currently writing though. I've never had a problem with coming up with an idea or even writing some.But here's the problem, I suck at finishing what I start. So I'm hoping that remedy that. The story I'm working on now, that I probably won't publish here anytime soon, is now sitting at around 23 pages. My first goal is to make it to 50 pages. And if the story is done there then it's done and on to the next one. If it's not done then I'll shoot for 75 pages. Should I actually make it to 300 pages I will be shouting and singing off key! I figure, like everything else in life, the more I practice the better I'll get. And if I can start and finish a story in 50 pages then maybe the next time I write a story I can stretch it out. That's what I'm hoping for anyway. I will try to post some of my work, maybe some writing exercises I get from one of the programs I'm using. That's always fun. I'm given a person, a situation, a conflict and fifteen minutes to write.

And along the way I'm going to promote a few books. You may have noticed the little Amazon box here with a new Stephenie Meyer short story here. I love Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series and I'm excited to see she's coming out with something new. My customers at the book store will be excited too when I tell them about it! So go pre-order it. It comes out June 5, 2010 and that's a great price! And order the rest of the series if you haven't read it yet. It's a love story. I heart love stories.

Thanks for coming back to my blog. May the creative juices start to flow!

That's how he rolls

2009-07-27T17:06:00.003-06:00

Guess what, another Baby Butter story.

Are you tired of them yet?

Too bad.

I'm sitting at the computer but the screen is not what holds my attention. Instead it is my 1 year old son sitting on the floor in the kitchen. Throughout the day he has managed to push 5 hotwheels, 2 fire trucks, and three police cars in there. Earlier while I was cooking supper he quietly played with his hotwheels. Then we played with his firetrucks together. After super is when he pushed the 3 police cars in. He crawled along the floor with a car in each hand, then once they were right where he wanted he crawled back to the other room where the other cop was patiently waiting his turn and took him to his friends. For over five minutes now the police cars have been pushed from one end of the kitchen to the other and he's even managed to push all three at the same time by sandwiching them together. How adorable is he??!! I could watch him play all day.

He also likes to talk to the boy in the mirror in his bedroom when he's suppose to be sleeping. Today, i put a very sleepy boy in his bed and went to my own to relax and read a book. Before too long I could hear the jabbers. Lots of da-das, ma-mas and ba-bas. He makes other sounds that resemble words too. For instance the other day sitting in the doctor's office he said "breakfast". Tall Doc was impressed I believe.

These days won't last forever though. I'm so glad I get to stay home with him and watch him learn new things!!!

Winding Down

2009-07-25T22:21:00.002-06:00

Peanut counted down the last days of school in May and now she counts down the last days of summer. She's ready to go back to school. Ready to start the 4th (gasp! did I just say that?) grade. And I'm ready too.

Not that having her around has been a burden. She hasn't been. She's a fantastic big sister helping me when I need it. She is getting a little whiney because we've run out of places for her to go. She hit two church camps and a girl scout camp, all of which were over with by the first of July. Now she sits at home bored most of the day because her mean mean momma won't let her watch tv non-stop. Although, I'm being nicer and letting her have it on for 30 minutes here and there during the day. A lot of her friends are in daycare or some sort of program this summer so her friend choices have been limited.

But really, the reason I'm looking forward to school starting is the routine of it. I'm sure I'll be griping about it before too long, but right now I'm looking forward to the whole day with just me and Butter. Then at 3:15 telling Peanut to do her homework before her friends come over and if she left it at school then I guess they can play TOMORROW after she finishes it. It's "unfair" I know, but like I said, I'm a mean, mean momma.

Seventeen day, counting weekends, until the first day of school. We can make it.

Baby Butter Turns One

2009-07-19T22:24:00.005-06:00

As strange as it may seem the boy has actually gone and turned one year old this weekend. He started walking this week taking several steps each day. Mostly this is done around meal time when he feels he must check out what is on everyone's plate and taste it for quality assurance. His sister, Peanut, walked for speghetti so it's only fitting that he walked for french fries, yes?

We celeberated his birthday Friday night with family coming in from out of town. We had invited a lot of friends and family in the area but for one reason or another they were unable to make the event. Such is life in the summertime. But we had a blast! The weather was perfect in the mid 90s and the food was delicious if I do say so myself. The older children played in the pool and Baby Butter even got in for a few minutes and played too. His 10 month old cousin, Graham Cracker was the only kid not to swim but he didn't seem to mind.

Visiting with Nickel's family (mine live too far away to drive over for an evening) was fun. We hadn't all been together since Christmas. There was talk of politics and vacations and jobs and money and plans for a fall gathering at a family favorite camp site.

After everyone had filled their bellies with hamburgers or hotdogs, potato salad, deviled eggs, apple-berry salsa and cinnamon chips the cupcakes were brought out. Baby Butter was loaded into his chair and a loaf-sized cake set before him. But he was still eating a cinna-chip and cried when daddy tried to take it away.

After he made the chip disappear though he focused on his cake. We laughed for over 30 minutes as he ate it, diving face first in the cake and coming up to chew, swollow and breathe before diving again back into the cake.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY BUTTER!!!

True Love

2009-02-25T23:29:00.002-06:00

True love is coming home when it's dark outside and always finding the front porch light on.

Turning ( ? ) years old

2009-02-17T15:20:00.002-06:00

So my 17 year old friend, NotSpears, and I were talking at work last week about working the same days and nearly the same shifts last weekend when another co-worker happened upon our conversation. He didn't pretend to not listen and quickly asked me if I was in school or something. I laughed and said no. Then he asked how old I was. I smiled. I love this game.
"How old do you think I am?" I asked with a coy smile.

He furrowed his brow a little as he gave it some serious thought. He knew not to over guess because women don't usually like that but he didn't want to guess too low either. "Twenty." He finally said without hesitation.

I flashed him a million dollar smile, "You, my friend, are my new best friend!" He blinked not really understanding my response. "Actually," I continued, "my birthday is on the 11th and I will be 30." His eyes bugged out of his head. He just could not believe I was THAT old.

It's become our new game at work now. Customers, his friends, come up to the register and he quickly asks, "How old do you think she is?" I've got several different answers but mostly they're under 23. I love my job.

Enchanted

2008-12-28T00:12:00.002-06:00

Tonight at church I was cleaning up the communion stuff when Pastor T, Peanut's pastor, peeked his head in through the window and asked if she was in the room with me. She was not. He smiled and told me that he thought Peanut was mature and pretty special and that she needed to be in a movie, a movie about her because her stories are "enchanting". I smiled and thanked him for the compliment and he went on his merry little way.

After he left I got to thinking, Peanut does indeed have a way of enchanting people. I often thought it was just her parents and grandparents she enchanted at a young age. Though I'm immune to some of her enchanting ways, as parents are apt to learn after half a dozen or so years, she still has her moments.

Sometimes I get caught up in the hum-drum of life and get annoyed at her little stories she repeats over and over from the back seat of the car or across the room. Sometimes I cut her off or assume I know what she's going to say. But when I take the time to really listen she does come up with some nuggets of wisdom or anecdote.

Sometimes I need to be reminded that life will still be there and I need to pay attention, I need to be enchanted, before she grows up and conquers the world.

Books By Mail

2008-12-05T22:18:00.003-06:00

So I'm totally in a reading frenzie these days. I've read the Twilight Saga 2 complete times through (including the partial Midnight Sun posted on Stephenie Meyer's website) and have read Twilight and Breaking Dawn (the first and last book of the series) 3 times each. Yeah, still totally love that series.

But I've also been reading some other books too. Some vampire books, some aliens, some warewolves, some this, some that, all fiction and paranormal in some fashion. However, I have started The Shack by William Young which is a man who spends a couple of days with God in, you guessed it, a shack. Anyway, just finished the forward and am looking forward to getting started with this book.

