Thursday 13 - Totally Random

1. This is my 72nd Thursday Thirteen post.



2. This is my 18th post tagged "random thoughts".



3. Additionally, I just started doing a new meme called
   
   
You can see my latest entry by scrolling down.


4. I am "jump up and down" excited that I have had visitors from 104 countries!



5. Here is a "Yearbook Yourself" picture of me around the time I was born.





6. This one is from 1992 and I've included it since I have a real picture of me that looks almost identical. Yes, I really had that hair!





7. I am appalled and saddened by the "outburst" of Rep. Joe Wilson. We, as a country, are in a sad state when there is no respect for the Office of President. Regardless of who we voted for, in a civilized society certain positions should be granted respect. Funny that the same people who think this was defensible are the ones who would be totally appalled if the same type action happened to the minister in their church, a student screamed at a commencement speaker at their child's graduation, or a defendant back talked a judge.



8. I am in search of one, just one, current television advertisement that doesn't try to sell it's product or idea based on sex or fear. Anybody seen one?



9. I love autumn. Cooler temperatures are great for outdoor activities, bonfires with toasted marshmallows and mulled apple cider. Then there is all the camera fodder with the changing of the leaves.



10. Early morning fog is beautiful as long as you don't have to be any place.



11. If a rebuttal is the response to a speech, shouldn't it be a respeech (which it often is) since there is no such thing as a buttal?



12. Is there anything you can eat that isn't better with cheese?



13. My favorite comment from the Beth Moore Bible study I'm currently doing - "Coincidences are just miracles where God chooses to remain anonymous."

Go here to join Thursday 13.

Two for Tuesday-yadseuT rof owT

Saw a great bumper sticker last night...

CELEBRATE NATIONAL ATHEIST DAY - APRIL 1st

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Garden frustration of the week: My beets have huge beautiful tops and tiny little roots (beets). What's up with that? They are past their harvest date so should I leave them in the ground or pull them and try again next year?

Scroll down for WW

“Members of Congress should be compelled to wear uniforms just like NASCAR drivers, so we can identify their corporate sponsors.” -From an e-mail making the rounds

All in agreement say "I".

"Wow"mart Shopping

So Linda, my friend over at 2nd Cup, always seems to find blogging material at Wowmart (as she calls it). I had some other errands to do near the local Wowmart so I decided to stop there to pick up a few grocery items rather than going to where I normally shop. I did not see the foil-haired lady nor did I have any toilet paper experience.

I did, however, overhear two interesting conversations.

The first one I could not post in its entirety without changing the rating on my blog but was a middle age couple who appeared by their shopping and conversation to not know each other all that well (possibly were dating) but proceeded to discuss why her son was in jail and about his nephew (in jail also) and the details of each situation which would have equalled TOO MUCH INFORMATION in a counseling session, let alone in the middle of a store! Geeesh!

The other conversation made me literally laugh out loud!

Overheard in the school supply aisles:

"Moooooom!"

"This one is what's on the list"

"But Moooooom."

"See, it has different sections for different subjects."

"Moooom, I just need this one - not the one with sections."

"but the list..."

"Mom, this is the exact kind my friend has and she's a straight A student!"

Yep, I'm guessing that single subject notebook will make all the difference.

Two for Tuesday - yadseuT rof owT

Be Still and know that I am God.

Psalms 46:19

• Sometimes I feel like it is hard to hear what God is telling me. Sometimes I think He is being stubbornly silent. What I'm discovering, and what is true about some of the decisions I've been trying to make recently, is that it usually isn't that He is silent but that I am not listening. I am not taking time to "be still". I am busying myself with distractions or busying my mind with a barrage of points and counterpoints until all I hear is static. I intentionally, even if unknowingly, create enough noise to avoid hearing what I am afraid to hear - to avoid recognizing if He is asking me to do something I don't want to do or to go a direction that will be hard or uncomfortable for me.

• There are currently lots of things going on in my life that require decisions. Not your run of the mill "what will I fix for dinner" kinds of decisions, but life altering decisions. I have been struggling to make most of them - going back and forth, trying to weigh the positives and negatives of each option and all the potential outcomes and scenarios. The result was having no peace, being frustrated and being no closer to a decision. Then on Sunday at church the pastor talked about how we complicate things rather than keeping them as simple as they actually are. Another young man spoke about a situation where he had to rely on God's guidance which he was only receiving one "step" at a time.

Hmmmmm. Be still, keep it simple, and be willing to take one trusting step at a time. I think I'll try that.

Just Another Day in Paradise (insert eye roll here)

So the day started at 6:00 a.m. with yelling and yipping as hubby fell over the sleeping dog. In spite of the cacophony of sounds, thankfully neither is any worse for the wear. I might have suspected it was a sign of how the day was going to go had I been the one doing the falling. Since I wasn't, however, I approached the day unsuspectingly - thinking only that it was a very early start.

