Cabins, better with water

We are finding that although water is really a nice asset, it's not essential to having a nice vacation.

We definitely miss it though.

We sat out by the fire ring tonight and sang Pass It On and Grandma's Featherbed and The Lion Sleeps Tonight (until Hannah said,"That's enough!"...even though we sounded awesome). Bradley kept the fire bright with pine needles and Beth and Jeremy's dog Ace played stare-at-the-woodpile-and make-everyone-guess-what's-in-there... And he's really good at it.

Everyone's back in now so I guess it's time to empty a bunch of water bottles into the kettle and make cocoa...goodnight!

Ps...this is my first blog post all typed with one finger on an iPhone. :D

When your dog has too much influence...

Maisy wanted me to show you this one.

 She thinks it's hilarious and horrifying at the same time.

Snow

I miss snow. I love it! 

God interrupts our precision run world & brings it to a halt with a beautiful, fluffy blanket of white. And all we can do is watch it in awe and wait for Him to finish.

Enjoy it while you can.

It's 4:44 and I'm Jonesing the Mojo

I have so many much more serious and pressing things to say, but this is what came out of my head.....

I'm having theme days again. Seemingly random things that all have a connection keep happening and make me wonder. Am I supposed to be getting something from this, because.....I don't get it.

For several days in a row, I would glance at the clock and the time would be in sync. For example, the time would be 11:11 or 2:22. It was weird. Almost scary. I felt like Twilight Zone music would play at any moment. A few weeks ago it was herds of white cars. While driving I would gradually notice that although every other car color was mixed into the crowds of cars, the white cars would bunch up like a herd. And people kept saying the term Jonesing. I stopped in the middle of Bible study tonight to clarify what that word meant. The answer was....could be keeping up with the Joneses or it could be used to mean a craving. Who knew? (not me)

Today as I drove to the church office down 7th Street, I saw an old Volkswagon E wagon (I had to look up what it was called because teeny tiny station wagon didn't seem correct). I see it every time I drive that route in the mornings. I hear the telling VW motor beside me and I turn and smile. I love VWs. We used to drive a Vanagon. So today when an old VW Beetle with a cool vintage luggage rack on top pulled up on the other side of me it made me laugh. (I could make the dueling motor sounds for you, but then I'd have to clean my screen) Random connections. Cue Twilight Zone music.......

The guy in the wagon pulled up next to the guy in the Beetle at the next light, and I could see them talking to each other through their open windows. They each had their elbow resting on the open window and had easy-going smiles and there was some hippy-type head nodding happening as if they were saying things like, "Dude, cool car".  It's just how VW owners are.....and it made me remember when we had ours.

We lived in New Jersey and drove the Vanagon all over town. Every day, I would see other VW cars pull up beside me, hang their head or arm out the window, or wave a peace sign at me to acknowledge the vehicular love. I miss being in that club.....though I do love my automatic transmission too much to go back.

People who drive Honda Accords just don't have the same mojo. Dude.

Laying it down

I think I've finally decided on a shower curtain. I am such a dork.

I promise you I have looked at every shower curtain on the internet....or at least all of them on Overstock, showercurtains.com, Linens and Things, Bed, Bath and Beyond,  Kohl's, Target, Walmart, Sears and Penney's internet sights. That is a lot. And I barely liked any of them! I finally went back to one that I liked and stood in Target looking at for an hour one day. It's a Shabby Chic brand from Target. The problem....is the jade green tile in the hall bathroom. An ugly medium tone milky jade. bleh. So I chose one that is white with some pink flowery design on it and has some green stems and leaves.

My life is so hard, I know but that is what my week has been.....endlessly analyzing shower curtains.

Two hours later: I picked out a different shower curtain.

My daughter Hannah influenced me. (I am easily influenced) So...no pink flowers/french country look. Now it's this curtain with these wall decals. It should be cute and different. It is ordered from Amazon and should arrive by next Wednesday.

My search is over.... This is big! Now I can move on.

Bad Nativities

Just for fun, The Cavalcade of Bad Nativities again this year.  And how about the Cavalcade of Bad Nativities II?

Oh, nooooooooooooooo....


Kitsch up with ya later.....;)

I think I just had an apostrophe!

Yesterday I saw a small blip on someone's Facebook status announcing National Punctuation Day. I thought it was one of those made up things to emphasize someone's sarcasm about the lack of appropriate language skills we have come to in 2010. But no, it is a real day of recognition, not a holiday, but a remembrance of the language skills we all used to be taught and loathed. 


Punctuation can be difficult in these internet and messaging driven days, where not using end marks or capital letters or even correct spelling is common and accepted by some. But it is important to someone who wants to write well or who wants to appear to be somewhat intelligent or professional. It is very important. It can be life saving in some cases. Just think about the ramifications: 


"Let's eat, Grandma!" becomes "Let's eat Grandma!"


*shudder* I think you see what I mean.


I wrote a post once using the metaphor of a comma to show how my life felt after our first child left the nest. As I just looked back over that post, I actually got the graphic for that post from the National Punctuation Day sight! The original post was 5 years ago. I am so forgetful! Anyway, I love using good punctuation as a way to get my thoughts across to the reader, whether it is in editing or as a metaphor to make a point. 