Seeing as how up until tonight I was unemployeed I didn't exactly have a lot of money just hanging around for me to spend on books. I tried my local library. I won't say it sucks because my momma said if you can't say anything nice then don't say anything at all... so I'll not say anything at all. Then my brilliant, smart,and wonderful friend Abby Normal (you know how I love to protect the names of the innocent- she knows who she is) suggested this website called Paperspine.com.

It is wonderful. It's like Netflicks, but for books. You sign up for how many books you want to recieve at a time and then for a monthly fee you they'll send the books on your queue for you to read. You read them and send them back in the postage paid envelopes and a few days later you get another book! How cool is that!

The ONLY part that sucks is the days you have to wait while books are in the mail. But I guess that's the reason you should sign up for 2 or more books. That way you're reading the next book while you're waiting for the one that's in the mail.

This system is SO much easier then spending $80 a week for a half dozen books that barely last you a month and then take up a ton of space in your house. Now if you get a book that you fall in love with and never ever ever want to part with you just email the company and tell them what book you just have to keep forever and they'll let you know how much it'll cost ya, if you're ok with that they'll just charge your card and you live happily ever after.

The End.

Epilogue-
Uncle Joe thinks I can't write a post with using the word "baby" in it. And so I had to make sure this post had "baby" in a couple of times even though it had nothing to do with my "baby".
:)

Something To Talk About

2008-11-13T08:26:00.003-06:00

Baby B has found his voice box. When he's awake he jabbers almost non-stop. He's got lots to say you see. And of course he has a captive audience because who can refuse him? That's right, no one. Not even the puppy dog on his crib's bumper. He's really good at the short "a" sound. I've been working with him on the "m" sound but he hasn't quite put the two together to say Ma yet. Give him time.

He also is a mover and a shaker. On Halloween he rolled over from back to belly and has gone back to belly a couple times since but more often then not he just gets stuck on his belly. But he won't be stuck for long. Nope this kid kicks his legs and occasionally gets them up under him! As soon as he figures out how to lift his belly up off the floor I'll be in BIG trouble.

Well... there's a lot of baby proofing still to be done, so that's where I'll be for a while.

Ta-ta!

It's A Big Year

2008-10-04T19:47:00.001-06:00

Peanut is in the third grade. I think this must be a big year because people keep telling "it's a big year". Third grade is when you start getting letter grades on all your papers and report cards. Third grade is when you learn to write in cursive. Third grade is when you take the big state tests. Third grade is when I realized she was determined to grow up no matter what my opinion was on the matter. Hmph.

A couple of weeks ago Peanut brought home her first progress report. The grades were where I expected them on some levels but way off in other areas. I quickly realized she doesn't quite seem to be taking school seriously. I mean, it's a big year, doesn't she care? I guess that phrase means nothing to her.

Her father and I discussed the importance of making good grades with her. We told her it's not about who hands in the paper first, but who hands in the paper right! She nodded in agreement and said she understood. We increased study time in the evening but still papers flooded home with Ds and Fs on them. Concerned that the teacher had not commented on her progress I made the phone call and made the appointment to talk to her. This momma don't like Ds and Fs. The teacher was very kind. We spoke of things that could be changed at school, areas that she needs help in even though she passed the BEAR test. I left the meeting feeling satisfied that everything the school can do to help Peanut out in fact will happen. But now comes the hard part. Lowering the boom, cracking the whip, and buckling down at home about homework and study habits do not come easy to me. I will be the first to admit that my husband and I have a pretty relaxed style of parenting, within reason of course.

I guess this is an important year. This is the year I've learned it's important to stay focused, even when I'm distracted by other things (Baby B, computer games, etc). I've learned that after the after school snack comes homework and no amount of whining or pleading will change that. I've learned that there are free online resources I can use as bargaining chips for her to earn tv time. I wonder what other lessons I will learn this year, because you know, it's a big year.

Sleeping in

2008-09-07T09:17:00.002-06:00

Baby B is a wonder baby, but he doesn't sleep through the night. He's close but his little internal clock has this 2 am setting that I can't seem to reset. On occasion he'll wake up earlier then 2, like at 1:30 and last night he overslept a little and didn't wake up until 3. But without fail since the night he was born, we get up around 2 every night. We've been working on resetting the 4 am setting and most nights he'll sleep until 6. Last night he did well, woke up at 3 and again at 6. After getting up at 6 I was too lazy to up him back in his bed so he slept with me. Around 8 he started squeaking and I hollered for Nickel who was up and about. Nickel took him and I got to sleep for another hour. It was total bliss.

We have a lazy day scheduled. Yesterday was busy with lunch with some friends, a wedding, and church. Today, there's nothing that I have to do. I might try to think of something just so I can get out of the house and have some quite me time. It makes staying at home with the baby all week easier if I get out by myself on the weekends.

****************

Peanut signed up for Girl Scouts last week. We went to this big event at a local play ground place. There were a million school age girls there. It resembled Dante's 5th ring of the Inferno. (Please note it's been years since I read the Divine Comedy and cannot remember what each ring actually stands for and I'm too lazy to Google it because I was just trying to make a funny) Anyhoo, for two hours I sat and endured the torture of listening to the girls gab, squeal, and gripe about the bus driver that lives in some obscure little town. The children weren't so bad though, they were playing and having fun. I found out that the meetings are every week. Should be interesting. I'm sure Peanut will have lots of fun.

Kindness

2008-09-02T21:31:00.002-06:00

Perhaps kindness has not totally become extinct in our world like I thought. Today Baby B and I had to go to the post office. When we left the house he was in a wonderful mood. The short ride was quite. I manged to make it in the doors carrying a diaper bag, carrier with 11+ pound baby, and box to mail. The line was long, but moving. Baby B and I took our place at the end of the line at the door. THEN he decided he was not happy. I knelt down to talk to him to try to pacify him. People were watching of course. Baby B did not want his binky and would not calm down so I had to take him out of his carrier. Meanwhile people are coming up behind me and cutting in line all because I'm tending to my child instead of moving with the line. I was talking quietly to Baby B trying to calm him down. I commented to him on how we lost our place in line because he was crying. Not in a blaming way but in a "can you believe these rude people?" way. The people that cut in line either talked to people around them or stared at the floor. Meanwhile Baby B is still crying. After a few moments that felt like eternity to this mom trying to calm her son down, a lady from closer to the front of the line came back and offered to help me move my stuff to my place in line. She picked up my car seat and placed it in front of the first lady that cut in line. The two ladies my things were now in the middle of were nice enough to help push all my things along in the line as it moved while I held my baby.

Perhaps it wasn't how I would've handled the situation if reversed, but people actually came through and show some kindness. In the end and I was able to tend to Baby B and get my package in the mail.

Motherhood

2008-08-26T06:00:00.002-06:00

Last night both kids were screaming at me. I had to smile and almost laugh because it was kinda funny. Peanut was upset because we insisted she do her homework (mean parents!) and Baby Butter was mad because he was super tired and hungry and it was just too much work to suck on that bottle! He's so cute when he pouts and cries!! Peanut, well, she's pretty funny too when she's crying over her mean parents making her do homework, but don't tell her that!

New Pics

2008-08-07T06:49:00.005-06:00

The boy child is almost 3 weeks old. I can't believe how grown up he is already!Doesn't he look like daddy?

Peanut was holding him while I went to get the sheets out of the dryer. This is how I found them when I got back. I didn't tell her that the tv was too far away for him to even see.

One Week

2008-07-25T09:27:00.005-06:00

Well, it's been a week since Baby B was born. Life is slowly finding a rhythm. SLOWLY. We've had tons of guest and I can't keep up with my phone calls. But I promised pictures and pictures you shall have!

I was scheduled for my c-section at 10ish but Nickel, my parents, and dear friend Angie kept me entertained. Here I am pretending not to be scared out of my mind. Actually, Nickel said he was going to help the dr since they gave him that cool suit to wear but all he could find was a plastic spoon.

