All day at work I was feeling like time was just flying by - the day was going by so fast! LOL, I found out why... I have a a 4 year old XP computer at work. It has crashed 3 times and all three times I have been able to resurrect it with out too much lost. Lately when the power goes out and it doesn't get shut down properly, the date reverts back to January 1, 2005 and you have to adjust it or nothing will work properly. Even internet pages won't come up right because it tell you that something is wrong with the digital certificate. This morning I was having all kinds of trouble, and finally had a duh! moment and went in and adjusted the date. I glanced at the time and it looked ok, and then went about my business. At one point I looked at the clock on the display and thought 'Holy Cow!! Where's the day gone?? It's already 3:30!!' Then later I started shutting some things down because it was getting close to 5:00. At 5:08 I thought 'Ok, why is Dad so late??' My dad works here too - evening/weekend reception. We have someone here to answer the phones or the door until 9pm. So I look at the HUGE antique clock we have hanging on the wall across from my desk - it says 3:50 "Huh??" That's not real reliable because, well, if you were over a hundred years old and had to be wound up to keep going you might not be so reliable either! So it loses some time occasionally...so I look at my phone and that's when I realize I did not re-sync the time when I was setting the date this morning (thinking it was right) I have been an hour and 10 minutes ahead all day! Now, I feel like I have all kinds of time to do stuff, hehehe...
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Getting Along
I'm so glad today is done...and tomorrow is Friday :) We had a double header today - two funerals with about an hour between the end of one and the beginning of the next - and I'm pooped! No major mishaps, so it's all good, hehehe. I say that because not only were there no mistakes on our part, but there were no fights to break up :) One of our services today has some family trouble and not everyone has learned how to play nice. There was some tension there and peeps in one camp didn't want to set on the same side of the chapel as those in the other camp.
I've never understood that, but it happens a lot. We've had to have police come and escort people out before, break up fights, we've had to tell people that the family has requested that they not attend. That always looks good: Police dragging someone kicking & screaming out the front door of the funeral home. Yeah that's good advertising...Can't we all just get along?? LOL
Yesterday (and today) was enrollment for the 09-10 school year. Enrollment consists of filling out forms (the same forms you already filled out if your kid went to Kindergarten Roundup) and going from step to step to make sure you filled it all out correctly, then paying your fees. It's all backwards and totally silly - I mean the only people who should have to do all this is the ones who are new. Back in California they sent home a letter asking if your child will be attending the same school again and you indicated any changes on the form and you were done! And if you were new, you went to the office and filled out your stuff, gave them copies of birth records, etc. - easy! This is designed to drain you of all energy and make you completely insane. Here is a priceless moment from yesterday: step one is filling out forms, step two is fall sports sign-ups and I wasn't going to need step two so I started looking for step three...nowhere, so I go to the lady at step four (which I can't remember now hehehe) and ask her where step three is. She looks around and says "I have no idea (laughs)" On to step five, lol...
I was kind of in a hurry, I needed to get back to work, so I pretty much flew through it all, as much as possible anyway. At the form filling table there was a BIG biker dude, who from the smell of him had been drinking a lot of coffee, sitting next to me. He quite obviously was not happy about being there (I did not blame him a bit!) because he was having what I call explosive sighs. And everytime he did I got a whiff of coffee breath - ugh! But you gotta give him credit for being there and getting it done. I did feel bad for him though, because after 20 minutes and nine steps, I was leaving and he was still filling out forms...Yikes!
I've never understood that, but it happens a lot. We've had to have police come and escort people out before, break up fights, we've had to tell people that the family has requested that they not attend. That always looks good: Police dragging someone kicking & screaming out the front door of the funeral home. Yeah that's good advertising...Can't we all just get along?? LOL
Yesterday (and today) was enrollment for the 09-10 school year. Enrollment consists of filling out forms (the same forms you already filled out if your kid went to Kindergarten Roundup) and going from step to step to make sure you filled it all out correctly, then paying your fees. It's all backwards and totally silly - I mean the only people who should have to do all this is the ones who are new. Back in California they sent home a letter asking if your child will be attending the same school again and you indicated any changes on the form and you were done! And if you were new, you went to the office and filled out your stuff, gave them copies of birth records, etc. - easy! This is designed to drain you of all energy and make you completely insane. Here is a priceless moment from yesterday: step one is filling out forms, step two is fall sports sign-ups and I wasn't going to need step two so I started looking for step three...nowhere, so I go to the lady at step four (which I can't remember now hehehe) and ask her where step three is. She looks around and says "I have no idea (laughs)" On to step five, lol...
I was kind of in a hurry, I needed to get back to work, so I pretty much flew through it all, as much as possible anyway. At the form filling table there was a BIG biker dude, who from the smell of him had been drinking a lot of coffee, sitting next to me. He quite obviously was not happy about being there (I did not blame him a bit!) because he was having what I call explosive sighs. And everytime he did I got a whiff of coffee breath - ugh! But you gotta give him credit for being there and getting it done. I did feel bad for him though, because after 20 minutes and nine steps, I was leaving and he was still filling out forms...Yikes!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Uh...Yeah...
Ok, so today was apparently one of those 'special' days. You know, like 'Backwards Day', or 'Stupid Hat Day', only more along the lines of ' Unleash Your Fury On The Unsuspecting Day'! And nobody told me about it :( ...
I work at a funeral home, in a S M ALL town....when a body isn't in the chapel or other stateroom yet, we put the register book up on the front counter, aka; my desk, and it usually isn't printed until the day before the service. The reason for that is we don't always have all the info yet.
First thing this morning, a lady comes in to sign the book and starts flipping through the pages and literally screams in my face that there's no darn (my word) name & she is NOT signing it and then she storms out. Her face was purple, she was so mad! She was still yelling at me (herself, lol) walking down the sidewalk. I was like "what just happened??"
And then...another elderly lady and her husband come in & go into a stateroom where we have a photo display and some flowers (it's cremation, so there's no casket) and then when she comes out she says "you need to turn on the lights in there! Can't see nothin'!" Then her husband says "no, it's just because it's bright outside." And she lights into him, lol, saying "No, it's not! They need some darn (my word) lights!" What the heck??...the lights ARE on...
I work at a funeral home, in a S M ALL town....when a body isn't in the chapel or other stateroom yet, we put the register book up on the front counter, aka; my desk, and it usually isn't printed until the day before the service. The reason for that is we don't always have all the info yet.
