Scorpion

This is evil personified. I have an unhealthy feeling about scorpions. This scorpion is just one of many that we have killed in our home over the past 4 months. I abhor scorpions. I'm neurotic about scorpions.

They hurt, for petesake. Have you ever been stung?

Not fun. At all.

This is the nicest picture of all of the scorpions that I have killed. I took a picture of the one that stung me earlier in the summer. His body bore the sign of my feelings towards him. I cannot find his picture, thus I will instead show you the one I killed yesterday afternoon. I had already started this blog post and got lost trying to find the first killed scorpion picture. In the meantime, Princess called me about a scorpion that followed her in the front door.

Part of my paranoia is that scorpions are just evil. They sting repeatedly for no apparent reason other than "it's what they do".

Makes me think of how I repeatedly make the same sinful mistakes over and over. I'm a bit like the scorpion and the frog. How I wish I wasn't.

The Scorpion and the Frog

A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The frog asks, "How do I know you won't sting me?" The scorpion says, "Because if I do, I will die too." The frog is satisfied, and they set out, but in midstream,the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the onset of paralysis and starts to sink, knowing they both will drown,but has just enough time to gasp "Why?"

Replies the scorpion: " I am a scorpion. Its my nature..."

The Conference

I was the conference coordinator for the 2009 Periodic Paralysis Association Conference in mid-October. Here is our group photo.

The hotel upgraded my room to a VIP room. A nice little basket of fruit and cheese accompanied the room. And a letter.

"Welcome to the ____ Hotel! We are glad you are here representing the Periodic Paralysis Ass."

Me thinks someone did not learn how to appropriately abbreviate the word "association".

Bless their heart.

Tarantula

My driveway is 1/10 of a mile long and runs the length of the property. About half way down the driveway is a drainage culvert. There, on the road, coming out of the culvert was this little beauty. I managed to dodge him and stopped the car. I jumped out to take his picture and ... couldn't find him. Eeek. I looked around my feet and then realized that he was farther behind the car. In order to give you the correct perspective, I layed my Blackberry case next to him.

He's a big 'un.

Isn't it comforting to know these lurk in the dark?

Just a happy little thought on this Friday morning.

Christmas Lists

How do you facilitate gift-giving in your family for the holidays?

We started drawing names in our extended family many years ago. Now the grandkids are big enough to be part of the mix, so we all exchange names. The ideal is to have names exchanged by summer so that we can pick up presents as we see the perfect item for a great price. This does not always happen.

Ok, never.

Still, we aim to get the most for the best price. This year, the economy is pinching us, so we are being challenged to make as many gifts as possible. I suggested re-gifting, but that idea didn't catch on so well. I pity the person who has my husband's name. Guys are so hard to shop for, don't you think? It seems like it's either tools, electronics or hunting gear. All fairly pricey items.

Thus, the obligatory neck tie.

One man I know purchased a grey purse for every member of the family and then put the gift receipt in the purse. Guys and girls alike. He figured they would return their gift anyway, so he might as well make it easy for them. Too funny.

Amazon.com's wish list is a great idea for helping extended family who live far away. A couple of clicks and your shopping is done. Family used this last year for the King and he got a couple of things that he loves, like a guitar tuner and some other electronic gadget.

You may remember that I made aprons for friends and family last year. Any suggestions for sewing gifts this year? I'd love some fresh ideas. I have to get busy now or I won't get it all done by Christmas.

Curtis & Leroy saw an ad in the The Oxford Eagle Newspaper in OXFORD, MS. and bought a mule for $100. The farmer agreed to deliver the mule the next day.

The next morning the farmer drove up and said, "Sorry, fellows, I have some bad news, the mule died last night."

Curtis & Leroy replied, "Well, then just give us our money back."

The farmer said, "Can't do that. I went and spent it already."

They said, "OK then, just bring us the dead mule."

The farmer asked, "What in the world ya'll gonna do with a dead mule?"

Curtis said, "We gonna raffle him off."

The farmer said, "You can't raffle off a dead mule!"

Leroy said, "We shore can! Heck, we don't hafta tell nobody he's dead!"

A couple of weeks later, the farmer ran into Curtis & Leroy at the grocery store and asked, "What'd you fellers ever do with that dead mule?"

They said,"We raffled him off like we said we wuz gonna do." Leroy said,"Shucks, we sold 500 tickets fer two dollars apiece and made a profit of $898."

The farmer said,"My Lord, didn't anyone complain?"