Already wide awake, I decided I might as well start getting some things done. I unloaded the dishwasher, started some laundry, and headed for the garden - hereafter known as the location of Disaster #1.

Hubby bought me this nifty garden tool last year and it is really great - UNLESS you get it caught in your string line at which point you will spend the next twenty minutes - 20 MINUTES - unwinding the three feet of string which has now somehow grown to 12 feet. After retrieving the string from the sharp, pinching teeth of the cultivator I finished my work in the garden. (Side note: Organic gardening lesson- don't begrudge paying more for organics. They really are WAY more work.)

Once the garden work was done I decided to spray the fire pit area with Round-up. I promise, this is far away from the garden and I had checked wind direction, etc. I put on my rubber gloves and proceeded to mix the Round-up in the spray container. I pumped and sprayed (goodbye crab grass) and pumped and sprayed (good riddance poison ivy) and pumped and... Disaster #2 ...got sprayed! The sprayer hose blew loose from the container sending out a stream of chemicals much like a drinking fountain that Tim, The Tool Man, Taylor had gotten a hold of and it went all over me! I turned quickly enough to keep any from getting in my face but my entire left side was soaked before I got the hose reattached. During the reattaching process my nice, protective rubber glove got filled with the stuff too! Needless to say, I was off to the shower before that job ever got finished. It did get finished though - after hubby fixed the "auto-disconnect" problem.

By now it was lunch time - yep, just lunch time - and I was ready to fix something to eat then sit down and relax for a little while before starting the next project on the agenda. I heated up some ham & beans in the microwave but the minute and 15 seconds I put them in for only made them slightly warmer than room temperature. So, I put them back in for another 20 seconds (note- twenty seconds). I pulled them out, added ketchup and onion, and started to take a taste. Somehow, in that 20 seconds they had quadrupled in temperature. Before I could finish thinking how glad I was that I had not taken a big bite, therefore only stinging my lip a little, the remainder of what was on the spoon fell - PLOP - onto my chest! OOOOOOOOOOOUCH! Disaster #3.

So, I am now sitting at my computer, where it seems relatively safe unless I fall off my chair, and I may stay here the rest of the day. I WILL NOT be pressure washing the back patio and deck as planned. It just seems to risky.

I mean it is the part of the house closest to the woods so I think I'd be inviting a visit from either the ROUS's of Princess Bride fame or the equally frightening giant spider from Gilligan's Island. At the very least wet pine needle spray would somehow come back and cover me calling for the third shower of the day!


So - how has your day been?

Thursday 13 - Totally Random Thoughts

The little guy looks much older with his hair cut.









Three days in a row of rain made my garden plants almost double in size - YEAH!

Three days in a row of rain made the weeds in my garden quadruple in size - Yikes!

I think we got hoodwinked in Wisconsin. The chocolate cheese we bought tastes suspiciously like chocolate fudge.

I thought this display at my nephew's wedding reception was very thoughtful. It shows the wedding days of the bride and groom's parents and grandparents.



Technology still amazes me sometimes. I can't believe I can talk to my friend in Kazakhstan any time I want to. (Remembering the time difference is important however!)

Speaking of technology, the phrase "weapon of mass disprution" is very good terminology for a potentional computer/communications terrorist attack.

This very brightly colored guy is real. We saw him at the Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque.



High school graduations these days come with a ridiculous amount of rules for the graduates. One I know of didn't allow the girls to wear heels (or flip flops). Seriously?

I thought I'd have so much time to do things now that I'm at home but it sure doesn't seem to be working out that way.

Webster's definition of priority is something given or meriting attention before competing alternatives. Webster's definition of accessory is a: a thing of secondary or subordinate importance b: an object or device not essential in itself but adding to the beauty, convenience, or effectiveness of something else.

I like keeping up with people on Facebook.

I love my church. You can find out more about it or listen to previous messages by going here.

Thursday Thirteen - Just Randomly

(altered photo)

1. Why aren't there ever guys on What Not To Wear?
2. Why does Indiana get a freeze every year after my lilacs bud?
3. Is there an easy way to clean a George Foreman?
4. An old high school friend has built the coolest "green" house in California.
5. I'm toying with a product idea that I think would sell really well but don't know what the next step should be.
6. I miss some of the people I worked with and some of my customers but I really don't miss work at all.
7. How many less companies would be struggling and laying people off if they hadn't had to pay the exorbitant cost of health care that the insurance companies have caused to soar?
8. Why is it, for some people, so much harder to turn the lights off than to turn them on?
9. The sky was so clear last night that I could see Orion perfectly - the photo I took of it however would be entitled Blackout.
10. Why can't I find a garden row maker thingy (like a single wheel with a single plow) like the one my ex-father-in-law (that word looks way over-hyphenated) had anywhere?
11. Where did the word Easter come from?
12. When and how did the bunny get involved?
13. When Jesus asked Peter: "Do you love me more than these?" (John 21:15), who or what were the "these" he referred to?