First thing this morning, a lady comes in to sign the book and starts flipping through the pages and literally screams in my face that there's no darn (my word) name & she is NOT signing it and then she storms out. Her face was purple, she was so mad! She was still yelling at me (herself, lol) walking down the sidewalk. I was like "what just happened??"
And then...another elderly lady and her husband come in & go into a stateroom where we have a photo display and some flowers (it's cremation, so there's no casket) and then when she comes out she says "you need to turn on the lights in there! Can't see nothin'!" Then her husband says "no, it's just because it's bright outside." And she lights into him, lol, saying "No, it's not! They need some darn (my word) lights!" What the heck??...the lights ARE on...
Monday, July 27, 2009
Fireflies
Or Lightning Bugs, or whatever you want to call them, fascinate me. Growing up in California, I never saw them until I took a trip to Atlanta, Georgia. Now that I live in Kansas, I get to see them every year once the warm weather sets in. Soft, slow little lights drifting around gardens, in trees and bushes - mesmerizing! A couple of years ago, the little neighbor girl confessed to me that she likes to catch a lot of them in her bug box & let them go in her big sister's room, hehehe! I had to admit that I had not thought of that - good one!
A couple of nights ago there were so many outside that it looked like a firework display viewed from a distance - no sound, just the twinkling lights. There is a lot behind our house that is owned by the neighbors behind us to the south, and they use it to plant gardens of vegetables and flowers, and that's where they were all gathered. Some kind of firefly festival of lights.
My favorite time to watch is at twilight. Everything is bathed in that odd light - or absence of light - and the sky is purple and deep blue. The outlines of trees, grass, everything, are hazy - blurred, and time seems to slow down and stand still. And in the half light a slow, graceful dance of soft lights is taking place among the flowers and trees. First rising, then falling, drifting this way and that...ethereal. You can almost believe in fairies :) 'All creatures, great and small, The Lord God made them all' Maybe He did create fairies and we call them fireflies...
A couple of nights ago there were so many outside that it looked like a firework display viewed from a distance - no sound, just the twinkling lights. There is a lot behind our house that is owned by the neighbors behind us to the south, and they use it to plant gardens of vegetables and flowers, and that's where they were all gathered. Some kind of firefly festival of lights.
My favorite time to watch is at twilight. Everything is bathed in that odd light - or absence of light - and the sky is purple and deep blue. The outlines of trees, grass, everything, are hazy - blurred, and time seems to slow down and stand still. And in the half light a slow, graceful dance of soft lights is taking place among the flowers and trees. First rising, then falling, drifting this way and that...ethereal. You can almost believe in fairies :) 'All creatures, great and small, The Lord God made them all' Maybe He did create fairies and we call them fireflies...
Saturday, July 25, 2009
OMGosh!
I saw the funniest movie! OMGosh! If you haven't seen Confessions of a Shopaholic, you MUST! Hugh Dancy is, well, perfect, of course, and Isla Fisher is great. I don't know that I've ever seen her in anything before, but it was a great cast. It was sooo funny. I don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't seen it, so I won't tell, but you fashionistas out there will love it!! hehehe
I'm not a fashionista by any stretch, but I have my own thing, just like everybody. For me it's electronic gadgety type things, computers, things that have buttons and can be programmed and personalized... If I can personalize it - it's MINE!!! lol
The other thing I identified with is the inability to get rid of stuff. I have such a hard time with that. I can't get rid of anything! I think I may have gotten that from my mom, even though her house was never cluttered or anything. We swapped stuff back & forth a lot. I found evidence of our swapping while going through her clothes & personal things, lol, and it brought back some sweet memories.
The other movie I watched this weekend is an old favorite - Gone In 60 Seconds (Nicholas Cage). I like Nick, Giovanni Ribisi, and I will admit that I like Angelina Jolie. She was awesome as Lara Croft! Gone in 60 Seconds is so much fun - great cast & awesome cars. I love cars - particularly the classics. My very fave is a '57 Chevy Bel Aire, black of course, but I am also a Camaro girl. A 66 Camaro will turn my head, especially if it sounds sweet :)
I'm not a fashionista by any stretch, but I have my own thing, just like everybody. For me it's electronic gadgety type things, computers, things that have buttons and can be programmed and personalized... If I can personalize it - it's MINE!!! lol
The other thing I identified with is the inability to get rid of stuff. I have such a hard time with that. I can't get rid of anything! I think I may have gotten that from my mom, even though her house was never cluttered or anything. We swapped stuff back & forth a lot. I found evidence of our swapping while going through her clothes & personal things, lol, and it brought back some sweet memories.
The other movie I watched this weekend is an old favorite - Gone In 60 Seconds (Nicholas Cage). I like Nick, Giovanni Ribisi, and I will admit that I like Angelina Jolie. She was awesome as Lara Croft! Gone in 60 Seconds is so much fun - great cast & awesome cars. I love cars - particularly the classics. My very fave is a '57 Chevy Bel Aire, black of course, but I am also a Camaro girl. A 66 Camaro will turn my head, especially if it sounds sweet :)
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Some Days
Today started off really well...got up to get ready for work & had some 'digestive issues', to put it delicately, LOL so decided to just chill for awhile & wait for things to settle down. So later, after my shower & with my head in a towel, someone knocks on the door. Thinking it is my mother-in-law or father-in-law coming to see why I am home (they do that, by the way), I discover the Animal Control Officer, whom I also know from church. I'm a little surprised to see him, LOL. He is there to let me know that the city has decided that it is time for the raccoon family to move out to the country and he has a humane trap to set up. Then later, I fought with the garage door and was defeated - I had to get out of the van & shut the door from the wall switch, then go out through the front door to get back in the van. Let's just say that if I had wet polish on my nails it would have smudged, if I was wearing pantyhose they would have got snags & runs...you get the idea, hehehe...
On the way to work I got behind every slow farmer in the county, and at one point there were about 8 of us behind one guy. And we can't blame Wally for the hold up any more - he died several months ago!