Personally, I do love apostrophes, commas, exclamation marks and quotation marks, but my favorite of all (do to my explainage tendencies) is the parentheses. This, even though I use the ellipsis  more often. (I had to look up what they were called and found out I really should not use them the way I do...drat!) Although they are correctly used as a way of letting the reader know that words have been left out of a quote, I have been using them in that modern, electronic messaging sort of way, as explained by Wikipedia:

The ellipsis is one of the favorite constructions of internet chat rooms, and has evolved over the past ten years into a staple of text-messaging. Though an ellipsis is technically complete with three periods (...), its rise in popularity as a "trailing-off" or "silence" indicator, particularly in mid-20th century comic strip and comic book prose writing, has led to expanded uses online. It has been used in new ways online, sometimes at the end of a message "to signal that the rest of the message is forthcoming."

Even though Wikipedia is not a really reliable source of factual information,  it is definitely a good source for modern cultural reference. And today, it saved my pride by giving respect to the modern manipulation of our language.  It is a cultural phenomenon I guess. 


What do you think? Does the modern manipulation of punctuation, spelling and grammar bother you or is it an accepted part of your culture?

The full moon and the bouncing stars

Last night there was a beautiful, huge full moon. We took James home. He is from Liberia, Africa and he said they loved full moons there. People come out of their home in the evening and go around visiting each other. This is unusual because it is usually pitch dark there in the evenings....no street lights or house lights, just maybe a candle inside or a fire outside. It was a good memory for him.

As we turned on to our neighborhood street we were greeted with bouncing star-like lights coming down our street....highly unusual.  As we got closer, we realized it was lots of people jogging down the street with headlamps on. lol LOTS of people....maybe 40 or so by the time I stopped watching them.  A group of them had stopped where a street comes into ours at a T intersection and they were drawing something on the ground with chalk....a big circle with direction I think.

My first thought was that they were playing Cops and Robbers. My kids play this, but not in our neighborhood.....too close to the real thing here. But when I asked one of them what they were playing, he called out, "Just enjoying a run.....and beer!" hmmm I had to look it up. So I googled headlamps, run, chalk drawings.

They are 'Hashers'. I won't link to their sight because besides running and drinking (they end the run at a club or bar), they do a lot of off color talking on their website and do a lot of hooking up, if you know what I mean. And I think you do, so no need to mention specifics.

Apparently the full moon and for some reason Wednesdays in particular are the days to hash around town. It is a nation wide organization. (I need to just put a stop to this curiosity sometimes. Now I will be suspicious of people with headlamps.)

I think Geo-caching (also a sort of secret society of people with adventurous spirits)  is a lot more tame and family friendly (and you can wear headlamps to do this too!). But I did learn something new....to me.

Look at these!

I have not seen these before today.

I like these a lot!

Stupid people, be warned...

Heed the law, stupid people.

Just doing my part ADOT Tim. =) (Are you on a tv commercial?)

I recently saw a commercial about our stupid motorist law and the man speaking said, "This is Tim ---." It freaked me out. I was wondering if it was the Tim who was my ADOT commenter recently on this post about rain. So I just have to ask. Do you ever feel like people are just following you around waiting to punk you?

It's raaaaaaaining! ...don't be stupid.

The Cavalcade

There is nothing worse (today anyway) than ME in a craft store at Christmas time.

We have a tradition of making homemade gifts for our family, so each year I put it off until the short weeks before Christmas when sheer panic takes over and I start to wander through craft stores, waiting to be inspired. Today was no different. I thought I had a wonderful idea. So there I was in Joann Fabrics. My mission was to get a few things for very good prices, pay and leave. I filled my basket with my carefully chosen items. Then I saw something else and put all the things I had chosen back where I got them.

While I was trying to decide on the new idea, it started looking daunting, and by the way, so did my original idea. So I put back the second inspiration. Then I decided to go with the first idea again. Couldn't be that hard after all. Then I looked at the time. It was already time to pick up daughter number 3 at school! So back went the items AGAIN. BAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!

And y'know what!!? I'm so relieved that I didn't buy anything. Three useless hours in a craft store. I'm just such a ninny sometimes.

Now, cheer up, there is nothing like the Cavalcade of Bad Nativities this time of year. Hilarious holiday entertainment. Click, scroll and read the captions. The best are on page three.

Oh, and make sure you are not sipping your hot chocolate while reading. It really hurts when it comes out your nose.

Scavenging for Treasures?

I'm playing in a scavenger hunt for ministry wives. If you are a new visitor from the Treasure hunt, WELCOME to the nest!

