Chargers

Um, chargers. Game on ladies...anyone a taker on this blog. That was FUNNY! Silly D.Reddin. You're TOO FUNNY! Good stuff. Fantastic hanging out with everyone. Chargers and all.

Some things never change

As much as I'd like them to. Who else does this? Does anyone else screw things up right at the good part? Seems to be a trend in my life.

I could be talking about things like baking apple pie. You know, get the perfect crust recipe and master it, have the most beautiful dish to form it into, slice the apples perfectly and not even take the entire day to do it, use real cinnamon ground by you, and the top crust fits perfectly; no trying to stretch edges to meet. Just perfect. The oven is preheated and the foil in on bottom so it doesn't ruin the oven when it starts bubbling over perfectly. Everything's good right. Then you trip on the rug and drop it on the floor before you make it to the oven.

But, I've never baked an apple pie. So, that's not really what I'm talking about.

Maybe something like writing the perfect manuscript for publication. The 1st draft is always shitty. I read that in a book otherwise I surely wouldn't have said it QUITE like that :) (Thanks K, lol) But this draft isn't half bad. You know you've got a good concept and it only needs grammatical editing and a little tweaking here and there before it seems ready to submit. One publisher (out of the 232 you sent it to) responds on your first query. All's good. And then you can't find the envelope to see which publisher responded. That would suck. But I haven't sent a query letter in years. So, that's not it either.

But I do pretty much hate when I mess things up when they start getting good. Whatever I'm talking about.

Haiku-ish for Blue is a Circle

Soft blanket of snow
the wind is now in my hair
I love this season

(um, yea, are you smarter than a 4th grader. Didn't comment you Kell if you're reading this. Cuz I forgot what the heck Haiku is. Then it was one of my daughters spelling words...so she wanted to post her Haiku just for you. lol That's the one above. Here's my go.

Blue is a circle
chocolate is two syllables
according to you

yea ok, well I"m not too good at this...lol

OK, another from my girl:

Ears ringing loudly
love the sound of good music
rap is not my thing

one more from me:

music speaks to me
takes me away from it all
or brownies will work

Haiku master dorks Kaleigh and Julieout

I like basketball...who knew...and hot tubs

Well, I guess I always knew...but never acted on the hunch. Too busy socializing :) Anyhow, a neighbor recently donated his basketball goal to us. Yay! So, me and my girlie have had a pretty good day. We started in the hot tub. Duh, that thing sits there everyday, why hadn't I done that in like...forever. Mental note...make a date with the hot tub each morning after dropping off kids. (Yea, rough huh). Anyhow, we stayed in there until we decided we were light headed and got out. Then after cooling down we decided to play ball.
That was fun. I'm not as horrible as I should/could be for not having played...ever really...or picked up a ball in a million years. And I kinda know HOW to hold the ball, shoot the ball, some rules to the game. I was able to share with my girl and she really started picking it up. Before long she was making most of her shots. We worked on some passing and she's not scared of the ball so much now. (Almost jammed her finger...I remember as a kid, this guy Khris Brane lived down the street and we'd play ball at each others houses...I broke my finger when he passed it at me. OUCH. Had a flashback.) Anyhow, it's been a good day. I actually felt like I was teaching my girl something. She's 10, so she already knows EVERYTHING. But today she learned something new and I had a great time hanging out with her. The last bad rebound ended up with the ball rolling about 2 blocks down the street...so yea, we quit after that.
Now we're gonna paint our nails and quit doing boy stuff :)

Friendly suburbia walks

Who new there were so many creepy critters and bugs galavanting around our suburbian neighborhoods in the dark of the night. My neighborhood to be precise. I thought I'd go for this power walk tonight right. I was hustling too, so I have no idea how I noticed all of these things. The only thing I know is that if I saw all these things at the pace I was going, I'm pretty sure there was lots I missed.

I saw a centipede that looked like it should live in Africa or something. I saw about 6 toads. I saw a spider that crawled right at me thru a crack. Looked like a freakin beast. But the real kicker...a snake. Oh yea, almost stepped right on him until I started my mid air walk. Put Jordan to shame. I think only a few people heard me scream. (It was a small snake, but does it really matter? It was a snake!)

I need to walk in the mornings.

Rollercoasters

Life is like riding a rollercoaster. Isn't it? I mean, I don't mean to sound all cliche' but it's true. And sometimes I'm not sure how much I like rollercoasters. But it's pretty common knowledge that if you're too afraid to ride one, you're a wuss. SO, I've ridden. I'm not a wuss.