He was an old practical joker here in town and he loved to drive about 12 miles per hour, right around 10 'til 8 am, Noon & 5 pm...you're seeing the pattern aren't ya?? LOL, he loved nothing better than to slow someone down to a crawl & get a good string of cars behind him, straight through town on all the major streets. If you saw Wally coming, you got creative & tried to take side streets & alleys to get around in front of him. I worked at a photography studio next door to his appliance store a few years back & he used to play doorbell ditch on me. He would look through the windows to see where you were & then open the door just enough to set off the doorbell then run. A couple of times I was just around the corner out of his line of sight (he thought I was either upstairs or way in the back, hehehe). You've never seen anything as funny as an 80 year old man running down the sidewalk trying not to get caught LMBO!! Oh we got even...he liked to take walks downtown and we would wait for him to get close to where we were parked & we'd set off our panic buttons with our car remotes. Then he would get us back with styrofoam cups on the antenna or on the back bumper or on the trailer hitch...every summer when the grasshoppers get thick he would sweep his over in front of our door hehehe...I miss Wally :)
On the way to work I got behind every slow farmer in the county, and at one point there were about 8 of us behind one guy. And we can't blame Wally for the hold up any more - he died several months ago!
He was an old practical joker here in town and he loved to drive about 12 miles per hour, right around 10 'til 8 am, Noon & 5 pm...you're seeing the pattern aren't ya?? LOL, he loved nothing better than to slow someone down to a crawl & get a good string of cars behind him, straight through town on all the major streets. If you saw Wally coming, you got creative & tried to take side streets & alleys to get around in front of him. I worked at a photography studio next door to his appliance store a few years back & he used to play doorbell ditch on me. He would look through the windows to see where you were & then open the door just enough to set off the doorbell then run. A couple of times I was just around the corner out of his line of sight (he thought I was either upstairs or way in the back, hehehe). You've never seen anything as funny as an 80 year old man running down the sidewalk trying not to get caught LMBO!! Oh we got even...he liked to take walks downtown and we would wait for him to get close to where we were parked & we'd set off our panic buttons with our car remotes. Then he would get us back with styrofoam cups on the antenna or on the back bumper or on the trailer hitch...every summer when the grasshoppers get thick he would sweep his over in front of our door hehehe...I miss Wally :)
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Ugh! Revisited...
Oh gosh!! I'm being revisited by whatever I had last week, and so is my 9 yr old. Sully never quite got over it so had to call the doctor & they gave him an antibiotic for a sinus infection. Tucker and I went in today at 1:30. I could have gotten in sooner, but we had a funeral service at 10:00 - yeah, I would have liked to stay in bed this morning (I sure needed to!) but sometimes you just can't. Staying home would have put the guys in a crunch, and heck after a hot shower and some tylenol along with a cup of hot green tea with honey & lemon, I was feeling sorta functional.
Doctor put me on an allergy nasal spray (can't remember the name at the moment) and a once a day pill called Xyzal (something like Claritin). Whatever I have is viral and will have to be endured unless it would develop into a secondary infection (??) I started having allergy issues a couple of years ago, but never got any prescriptions for them. Doctor put Tucker on Singulair and Children's Claritin. In about 3 weeks he has to go back in for a Pulmonology Test to see if he has asthma. He gets a lot of colds/allergy symptoms during the year and gets severe chest congestion and the cough always lasts for weeks...not fun at all! he will most likely be put on regular allergy medication, but we'll figure that all out later, after he gets over this.
So, here I sit; fuzzy red socks, sweats, red nose, red eyes and drinking hot tea - in July...
Doctor put me on an allergy nasal spray (can't remember the name at the moment) and a once a day pill called Xyzal (something like Claritin). Whatever I have is viral and will have to be endured unless it would develop into a secondary infection (??) I started having allergy issues a couple of years ago, but never got any prescriptions for them. Doctor put Tucker on Singulair and Children's Claritin. In about 3 weeks he has to go back in for a Pulmonology Test to see if he has asthma. He gets a lot of colds/allergy symptoms during the year and gets severe chest congestion and the cough always lasts for weeks...not fun at all! he will most likely be put on regular allergy medication, but we'll figure that all out later, after he gets over this.
So, here I sit; fuzzy red socks, sweats, red nose, red eyes and drinking hot tea - in July...
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Hey! That's MY Car...
Today was quite exciting, well, the afternoon was anyway. I was busy working at my desk, so I really didn't notice anything out of the ordinary...
Gary (he's an Admin Assistant, and, like me, he does several jobs around here) went out to the garage & came back in a couple of times, which is not anything unusual in itself because he does that a lot; getting cars ready, seeing to the landscaping, or any one of the 100 or so other things he does around here. So he's out in the garage and in a little while I get a call on my cell phone and it's Gary calling me from his cell. I'm laughing, thinking, "why on earth is he calling me on cells when he's just out in the garage??" He's all out of breath and tells me to call the police (he couldn't think of the number, lol) some kid just tried to steal his car right out of the garage, and he chased him down and is about 3 blocks away on the corner, of course it didn't all come out quite that coherent since he was running while he was talking to me. Then I hear him yelling at someone (presumably the kid) and nothing. I call 911 from my cell (I could've just called the police line, but I was worried about Gary) and told them the situation, and where he was and that I could see him from outside our front door, down the street about 2 blocks. Turns out a trooper was closer, so he got there first and held him for the Police. Meanwhile, Gary calls me again & tells me that this kid wasn't alone and would I please pull the keys out of his car. So I go out in the garage and get the keys out of his car, lock mine, and notice that all of the other vehicles in the garage - 2 limos, the hearse, the van, all have doors ajar, and the old International truck had its tail lights on. I shut the garge doors and lock the outside door and the door going into the building, just in case he's still out there. I grabbed my remote before I locked my van, and waited by the door thinking that if he tried to get out I would shut the door on him, lol.
It turns out that this kid is 11 years old and had been been listed as a runaway 45 minutes before he tried to steal Gary's car. Gary's car is a bright blue PT Cruiser, and we figure he finally settled on it after trying all the other vehicles because it was smaller and already pointed towards the way out - no backing or anything involved. Plus, it's a cool car! From what Gary said, he kept going out in the garage because he was hearing noises out there and then the last time he went out noticed that the tail lights on his car were on and the car was moving towards the garage opening. He ran up to the car and the kid turned off the car & got out. Gary asked him what he was doing and the kid, just calm as can be, says he's not doing anything and then ran. Gary chased him around the building, down the alley, around behind some buildings, down the street about a block & then turned & ran two blocks to where Gary caught him. Not bad for a 40-somethin' guy who doesn't work out or anything, yeah?? 11 year old kid with fear & adrenaline pushing him, & he caught him!