Baby B didn't like the nurses but stopped crying for daddy.
Peanut is obsessed with her baby brother. I'm not sure what that thing on her head is, something she made at VBS though. I was very thankful she wanted to go to VBS that week. It gave her something to do in the evenings

Happy to be holding my baby b on the outside!

38 hours later

2008-07-19T19:54:00.002-06:00

Well, I'm sure you expected a birth announcement right away. I expected to write one, however this kid had other plans.

Wednesday morning Nickel and I arrived at the hospital shortly after 7 and by 9 I was on the magic labor making drugs. By 7 pm I had only dialated to a 2 so they turned the drugs off for the night.

Thursday morning we resumed the drugs with the promise of having my water broke around noon.

Thursday early afternoon water could not break, I was still only a 2 and c-section seemed like the best plan but we'd wait until 5 to decide with the magic drugs still pumping.

Thursday evening the magic drugs were turned off. I still was no more then a 2 and since I was so swollen, my blood pressure so high it was decided to take the baby by c-section.

Thursday night there was a baby trying to be born feet first and someone's apendix was about to explode so I was on the list for 10 pm.

Baby B was born at 10:34 pm weighing 8 lbs 11 oz and was 20.5 inches long.

We're both fine. Should be leaving the hospital tomorrow.

Pics coming soon.

End in sight

2008-07-15T16:19:00.002-06:00

Went to the dr today. First thing he asked while walking in was if tomorrow was ok. I assured him it was and he made the arrangements. I'm allergic to being pregnant, lol, ok, maybe not, but my body doesn't really like it. I'm puffy from my thighs to my toes, my blood pressure is high (but comes down when I lay on my left side which is a good thing), and other symptoms so since I'm 39 weeks (just 7 days from my due date) we're going to try to coax this little boy out starting in the morning. Hopefully he'll be easier to talk out then his sister was. She took 18 hours to convince and I'm not sure she's ever really been convinced.

Peanut is very excited. She gone to stay the night with a friend of mine so we don't have to wake her up early. Daddy is trying to get everything squared away at work so he can take some time off. Mom is in bed, resting, and thanking God the baby's almost here!

I'll post pics and updates when I can.

It's a Love/Hate thing these days

2008-06-29T15:48:00.002-06:00

36 weeks 5 days

I love knowing that in just a few weeks I'm going to have a brand new baby. I love folding his tiny little clothes fresh from the dryer. I love when Peanut reads to my stomach and it moves around for her. I love when people call me and ask how the baby's doing today knowing he's still a chillin in the belly. I love it that people are generally nicer to me and hold doors open for me and let me skip ahead in line for the bathroom. I love the fact that I'm going to get a 6 week vacation from work and that my parents will spend 1 of those weeks with me. I love packing my bag to get ready to go to the hospital. I love working part time and knowing I'll get to remain part time after I go back to work in Septmeber (unless he comes a little early then it'll be the end of August). I love the thought of being a mom to another person and feeling like my family is complete.

But right now. Right this second, I hate having to get up every hour of the night to pee. I hate the pressure I feel on my bladder as I try to walk. I hate that I can't just roll over in bed. I hate that I'm never comfortable. I hate that my belly hangs down so low and sometimes touches the toilet seat. I hate that the lowest part of my belly hurts to touch. I hate that most of my maternity clothes don't fit right. I hate that I can't always control my emotions and hormones. I hate that I don't feel like going fishing with Peanut and Nickel or playing basketball with them. I hate that I can't sit down at a resturant and pig out. I hate that I've burped more in the last 8 months then I ever have in my life. I hate that I'm not yet 37 weeks and praying for the torture to end because it makes me feel selfish. I hate swollen feet. I hate backaches. I hate heartburn. I hate that I'm going to miss my MIL's wedding because it's out of town. I hate that my house isn't as clean as I'd like it but I don't have the energy to clean it and even if I did I couldn't bend down to pick anything up. I hate that my hips hurt if I sleep more then an hour on them. I hate that I can't sleep on my back or my stomach. I hate the waddle. I hate that I have so much trouble getting in and out of a vehicle. I hate that I'm so dang negative right now!

I could probably go on but I'll stop there...

36 weeks and 2 days

2008-06-28T15:40:00.003-06:00

Last week I cried. Working part time is wonderful and horrible all at the same time. I like the few hours and still getting a pay check. I hate waking up and going to work and dealing with people. But I guess this is true for any job.

So at 1:00 I clocked out and walked out to my car. I opened the door and attempted to get in. But I couldn't. Why? You ask. Well, I simply could NOT lift my right foot high enough and extend it into my car. I tried again, same results. I became frustrated and tears started welling up. Yeah, hormones can hit you at any time because not on a hormonal high I wouldn't have cried over that!

Finally, after thinking about this for a little bit I turned around, lifted my foot the other direction and BACKED into my car. I'm sure this is quite a sight to see and no, there will be no pictures of this. This kid better come soon, that's all I'm sayin.

Peanut on Being Mad

2008-06-25T18:07:00.002-06:00

Into my room stomped the 8 year Peanut with a stern look on her face.

Me: What's wrong?
Peanut: I'm mad.
Me: Why are you mad?
Peanut points to the living room: Him!
Me: Well, do you understand why he said what he said?
Penut: I don't know.
Me: Well, what did he say?
Peanut: I don't know!
Me: You don't know what he said but you're mad?
Peanut looks at me and stomps back out of my room.

A few minutes go by and she walks into my room and points at my computer: Can I play?
Me: Sure in just a few minutes I'd like to finish what I'm doing.
Peanut falls to the floor in dramatic heap and whines: Gosh! I haven't got to play ALL day!
Me: I understand you want to play and I didn't have a problem with it, but you have to wait your turn.
Peanut stomps back out of my room. She's probably mad at me now too. Think she'll remember why in 5 minutes?

Watching and waiting

2008-06-13T20:58:00.003-06:00

Nickel and I were laying in bed tonight. He was watching TV and I was surfing the web on my laptop. The baby started wiggling so Nickel and I turned our attention to him. We watched as a buldge (from the position it was probably his butt) moved from one side of my belly button (which is still an innie for now) to the other and back again. Just over 5 weeks until the due date. We watch. We wait.

Mountain of baby stuff

2008-06-03T09:24:00.007-06:00

(I've tried to fix the size of these pics... this is the best I can do)

Ok, AJ, I know you've been wanting some pics. I had some friends come see this last weekend from out of state. They brought a MOUNTAIN of baby stuff with them.

Before Peanut tore off all the wrapping paper...

After Peanut tore off all the wrapping paper!

Oh, and my big belly there too... lol

Being Pregnant Means Forgetting Stuff

2008-05-26T20:27:00.002-06:00

I'm expecting some company this coming weekend so since I had the day off today I tried my best to pick things up around the house and straighten up just a bit. Don't worry, I didn't "over do it" my body keeps me from over doing anything these days. But I did manage to find some things... like the Mother's Day Cards I bought to mail out this year. Oops... I guess that's why they call it Momnesia... that's what they call it right? Sounds right, I could be wrong. What was I talking about? I don't remember.

I can't help it, I'm pregnant!

2008-05-21T19:18:00.002-06:00

Um... there's no real rhyme or reason to this post, just what's in my head at the moment...

Sorry I've been whiny lately. In my defense I'm pregnant, hormonal, and sleep deprived because this boy thinks my bladder is his pillow and insist on fluffing it ever hour or so. I really do appreciate my friends and family.

In other news my friends Angie and Jaci took me out to eat since they were not able to make it to the shower. Angie had been out of town until that day and had had a headache. Jaci had planned on coming but wasn't sure where it was at and couldn't get Angie to answer the phone! LOL! The three of us had been talking of getting together without kids for lunch or dinner for some time so this was a perfect excuse! We had a great time talking about the kids, summer plans, and everything else under the sun! It was a blast, we sat and talked for an hour and a half and could've gone on twice as long, but we'll save it for another day. They gave me some very thoughtful gifts, but the one that mattered the most was the gift of friendship.