Bonus question for Easter contemplation: What is your "these"?

20

I was tagged on Facebook to write 20 things about myself so I thought I'd share that list here.


1. My husband was my best guy friend in high school.

2. I love being a Mom.

3. I love being a Grandma even more.

4. I am and have always been a Christian but my idea of what makes someone a follower of Christ has changed a lot over the years.

5. I love to take photographs and wish I had more time to devote to that.

6. My degree is in journalism but I've had little opportunity to use it.

7. Maybe that's why I enjoy blogging so much.

8. I have learned over and over that you can get through anything with faith, family, and friends and I am fortunate to have all of those in my life.

9. I've been in some kind of sales job for the last 15+ years selling everything from diamonds to toilets. You can get "too much information" about people selling either of those!

10. I love to travel.

11. I had a goal of seeing all 50 states before I turn 50. It is NOT going to happen.

12. I have been to Alaska and Hawaii.

13. I prefer going to non-chain restaurants.

14. I like teenagers – really!

15. I am admittedly addicted to caffeine in the form of Enviga or Mt. Dew.

16. I prefer being outside to being inside unless it is below zero or very windy.

17. I've been struck by lightning.

18. I have strong opinions about things and sometimes share them even when I shouldn't.

19. The flip side is that I am sometimes too passive and don't stand up for myself or others in order to avoid an argument.

20. I crave being able to live a simpler lifestyle.

Thoughts for Thursday

I am currently reading this book and I highly recommend it!



Written in 2007, the book takes aim at the long standing economic axiom that growth is good and more growth is better. McKibben notes that there are "Three fundamental challenges to the fixation on growth..." which are that "growth, at least as we now create it, is producing more inequality than prosperity, more insecurity than progress", that "we do not have the the energy needed to keep the magic going, and can we deal with the pollution it creates?" and that "less obvious and even more basic: growth is no longer making us happy."