This kid lost his dad 2 years ago, doesn't know where his mom is, and lives with his Grandmother. He definitely has some issues, but it sounds like this other kid that was involved is older and was in large part responsible for all the trouble he got into today. Yeah, he didn't have to listen to him, or do what he said, but don't you remember being influenced by an older cousin, sibling, whatever and feeling like you couldn't say no?? I do - my cousin got me into all kinds of trouble when we were young, LOL, and even though I was a somewhat-unwilling participant, I was a participant, none the less.
Gary (he's an Admin Assistant, and, like me, he does several jobs around here) went out to the garage & came back in a couple of times, which is not anything unusual in itself because he does that a lot; getting cars ready, seeing to the landscaping, or any one of the 100 or so other things he does around here. So he's out in the garage and in a little while I get a call on my cell phone and it's Gary calling me from his cell. I'm laughing, thinking, "why on earth is he calling me on cells when he's just out in the garage??" He's all out of breath and tells me to call the police (he couldn't think of the number, lol) some kid just tried to steal his car right out of the garage, and he chased him down and is about 3 blocks away on the corner, of course it didn't all come out quite that coherent since he was running while he was talking to me. Then I hear him yelling at someone (presumably the kid) and nothing. I call 911 from my cell (I could've just called the police line, but I was worried about Gary) and told them the situation, and where he was and that I could see him from outside our front door, down the street about 2 blocks. Turns out a trooper was closer, so he got there first and held him for the Police. Meanwhile, Gary calls me again & tells me that this kid wasn't alone and would I please pull the keys out of his car. So I go out in the garage and get the keys out of his car, lock mine, and notice that all of the other vehicles in the garage - 2 limos, the hearse, the van, all have doors ajar, and the old International truck had its tail lights on. I shut the garge doors and lock the outside door and the door going into the building, just in case he's still out there. I grabbed my remote before I locked my van, and waited by the door thinking that if he tried to get out I would shut the door on him, lol.
It turns out that this kid is 11 years old and had been been listed as a runaway 45 minutes before he tried to steal Gary's car. Gary's car is a bright blue PT Cruiser, and we figure he finally settled on it after trying all the other vehicles because it was smaller and already pointed towards the way out - no backing or anything involved. Plus, it's a cool car! From what Gary said, he kept going out in the garage because he was hearing noises out there and then the last time he went out noticed that the tail lights on his car were on and the car was moving towards the garage opening. He ran up to the car and the kid turned off the car & got out. Gary asked him what he was doing and the kid, just calm as can be, says he's not doing anything and then ran. Gary chased him around the building, down the alley, around behind some buildings, down the street about a block & then turned & ran two blocks to where Gary caught him. Not bad for a 40-somethin' guy who doesn't work out or anything, yeah?? 11 year old kid with fear & adrenaline pushing him, & he caught him!
This kid lost his dad 2 years ago, doesn't know where his mom is, and lives with his Grandmother. He definitely has some issues, but it sounds like this other kid that was involved is older and was in large part responsible for all the trouble he got into today. Yeah, he didn't have to listen to him, or do what he said, but don't you remember being influenced by an older cousin, sibling, whatever and feeling like you couldn't say no?? I do - my cousin got me into all kinds of trouble when we were young, LOL, and even though I was a somewhat-unwilling participant, I was a participant, none the less.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Monday, Monday
Ok, so today is Monday. Is it Friday yet?? hehehe I'm just a little tired today, got a little bit of a headache. There was a death yesterday so I was busy today. The funeral will be on Wednesday morning, so I have a very busy couple of days ahead.
Today was the 40th anniversary of the Moon walk! I can barely remember it - isn't that scary?? Of course I was only 4, but I can remember watching it on TV. I didn't really understand what it was all about - I really just wanted to go play, lol. Mom & dad and my brother Robin, and my Aunt Marie and Uncle George were there too, I think - they were all glued to the TV, watching. I did watch for awhile, but finally went outside & climbed in the grapefruit trees (tried to) - something I wasn't allowed to do, but nobody was watching...lol. I guess a lot of people think it wasn't real - that it was a hoax. I certainly don't agree with everything that our government does, but I'm pretty sure the moon walk wasn't fake. That seems to be just a bit too paranoid. And ya know what? Even if it was faked - what difference does it make now?? Notalotta :)
Today was the 40th anniversary of the Moon walk! I can barely remember it - isn't that scary?? Of course I was only 4, but I can remember watching it on TV. I didn't really understand what it was all about - I really just wanted to go play, lol. Mom & dad and my brother Robin, and my Aunt Marie and Uncle George were there too, I think - they were all glued to the TV, watching. I did watch for awhile, but finally went outside & climbed in the grapefruit trees (tried to) - something I wasn't allowed to do, but nobody was watching...lol. I guess a lot of people think it wasn't real - that it was a hoax. I certainly don't agree with everything that our government does, but I'm pretty sure the moon walk wasn't fake. That seems to be just a bit too paranoid. And ya know what? Even if it was faked - what difference does it make now?? Notalotta :)
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Full, But Refreshed
Today was a very full day! Every Sunday is busy; I'm the Sunday School Secretary, I do the Power Point Announcements, plus any other thing computer or electronically oriented that may come up. Sunday School, Morning Worship & Service, lunch, laundry for the upcoming week, evening Bible Study, and if there's time - a motorcycle ride. Today we had missionaries for Sri Lanka come and we fixed a traditional Sri Lankan meal, so after a quick lunch & load of laundry, it was back to the church to prepare the meal. Curried Chicken and Rice: it had the most aromatic blend of spices! Just a few of them were cardamom, cinnamon, clove, coriander, fennel seeds - several more that I can't remember! I learned to 'bruise' cardamom pods, and what to do with lemon grass stalks - lemon grass smells like lemon cookies and slightly like sweet grass too. you don't really eat them - they are for the flavor. It turned out really good. There was so much prep to it that it's not something I would do real often, but I would definitely fix it again.