I don't dislike all parts of the roller coaster. Sometimes the anticipation of what's to come is a thrill that makes me jump in line (You know, the part where you're going up up up for what seems like a million years and you feel brave during that part!). But there's no way of knowing exactly how the ride will make you feel afterwards. That's the part that makes me "shake" while I'm in the line.

I remember as a kid going to Worlds of Fun in KC and riding the Orient Express (I know, it's a kids ride now probably, but back then, it was THE ride.) I wasn't sure I wanted to ride. But everyone else was. I remember thinking everything thru in the line. Analyzing the curves and how high it went and how far it FELL! Then there was the upside down part. I just closed my eyes during that. It was kinda fun though. I just didn't like the uncertainty of how it would make me feel AFTER the ride. Sometimes I'd be sick feeling after the ride. And sorry I'd ridden. Sometimes I was on a ridiculous high that made me giddy and I wanted to go conquer the world. That's rollercoasters...That's life.

The unknown can make you hesitant or it can drive everything in you to go forward. I guess it's in attitude. I've learned too that it also depends on what part of the roller coaster you're on. I'm on the part where my hands are gripping the bar so hard that my knuckles are white and I've got the whole ride in front of me and it fills me with a million emotions.

But...I'm riding.

Tore its guts out

Orange, slimy, stringy, kinda stinky, juicy, meaty, icky, squishy, sorta cool....filled with yummy (or soon to be, once they're salted and toasted) seeds.
Yup, Pumpkin guts.
Happy Halloween.

Dragons frustrate me

Or "beardies" as I guess they are affectionately referred to. Really, affection towards a lizard? As much as I didn't think possible...I think I'll love the little guy.

OK, back up. My sons birthday is coming up. He announced he wants a lizard. He's turning 7. Now, for $6.99 you can get a green anole. Or, you can catch one at mimi and grandpa's house for free. But NO....those are "escape artists", "too fast to catch", "timid", and from a salespersons point of view "just not a great pet in general." BUT, a $75 Bearded Dragon (beardie) is a "fabulous pet". GRRR...

SO, now you know where my frustration began. SO, I'm thinking, he's turning 7. A nintendo DS would save us hoards of moula (considering the price to add on for UVB lights, night lights, flourescent lights, live food every day, stand, terrarium, hood, etc etc etc. Heck, he could have the DS and a couple of 5 games!) SO, I run this past him. Oh yea, I struck a chord. He was on it like a fly on...well, you get it. But then, he gets a look outta the corner of his eye towards his dad and suddenly changes his mind. "Nope, I want a lizard. A bearded dragon!" Reeeeaaally...(I'm sensing conspiracy now. More frustration added.)

OK, well, if we're going to get a lizard, it's fair to expect the conspirers (word?) to know about them and their care, right. So, I quiz them. Guess what. They know NOTHING! SO, I cannot in good conscience bring a living critter into this home without being able to properly care for it. SO, I now can answer a few several dozen questions about lizards. Go ahead, try me.

I'll let ya know when the little guy arrives. (I still have a little over a week until birthday...I accept prayers of "changin some minds".)

:) Have a lovely dragon free day...

I'm not tone deaf after all

I've often times wished that I could sing. Or play an instrument, or something. Then I've wondered can I even "hear". What if I'm tone deaf? I mean, I know that I think that I hear, but what if I don't. I mean that's what tone deafness is, right. I wouldn't know, would I? Then I got this video. Yep, I am not tone deaf. Good to know.

Well, I do like the hair do. Mine did that really well (although not as well as all the other girls) back in 1986!


Awful Star Wars Trumpet Solo

Fundraisers

The doorbell again. I'm not expecting anyone. Oh, yes I am. Another friendly face that I don't know selling me magazines or cookie dough. And they promise to top it off by bringing me a copy of Entertainment for only $25. Great, what a deal.

Seriously, one dad brought his 8 year old son back after my husband said "maybe later" (he was mowing at the time). Not kidding, he brought him to my door, in the dark, in the RAIN, WALKING...to sell me boy scout popcorn for one million dollars a can-(that I've been told shouldn't even start until November). When I tried to "politely decline" by letting him know I'd be supporting my own little dude's pack since he's just joining as well...he wasn't going to let me off the hook! He let me know that it might not be the same items and he'd check back. Um, ok. I'm waiting for you....

It wasn't him. This time it was wrapping paper. And "they weren't sure what they were selling it for." Great...I'll take the foil with the candy canes on it...