Using plenty of facts and even more logic he builds a compelling case for rethinking our most basic economic premise. In case you are concerned that it might be like reading a textbook, I assure you, it is not.

~~~~~~~~~~~

It is cold, cold, cold in Indiana today. Ideally today I'd have stayed in bed cozily under my duvet for an extra hour or two. It's a day for a fire in the fireplace and making chili. Like much of the rest of the population of our state, however, I'm trudging off to work in the wind and the snow. The picture on my calendar of the French Riviera is taunting me.

Random Thoughts for Thursday

So, I've decided to do this Project 365 thing. Mine, however, will technically be project 361 since I didn't know about it and decide to join in until Monday. I'll be posting each week on Sunday if you're interested.




I wore new shoes today! I like that they are comfortable on the first day and was pretty hopeful about that since I walked around the store in them for a few minutes before buying them. The down side - one of them squeaks when I walk. I know, I walked around the store - I did. Did I mention the loud music playing in the store? Hubby didn't care for it but it didn't bother me while I was shopping. It bothers me now though - every time my left foot hits the floor.


I've been planning my garden and I'm very excited about it. Isaac's mommy and my niece are both making most of the food for their little ones so I'm planning to have an organic garden. This also means starting a compost pile. I'm not quite as excited about that part - a little concerned about odors and critters - but I'm learning a lot.


Work has been unseasonably busy? Hope that is a good sign for the economy.


I took this quiz today...

I took the 43 Things Personality Quiz and found out I'm a Romantic Self-Knowing Believer

It also showed that - "0% of the 48841 people who have taken this quiz are like you." So, does that mean I am unique and special or just weird?


See, I knew I'd have made a good flower-child, Jesus freak hippie...

Thursday Thirteen?

• I thought about posting 13 ways and places I'd enjoy celebrating New Year's Eve.
• I thought about posting 13 hopes for the New Year.
• I thought about posting 13 reasons I was glad 2008 was over.
• I thought about posting 13 good things that happened in 2008.
• I thought about posting 13 bad things that happened in 2008.
• I thought about posting 13 things I'd like to do in 2009.
• I thought about posting 13 places I'd like to go in 2009.
• I thought about posting 13 things I got for Christmas.
• I thought about posting 13 things I didn't get for Christmas and might go buy with the Christmas money and giftcards that I got.
• I thought about posting 13 resolutions for the New Year. Then I realized I don't really want to work that hard of change that much.
• I thought about posting 13 wonderful things about having grandbabies - especially at Christmas.
• I thought about posting 13 reasons why it is more fun to decorate for Christmas than to un-decorate.
• I thought about the fact that it was a holiday and I didn't want to think hardd enough to come up with a list of 13 things.

Two for Tuesday-yadseuT rof owT

I wonder how much less stress/nerve/depression medication would be needed if Hollywood were banned from showing any violence and insurance commercials were only allowed in print media. What if, other than the news, the most upsetting things we saw on TV were Lucy pulling away the football as Charlie Brown tries to kick it or the Grinch weighing poor Max down with a reindeer antler?



I also wonder now much the availability of all the news all the time contributes to these ever increasing stress levels which then contribute to, among other things, addictions, overeating, and all types of physical ailments. How much do we really need to know? If you think that is a naive question, think again. The constant onslaught of news and its repetition numerous times a day has lead to many wrong perceptions.

How would you answer these questions?

1. Child abductions by strangers happen:

A) more often than in the past (ie. when I was growing up).
B) less often than in the past.
C) at about the same rate as in the past.


2. Violence in schools was at its highest in:

A) the last ten years.
B) the 80's and 90's
C) the 60's and 70's




Find the answers in the comments.

Thurday Thirteen - Yesterday

Yesterday was a beautiful, warm day in Indiana so I took a day off from work - more accurately a day off from my job! Here is what I did do yesterday...

1. Slept in until 8:00 a.m.



2. Went out to breakfast with my hubby.



3. Moved some very heavy landscape blocks from around the mailbox so I can redo it in the Spring.



4. Arranged those landscape blocks to finish the edge of the garden (with a little help - did I mention that they were very heavy).



5. Put away torches, wind chimes, citronella candles, etc. off the deck.



6. Trimmed grapevine back.



7. Swept leaves out of outdoor kitchen area.



8. Forgot to eat lunch. How did THAT happen?



9. Drug limbs/branches/small trees back from the road to the fire pit to burn. (Hubby was kind enough to trim the edge of the woods back so it is easier for me to see to pull out or our driveway.



10. Pulled the last of the weeds (and some onions I'd somehow missed) out of the garden so hubby could till it up before winter.



11. Got online and paid bills and wrote a blog post.



12. Took a bubble bath.



13. Started a load of laundry which I just realized I forgot all about until now...oops!

Christmas break - random thought

So, along with my break from work I took a blog break too. Christmas shopping, Christmas wrapping, Christmas eating, Christmas eve services, Christmas unwrapping, more eating - that pretty much covers the last several days.

Hope all of you had a wonderful, joyous, and peaceful Christmas.

I was going to do a "late for dinner" Friday's Feast but the chef took time off for the holidays too.

In a previous blog I said the goal was to get through the holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's) without gaining any weight because attempting to lose any during this time would be both discouraging and futile. I am happy to report that as of this morning I have only gained one(that's right,1) pound! I can live with that - and with a little luck I might even lose it and break even by New Year's Day!

If anyone wants to share their New Year's resolution I'm wanting to post yours along with mine on the Thursday Thirteen on 1/3.

Two for Tuesday

• At Christmas time it is important to remember that our value, our real worth, is not determined by the presents we receive or by the presents we give. It is determined by God thinking so much of us that he gave us the gift, the future sacrifice, of His own son so that we would not be separated from Him. No one has any more value or any less value than that.
• Take some time this season to really consider The Nativity. Choose one of the people involved - Mary, Joseph, a shepherd, a wise man, the inn keeper - and try to look at the events from their perspective, in their culture, in that time. How did they feel? What did they think?

Two of my favorite songs of the season are ones that look at Mary (Mary Did You Know) and Joseph (It Wasn't His Child) from a different perspective. Check each of them out below.

Thursday Thirteen

Just thirteen random thoughts/questions...

1. My favorite books for children are The Giving Tree (Silversteen), Alexander and the Horrible, Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (Viorst), and anything by Dr. Suess.
2. Only in Indiana can you have your air conditioning on one day because it's 90 degrees out and then, two days later, need to turn on the heat because it is so cold.
3. Regarding that, exactly when should one put their summer clothes away and get out the winter ones?
4. When is it a fashion faux paux to still be wearing sandals?
5. Who was Murphy anyway and why did he make such frustrating laws?
6. Is it harder to break a bad habit or start a good one?
7. At what age does it become useless to make "mental notes" and start requiring that you actually write a note to remember anything? (I'm guessing about 47)
8. I'm looking forward to a Christian comedy show we are going to tonight. I love to laugh. I love even more to hear my husband laugh.
9. I'm currently suffering from grand baby withdraw since I was sick earlier in the week. I think I'll go see her at lunch.

10. How did the Jack-o-lantern get it's name?
11. They've cut the corn fields down officially making in deer season. Not hunting deer season but the season when the deer try to play Frogger backwards with your car.
12. 75 shopping days until Christmas.
13. Hey now, no saying nasty things about the blogger!