After dinner we had the special evening service. The missionary couple brought with them their superintendent who is Sri Lankan, and so we got to hear from him as well. It really was inspiring and uplifting to hear what is happening there, and how God doesn't want us to 'stay where we are' spiritually. He wants us to keep moving up and out in our walk with Him. He wants us to grow, and be able to touch other lives. How can we walk closer to God, and affect others if we never get up from where we are? Anyway, God gave us, as in our family, a special message through him and the message was that God has plans for us, and that what we are experiencing right now is necessary for us to be able to minister to others who will come later that will find themselves in the same situation. That He is with us, and we have the desire in our hearts to do things but have not had the knowledge or direction before, but that will be changing! He is working in our lives and we shouldn't be discouraged. How cool is that?? I'm so excited about it! There were healings, and special messages for others, and such a feeling of expectation for what God will be doing down the road as well as right now! So, while it was a really long day & most of what I needed to get done didn't, I feel refreshed & renewed rather than tired & worn out. How awesome is that??
After dinner we had the special evening service. The missionary couple brought with them their superintendent who is Sri Lankan, and so we got to hear from him as well. It really was inspiring and uplifting to hear what is happening there, and how God doesn't want us to 'stay where we are' spiritually. He wants us to keep moving up and out in our walk with Him. He wants us to grow, and be able to touch other lives. How can we walk closer to God, and affect others if we never get up from where we are? Anyway, God gave us, as in our family, a special message through him and the message was that God has plans for us, and that what we are experiencing right now is necessary for us to be able to minister to others who will come later that will find themselves in the same situation. That He is with us, and we have the desire in our hearts to do things but have not had the knowledge or direction before, but that will be changing! He is working in our lives and we shouldn't be discouraged. How cool is that?? I'm so excited about it! There were healings, and special messages for others, and such a feeling of expectation for what God will be doing down the road as well as right now! So, while it was a really long day & most of what I needed to get done didn't, I feel refreshed & renewed rather than tired & worn out. How awesome is that??
Friday, July 17, 2009
TGIF
I am SO glad it's Friday! This week seemed to just draaaag! Ya know?? We had a lot of hot steamy rain this week, and it has left things damp and sticky. It has just zapped what little energy I was getting back after the cold. But today the temps were in the low 80's and there was a nice little breeze. After supper tonight, we took the boys down to bobby's parents house and went for a motorcycle ride. Just a little cruise for about an hour or so - we went through the park & out by the lake and around town a little bit. It was really nice weather for being outdoors. We came back home & the boys were playing badminton out front of Grandparents house. They live 3 houses down from us. It makes it nice sometimes...but we try not to have them watch them too much. It's just not a good idea. The boys much prefer going to my dad's anyway, but we don't over do that either in order to keep things sort of balanced. It's a juggling act sometimes to keep things on an even keel, but I do my best and I try to remember that Jesus is the only one whose opinion of me matters :)
So we had a nice ride & then we came home & fixed popcorn & watched Spongebob, hehehe
Tomorrow will be a busy day - cleaning house & then we're going to put sealer on the back deck. Maybe another ride?? lol
So we had a nice ride & then we came home & fixed popcorn & watched Spongebob, hehehe
Tomorrow will be a busy day - cleaning house & then we're going to put sealer on the back deck. Maybe another ride?? lol
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Cell Phones
Yesterday I got several voicemails on my cell phone while at work. Since things were kind of busy so I ignored them until things settled down & I had a minute. The messages were all from Alltel (my carrier) telling me I needed to call them about my account and gave me a number. The number went to an automated line and told me my account was past due by $278!! Verizon is in the process of taking over Alltel (supposed to be done by September) so I immediately figured that this HUGE mistake had to be due to that.
I was wrong - I called customer service & talked to a really nice lady who informed me that they did not receive our June payment. I politely informed her there was a mistake because I KNEW it had been paid. Bobby pays them online with billpay through our bank. She told me to call back when I had the information & we could get things figured out then. I called Bobby & told him what was going on & it turns out that it never went through - it was still hovering out there in cyberland! So, I got to call her back & tell her what happened and that it would get paid ASAP. She was no doubt thinking "yeah right - it's the bank's fault", but if so, she didn't let on, he he he!
I have a Motorola Razr V3a - Cosmic Blue, to be exact, lol. I got it back in September of 08, and up until this May it's been a good phone, with the exception that you can't use anything else but purchased ringtones. But that is not the phone - it's Alltel. This May my phone started going haywire. If it was storming any where nearby my phone wouldn't work - no calls in, no calls out. The screen would also go blank when you flipped it open. When I finally took it into the store, it had progressed to going to the white screen of blankness randomly while you were dialing or whatever. The day the replacement phone came in & I took it to the store to transfer pictures & stuff, the girl couldn't get the computer to recognize the phone. The replacement phone was bad too, but not quite as spectacularly. It just couldn't recognize any of the apps like Alltel Back-up, or Cell Top Weather...so, now I'm on my second replacement and it is starting to have issues, too. There is an audible high pitched buzz that comes from the inside screen sometimes, and it is starting to drop calls, which has never happened before, and twice in the last two days it has not let me make a call. And it wasn't even raining! I'm thinking that the V3a's are lemons...
I was wrong - I called customer service & talked to a really nice lady who informed me that they did not receive our June payment. I politely informed her there was a mistake because I KNEW it had been paid. Bobby pays them online with billpay through our bank. She told me to call back when I had the information & we could get things figured out then. I called Bobby & told him what was going on & it turns out that it never went through - it was still hovering out there in cyberland! So, I got to call her back & tell her what happened and that it would get paid ASAP. She was no doubt thinking "yeah right - it's the bank's fault", but if so, she didn't let on, he he he!
I have a Motorola Razr V3a - Cosmic Blue, to be exact, lol. I got it back in September of 08, and up until this May it's been a good phone, with the exception that you can't use anything else but purchased ringtones. But that is not the phone - it's Alltel. This May my phone started going haywire. If it was storming any where nearby my phone wouldn't work - no calls in, no calls out. The screen would also go blank when you flipped it open. When I finally took it into the store, it had progressed to going to the white screen of blankness randomly while you were dialing or whatever. The day the replacement phone came in & I took it to the store to transfer pictures & stuff, the girl couldn't get the computer to recognize the phone. The replacement phone was bad too, but not quite as spectacularly. It just couldn't recognize any of the apps like Alltel Back-up, or Cell Top Weather...so, now I'm on my second replacement and it is starting to have issues, too. There is an audible high pitched buzz that comes from the inside screen sometimes, and it is starting to drop calls, which has never happened before, and twice in the last two days it has not let me make a call. And it wasn't even raining! I'm thinking that the V3a's are lemons...
