Happiness

Remember Charles Schultz's "Happiness Is..." books?

I say Happiness is...
Computer access on Staff trips.
Friends that don't care--laugh even--if you "snuffle" them awake.
Laughing so hard you make no noise.
Friends as co-workers.
Co-workers as friends.
People that are on the same page.

God is good.

Sayonara Sree

Staff workshop--they say retreat, I say workshop--is this week, so I am going to say "sayonara" for three days (title, get it?) I am sure I will get to snag Brandy's computer for a few minutes and catch up, Brandy is very generous with her toys and doesn't mind that other children play with them. I love that about her.
I will see you in a few.

Not Always Right

If you've ever worked in retail, you are gonna laugh at this site--you could probably add some stories of your own. Some of these stories are just unbelievable. Here's an example:

(A very elderly customer approaches me at my mobile phone kiosk.)
Customer: “Oh, these looks nice. What are you selling?”
Me: “Mobile phones, ma’am. They’ll allow you to keep in touch with people, wherever you are.”
Customer: “Oh, this one looks lovely, nice, and slim! *unfolds it and holds it to her ear* “What’s this one called?”
Me: “That one is called a stapler, ma’am.”

BAAHAHAHAA!!
Thanks to Kate for the link

A Short Message To The Dog

Dear Eddie,
When I take you outside you are to do your business. You are not to disobey my order to "go potty now" and wake me up at 2:30 am because you can't wait any longer. Enough of that, little pup.

Alone Good Alone Bad

Being alone in your house for a week has its benefits, believe me. I sew when I want, I sleep when I want, I don't have to cook--and I have not for the whole week--I watch what I want, I listen to what I want, well, you get the idea.
However...
After four days the silence is loud, and I have begun talking to myself. Out loud. And answering.
I think I need to get out soon. I guess its a good thing that I didn't take the week off of work like I thought I might, I would have been in "The Bin" by now.
All things in moderation, right? Even too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.

Not Today!

Sunday morning I woke to find my pajama sleeve wet. "Oh no, not today." I thought.
Now, having a wet pajama sleeve might be because I had excessive droolage in the night, but more possible was the chance that the waterbed was leaking.
I went out to the kitchen to find John getting ready to hit the road to Ohio and Pennsylvania with Eli for a father-son roadtrip vacation.
I told him what happened.
"Oh no, not today." he said.
Yep, today.
We got the hoses all hooked up and drained half the water out of the bed, patched the hole and refilled the bed in about an hour. Record time. The boys were on the road only a half-hour after they were supposed to leave. Not bad!

One Brave Mama

I took this picture about 10 minutes ago from the front door. See the deer right behind the end of John's van?

Now this is not really that uncommon, the deer love to come up to the front yard and eat the apples off our trees, however not usually in broad daylight. The freakish thing is that John and Eli were working in the garage 20 feet away, with the door open and the music blaring. I believe she is working under the adage " The early deer gets the worm." Or in this case, the apples.

Designation Destination

If you ever have the chance to be the Designated Driver for Kelli and Erin, TAKE IT. Oh my stars, those two are a fun date.
I still can't get the full moon out of my head.
FYI, Keegan's Pub in Minneapolis doesn't care if you steal the Irish Fair poster out of the bathroom.
I am now accepting offers for DD. Call me.

Major Bargain

Now, you all know how much I lurrve the thrift store, but THIS BARGAIN has to take the cake. What a buy I tell you! I had a hard time passing it up at only sixty nine cents.

Icons

It is sad when you come to the age when the people on TV with whom you grew start to pass away. In the last few days Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson have all died. These are people we felt we knew, we saw them at one time or another almost on a daily basis. Now they're gone. Makes me feel old. Makes me glad I know Jesus. I hope they did. I hope they had someone that cared enough about them to tell them.
For all of you who read this:
Jesus came to earth to die for your sins, my sins. We are all sinners. In the Bible it says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...there is none righteous, not one". Jesus was sent to take the punishment for our sin. By the grace of God sending His Son we are saved from God's wrath. The punishment for sin is death, Jesus paid it all.
Thank you Jesus.
Readers, thanks for listening.

Indoor Pool

I've always dreamed of owning my own swimming pool. When our house burned and we were rebuilding, I dreamed more. Just never happened. Whatevs. I don't have to get everything I want, right?
I went in to the basement on Sunday to find that the broken toilet tank was attempting to give me my dream. FLA-HUD!
Let me tell ya, "squish" is never a sound carpet should make. Soft and fluffy? Ok. Squishy? Not sa much.
Now before you get all "Oh, GROSS! Carpet in the bathroom?" I will tell you that the water had traveled out of the bathroom in a wave that had reached the "Hey we have lots of carpet left over, how about I put it in the laundry room?" area.
As I was mopping up the water I was thanking God that it was the tank that broke, not the sewer that backed up, and that it was hot and dry that day and it didn't take long for the carpet to return to its non-squishy-soft-and-fluffy state.
Just another day in the life.

College On DVD

Eli is upstairs as we speak learning things adults need to know. Actually, he's learning things men need to know. To survive in this world, men need to know things, right?
So I got him two Red Green DVDs at the library.
I'd better hide the duct tape.