Several weeks ago I mentioned to Nickel that I wanted to go home this weekend, or at least part of this weekend because my mom's family gets together to do the cemetery decorating thing and then picnic in SpeedTrap City. It's the one time each year all my aunts and uncles get together, and sometimes a few of my cousins show up. But then the subject was dropped. Then last week Nickel talked to his brother in Tulsa who is having a gathering of old friends that Nickel has seen in years. He mentioned wanting to see them. But again the subject was dropped until the other day I had an epiphany! One of my aunts live in Tulsa and I could ask her to give me a ride to the family gathering and Nickel could hang out with his brother and friends. (I should note that while I'm not on any driving restrictions from my doctor I don't really want to make long drives by myself at this stage of the game just in case something should happen.) I made the call and sure enough the details fell right into place so I'm really excited to see my family even if it's just for part of the day!

Fun at the Dr Office

2008-05-07T16:18:00.002-06:00

So yesterday I had my 29 week check up. Everytime I go to the doctor I have to fill out this purple paper as to why I'm there. Most of the time I just kinda sorta fill it out because I'm OB and not really there because I'm sick. Yesterday I decided to have some fun. About half-way on the page there is a word bank where you can circle your symptoms. I circled about 10 of them. They all applied.

Frequent Urniation
Belly Pain
Trouble Sleeping
Weight Gain
Tiredness
Hearburn
Headache

Those are just a few of the things I circled. I handed the paperwork back to the lady at the front desk, smiled and took my seat. Later when the doctor came in the room he shook his head and said he has some patients he limits to just three symptoms on any given visit. I looked at him as innocently as I could and said, "But they all applied". Then I burst out laughing because the look on his face was funny. He wrote in really big letters over the word bank "OB".

I think he needs a seperate form for the OB patients because that word bank was just too much fun!

94 days

2008-04-19T07:46:00.002-06:00

...until my due date. I'm not really counting down, one of the baby websites I go to has a little counter for me and I looked at it yesterday.

I feel good, or as good as one feels with a growing belly and a little person on the inside kicking and punching all day long. I'm starting to get a little short of breath with my organs pushing up around my lungs, but it's not too bad, yet.

I went to the doctor last week for my 26 week check up. My blood pressure was high but came down when I laid on my left side. Seems my poor little kidneys are getting squished but I can help them out by laying down on my left side. God foresaw this problem and that's why my hours were reduced at work. I feel best in the mornings so off to work I go and around the time I start feeling tired my 5 hours are up and I'm heading home where I curl up in bed and watch tv until Peanut gets home from school (and sometimes until Nickel comes home). She's loving being able to walk home from school, but I go pick her up if it's raining, that's what moms do, right?

My parents came for a visit last weekend. They brought the baby crib with them. The crib originally was my cousin Kacy's. She's almost 17 now. When my oldest niece was born they gave (sold?) the crib to my parents and every grandkid has spent some time in it, but with 5 grandkids already in a three bedroom house there's just not enough room to put it up for the half dozen times we visit a year so they brought the crib to me. My daddy was nice enough to put up a new door on Peanut's room. It had been ripped down by an angry three year old about 5 years ago and never replaced. They did other odd projects around the house for me. You see, the house is my territory and the outside is Nickel's. If there's a car problem, he'll fix it. If the grass needs mowed and pinecones picked up, he'll do it. If the blinds need replaced in the kitchen... well, that falls under my territory and it just wasn't something I could with this ever growing belly. I think my daddy really enjoyed helping out his little girl. I told Nickel we'll be the ones helping Peanut out someday, after she moves out!

My mom and I also managed to squeeze in some shopping. She helped me start a registry at Walmart since I couldn't convince Nickel to spend that much time in WallyWorld. A friend had alerted me to a sale they were having, lots of baby clothes marked down to just $1! I think we picked up 20 or so pieces in different sizes. Even if Baby Boy doesn't wear everything a dozen times they were only a dollar!

This weekend I plan on being lazy. Oh, I might do a couple of loads of laundry just because I only have so many days worth of maternity clothes, but I don't plan on going overboard on the house work. Peanut is trying to get on my good side so she can use the computer so she's picking up the living room as I type! Being pregnant has it's advantages!

Defending Momma

2008-03-25T20:10:00.002-06:00

At night, Nickel and I like to kid around and act like we're fighting and tease about who kicks the most and snores the loudest. Well, tonight he was talkin some smack so I grabbed his hand and put it on my belly and told Mr Man (I'm trying out nicknames so bare with me until I come up with just the right one) to kick his daddy. Like a good boy he did just as he was told! Nickel said he just barely felt it, but my whole stomach moved so I'm starting to wonder about his sense of touch.

Peanut never kicked her daddy. Never, ever. Well, at least not while I was pregnant. All those long months I got kicked in the bladder and ribs and he never felt her move, he might have seen her move once or twice towards the end, but everytime he entered the room she'd calm down, he'd put his hand on my belly at night, she'd go to sleep. I even tried putting my belly up to his back at night and she wouldn't kick him! Such a daddy's girl. But my boy, now he loves his momma and ain't no one, not even daddy gonna get away with talkin smack about his momma!

Peanut on turning 8

2008-03-24T19:47:00.001-06:00

So Saturday morning I'm standing in my mother's bathroom drying Peanut's hair. She looks at my belly and says without missing a beat:

"Daniel, this is your sister, Peanut. I'm eight years old. And I'm prettier then you!"

Half-Way

2008-03-06T18:47:00.002-06:00

I have finally reached the halfway mark! Here's just a little update on our progress

Morning sickness- gone

Tiredness- still here, but I am finally able to stay awake until 9 pm again!

Belly- Getting bigger, but not too fast

Baby- Kickin around and giving the nurses a hard time

Peanut- Happy and mostly waiting patiently

Daddy- Still alive!

LOL

My job is good. There's things I don't like that are beyond my control so I try not to dwell on them. Instead I focus on the positives. Last week they came to me and told me that on March 17th I will be part-time instead of full time. The package they gave me was very generous and I jumped on it. I will only be working 5 hours a day, have time to watch my soaps and pick Peanut up from school. Life is good.

Hope yours is too!

We're having a baby

2008-02-27T20:49:00.003-06:00

A baby boy.

His name is Daniel and his sister is super excited!!! Of course his parents are too!

Count down

2008-02-17T15:06:00.002-06:00

The ultrasound is in just two weeks! I can't wait! I'm not one of those wait and see kind of people. I want to know what I'm having NOW! I'll keep you updated.

Back in the Boat

2008-01-29T21:23:00.000-06:00

Luke 5:1-7
One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets." When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

I attend a church that has a wonderful program called Saturday Night Service. It's wonderful because I get to go to church a few hours earlier then most people, we never did much on Saturday nights anyway, and I get to be lazy Sunday morning and sleep in. But I will admit, I find it very nourishing to my soul otherwise I wouldn't go. The worship services are great at drawing my focus in on God with modern music. Don't get me wrong, I grew up with all those old hymns and love them dearly, but the newer music is singing to God and not about God and I love that. The pastor is young, somewhere around my age but he knows his stuff. God is doing and will continue to do great things through this man as long as he allows.

This weekend we were privileged to have a guest speaker by the name of Ron Rhodes. A powerful Evangelist who spoke Saturday night on true Worship. The message was amazing. Today I downloaded the pod cast of Sunday morning's message. I listened to it twice and will probably listen a few more times tomorrow. The sermon text came from Luke 5, the scripture posted at the top of this entry. Then this man opened my eyes to something I hadn't seen here before. I will have to give you the gist of the sermon because there is no way I can do it justice. If you'd like to listen to the hour nineteen minute sermon let me know and I'll direct you to it.