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Cows Out
Bobby, being a Sheriff Deputy, gets called out during the wee hours sometimes - for all kinds of things. He typically goes on call at 4am and doesn't go on duty until 8am, unless someone is out sick or whatever, in which case he can be on call from midnight to 4am, etc. Not every call-out is a life & death-type situation.
The last three mornings he has gotten called out at 4:30, 5:30, & 6:45 for cows being out. There have been times in the past where people have been seriously injured in vehicle/cow accidents, and there was a fatality several years ago involving a black cow, so folks are in panic mode when they see cows out. Also, most farmers don't want to lose a major source of income. There are a few, though, who don't seem to care as they won't fix their fences!
Yesterday morning the dispatcher called to tell him that the rp (reporting party) said there were 40 head of cattle out on the highway. How on earth did they come up with 40?? You can't tell me that driving by, you have time to count 40 cows! How about a bunch of cows? Or a lot of cows? Several?
Of course, when Bobby gets there, there are NO cows. Where did 40 cows go? How do 40 cows up & disappear?? You'd think that 40 cows wouldn't be able to get very far away in 15 minutes, but boy they must have been flat movin' because they were gone! Bobby even checked 4-5 mile area and nothing.
That's not to say that the deputies don't ever find them - I can't tell you how many times they have put cows back in - and horses. We had a buffalo loose in town last summer, which was fun, lol. He made the front page of the local paper :)
Several years ago a whole bunch of calves got loose from the Sale Barn (livestock sales & auctions) and made their way into town. It took two days to get them all rounded up. Bobby was out on his horse roping calves along with several others. I was dispatching at the time & the phones were crazy! People calling up & saying "There's 3 in my back yard!" "here come 5 of 'em down National Ave.!" "come get this cow out of my garden!" Ok, we'll be right there...
The last three mornings he has gotten called out at 4:30, 5:30, & 6:45 for cows being out. There have been times in the past where people have been seriously injured in vehicle/cow accidents, and there was a fatality several years ago involving a black cow, so folks are in panic mode when they see cows out. Also, most farmers don't want to lose a major source of income. There are a few, though, who don't seem to care as they won't fix their fences!
Yesterday morning the dispatcher called to tell him that the rp (reporting party) said there were 40 head of cattle out on the highway. How on earth did they come up with 40?? You can't tell me that driving by, you have time to count 40 cows! How about a bunch of cows? Or a lot of cows? Several?
Of course, when Bobby gets there, there are NO cows. Where did 40 cows go? How do 40 cows up & disappear?? You'd think that 40 cows wouldn't be able to get very far away in 15 minutes, but boy they must have been flat movin' because they were gone! Bobby even checked 4-5 mile area and nothing.
That's not to say that the deputies don't ever find them - I can't tell you how many times they have put cows back in - and horses. We had a buffalo loose in town last summer, which was fun, lol. He made the front page of the local paper :)
Several years ago a whole bunch of calves got loose from the Sale Barn (livestock sales & auctions) and made their way into town. It took two days to get them all rounded up. Bobby was out on his horse roping calves along with several others. I was dispatching at the time & the phones were crazy! People calling up & saying "There's 3 in my back yard!" "here come 5 of 'em down National Ave.!" "come get this cow out of my garden!" Ok, we'll be right there...
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Bless You Me
Kids are so funny! Every time one of my boys sneeze, if I'm not quick enough, or am distracted, (or maybe just waiting to be sure they are done, LOL) they will remind me: "Welll??"
As you know, my 5 year old - Sully - is sick with a nasty cold. Since we've all got it, there's a lot of sneezing going on around here and a lot of "Bless You's" being said. Twice today when Sully sneezed & thought no one was around to say it, he took care of the problem himself "Bless You me" LMBO
Not a lot happened here today as I had zero energy to do anything. I did however, make homemade ice cream because I bought stuff for it 4th of July weekend and the whipping cream would go bad if I didn't use it up. I actually made ice cream that weekend, but I ummmm, forgot to put the cream & vanilla in. We bought an ice cream maker last year, but never got to use it because Bobby's parents kept making ice cream with theirs. Anyway, so this was the first time I'd made it & I was following the recipe, but the recipe is written all together with no breaks in between steps, so I forgot that important part. Couldn't figure out why it didn't look like 4 quarts in there, LMBO! I remembered - too late to fix it. So, it tasted a lot like frozen custard :)
Last night after supper - hamburgers & homemade french fries - we watched The Princess Bride. I love that movie. It came out in 1987 - hard to believe it's been that long. If you haven't seen it, you MUST! It's a classic! Afterwards, Bobby & the boys went to bed & I stayed up because I had about an hour to wait before I could take more medicine. So I decided to watch a movie I bought at WalMart for $5 - The Polarbear King. It was made in 2005, and it said that Jim Henson's Creature Shop did the Polarbear, so I was expecting a little more. It was a good story, but the effects were definitely low-budget, and I think the actors were foreign. Danish, maybe. The voices were slightly off, LOL, and well, that Polar bear was NOT as impressive as the creatures from dark Crystal which was made forever ago. Anyway, if someone took the story & remade the movie with better effects & graphics, then it would be awesome. Actually there was one bit of interesting technique. There were these magic scissors that created clothing out of nothing - what they did was film the scissors cutting up clothing & then they ran it backwards. But it was done pretty well & it didn't look jerky or obviously run backwards. All in all - I won't be watching it again, I don't think, so it will most likely go in the Yard Sale Box.
Tonight we watched Nacho Libre & then while I was waiting for laundry (& more Mucinex) I watched Lady In The Water. Much better movie than last night's...