The Treasures

1.  First Name
Christie

2.  State and Country of Residence
Arizona

3.  Husband’s Ministry Title

Pastor

4.  Length of time in Current Ministry Location
Three and a half years

5.  Children?  If yes, give gender and ages.
Hannah, 22
Bethany, 19
Emma, 17
Maggie, 12

6.  Number of unique homes in which you’ve lived during your marriage.
Garage apartment
Mobile home
Brick parsonage with scary basement
Ranch style parsonage by a creek
Small home with big mortgage in big city

7.  Cook Sunday lunch or eat out?
Unplanned, usually eat at home

8.  Typically on time for Sunday School or not?
Typically: running by the seat of my pants late; lately: early (I have to set up the coffee pot!)

9.  Favorite TV Show
The Mentalist, House

10.  Something you watch/like/do that you would never tell the church people.
I would love to have a mildly restored VW bus. (but couldn't drive it in traffic here!)

11.  Most annoying church-related pet peeve.
People who tell me things (usually complaints) so that I will tell the pastor about it and he will fix it. People who constantly drain him or hog his attention.

12.  One thing you need to throw away but can’t bring yourself to do it.
I just purged the house, including my closet, so I have no answer!

13.  The one food you can not live without.
Chocolate

14.  Parsonage or have your own home?
We own our first home after 25 years of marriage. (well, the bank lets us think we own it)

15.  Freak when the doorbell rings or always ready for a visitor?
Both! I used to love visitors but nowadays I'm worn out from work and our schedule.

Tiny homes

I want one of these. I would park it in my backyard so I could have a nice little retreat and Charles could have somewhere to sleep when he mentions me in sermons too much. *j/k* I would plant flowers in the window boxes and paint it light blue with white trim. And in the summer I could haul it up to my sister's lot where her cabin is and Charles and I could have our own private get away.

We always have said when we retire (do pastors ever really retire?), we could buy a travel trailer and live in it while we travel and go on mission trips and such. We have our kids scared that we will park it at each of their four homes for 3 months of the year. (probably because we tell them we will do it) To which Hannah always says, "I'm living in an apartment then." haha, very funny Hannah. When you need a grammy to babysit, I will be at Emma's taking care of all of her sets of twins. (family joke about a very funny game of Life in which Emma needed several minivans to tote her crew around)

If we had one of these, they might want to travel with us though.....we could all caravan! We would have a ready made neighborhood wherever we went!

What do you think? Aren't these the cutest things ever?

Birthday events

Thank you for all the birthday wishes by phone, by email (thanks Tay), and by facebook! That was fun reading those in my mailbox first thing today....and getting my birthday wake up call from Laurie Luker very first thing!

My children are all home for a couple of weeks, with the recent return of Hannah, so we are laughing a lot, there are squeals of happy late night talking from Bethany's room, and watching lots of Gilmore Girls. I am about to get a pedicure from Bethany while we watch Martha Stewart. Tonight Charles and I are going out with friends and tomorrow I will get together with my mom and a couple of my sibs.

I am happy.

I did a 'what celebs do you share a birthday with' quiz on facebook/wikipedia and came up with:

1. Louis Armstrong
2. Billy Bob Thornton
3. Barack Obama
4. Jeff Gordon
5. Cole and Dylan Sprouse (Suite life of zack and cody kids)

And this morning I turned on Regis and Kelly and it's also GILMAN'S birthday. WILL the coinkidinks never cease? haha Actually Barack, Gilman and I were all born in the same year, same day too. I am wordless.

whoopee! (which is not an actual word, but in interjection)

Valentine's Dinner

Happy Valentine's Day to my smoopsy whoopsy. I am inspired to cook spaghetties tonight. *wink wink, nudge nudge*



I love you!

Best Wishes!

Soul mates

I'm sorry. Kind of....

I'll be posting these all week just so you're forewarned.

heehee



I don't really think I'm taking Valentine's Day seriously this year....okay ....or last year. It's much more freeing actually though. You should try it.

Valentines with a kick

Last year I put some snarky valentine's on my blog. They were sarcastic, they were full of snark, and they were hilarious.

This year I will put some here for you before Valentine's Day so we can all get it out of our system before the day on which we are supposed to be nice. ;) Here are some candy hearts you can design. Be nice....or not. Just make some.



At i heart despair. It's fun!

And remember:

What's your WOTY for 2008?

Oxford's word of the year for 2008 is Hypermiling (getting really good gas mileage....so green yet so boring)

At Miriam Webster it is bailout. ehn
Runners up at Miriam Webster were:
2. vet
3. socialism
4. maverick
5. bipartisan

At Webster's New World Dictionary we have: oversharing. How can you OVER share, really? Let's do the kindergarten lesson redo....the Golden Rule and all that.

So....nothing good this year. Last year's WOTY was w00t....much less of a yawn factor.

C'mon people, start using (or looking up online) some more exciting words!

A good way to boost that vocabulary: Free Rice

In comparison....

Joann commented that she imagined I would have looked a lot like my daughter Bethany when I was a teenager. So I went back to the only picture of myself that I have scanned as a teenager. I think she's right. And I never have thought of it. ;)

Beth last year:


Me at 16 (a photo in the yearbook of people who worked on the yearbook):


Aye carrumba.....as Joann says and I'm sure I spelled wrong. ;) But the ancient typewriter in the background does nothing towards making me look younger now, does it? *pffft*