Jesus has spent the day talking to the crowds near the lake. He looks over and sees Simon Peter washing his net. Peter was a professional fisherman, he didn't just do it on the weekends to relax, he didn't do it to just get away or when he had a hankering for some good ol' bass. No, this was his job, something he had done his whole life. He knew the ins and outs of fishing. He knew what time of day and in what weather he stood his best chances. Most of us I dare say work a job that if we're productive or not we're still going to get paid. This was not the case for Peter. He didn't catch fish, he went hungry. And here is Peter, washing out his nets and Jesus says to him, 'I need your boat.'

Peter could have replied, look down there a nice new shiny boat with all the bells and whistles, they'll take you out, but he didn't.

Let down your net, He says next. I imagine Peter pausing with closed eyes and taking a deep breathe, not really a thought going on in his head. Peter could have said, we've fished for 24 straight hours and have caught nothing. I'm tired, I want to go home take a long hot shower and slide into bed and just forget about this awful day. But he didn't.

Peter obeyed God every time despite his frustrations, despite his exhaustion, despite this was the longest night he had known up to this point in his life. Peter's nets were full of blessings! So many his boat began to sink, he had to call his friends "Hey! God's in my boat! Look at all these blessings! I have too many come over here and let me share with you and maybe your boat will sink too!"

I don't know you, but I've stayed up all night before. Haven't done it in years though, but I remember that exhausted feeling and when the idea of a nice soft bed is the only thought I had. I know how easy the tears came to my eyes and how short my temper was to anything keeping me from getting some rest.

But God, I'm tired of always putting into but not getting anything out of my marriage. But God, I've been sitting next to this hospital bed, or by the bed of a child child for so long, won't you do something? But God, I've been waiting for this this miracle to happen in my life and there's nothing. But God...

Get in the boat.

But God!

Get in the boat.

I think it's time for us to get back in the boat. We might be amazed at what happens next.

Sick as a Dog

2008-01-24T19:27:00.000-06:00

I've been super sick this week. I started feeling a little puny Monday and since I had to work two and a half hours later then normal for a meeting I came home at lunch time and took a nap. By the time I left work I had a full fledged sore throat and felt like crud. Of course it didn't help that it was like -59 degrees. OK, so I didn't have a thermometer but it was cold and the drizzle was frozen to my windshield. Tuesday I managed to work about an hour and half maybe two hours before I had to go home. I called my Dr office on Wednesday and got in to see the Nurse Practitioner. She was a sweetheart and was excited to hear I was pregnant. She gave me a script for some antibiotics that are considered safe for pregnant women such as myself and recommended a decongestant to take for the massive drainage I was experiencing.

Filling the prescription was an adventure in it's own. I won't gross you out with all the details but I think the woman who cleaned up the mess should get paid triple whatever she gets!

I have to go back to work tomorrow. Totally sucks but I'm out of sick days and they're being punks about us taking sick days. Guess I can't be sick again until April when my year rolls over.

I just hope that Nickel stays well because I can't stand to be around him when he's sick! He acts like a total helpless baby and won't do a dang thing. But when I'm sick I'm expected to still get Peanut ready for school, pick her up from school or daycare, have the house picked up, change the sheets every couple of days, wash dishes (at least the silverware which he's scared of) and fix cheese cake. You think I'm kidding? I'm not.

And I can't find my fingernail file and they're driving me nuts!!! :(

So there's my update, AJ. Happy? LOL!

i'm a water baby

2008-01-05T08:48:00.000-06:00

My friend R tagged me for this wonderful meme. So let the fun begin.

I have been instructed to go over the qualities associated with my birth month. Then pick 12 people to do the Meme. I don't know if 12 people read my blog. So if you read my biog and haven't done this Meme consider yourself tagged.

FEBRUARY:

Abstract thoughts. I often daydream about things that will never happen. With people I'll never meet.

Loves reality and abstract. Sure, I know the difference reality and pretend. And love them both.

Intelligent and clever. Of course. Ok, so maybe there are a lot of people out there that are more intelligent and clever, but I like to include myself in that little group.

Changing personality. There was a time in my life when I was super shy. So yeah, I'll say it's a changing personality.

Attractive. Sure. Why not?

Sexy. Now you're pushing it.

Temperamental. If things aren't going my way at all then yes, I can be tempermental. Especially the mental part of the word.

Quiet, shy and humble. Not so much quite and shy. I have my moments when I'm outside my comfort zone. I try to be humble.

Honest and loyal. And another couple of qualities I try to be.

Determined to reach goals. What goals?

Loves freedom. I do. I like structure too.

Rebellious when restricted. LOL, my friend Cathy has been threatening to kick my butt if I drink caffine during this pregnancy. I told her I was on my way to Sonic as we spoke. I wasn't really, but I needed her to think that.

Loves aggressiveness. Um... I don't really think so.

Too sensitive and easily hurt. Sometimes.

Gets angry really easily but does not show it. Nope. That's not me. I tend to show it when I'm angry but I don't get angry really easily. Keep pushing my buttons and I will be though.

Dislikes unnecessary things. Yep, I'm always throwing stuff out and then later wondering where it's at.

Loves making friends but rarely shows it. I do love making friends. I'd like to think it shows.

Daring and stubborn. I have my moments. I have a pretty strong will when it comes to something I firmly believe.

Ambitious. I don't see it.

Realizes dreams and hopes. Nope.

Sharp. Like a knife!

Loves entertainment and leisure. Indeed!

Romantic on the inside not outside. This makes me laugh out loud. I'll agree with it though.

Superstitious and ludicrous. Nope. Not really. I like black cats, Friday the 13 only scares me because I wrecked my camaro on that date. I've been known to walk under a ladder.

Spendthrift. I have my moments.

Tries to learn to show emotions. I think I do a pretty good job at showing my emotions. LOL

Now for those of you that are participating in the meme here are the months. Make sure you copy them into your post otherwise people will be scratching their head saying "Huh?" Tell all about your qualites and leave me a comment letting me know you've done it because I want to read it!

Have fun!!!

THE MONTHLY FLAVORS, WHICH ARE YOU?

JANUARY: Stubborn and hard-hearted. Ambitious and serious. Loves to teachand be taught. Always looking at people's flaws and weaknesses. Likes tocriticize. Hardworking and productive. Smart, neat and organized. Sensitiveand has deep thoughts. Knows how to make others happy. Quiet unless excitedor tensed. Rather reserved. Highly attentive. Resistant to illnesses butprone to colds. Romantic but has difficulties expressing love. Loveschildren. Loyal. Has great social abilities yet easily jealous. Verystubborn and money cautious.

FEBRUARY: Abstract thoughts. Loves reality and abstract. Intelligent andclever. Changing personality. Attractive. Sexy. Temperamental. Quiet, shyand humble. Honest and loyal. Determined to reach goals. Loves freedom.Rebellious when restricted. Loves aggressiveness. Too sensitive and easilyhurt. Gets angry really easily but does not show it. Dislikes unnecessarythings. Loves making friends but rarely shows it. Daring and stubborn.Ambitious. Realizes dreams and hopes. Sharp. Loves entertainment andleisure. Romantic on the inside not outside. Superstitious and ludicrous.Spendthrift. Tries to learn to show emotions.

MARCH: Attractive personality. Sexy. Affectionate. Shy and reserved.Secretive. Naturally honest, generous and sympathetic. Loves peace andserenity. Sensitive to others. Loves to serve others. Easily angered.Trustworthy. Appreciative and returns kindness. Observant and assessesothers. Revengeful. Loves to dream and fantasize. Loves traveling. Lovesattention. Hasty decisions in choosing partners. Loves home decors.Musically talented. Loves special things. Moody.

APRIL: Active and dynamic. Decisive and hasty but tends to regret.Attractive and affectionate to oneself. Strong mentality. Loves attention.Diplomatic. Consoling, friendly and solves people's problems. Brave andfearless. Adventurous. Loving and caring. Suave and generous. Emotional.Aggressive. Hasty. Good memory. Moving. Motivates oneself and others.Sickness usually of the head and chest. Sexy in a way that only their lovercan see.