As you know, my 5 year old - Sully - is sick with a nasty cold. Since we've all got it, there's a lot of sneezing going on around here and a lot of "Bless You's" being said. Twice today when Sully sneezed & thought no one was around to say it, he took care of the problem himself "Bless You me" LMBO
Not a lot happened here today as I had zero energy to do anything. I did however, make homemade ice cream because I bought stuff for it 4th of July weekend and the whipping cream would go bad if I didn't use it up. I actually made ice cream that weekend, but I ummmm, forgot to put the cream & vanilla in. We bought an ice cream maker last year, but never got to use it because Bobby's parents kept making ice cream with theirs. Anyway, so this was the first time I'd made it & I was following the recipe, but the recipe is written all together with no breaks in between steps, so I forgot that important part. Couldn't figure out why it didn't look like 4 quarts in there, LMBO! I remembered - too late to fix it. So, it tasted a lot like frozen custard :)
Last night after supper - hamburgers & homemade french fries - we watched The Princess Bride. I love that movie. It came out in 1987 - hard to believe it's been that long. If you haven't seen it, you MUST! It's a classic! Afterwards, Bobby & the boys went to bed & I stayed up because I had about an hour to wait before I could take more medicine. So I decided to watch a movie I bought at WalMart for $5 - The Polarbear King. It was made in 2005, and it said that Jim Henson's Creature Shop did the Polarbear, so I was expecting a little more. It was a good story, but the effects were definitely low-budget, and I think the actors were foreign. Danish, maybe. The voices were slightly off, LOL, and well, that Polar bear was NOT as impressive as the creatures from dark Crystal which was made forever ago. Anyway, if someone took the story & remade the movie with better effects & graphics, then it would be awesome. Actually there was one bit of interesting technique. There were these magic scissors that created clothing out of nothing - what they did was film the scissors cutting up clothing & then they ran it backwards. But it was done pretty well & it didn't look jerky or obviously run backwards. All in all - I won't be watching it again, I don't think, so it will most likely go in the Yard Sale Box.
Tonight we watched Nacho Libre & then while I was waiting for laundry (& more Mucinex) I watched Lady In The Water. Much better movie than last night's...
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Ugh!
I hate being sick :(
Sully is doing a little better, but his throat still hurts. We went to the doctor yesterday & they did a throat swab on him to see if he has strep - that was fun! I'm being facetious here, because it was anything but fun. As it turns out, he doesn't have strep - just a nasty cold virus...which we all now have. If he is feeling anything like I'm feeling, well, he is miserable! I am now at the severe congestion stage: my head hurts, my sinuses hurt, my eyebrows hurt! I can't breathe, I can't taste anything...ugh! Tucker is the only one of us who feels fine, except for his cough. At least he has energy! He's up & running and he's wearing me out just watching him...ahhh - this too shall pass...
There is a mini tag sale going on today at Escape from Reality, so I'm trying to get tags done. I limited mine to 5 only because I don't think I can sit here long enough to do 80 tags. I still have about 30 tags to do from the WWO (Who Wants One?) on Wednesday. They might have to wait just a bit longer...
Sully is doing a little better, but his throat still hurts. We went to the doctor yesterday & they did a throat swab on him to see if he has strep - that was fun! I'm being facetious here, because it was anything but fun. As it turns out, he doesn't have strep - just a nasty cold virus...which we all now have. If he is feeling anything like I'm feeling, well, he is miserable! I am now at the severe congestion stage: my head hurts, my sinuses hurt, my eyebrows hurt! I can't breathe, I can't taste anything...ugh! Tucker is the only one of us who feels fine, except for his cough. At least he has energy! He's up & running and he's wearing me out just watching him...ahhh - this too shall pass...
There is a mini tag sale going on today at Escape from Reality, so I'm trying to get tags done. I limited mine to 5 only because I don't think I can sit here long enough to do 80 tags. I still have about 30 tags to do from the WWO (Who Wants One?) on Wednesday. They might have to wait just a bit longer...
Friday, July 10, 2009
A Day Off
Yesterday I took the day off. Bobby has every Thursday off and so this week we planned for me to take it off to spend the day together. We took a mini road trip on the motorcycle. We went to a motorcycle shop in another town to look at the goodies, and we stopped at a Chilli's for lunch. We took a lot of back roads that went by ponds and lakes. It must have been the day to take off, because there were a lot more people out and about than I would have expected. By the time we got back home, it was getting really hot so it felt good to get inside and collapse in the cool air.
Next time I'll bring the camera, but this time I didn't have any place to put it.
Today I am off again, but because of a sick kiddo. Tucker came home last week from church camp with a cold & we all got it. None of us except Sully got a fever with it, though, so I'm a little concerned. I think everybody is right now with Swine Flu becoming a pandemic. I wouldn't even think twice about it, possibly, but there have been some cases in a couple of counties near us. So, we have a doctor appointment today...*sigh* I hate it when my kids are sick :(
Next time I'll bring the camera, but this time I didn't have any place to put it.
Today I am off again, but because of a sick kiddo. Tucker came home last week from church camp with a cold & we all got it. None of us except Sully got a fever with it, though, so I'm a little concerned. I think everybody is right now with Swine Flu becoming a pandemic. I wouldn't even think twice about it, possibly, but there have been some cases in a couple of counties near us. So, we have a doctor appointment today...*sigh* I hate it when my kids are sick :(
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Movie Line of the Day
Hubby and I talk to each other in movie lines all the time.
One of my alltime favorite lines is from the Steve Martin / Darryl Hannah movie Roxanne.
"Earn more sessions by sleeving"
Roxanne has just found out that C.D. is the one who has been writing her the letters and they are in an argument. He is outside of her house & yells "One more second and I'm leaving" She opens the door and asks him what he said, so he tells her. He then asks her what she thought he said and she replies "earn more sessions by sleeving"...
There are some great moments in the movie and other good lines, but that one is my favorite :)
Actually that particular line is how Bobby & I knew we were meant - he said it to me when we were just getting to know each other. He said something to me that I didn't quite catch and when I said what? he quoted that line & I started laughing so hard I thought I would pee my pants. He was surprised I knew what it meant :)
One of my alltime favorite lines is from the Steve Martin / Darryl Hannah movie Roxanne.
"Earn more sessions by sleeving"
Roxanne has just found out that C.D. is the one who has been writing her the letters and they are in an argument. He is outside of her house & yells "One more second and I'm leaving" She opens the door and asks him what he said, so he tells her. He then asks her what she thought he said and she replies "earn more sessions by sleeving"...
There are some great moments in the movie and other good lines, but that one is my favorite :)
Actually that particular line is how Bobby & I knew we were meant - he said it to me when we were just getting to know each other. He said something to me that I didn't quite catch and when I said what? he quoted that line & I started laughing so hard I thought I would pee my pants. He was surprised I knew what it meant :)
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Neighbors
Have you ever had to talk to one of your neighbors about a problem with their house, etc., only to have them not understand that there is a problem??