Curtis said, "Well, the feller who won got upset.. So we gave him his two dollars back." Curtis and Leroy now work for the government. They're overseeing the Bailout Program.

Moral of the story: Limit all US politicians to two terms. One in office One in prison.

Working from home

I cannot seem to kick this cold/flu thing that I have had since last Thursday! Both yesterday and today I thought I would go in to work and ... not. So, I'm working from home. I could have gone in today, but my voice is just not a pretty thing. I certainly don't need to be answering phones. They'd think I was a cross-dresser.

Yesterday I talked to the nurse from the doctor's office. I called on Friday because I felt HORRIBLE. I guess I didn't whine enough on the phone because she told me when she returned my call on Monday, "Well, you obviously don't have the flu and you are not very sick, so I can ask the doctor if he wants to prescribe some antibiotics."

(silence).

My response, "Ma'am, I'm going to let that comment slide. No, actually I'm not. What factors did you use to determine that I am not and have not been very sick and that I indeed, do NOT have the flu??"

Her: "Weeeellllll. You just don't have the symptoms. And you haven't been sick long enough to have the flu."

(silence again)

"Ma'am, I have been sick since Thursday with fever, sore throat, body aches, fatigue and congestion. I'm now past the body ache part and over most of the fever. What symptoms do I lack?"

Poor thing. I should have cut her some slack. I didn't intend to be rude, but she was my lifeline to the doc. And as I told her, "I'm asking clarifying questions because you are my liaison to the doctor and if somehow you have garnered the idea that I have not been very sick, we need to keep communicating because I do not want you to go to the doctor and tell him that I'm not sick and am just calling for drugs."

All is well. They did call in a Z-pack. Now if I could just get my strength back from being sick, then all will be peachy.

Maybe I just need to eat a pizza with garlic-y breadsticks followed by chocolate cake with some hot cocoa. Comfort food for a sick body. Hey, that's a pretty good Rx. Maybe I should skip the nurse and prescribe my own meds...

New Dining Table

Remember that we sanded and painted our dining table? It's taken me a while to get pictures of the painted table. Here is the King's grandmother's dining table. Isn't it lovely? It's so chocolate-y that I want to lick it.

Disney

We went to Florida for the Periodic Paralysis Association conference last week. The conference was great! We celebrated the end of the conference (and Mommy's months of conference prep) by going to Disney for 3 days. Here we are with 3-4,000 of our closest friends, watching Fantasmic. I have a problem with the name of this show. It always makes me think of ... bedroom lingo and I haven't quite understood Disney's reason for naming this show with the ending "asmic".

Anyway.

"Cinnamon" the tiny little bear came with us for this Disney trip. He rode in Princess' pocket every day of our Disney adventure. He rode Splash Mountain. He rode Rockin' Rollercoaster. He even rode the Tower of Terror. But only once. Not even Cinnamon was enough comfort for Princess to ride the Tower of Terror more than once.

Mommy, on the other hand, couldn't get enough of the Terror. Dude. I could do that thrill over and over and over.

We had great fun. Then it was time to head home. Cinnamon took the trip in his sleeping bag (sock). It's a bear's life.

glasses

New glasses!

We sold our house

We sold our house. I am happy. I am sad. I will miss my old house. I am super happy to be finished with it and happy to put the check in the bank. Woo-hoo!

I am the coordinator of the 2009 Periodic Paralysis Association conference. It is this weekend. I will be glad to sew a ribbon on that huge project! Woo-hoo!

We think we have found a new home. Woo-hoo! We are waiting to hear more from the home owners. It's an unusual deal where we asked them if they want to sell their house. It wasn't on the market. They said .... "for the right price". Cool! We looked at it and really liked the house. We'll see. We are not in a hurry. If you knew where we lived right now, you would be asking why we are even moving at all! Gorgeous place.

Princess got her new glasses. I still do not have a picture to show you. Nor do I have a picture of our newly refinished table. It's beautiful, by the way. Now I want to paint everything. I felt the same way when I got my label maker. I even wanted to label moving objects. Love it.

I've been reading the book "Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckley". I did not know Mary Todd Lincoln was so self-absorbed. I also did not realize that the Lincolns lost 3 out of their 4 sons! So tragic.

Our family is studying the book of Luke. Mark Driscoll is starting a new series. Check it out...