MAY: Stubborn and hard-hearted. Strong-willed and highly motivated. Sharpthoughts. Easily angered. Attracts others and loves attention. Deepfeelings. Beautiful physically and mentally. Firm Standpoint. Needs nomotivation. Easily consoled. Systematic (left brain). Loves to dream. Strongclairvoyance. Understanding. Sickness usually in the ear and neck. Goodimagination. Good physical. Weak breathing. Loves literature and the arts.Loves traveling. Dislike being at home. Restless. Not having many children.Hardworking. High spirited. Spendthrift.

JUNE: Thinks far with vision. Easily influenced by kindness. Polite andsoft-spoken. Having ideas. Sensitive. Active mind. Hesitating, tends todelay. Choosy and always wants the best. Temperamental. Funny and humorous.Loves to joke. Good debating skills. Talkative. Daydreamer. Friendly. Knowshow to make friends. Able to show character. Easily hurt. Prone to gettingcolds. Loves to dress up. Easily bored. Fussy. Seldom shows emotions. Takestime to recover when hurt. Brand conscious. Executive. Stubborn.

JULY: Fun to be with. Secretive. Difficult to fathom and to be understood.Quiet unless excited or tensed. Takes pride in oneself. Has reputation.Easily consoled. Honest. Concerned about people's feelings. Tactful.Friendly. Approachable. Emotional temperamental and unpredictable. Moody andeasily hurt. Witty and sparkly. Not revengeful. Forgiving but never forgets.Dislikes nonsensical and unnecessary things. Guides others physically andmentally. Sensitive and forms impressions carefully. Caring and loving.Treats others equally. Strong sense of sympathy. Wary and sharp. Judgespeople through observations. Hardworking. No difficulties in studying. Lovesto be alone. Always broods about the past and the old friends. Likes to bequiet. Homely person. Waits for friends. Never looks for friends. Notaggressive unless provoked. Prone to having stomach and dieting problems.Loves to be loved. Easily hurt but takes long to recover.

AUGUST: Loves to joke. Attractive. Suave and caring. Brave and fearless.Firm and has leadership qualities. Knows how to console others. Too generousand egoistic. Takes high pride in oneself. Thirsty for praises.Extraordinary spirit. Easily angered. Angry when provoked. Easily jealous.Observant. Careful and cautious. Thinks quickly. Independent thoughts. Lovesto lead and to be led. Loves to dream. Talented in the arts, music anddefense. Sensitive but not petty. Poor resistance against illnesses. Learnsto relax. Hasty and trusty. Romantic. Loving and caring. Loves to makefriends.

SEPTEMBER: Suave and compromising. Careful, cautious and organized. Likes topoint out people's mistakes. Likes to criticize. Stubborn. Quiet but able totalk well. Calm and cool. Kind and sympathetic. Concerned and detailed.Loyal but not always honest. Does work well. Very confident. Sensitive. Goodmemory. Clever and knowledgeable. Loves to look for information. Mustcontrol oneself when criticizing. Able to motivate oneself. Understanding.Fun to be around. Secretive. Loves leisure and traveling. Hardly showsemotions. Tends to bottle up feelings. Very choosy, especially inrelationships. Systematic.

OCTOBER: Loves to chat. Loves those who loves them. Loves to take things atthe center. Inner and physical beauty. Lies but doesn't pretend. Gets angryoften. Treats friends importantly. Always making friends. Easily hurt butrecovers easily. Daydreamer. Opinionated. Does not care of what othersthink. Emotional. Decisive. Strong clairvoyance. Loves to travel, the artsand literature. Touchy and easily jealous. Concerned. Loves outdoors. Justand fair. Spendthrift. Easily influenced. Easily loses confidence. Loveschildren.

NOVEMBER: Has a lot of ideas. Difficult to fathom. Thinks forward. Uniqueand brilliant. Extraordinary ideas. Sharp thinking. Fine and strongclairvoyance. Can become good doctors. Dynamic in personality. Secretive.Inquisitive. Knows how to dig secrets. Always thinking. Less talkative butamiable. Brave and generous. Patient. Stubborn and hard-hearted. If there isa will, there is a way. Determined. Never give up. Hardly becomes angryunless provoked. Loves to be alone. Thinks differently from others.Sharp-minded. Motivates oneself. Does not appreciate praises. High-spirited.Well-built and tough. Deep love and emotions. Romantic. Uncertain inrelationships. Homely. Hardworking. High abilities. Trustworthy. Honest andkeeps secrets. Not able to control emotions. Unpredictable.

DECEMBER: Loyal and generous. Sexy. Patriotic. Active in games andinteractions. Impatient and hasty. Ambitious. Influential in organizations.Fun to be with. Loves to socialize. Loves praises. Loves attention. Loves tobe loved. Honest and trustworthy. Not pretending. Short tempered. Changingpersonality. Not egotistic. Take high pride in oneself. Hates restrictions.Loves to joke. Good sense of humor. Logical.

Call her Big Sister

2008-01-02T19:47:00.000-06:00

Even though we found out the day before Thanksgiving Nickel and I opted not to tell Peanut or the rest of the family until Christmas. Let me tell you, for someone as excited as I was (am) that was not an easy thing to do.

On December 22, the three of us gathered around the Christmas tree to open presents. We always do our family Christmas early because we spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with our other family and this way Peanut stops harrassing us about the presents and gives her something to do for the rest of the day while I bake or clean or like this year, lay on the couch exhausted. Anywho, one by one she chose a present and unwrapped them. She enjoyed the games she got. Then she opened the present that contained one white shirt with just enough writing. "What does it say?" I asked her. "I'm going to be the Big Sister."

She looked at me as if to say, 'Yeah, so what's the big deal, mom?'

"What do you think that means?"

"I dunno."

"How does one become a big sister?"

"I dunno."

"Do mommy and daddy have to have a baby in order for you to become a big sister."

"Yeah." Still the 'what's the big deal, mom' look.

"Mommy's going to have a baby."

"You are?"

"Mmmhmm... that means, you're going to be a big sister."

"I'm going to be a big sister?"

"Yep."

There were lots of squeels and claps, I won't attempt to describe them for you. She of course wore her new shirt that day even though I had intended for her to wear it on Christmas Eve. Luckily, my momma taught me how to do laundry.

Throughout the day Peanut asked her to help practice being a Big Sister. She had lots of questions too, "Can I hold the baby?" Not right now, you have to wait until it's born. "When will it be born?" Sometime late July or early August, but Mommy's hoping for July. "Is it a boy or a girl?" We don't know yet. "When will you know?" Hopefully sometime around the end of February. "How did the baby get in your tummy?" God put it there. "How?" Oh look! Here's a present you didn't open.

A week and a half later she's still excited. She doesn't just randomly scream "I'm going to be a big sister!", but she's excited. Every few days or so she asks how big the baby is. She was amazed when it went from being the size of a grape to a lime.

Hope ya'll don't mind a bunch of "baby" posts for... oh, I don't know, ever.

Coming July 2008

2007-12-31T17:02:00.000-06:00

Peanut II

Maybe will come up with a better name by then.

You're what?

2007-12-29T15:58:00.000-06:00

tin roof.

rusted.

Chicago #3

2007-12-27T20:48:00.000-06:00

Ok, this is my last post on Chicago. I know, you guys are probably pretty excited for me to change the subject.
Early the next morning we stood outside in line. The crazy girls that got up at 7 am got really good spots in line, and yes, those of us that showed up two hours later cut! We camped out and chatted

Ok, this isn't the best picture of the line, my phone can take three photos and put them together but as you can seen The Cookies By Design sign is a little off, but you still can see the really long line that wrapped around the building. This picture was taken a good hour before they let us in the door. We were camped out pretty close to the front of the line near Zanie's comedy club.

But after hours of waiting they finally let us in the doors and allowed us to sit. We were able to get pretty good seats even though the people in front of us were able to hold as many seats as they wanted for the people in the back. The service sucked.

But finally we got what we wanted!