Our next door neighbor has a lot of cats. She claims that only 4 of them are hers. The other 5 or 6 have just adopted her home as theirs. Don't get me wrong - I love animals. What I don't love is her cats pooping in my flower bed and in my yard, and in the little bit of sand that collects at the bottom of our driveway, and in the gravel drive under the carport out back. I also don't love how when I drive into the garage my tires smell like cat poo, or instead of smelling flowers in the evening air, I smell cat poo, or the sounds my husband makes when he gets out of his sheriff car out back and steps in cat poo with his uniform boots...
Now, having a lot of cats is a problem, but really it's just part of it. Her house house is kind of a sanctuary for wildlife. She has holes under her eaves that squirrels and birds use to get inside her house and make nests. She purposely doesn't fix them because then these birds and squirrels won't have a home. As a result, part of her house has no electricity due to the squirrels chewing on the wires.
Here comes the really interesting part: she pours cat food all over her front porch to feed the cats. Some of the cats have dishes set in different places, but a large amount is just spread over the concrete porch. This has attracted the notice of a raccoon. We're not sure how long the raccoon has been in the neighborhood, but apparently long enough that the cats act like it's a long lost friend. In a recent conversation my husband had with our neighbor about the somewhat infrequency of her mowing habits, she told him an amusing anecdote. It seems that one day last week she went out to her vehicle to get the bag of cat food in it and found a raccoon with babies inside eating the said cat food. Hubby asks her if she knows where it's living and she says she thinks they are living in her attic. She doesn't see anything wrong with that. Nobody wants to kill it - we just want it out in the country where it should be. It's getting in trash (causing Hubby to make those unpleasant sounds) and making a mess, although you can't really tell at her house since her trash always looks like something's been in it.
It's hard to be mad at her because she is such a nice lady, and highly intelligent - I'm just not sure about how her common sense is functioning...
Our next door neighbor has a lot of cats. She claims that only 4 of them are hers. The other 5 or 6 have just adopted her home as theirs. Don't get me wrong - I love animals. What I don't love is her cats pooping in my flower bed and in my yard, and in the little bit of sand that collects at the bottom of our driveway, and in the gravel drive under the carport out back. I also don't love how when I drive into the garage my tires smell like cat poo, or instead of smelling flowers in the evening air, I smell cat poo, or the sounds my husband makes when he gets out of his sheriff car out back and steps in cat poo with his uniform boots...
Now, having a lot of cats is a problem, but really it's just part of it. Her house house is kind of a sanctuary for wildlife. She has holes under her eaves that squirrels and birds use to get inside her house and make nests. She purposely doesn't fix them because then these birds and squirrels won't have a home. As a result, part of her house has no electricity due to the squirrels chewing on the wires.
Here comes the really interesting part: she pours cat food all over her front porch to feed the cats. Some of the cats have dishes set in different places, but a large amount is just spread over the concrete porch. This has attracted the notice of a raccoon. We're not sure how long the raccoon has been in the neighborhood, but apparently long enough that the cats act like it's a long lost friend. In a recent conversation my husband had with our neighbor about the somewhat infrequency of her mowing habits, she told him an amusing anecdote. It seems that one day last week she went out to her vehicle to get the bag of cat food in it and found a raccoon with babies inside eating the said cat food. Hubby asks her if she knows where it's living and she says she thinks they are living in her attic. She doesn't see anything wrong with that. Nobody wants to kill it - we just want it out in the country where it should be. It's getting in trash (causing Hubby to make those unpleasant sounds) and making a mess, although you can't really tell at her house since her trash always looks like something's been in it.
It's hard to be mad at her because she is such a nice lady, and highly intelligent - I'm just not sure about how her common sense is functioning...
Monday, July 6, 2009
Getting Started
I've tried blogging before...didn't work out too well. I discovered that you need to log in & write stuff down once in a while, he he.
Anyway, here's to a fresh start:
This blog is named what it is because it turns out that the half a dozen really cool names I came up with, somebody else came up with them already. And, since I live in Kansas and the dust here is on my mind - a lot...there ya go.
I'm from California originally. I moved here in 95, got re-married here, and had two more boys here. I'm married to an awesome guy, and he works in law enforcement. My oldest son is 25, my middle son is going to be 9 in August, and my baby just turned 5 in March. He will be starting kindergarten this fall - I'm not sure anyone is ready for that! He's a pistol!
I intend to post my observations about life in this little Kansas town, and also things I make. I'm getting into designing my own digital scrapbook items, so I may post some of those things from time to time, depending on how they turn out, he he!
I am not particularly obsessed with proper grammar and whatnot - that fact may become quite obvious from time to time - just a fair warning, he he!
Ok, so I've listed just a few of my favorite blogs over there on the right, so be sure and take a look. One of my absolute faves is Elegant Wordart by Bethany! Her stuff is awesome, but I really love to just read about her family!
Ok, well, I guess that's it for now...Oh, The scrap kit I used to create this layout is called Ireland Fields by Nicole Young at Digital Scrapbook place Her work is fabulous!
Anyway, here's to a fresh start:
This blog is named what it is because it turns out that the half a dozen really cool names I came up with, somebody else came up with them already. And, since I live in Kansas and the dust here is on my mind - a lot...there ya go.
I'm from California originally. I moved here in 95, got re-married here, and had two more boys here. I'm married to an awesome guy, and he works in law enforcement. My oldest son is 25, my middle son is going to be 9 in August, and my baby just turned 5 in March. He will be starting kindergarten this fall - I'm not sure anyone is ready for that! He's a pistol!
I intend to post my observations about life in this little Kansas town, and also things I make. I'm getting into designing my own digital scrapbook items, so I may post some of those things from time to time, depending on how they turn out, he he!
I am not particularly obsessed with proper grammar and whatnot - that fact may become quite obvious from time to time - just a fair warning, he he!
Ok, so I've listed just a few of my favorite blogs over there on the right, so be sure and take a look. One of my absolute faves is Elegant Wordart by Bethany! Her stuff is awesome, but I really love to just read about her family!
Ok, well, I guess that's it for now...Oh, The scrap kit I used to create this layout is called Ireland Fields by Nicole Young at Digital Scrapbook place Her work is fabulous!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)