Sorry about that

Sorry about the impromptu blogging break.  We had a funeral to attend out of state and I didn't think there was anything appropriate to post during that hiatus.

Thanks for being patient.

Join us tomorrow for your regularly scheduled blogging.

Quick Question

When you're sick, your brain has free time.

Mine came up with this:

Why do I have to refrigerate left over frosting in a can but I don't have to refrigerate the cake that I frosted?

One of life's bigger questions, no?

Can you help me with with this one please?

The Blanket

My blankie is done. Complete.

Pink and Beautiful.

It was actually done about a week ago, but I fell, remember?

I fell in the sand and I fell on my camera. Therefore my camera is no longer operable.

I'll see if I can take a picture with my laptop but I can't make any promises.

It's beautiful though.

And soft.

It's mine.

I won't stop til I get enough

So I’ve pretty much spent every waking moment since Friday immersed in Olympic mania. I adore the Olympics. (The constant Olympic Blogging didn't give it away?)

It’s something about the purity of the competition, athletes that train constantly for an event that only happens every four years. The pride, the patriotism.

It makes me believe that if only I had stuck with my competitive swimming on the Kansas City Blazers swim team throughout high school that I could have been a contender.

Unfortunately I got tired of riding my bicycle the six blocks it took to get to the pool and, thus, ended my Olympic hopes.

However, I believe I have mentioned once or twenty times before that I was a UIL typist in 9th grade which was kind of like being an Olympic athlete except for the fact that I wasn’t a world class athlete, but rather a fourteen year old who typed more words per minute than twenty other freshmen in high school.

It was quite the accomplishment.

I was also a Mathlete.

Not really, but I like the term Mathlete. The real story is that it took me two attempts to pass Algebra II and even then I think I only earned a passing grade through the time-honored tradition of bribing your teacher with fresh donuts each morning.

Anyway, as I watch the Olympics, I’ve had a few burning questions and/or concerns.

1. Synchronized men’s diving. Thoughts? I mean I get the diving part, but who thought up the synchronized thing? It seems a little contrived.

Hey! You know what could make this dive even better? If we did it at the SAME TIME.

It has incredible potential as the premise for a Will Ferrell movie.

If your brother, nephew, or third cousin twice removed is a synchronized men’s diver, I don’t mean to offend. I’m just curious.

2. Female Chinese gymnasts. If some of those girls are sixteen years old, I’ll eat my hat.

3. Michael Phelps. I thought maybe I had a small crush on him, but realized I am getting old because my feelings are more along the lines of “Oh, he seems like such a nice boy and he loves his mama.”

But the burning question in my mind is what is he listening to on his iPod before races? Rumor has it that it’s Eminem or Young Jeezy.

See how I just threw Young Jeezy out there like I totally know who that is?

No idea.

If it were me (and I were back in the thick of the UIL typing competition) I know what I’d be listening to, a little “Bootylicious” by Beyonce and “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” by Michael Jackson.

August 13

So, today I am not back up to speed after all. The "SUITS" are in town so it will be a day of non - sensible shoes and meetings.

Try me again tomorrow.

It can only get better.

I'm back

You know what happens when you don’t blog for a few days ?

The portion of your brain that generates mediocrity on a daily basis shrivels up to the size of nothing, rendering you completely incapable of composing even your usual brand of okay.

So you will sit and watch women’s gymnastics for hours while trying to come up with something of interest to share and become completely distracted by all the various hair clippies that gymnasts use to hold their hair back. Why all the different colors? Why is there not more hair accessory coordination?

I think I may have just realized why I was never a serious athlete.

Tomorrow should be better as I work my brain back up to blogging speed.

What's my favorite season?

Well FOOTBALL SEASON, of course. Time to start talking smack to my husband! Woo hoo. Here goes:

That's right, Packers fan; it's time to accept reality. The Brett Favre era is over, and Aaron Rodgers is your starting QB.

Good luck...hehehe

GratiTuesday

It's time for a little shout out to the Lord, so you know it must be GratiTuesday, where I can be vocally thankful for something in my life.

Over the weekend Carl & I went to the private beach on base.

We went with our friends Don & Laura. Turns out Don is a LOT like Jeff Corwin, minus the silly shorts. Even though Carl & I had been to this beach many times before, we never found the things we saw with Don.

We saw a starfish, a sea urchin and an anenome (I will call him squishy and he will be mine).

I didn't really want to touch it, you know, in case it bit me.

Look what else I found. It's my hubs.
So today I am thankful for good friends - all of them. They are hard to find and harder to keep.

I'm also thankful to have these pictures. Laura took them and sent them to me. See, I fell in the sand and broke the camera (who does that?) so these are my only photographic memories of that day, courtesy of good friends.

Chocolate Skittles

Carl brought home Chocolate Skittles.

They remind me of my childhood.

You know, the part where I ate my chocolate Chapstick.

Yuck.

Felt Shoes?

I got Carl these new kicks.

He put them on and ran his hands over the Swoosh.

"Felt" he said.

"No, they are suede."

He looked at me for a moment and said, "Well, they're felt now."

Heaven

I think this is what Heaven feels like.

Facebook? My Space? Agh

I must be getting old because technologically speaking, I thought I was pretty savvy.

I got invited to join Facebook and My Space this year.

I have no idea what I'm doing and it's all pretty frustrating.

Dink wrote on my "wall" yesterday. I'm pretty sure I shouldn't be offended.

I probably would give up on the entire thing except I found this:

And anyone who knows me knows I LOVE FLAIR!

Can someone explain Facebook to me?

Someone over 12, perhaps?

I'm a tad late in jumping on the Facebook bandwagon.

Jebus, I'm a nerd.