Ineffective Supine Duck

The headboard on our bed is flat on top. An excellent place to put your book when you decide to finish for the night. Also an excellent place to put the remote for the tv. As long as you put it in a secure pace.
Really secure.
My advice to myself after yesterday is not to place it half-on-half-off the wood, causing tippage, fallage, and ouchage. Right on the noggin. Oh, and when you are lying down, ducking out of the way of the falling remote is difficult if not impossible. Good thing I was watching a movie instead of reading War And Peace.

Baby Jack

Your tiny fingers grasped mine,
so perfect and beautiful.
Your eyes shone,
I wondered if you could see me.

I am glad for the time I had with you,
however short.
But I will see you again,
I am sure of the promise.

The tears fall and grief comes,
though we know God has you in His hand.
We look toward the day,
when you can run and jump and sing.

You are here for a short while,
yet your life is so important.
God knows the time
when you will be welcomed into His arms.

You have known the love,
of many in your life.
We cherish the gift of you,
and are thankful for the time God let us hold you.

Jack Daniel Green
May 3, 2009 - June 15, 2009

Life Enders--Mouse Edition

You've heard of "Eastenders" right? Here's my version.

Lights up on stage
Phillip is busy with completing dinner and putting the leftovers away.
Kristina: Darling, did you remember to put some food away for later?
Phillip: Yes my sweet, I put a whole lot in the top drawer by the icebox. I know it is a burden having to carry it all the way across the room from the Largepet dish, but so worth it.
K: Lovely, I am so thankful that the Larges give us free food, even though we have to do a little work for it--really the only difficult thing is getting from the floor up to the drawer. Besides the exercise is good for us.
Kristina busys herself with the nest.
P: Oh yes, my dear, it is a gift--oh and look! Here is another gift from the Larges, and on a lovely tray, too! I can't believe the intricacy of the metal scrollwork, beautiful, just beautiful.
K: Whatever could it be my dear?
P: sniff sniff It smells a whole lot like those nuts we put away last year, let me get a coser look...
SNAP!!
K: Phillip? Honey?
Lights down on stage.

Benefit

Today we went to Somerset to a benefit party for our friend Dave J.
Dave was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma a few months ago. We went to Crossroads Performance and do those people know how to throw a party! You could get anything from a burger to a hot dog to leather bike wear to a tattoo! And I believe one or more of our party availed themselves of one or more of these items! We ate burgers and hot dogs and then watched my big sis Kori get herself a sweet tattoo. I wish I would have remembered that I carry a camera everywhere I go and gotten a picture of it, but I think the beautiful sunshine went to my head. We saw friends from high school and friends from recent days. Family and fun! Whoohoo!

Twitter Or Twit?

Brandy and Hannah want me to Twitter.
I don't know why.
I have nothing to Twitter about.
Is my life Twitter-worthy?
Do I have the capacity to only communicate in one sentence increments?
I just don't know.
But I think I'm going to Twitter-cave.
It sounds like fun.
Set me up, girls.
I bet I'm gonna love it.

Nailed It!

In Ecclesiastes the Bible says that there is a time for everything.

Well.

In my life there was a time for biting nails and now is the time for manicures. I am ruined. I loved it, except for the fact that I just had to sit there and do nothing. If you know me, you know that is a challenge. Whatever, I'm still ruined.

Here's the new me--or the new me hands.

Jump! Jump! Jump!

Van Halen? Good guess, but no.

Wednesday as Kelli and I were delivering papers at a gas station there was a youngish guy in the parking lot trying to start his car. Well with my extensive (hehheh) knowledge if the inner workings of an automobile, I discerned that there was an issue with the battery.
Ok, anyone walking by could have discerned as much, really, this one was a no-brainer.
I asked him if he wanted a jump--yes I keep jumper cables in my car--and he was happy for the help.
"Does the positive one go on the red?"
Now right here I could easily go into a tirade about fathers not teaching their children, but I will not.
You're welcome.
I told him "Yep!" and hooked up my car to the cables.
I walked around the car to give 'er a rev and Kelli, who had finished delivering at that point and was doing the paperwork yelled, "There's smoke! We've got SMOKE!"
Indeed the poor guy's battery had seen it's last day as a integral part of the inner workings of an automobile. Never a good thing to see smoke coming out of your battery.
"Gotcherself a bad battery there, Junior." I so kindly (ha) told him.
"Thanks anyway." he said.
And we were off. I wish I would have remembered that there is an auto parts store a couple of blocks away, I could have given him a ride. Bummer.

Naferday

Friday was Naferday and we took a trip to Como Zoo!

This was our favorite monkey. The Tamarind--Nathan loved his "bewd".


Driving all by myself! I told him how proud I was that he didn't hit any of the other cars that were scattered around the track. He said,"Well, I did hit one, but just a little." That's good driving in my book.

Here's us breaking the DO NOT CLIMB ON HERE rule. Since the paint was all worn off the back of the giraffe, I suspected that rule was meant to be broken.

Thanks for a great day Nafers. I love you!

I Wonder

Why do some people wait until they have driven to the nearest stop light/sign to put on their seatbelt?

If someone had a band called "Fish Fry" would they only be allowed to play on Friday nights?

Now that smokes are six smacks a pack, how much more expensive do they need to get before everyone just quits smoking?