Our new pet

EEEWWWW! Seriously. Do I have to be ok with this? And the irony is, get this, the BUG MAN was at my house spraying for spiders, which I abhor, when my husband and daughter laughingly ran into the home to chase me with this critter. I screamed and then did my thing and got online to see what he is. The initial plan was to take him to school to feed him to my daughter's classroom pet praying mantis! Well, when I found out what a cool critter he is on his own, well, I created his own "pad" in the old hermit crab terrarium. He's now called "pet bug".

Oh, he's a Toe Biter bug. Pretty scientific name, eh? Or "Giant Water Bug". Somehow he'd found himself on my husbands windshield. Which brings me to fact one on this critter. He is a strong flyer. Um, KEEP THE LID SHUT! Two, he eats worms and small fish (hey, we have one lone platy remaining from daughter's aquarium days...hmmm)and tadpoles. Like I'm going to find a bunch of those around somewhere. Well, we're gonna keep him for a few days. Let him visit school and such and let him go on Monday. That's the plan. Oh, and yes, when I say "let him go", I still mean "feed him to the praying mantis". That's how I roll.

Plaid Monkeys and Buns

This was actually written August 31st, but never posted here;
OK, so there's this awesome cool circus thing happening and I get to help coordinate it (only the largest outreach at my church for the year...but no pressure)! So many times we say "it's fine, God is in the details." But do we REALLY see Him revealing himself in the details? Do we take the time to even look? Or do we just say that because...we just say that... Well, God is definitely, truly in the details of this event getting ready to happen on Oct. 6th at Morning Star Church. SERIOUSLY...
I've never posted a blog before, and I'm sure this won't be short..but I gotta get this out there...off my chest, outta my heart and into yours! I hope these little tid-bit stories will be inspiring for you if you are working on a project (or just trying to see God in the details of every day life). I hope I don't do such a lame job of telling you how cool these experiences have been that you don't even get the goosebumps or the understanding DEEP DOWN, that God IS in the details.
OK, so we need a BIG event right. And there's WAY lots of details right. And I really have no experience doing something like this, so not the coolest picking it up at 8 weeks out and not knowing even where to begin...but God...SO, first off; the 1st two people I call say YES right off the bat, no hesitation. Enthusiastic yes's. Then we gotta get a sign up table and my good buddy just happens to be a great carpenter and we whip that baby out and it's impressive! BIG, but impressive. Then, we have a meeting and the few people that do show up are plugging in WELL! I feel like there's a little corporation thing happening, everyone's working on their part...just as it should be and everyone is very positive-that's SO good! SO, then we gotta get huge road side visibility out in couple weeks....great, where to begin on that and am I gonna blow the budget on signage. Well, I bring it up to my "top 2" to discuss and there's an ear within distance that shouldn't even be hearing this conversation right...well, YES SHE WAS (thank you God) supposed to hear it because she up and volunteered to coordinate with me on making it happen! I'm talking wood/frame/bearings all that stuff. I would have never approached her with this. Wouldn't have thunk it. GOD! :-)
SO, we gotta have lots of donations for prizes and raffles and so I went to a few stops while out and about the other day and stopped in this children's hair place called the Plaid Monkey. Spoke with the girls working, and they said they'd pass it to their manager. Well, the next day she calls ME! (Donation world, you usually do follow-up work) She wants to come free of charge and have a table set up to do hair, sparkles and boys she can put purple and green hair gel to match our logo colors! The full 4 hours free! She'll decorate her table and all. She's totally excited to be a part of it! (will be way cool with the face painting and tattooing to add that table.) Um, God is in the plaid monkey?!
OK, well we gotta have food too right! SO, donations hasn't been going well. The gal working on it is working HARD and getting good info on "best pricing"...but she decides to go outside of her comfort zone and ask her very ill bro-in-law if he can give her a connection at Wonder Bread to ask about buns. Well, she calls him and it ends up that this man goes to our church! He's been there since Feb. which is when she started attending as well and they had good conversation. He assured her he'd try for best price, but let her know that due to financial stuff, Wonder-Bread doesn't do ANY donations anymore...well, you know where I"m going! They prayed before they got off the phone (would I have done that?) and said good-bye with plans to talk on Tuesday. Well, she gets call just a few hours later and it's him saying he doesn't get it, but his boss just said "sure, we'll donate all 1500 hot dog buns they're requesting and send them the night before in trays so they don't get squashed." UM, thanks GOD!!!!
You are maybe thinking right now that these are little things. WELL, my POINT exactly. GOD IS IN THE DETAILS!!!!!! Look for it and praise Him! DETAILS.....all of em! even plaid monkeys and buns... Isaiah 40:28