This picture was taken by a sweet girl named Amanda. I met her, she's a big fan of Steve and Becky too. Of course. For the next couple of hours Steve and Becky (or Elizabeth and Jason on General Hospital) entertained us.

My favorite picture of the whole weekend! I actually had my wits about me and spoke them and told them how they were the reason I took my first plane ride ever! The flight home was easier. O'Hara wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and my friend Lorna bought me that stuff you take to make you less nausaus. Then once we landed my friend drove from Kansas City back to her house where I picked up my car and drove to my house.

The next time I fly it will be out of an airport that someone drops me off at and picks me up from!

Next post: Exciting news

Chicago Post 2

2007-12-08T21:47:00.000-06:00

Sorry guys.... life.

We landed in Chicago with no problems. Lorna and I were to meet up with 4 other gals at the Hilton. On the little map of the airport it looked like "walking distance" HA. HA. A lady from the airport was there to pick up my friend in a wheelchair, she was having hip replacement the following week--anyway, the airport lady double timed it to the Hilton. I was out of breath by the we made it, she of course was not, she does that all day long. Oh well.

Moving on, we were able to recognize the girls we were meeting up. They were all wearing shirts I had designed and sold on at Cafe Press. One of the girls who had arrived about half an hour before we did had not made. She didn't have the airport lady double timing it through the airport. Also, she had to pick up her rental car. The three that had been there a while were getting a little cranky and wanted to leave her. I insisted we wait... there was a mess... but the six of us finally made it to Chilis and had some lunch.

(Lorna, Jaime, me and Cindy)

After lunch we split back up. The girl with the rental car had promised to pick up a couple of the other girls who were arriving within the hour so she headed back to the airport and we headed to the hotel in Vernon Hills.

Beth and I with the help of various people arranged a Meet and Greet gathering in the hotel conference room that night. The hotel staff was amazing in having everything set up the way we had asked and found last minute things for us to use. I made name tags and set at a table outside the room. I loved that job. Meeting people for the first time. There were people from three different message boards gathering. Several members of the board I post at are members of the other boards which is how they got involved (it also helped pay for the room and the catered food which was bonus!)

Me at my little table. Those are the name tags too in the bottom corner, they were really cute!

(Karen, me and Ella)

The night ended with our techy girl (who had a horrible time getting there, her original flight was delayed then canceled) hacking into her computer at home with her lap top and turning on the TV tuner in her computer that had recorded General Hospital that day and let us watch it. It was great! We also watched some old scenes of the couple we all love and adore. By the time we had to give the hotel back their room I was exhausted and ready for bed. Much like tonight. I'll try to do better with the next update.

Chicago- Post 1

2007-10-22T07:32:00.001-06:00

There is so much to say and so few brain cells awake at 8:30 this Monday morning that I'm going to have call this Post 1. I have no idea how many there will be. I guess as many as I need.

About three months ago it came to our attention that Steve Burton and Rebecca Herbst would be in Chicago in October doing their first ever fan event together. In all the excitement about 15 of my friends arranged their schedules to fit this event in. I could not be left out so of course I jumped on this boat. Luckily we were able to split up the financing, the plane ticket and ticket to the show had to be paid for then and the money I save from doing weddings was my "fun" money.

Thursday afternoon I left work at 2 and headed north. I had never flown before and my sweet friend Lorna had hooked me up with her travel agent to get me on the same flight as her flying out of Kansas City. Now, for any of you too lazy to get out your maps, Kansas City is about 260 miles from Enid and there were three major airports closer to me, but like I said, I had never flown before and was a little nervous.

Friday morning at 4:50 we got up and got ready to leave. We drove in the dark until the sun started coming up on the plains. It was a beauiful sunrise, one for the books. We arrived at the Kansas City airport in plenty of time, made our way through airport security and found a seat. The airport had wifi and I was able to communicate with the world somewhat through my phone. Part of me wishes I had taken my laptop just to play with, but I'm glad I left it at home so that nothing bad could happen to it.

The time arrived for us to board the plane and the stomach was all a flutter with butterflies. Lorna gave me her window seat! During take off I said goodbye to the cows that were totally ignorning us and held on. Take off isn't bad, it feel like racing. Once in the air I was in total awe of the view.

The butterflies stayed with me for the whole flight but I managed to keep the barf bag in it's place. A lady behind me had two small children with her and one kept pulling my hair as he was grabbing on to the seat. At one point I grabbed his hand and held it for a second. He didn't pull my hair anymore. I felt sorry for the lady trying to keep up with the kids and I could smell at least one of them being sick. It was gross, but the view was amazing. We were only in the air for a little over an hour so it was great.

The tops of the clouds. I found this amazingly beautiful. It reminded me of fresh powder snow.

Up next--- Chicago, the Windy City

Countdown

2007-10-13T18:00:00.000-06:00

Thursday I leave for Kansas.

Friday I'm getting on a plane headed to Chicago.

Saturday I'm going to party with friends.

Sunday I'm flying back to Kansas.

Monday I'm sleeping in.

I can't wait!!!

Smelling Roses

2007-09-24T07:17:00.000-06:00

Life is good.

School is going well. I have not killed TheAnnoyingKidThatSitsBehindMe. I find it's always good to not kill your classmates. He's actually toned down a bit, the girl that sits across from him, she's next on my list. I kind of feel sorry for her. Kind of, but not really. She's obviously still in highschool and a little on the brainy side so she probably doesn't have many friends. Last week we were wrapping up the day's lecture talking about genetics and TheHighSchoolGirlWhoKnowsNothingAboutRealLife had to give an explination or example for EVERTHING. One girl actually left the room because she wouldn't stop talking. The teacher got quite upset. Not at the chick that wouldn't shut up, but at the girl who couldn't take it anymore. It's probably good I don't carry a knife to school. I'm just going to leave it at that.

Every fall I manage to fill up my schedule. Me, the girl who loves quite weekends at home will be going almost non-stop until... oh, about 2008. As I already posted we went racing last weekend. I'm doing my LAST wedding this coming weekend, you have no idea how excited I am to put this wedding coordinating behind me. And not to say I wouldn't help a friend out from time to time but sacrificing my quite weekends for other people who expect miracles is gone. Put a fork in it, it's done!

October is filling up quickly too. I'm going to Chicago around the middle of the month and the following weekend will be spent at Lake Greenleaf with family. (AJ, I'll give you a call when it get closer and I know what our exact plans are). There's other stuff going on but I haven't finished my coffee yet so at the present moment I can't think of what they are. But hopefully I can squeeze in a Saturday afternoon nap sometime there.

Well, the roses smell great, time to get back to work.

Love ya!

Banana Pudding

2007-09-23T12:37:00.001-06:00

Yesterday we left Oklahoma behind and headed north just across the boarder to Ark City, Kansas for then annual Nostalgia Races at the Mid America Dragway. First stop was the car show. We saw lots of cool cars.

Peanut is getting pretty good at distinguishing between the different Chevelle's. This one was a....70.

Later on we hung with friends and family until well past sunset. Nickel wanted to stay the night but knowing how Sunday nights are on a regular weekend I wanted to come home and get as much rest as possible. Peanut was very upset with me but after meeting this little blonde she forgot about how mean I was. This girl is 9 and in her Jr Dragster (not pictured, this one was for sale because she had outgown it) did a quarter mile in just over 10 seconds. Just to give you some perspective, a couple of years ago when I raced my camaro I made the quarter mile in 17 seconds.

Today, I'm tired and have blisters on my feet. Life is good.

Ursa Major

2007-09-08T08:48:00.002-06:00

I watched them dance the other night,
A ballet I had seen a thousand times,
Dancing on the midnight stage,
Miles beyond what I could see,
The choreography had not changed,
Full of batterie and tour en l’air.
No, time to them means so little,
For night after night they must perform.
A dancer appears to fall from grace,
Quick, say a wish.