My "Office"

Shannon, who hosts WFMW at http://www.rocksinmydryer.com/ is taking the rest of the summer off. This means I won't be sharing with you any of my wonderful ideas today.

I am, however, going to show you my office.

Why? You ask.

Well, because I like pictures. I like to imagine where people are in the day and what their surroundings look like.

I'm assuming you like the same.
Generally, I'm surprised when I see that the pictures are nothing like I imagined.

If you don't want to see my office. Stop reading now and come back tomorrow.

This is my office. I docorated it myself (my friend Amanda helped). It's on base about 2 blocks from my house. I could ride my bike to work, you know, if I did that sort of thing.

I drive.

I am the Project Director for VAFB Development. I get this entire office to myself.

It's actually a house. It looks a lot like the one I live in. Only this one is smaller...and has office furniture in it.

I can sing loud if I want. No one knows I'm here and my boss works in Rhode Island.

This is my snack area. No office is complete without a plethora of snacks. I expense them. Yum.
The conference area looked like this when I moved in. Now just imagine floor plans all over the table and floor. Oh, and most of the chairs are broken now. Someone bought cheap chairs.

It wasn't me. I don't do cheap. Especially with someone else's money.
This is the outside of my castle/office. Gorgeous - huh?
My office. Again, before the work started. Now it's an absolute disaster of paper and stuff.
My GIRLS ONLY powder room. If you have a tail - use the one down the hall.
And that concludes today's tour.

My Garden Kicks Ass

Yesterday was HOT!  

I went to Home Depot.

I got some flowers and put them in pots out front.  

I think I'm going to need something for between those two trees.

Yard Art perhaps?

I got that pretty fountain grass too.  It looks better up close/in real life.  Trust me.

I also planted a Plum tree in my back yard and jalapenos in my garden.  

I expect fruit!
I also have this to show for it.  Oops.  Forgot the sunscreen.
Guess what?  My garden can kick your garden's ass.

We Have an Escape Artist on our Hands

I hear from our neighbor that a little black nose has made its way under the fence.

That cute little black nose is attached to a Golden Retriever with kangaroo breath and floppy ears.

I put up bricks to distract him but he's too smart. He'll find a way over to see her and her treats eventually.

Carl has started calling Bruiser "Andy DuFresne" (remember the escapee in The Shawshank Redemption?)

Yah. Like that.

Rumble In My Tummy

The last week at work has been extremely busy. The days are only made worse by the fact that every afternoon I've left with a terrible stomachache. Almost like an achy-grumbly-yucky pain. I would head to the gym after work and just push through. When I would go home and have dinner, the pain would subside.

I noticed today that I don't have that pain.

And then it hit me. All that "busy" at work and I had forgotten to eat lunch.

That pain was hunger.

I must not be too familiar with that feeling. Now I know why. I don't like it.

Silly me.

An Alphabetical MeMe

It's Friday and I'm taking the bloggity day off.

A good Alphabetical MeMe is just what I needed. So much better than posting more pictures of my cards. Right? Thanks, Maria, for tagging me!

All about Me Me Me Meeeeeee

Accent: It depends how angry I am.
Bible Book that I like: Well of course, Psalms, but doesn't everyone?
Chore that I don't care for: Cleaning bathrooms. Any woman who has to deal with boys and their less-than-perfect "aim" can sympathize.
Dog or Cat: Dog, absolutely. I'm violently allergic to cats--I swell up like a toad!
Essential Electronics: My computer, of course and my cell phone. I can't go a day without texting.
Favorite Cologne: Pure Grace, Philosophy
Gold or Silver: Prefer silver or white gold.
Handbag I Carry most often: I'm a fan of Coach, but I like Kate Spade too.
Insomnia: Never.
Job Title: Referee, nutritionist, coach, teacher, nurse, banker, chauffer, recreational coordinator, housekeeper and occasionally jailer.
Kids: Kids are for people who can't have dogs.

Living Arrangements: In a Government Issued, 45-year-old, ranch style, three-bedroom house in Somewhere, California. I share the space with my husband, two dogs, a fish and an excessive amount of clutter.
Most Admirable Trait: My empathy for others.
Naughtiest childhood behavior: Wasn't particularly naughty as a child.
Overnight hospital stay: Yes but thank the Lord I don't remember.
Phobias: Heights and deep water, meaning that flying over the ocean is essentially OUT for me. Also get a little creeped out driving across super flat, wide-open spaces, like the panhandle of Texas.
Quote: I adore quotes, and one of my most treasured possessions is my "quote book", where I record all my favorites. I suppose if I had to nail down one favorite it would be by Corrie ten Boom: "I have learned to hold all things loosely, so that God will not have to pry them out of my hands." Actually, my favorite quote is anything Corrie ten Boom said, period. Well, and anything my friend John says. Or stuff I find at Uppercase. Okay, basically, I just can't narrow it down. If there are any other quote lovers out there, I highly recommend writing them down or sticking them to your wall.
Religion: I'm a Bible-believin', Jesus-lovin', grace-needin', Holy-Spirit-claimin' member of Queen of Angels Catholic Church. But to me the which isn't nearly as important as the Whom.
Siblings: Hmmmm...not sure.
Time I wake up: At the latest possible second. Usually around 7:35.
Unusual Talent or skill: I can read so fast it freaks out my husband.
Vegetable I refuse to eat: Not wild about okra.
Worst habit: Oh my gosh, way too many to count. Probably poor time-management would be the biggie. As evidenced by the fact that I'm spending waaaay too much time working on this stupid meme.
X-rays: Mostly just dental and brain scans.
Yummy stuff I cook: I can heat up just about anything, but from scratch I'd say Chicken di Scallopine.
Zoo animal I like most: Meer Kat. Hakuna Matata.