Our poodle is learning to use a doggie door. She's the cutest thing ever. I love how smart poodles are. She learned what to do in 15 minutes. Although she did get a little sick after eating so many blueberries. I've never known a dog who loves dried blueberries. She did anyway. She ate so many the other night that she is not interested in them currently. Now, if you offered her a Honey Nut Cherrio, that's another story...

Dining Table

We have never been the DIY family, because life does not slow down long enough to take on extra projects. King is the Renaissance man. He can do anything.

However, we want to change a fews things as we sell our previous home and settle into our current lease house. We may continue leasing for some time or we may buy a new house soon. We are waiting for a house to open up close to school.

So, to make our home fun and different, our DIY project is the dining table! This is King's grandmother's table. See how the edge of the table is worn? She was a lady of great hospitality. So many bellies have rubbed this table that the varnish is worn off. I long to be like her and have never wanted to refinish her table. Now, I am ready.

As a family project, we sanded the table. No small chore. Last night Princess and I went to Home Depot and got paint. We took a candlestick with us to match paint. I am so glad we did. I thought the candlestick was a blackish color with some grey. Uh, no. It's a dark, dark brown. Cool. We were able to match the candlestick and painted the first coat last night. Princess picked the color! She did great.

Oh my. I LOVE the result. In direct sun, the color is a dark chocolate. In evening incandescent light, it's a brownish black color. Very cool. I will post pictures this week.

glasses

Princess is getting glasses.

I was in 10th grade and King was in 2nd grade when we received our first pair. We had her eye appt on Tuesday and ordered her glasses yesterday. Costco says two weeks. "Two weeks!", she wails. Drama. It probably will only take a week.

Her frames are adorable. She's growing so fast. The pictures above were taken in August 2008 and August 2009. In 365 days, she grew several inches. It's so amazing to watch her grow and become such a beautiful young lady.

I will post pictures when her glasses come in.

Bruise

Remember that I fell down the stairs to the creek on Saturday? Silly me. I'm still sore where I am bruised. See my bruise from the middle of my arm to my elbow? That's the only bruise that is appropriate to photograph. :) I'm so thankful that I fell on muscle. I took most of the hit on my right side and all of my weight went bumpity bumping down the stairs on muscle. I totally would have broken my arm if I had fallen a little more to the right, on the bone in my forearm.

God is so good. I think this is the perfect example of giving thanks in all things. 1 Thess 5:18 says, "...give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." I could have really injured myself. As it is, I learned to avoid the mold on the steps, I did not break anything and all my aches can be relieved by Advil.

Thanks to Jesus!

Rain

We have had a horrible drought and finally the rains came! It's rained 5 and 1/4 inches in the last three days. With much glee, we walked down to the creek to see how much the water had risen. The good news is that the creek is up ... way up. Still not running yet, but the fish, turtles and frogs are having a frat party down there.

The bad news is that I fell down the stairs to the creek. The steel stairs. Thankfully, I fell on the last section of stairs and I fell on muscle. I am a sore lady today!

Oh, and do you see that sad, pathetic little plant in the foreground? The plant has not appreciated the record breaking heat and drought. Let's hope God's showers bring it back from the dark side.


This is Princess' tent. I was trying to be brave. I am not a camping person ... even play camping.

Fun Personality Test

UPDATE: I should add that we were goofing off at work because the lightening had knocked the power off. No computers were injured in the taping of this game.

Ok, my sweet friend gave me this verbal test at work today. Answer each question and THEN read the interpretation for your answers. Don't cheat. You'll laugh harder if you don't peek at the interpretation. I'll give you the questions and then tell you my answers and then give you the interpretations. Don't read ahead. :)

Questions:

1. What is your favorite color?
2. Why is it your favorite color?
3. What is your favorite thing about nature?
4. Why is that your favorite thing about nature?
5. If you could have absolutely any animal for a pet, what would you choose?
6. Why would you choose that animal?

Ok, my answers:

1. Royal Blue
2. It's vibrant, bold and lively
3. I love the tropics and anything that is lush with foliage, green, bold colors
4. Because it represents living, thriving
5. Horse
6. Because it's useful and it's fun.













Ok, for the Interpretations:

2. This is how you see yourself
4. This is how you see God.
6. This is the spouse you desire

I laughed so hard. King is useful and fun.

So, my single friend who gave me this test also dislikes all animals. Bordering on hate. She answered that she'd like a dead deer on the wall for her pet. Why? 'Cause it's old and it doesn't bother her. She is either going to be single forever or marry a really old dude that has one foot in the grave.

Guess what?

I took a blog hiatus. I did not even plan one.