The Award

2007-07-21T18:30:00.000-06:00

To Leslee with the Fresh Cut Flowers, from whom I first learned to respond to the nice folks who comment here, and who happens to have been my very first commentator, I also give the

First, let me say that I am truly honored to receive this much undeserved award. It feels like months since I've really blogged and even more since I've kept up with your lives. There are lots of reasons for that none of which are you, my blog readers/friends. I've been traveling through life on a path I'd rather not be on and it seems easier to not talk about it. Perhaps someday I'll talk about it but it's not fun stuff and I really don't like to talk about stuff that isn't fun. I'm don't like being depressed, it doesn't suit me well at all. I will find the light, I promise I will and I'll return to my normal, so-called life.

But, back to the award. I was given this award by my friend jrh of Turkey on Whole Wheat. He is a very kind man that often reminds me of my own dad. And I don't think he'll mind me saying that as we have established I'm the age of his own children. jrh showed up on my blog around February this year so of course I had to check him out. He has a fun way of counting down his blogs. I don't know what he'll do once he actually reaches 1, but look forward to seeing it. He tells stories of his past and present. Stories of Lela touched my heart deeply because I could feel the love through the strings of words he used to tell their story. If you have a moment stop in at his blog, I'm sure he'd like the company.

Have a great weekend ya'll!

Peanut

2007-06-23T16:45:00.001-06:00

Some mothers push their babies on a walk. Others drag them.

An Anniversary Tale

2007-06-21T20:30:00.001-06:00

Nickel and I got married eight years ago. Here's a picture. Weren't we just the the cutest couple alive? Ok, so you can't really see all of Nickel's face, but he's a cutie.

That's my brother in the back ground. He was the cheapest preacher I could find -free. My colors were purples and yellows. It was a fun little wedding.

Anyway, that was 1999. Our first year of marriage was by far the most difficult. Nickel and I hadn't really known each other that long, but I knew he was who I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. A month after that picture was taken we moved over three hours away from my momma. I had moved out of my parents house six months before that but still went to my mommas house almost weekly and talked to her on the phone daily. Being so far away was an adjustment. Then after being in the new city where I knew NO one for a couple of weeks we found out we were expecting a Peanut.

So just to recap, we got married in June, moved to Enid in July, and found out we were expecting a baby early August. That was a fun six weeks. I was lonely and hormonal. It's a wonder he didn't send me home to my momma's!

But we managed to survive both the first year of marriage and the pregnancy and have the ever so fun loving Peanut to show for it. But after eight years I finally feel like I know this man. I know how he takes his coffee -black with LOTS of sugar. I know more about comic book characters then I ever thought possible (which has actually won me brownie points at work), I can even actively listen when he talks about cars, Camaros are his favorite but he likes Chevelles, El Caminos, Corvettes, Novas, Malibu Station Wagons....

For our anniversary this year, being on a Tuesday, we dropped the Peanut off with Grandma and went out to dinner. We decided that downtown stood the best chance of not being crowded. Did I mention that Nickel hates crowds? He doesn't like most people. We drove by one place, it looked too crowded. We drove by a second place, there were a few cars, but the third place looked empty. And it was for the most part. I think the whole time we were there there were three couples served. We talked and enjoyed the good food for about an hour and a half without interruptions, except from our waiter who actually asked Nickel if he wanted a straw for his beer.

Nothing elaborate. We don't exchange gifts for our anniversay. We just usually enjoy a dinner for the two of us. That's fine with me, I don't want stuff. I just want his attention and it was mine, mine, all mine, for an hour and half on our special day.

Psalm 3

2007-04-25T07:58:00.000-06:00

1 O LORD, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
2 Many are saying of me,
"God will not deliver him."
Selah
3 But you are a shield around me, O LORD;
you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.
4 To the LORD I cry aloud,
and he answers me from his holy hill.
Selah
5 I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.
6 I will not fear the tens of thousands
drawn up against me on every side.
7 Arise, O LORD!
Deliver me, O my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
break the teeth of the wicked.
8 From the LORD comes deliverance.
May your blessing be on your people.
Selah

I got some disturbing news yesterday from my doctor. They'll retest me in October. God will take care of it by then I'm sure. Until then, this is my prayer.

Inflation is out of control!!!

2007-04-16T19:30:00.000-06:00

So my house payment goes up every June (except that one year it actually went down but still, in June) and they always tell me in my May statement what it's going to be. Well, I got my May statement today. And you guessed it, it went up again.

Me: Honey, the house payment's going up.

Him: Great.

Me: Yeah, I'm going to need to put some extra money in the bank from now on.

Him: How much.

Me: Well, I don't care if you do it all at one time or a little bit with each check.

Him: How much more a month do you need.

Me: 43 cents a month.

Happy Birthday Peanut

2007-03-22T09:36:00.000-06:00

My Peanut turned 7 today. I'm depressed.

Foul

2007-03-20T20:31:00.001-06:00

I'm in a foul mood. Be back when I've changed my attitude.

Time keeps on a tickin

2007-03-14T07:27:00.000-06:00

Sorry I haven't had much time to blog the last few days. There's been plenty of stuff to talk about just not time. Peanut lost her first tooth last Saturday. This of course was a big deal. What's sad though, is she already has two of her adult teeth growing in behind her bottom baby teeth so when you see her "toothless" smile you see a row of teeth just one is further back then the others. She's working on a couple of the top ones and then she'll really have a toothless smile. Sorry, I don't have a picture. I'll try to take one soon.

So, in other news due to a miscommunication error Nickel's family will be coming to town this weekend. I was expecting them the next weekend. It will actually work out better for us for them to come this weekend but that means I have to really clean my house a week earlier and I really don't want to.

I've got everything I need to do at work done. This is good and bad all at the same time. For the rest of the month it'll just get to pay a bill here, pay a bill there, do a payroll, and little stuff that'll come in. This is so not fun when I have a million things I need to do at home and am stuck here bored out of my mind! And by the time I get home I'm not at all in the mood to do a darn thing on my list! Oh well. That's what the mad grab and stash two hours before the MIL gets there is for, right?!?!

Be good! I'll check in when I can!

Feeling Good

2007-03-09T11:24:00.000-06:00

I was going to post some song lyrics but decided I didn't want to do that so I'm not. But the truth is, I do feel good. The weather is gorgeous! The sun is shining and we have no more snow!! It's even starting to warm up with temperatures close to 70! Hallelujah! I bought a Michael Buble' CD and am loving it!!! If you'd like to listen to him head over to his website: MichaelBuble.com I think you can even hear the Feeling Good song there but first read my post and comment because I like comments.

I've got to send out the invitations for Peanut's birthday this weekend. We're having a Bratz party in a couple of weeks. I think we're going to do hair, makeup and maybe nails (maybe not...might be a bit messy) and have cupcakes. Then I'm going to invite the family to come over around lunch time and have some family time. Peanut's cousin is also having a birthday party that day but later at the skating rink. We'll see if she makes it to that one. Depends on if any family come up for her birthday luncheon and what we end up doing that afternoon.

Nickel and I are going to go to another Hornet's basketball game this month. They play the Knicks here at the end of the month and Nickel loves the Knicks. He wanted me to take him to NYC to see them in the Garden but I just couldn't afford that. The Hornets will be going back to New Orleans next year so I thought this might be the last chance to see them and the Knicks for a long time (at least until we get our own team and who knows how long that'll be). The seats are in the nosebleed section but I think we'll still have a good time. Peanut's going to spend the night with one of her grandmas so she'll love that!

Yeah freedom is mine -- And I know how I feel-- It's a new dawn-- It's a new day-- It's a new life-- For me-- And I'm feeling good--I feel so good.

Makeup

2007-03-08T08:39:00.000-06:00

I may not need it, but I'm still going to wear it!

Friday Caption Contest

2007-03-02T11:04:00.000-06:00

Got a funny caption for this picture? Leave it in the comment section for everyone to enjoy!

Thought for the Day

2007-02-28T16:03:00.001-06:00

It's a proven fact that 3 out of 4 people make up 75% of the world's population.