Lots happened over the summer.

King and I went on the South Beach Diet and have kept our weight off. That diet will kick your behind, but it works.

Princess rode horses almost every day. In July, she woke up at 5:30 am 6 days a week and was at the barn before sunrise. She's still leasing a horse, but the horse has changed. In the summer she leased a quarter pony named Spotty Showers. He's gorgeous, but has been mistreated in his past, so he has fear issues. He started spinning on his back hoof and throwing Princess when he would approach a jump. Flowers scare him. Crossrails scare him. Cavaletties scare him. The poor thing gets scared so easily. After 5 throws in three weeks, she was all done with riding Mr. Spotty Showers. She still loves him and he loves her. The silly horse is like a dog. He stole my heart ... he's soooo sweet. He's just very young and needs training before Princess can ride him again.

So, now she is leasing a "flea bitten gray" Arabian. He is ingloriously named, "Hippo". He's beautiful ... AND, he doesn't spin on his back hoof.

Today is King's birthday. Happy Birthday to Superman!

Oh, and we sold our house. We close on it the 21st.

It's been a good summer.

"Woo-hoo" post

Well, it's been a while since I updated the blog!

The King's uncle (like a 2nd dad) passed away May 14th. We had the funeral and burial May 17th. We went to the church building to hang out with each other after the graveside/burial service. Thirty minutes later, I got the call that my Granny had just passed away.

It was a rough day.

We have hired a new employee and she began this past week. I am training her and she is smart and teachable. Everyone shout "Woo-hoo!" with me!

We list our house with a realtor this week. I had a garage sale this past weekend and worked my buns off. I made a little over $500 though. "Woo-hoo!"

We have huge, ginorous, killer software deadlines this week. Actually the deadline was this past week, but we couldn't get the software ready in time. The King is finishing testing tonight and will send it to HP tomorrow. All together now, "Woo-hoo!"

Princess is out of school! "Woo-hoo!"

I got two weeks worth of laundry done today. "Woo-hoo!"


We began our annual Summer Fun Fridays at our house. This past week was our first week of the summer. I pick up Princess' close girlfriends in the morning and bring them to our house to swim and play. I take them home just before dinner in the evening. Much fun is had by all.

The King found Princess like this the other night. She snuggled in bed with me, but sadly, I was so exhausted that I fell asleep. I guess she was tired, too.

Granny

I've been super busy and realized I haven't even blogged. wow.

Granny update: We went to see her the next day (on Friday and Saturday) after I last posted. She was not great when we got there, but by the time we left on Saturday at lunch, she was sitting up at the table in her wheelchair, laughing and eating a sandwich!

She's been doing better since her downward spiral that I posted about although she is not long for this world. Her mind has good days and not so good days ... mostly not so good. The past couple of days, she has been wandering around the house looking for her husband, Greatdaddy. When she can't find him, it makes her cry. Greatdaddy passed away about 5 years ago. Bless her heart!! Please pray for her to be peaceful in spirit, to feel Jesus' nearness (Isaiah 40:11) and to be pain-free until Jesus calls her home.

So! It's Mother's Day this weekend. Totally caught me by surprise. A couple of years ago we went bowling for Mother's Day with our small group. That was fun. I'm not sure what we will be doing for Mother's Day this year.




We leased Cougar, the little Arabian, for Princess for the month of May. Leasing a horse is a month to month situation, so we can try it and if it works for our family, we can keep leasing.

She is beside herself with joy. It's fun to see her so happy.

Sweet Granny UPDATE

I got a call at noon today with the news that my Granny is unresponsive and has been for 2 days. She is 93 and tired. So tired. Her pulse at noon today was 30 and her blood pressure was super low.

Look at that beautiful face. Can't you just feel her sweetness and love oozing from her? She's precious. She's my Granny. I love her forever.

Fly to Jesus, Granny. I don't want you to go, but I'll see you on the flip side...

UPDATE: she rallied tonight and I talked to her. She was incoherent, but at least I got to hear her soft voice and tell her I love her. I hope to get to see her tomorrow, Lord willing.

The Dentist

I had the illustrious privilege of witnessing a horse have its teeth floated. At least, I think that was what was happening. That's the horse's tongue the vet tech is holding in her hand. They sedate the horse and then file away.

I feel a little like this in the dentist chair. People are doing ungodly things to my mouth, the sedation is not enough and when it's all said and done my tongue doesn't fit in its proper place anymore.

I'm just sayin'.