Lessons I Learned Recently

1. Cleaning and dejunking burns lots of calories.

2. If your house is dirty and disorganized it takes a lot of effort to get it presentable for an appraisor to come.

3. If you cleaned and dejunked on a more regular basis you wouldn't need to borrow the neighbors garbage and recycle bins.

4. When you're out of shape and you do heavy cleaning and dejunking of your home you can injure your knee and have to do month-end with an icepack strapped to it.

5. When you hoard boxes for months thinking that you're going to need them someday when you finally decide to dejunk the basement and the day finally comes you will have saved four times more than you'll ever use. (Luckily, your daughters BFF comes over and asks if you have boxes because she's moving so you can come to her rescue and have your problem solved all at the same time.)

Touching Video on a Service Dog

Muppets

I saw this video and just had to share.

Sometimes I Feel This Way...

The Government Can

I found a video that was SO funny, I thought all six of my followers would get a kick out of it. It was done by comedian, Tim Hawkins, and it is called The Government Can. It is sad, but true--and funny all at the same time!

www.timhawkins.net (Scroll down to "Feature Video")

Have you heard of the 9/12 project? Me neither. It's an interesting website. My opinion is still out on it though. Check it out and let me know what you think.

The 9/12 Project

Sunday Sentiment

Emergency Preparedness

September is Emergency Preparedness month. My employer offered a presentation on 72 hour kits and food storage. It was very interesting. These gals have a web site where you can get lots of information.

FoodStorageMadeEasy

As I was surfing around trying to get ideas for things I might want to include in my kits I found this video. It was VERY informational and quite enlightening. I HIGHLY recommend that you view it even if you don't plan on putting together and 72 hour kit anytime soon. It has some tips you WON'T want to miss.

New Trailer for New Moon

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

We have a new Pet!!!

It's so fun and exciting when you get a new pet. This one adopted us and we've really had fun watching her adjust to her new environment. She's really making herself right at home.

She's been living at our house for a couple of weeks so we've decided we better give her a name. I took it upon myself to name her -- Dragon.

Now, I know this seems like an unusual name for a pet but you see she has a feature that reminds me of "Dragon" from the movie Shrek. You know, the girl dragon that Don-key falls in love with. Remember how at the end he sings 'I like big butts, I can not lie'. Our Dragon has a large fanny just like Dragon on Shrek. Hence the name.

It's been very difficult to get a picture of her. She's quite shy and tends to hide when I come around. Tonight, however, she felt it was okay for me to get a picture of her.



Just to clarify, she's most definately an OUTDOOR only pet.

And besides, her large web, which is impossible to photograph, is getting me in the mood for Halloween!

How Does My Garden Grow?

Apparently it grows freakish conjoined triplet crookneck squash! When I got home from Cedar City a few weeks ago I discovered this oddity. Even the three stems joined together.



So, I decided to turn it into a yummy squash casserole!



The freaky squash tasted yummy! Then, tonight, I'm watering the garden and find this dude hanging out.



Obviously I've been a bit negligent in my squash size monitoring duties.

Mart, didn't you say you like zucchini bread? If I give you this gift will you use it? If not, I'm going to have to leave it on someone's porch once it gets dark outside.

Farewell Patrick

I just wanted to take a moment to say farewell to Patrick Swayze. He was part of several movies I enjoyed. I've just been to the Columbia House website and loaded my shopping cart with several that I have on VHS but would now like on DVD.

Red Dawn - If our country were ever invaded by Russians I'd want him taking care of me.

Ghost - Pottery wheel. Nuff said.

Roadhouse - Kickin' some can.

Point Break - I don't think I've seen this one, but it's been recommended by several people so I thought I'd give it a try.

Too Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar -- Oh my holy Hanna, the dude makes the best drag queen evah!

Dirty Dancing - Um, already had that one 'cause he was hawwt. I think even 2 copies because I forgot I had it and bought another one. I guess my subconscious was trying to tell me I needed a spare copy just in case I wore out the first one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfg97-5uhFQ
I could NOT get youtube to give me the code to embed this. What's up with that?

I just love him in this skit from Saturday Night Live.

Patrick Swayze - Chippendale
by tressage

Farewell Patrick -- I've had the time of my life watching your work.

Funny Commercial

New Moon Trailer

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON trailer in HD


Slight change to the storyline, but I'm okay with it. You can tell the budget is a little bigger for this movie than the first one. That's always helpful.

Love this!

Howling at the NEW MOON!

Looking good boys!!!

To All My Female Friends

I have several dear friends who have not had the opportunity to become mothers for one reason or another. I know that some of them are uncomfortable with Mother's Day so I propose we change the name of the day. I vote for "Celebrate the Fabulous Women in Your Life Day".

I just want all my female friends to know that I value every one of them. Each unique. Each fabulous! Thanks ladies for all you do and who you are!

Lovely Bracelet and Anklet, don't ya think?

And, it will only cost me about $250. You want a pair also you say? Well, let me help get your own by telling you how I acquired mine.

I was carrying a very large, heavy box in my basement. As I passed a large piece of framed artwork on the wall I bumped it. I guess it banged against the wall enough that the entire picture frame fell completely apart. The sheet of glass fell and hit me in the shankle (shin/ankle). The funny part is I didn't even really feel it hit. I saw that the picture frame had fallen apart but I just kept going 'cause my hands were full. I just thought I'd deal with the broken frame after I got the box to it's destination. I walked another four feet and set down the large box and realized that there was 'something' flowing down my foot.

The basement was dark and as I actually looked at my right leg and foot I realized that something had sliced my leg. Because the blood was really flowing I just dropped my capri pants - yes, it's funny - and used them as a compress on the wound. It took several minutes to get the bleeding under control.

Here's a photo of my pants that Sprout took when she got home from work - before she so kindly 'Spray & Wash'ed the daylights out of them and threw them in the wash.



Amazingly enough, the pants survived the ordeal.

After the bleeding calmed down I made my way back into the family room to retrieve my cell phone. I did leave a blood trail through the basement. It looked like a bit of a crime scene. I then went upstairs to see what I could find to cover my wound so I could head for stitches. Yes, the laceration was large enoungh (2 3/8") that it was obvious that stitches would be needed. Mind you I'm wandering through the house carrying my bloody pants and mopping blood off my leg now and again.

I'd been working on a sewing project for church, so I had scraps of fabric in the kitchen. I mopped the wound off one more time and wrapped some fabric around my leg twice and tied it. It was actually quite fashionable, even with the blood streaked foot. I then headed to my bedroom in search of pants and left my bloody capris on the floor. Grabbed my purse and keys and I was off.

Now, if this injury had occurred an hour earlier I would have headed to an InstaCare, but I had no choice but to head to an ER. I haven't been in an ER for my own care, ever. Nor have I had stitches due to an injury since I was a pretty little kid.

I headed to the ER and LDS Hospital. Since the new larger hospital was built in Murray, I had heard the the ER at LDS Hospital was relatively quiet. After registering, I waited for about 2 minutes. Pretty speedy in my book. My care was going along quite well until a couple pulled up in the ambulance bay as the woman had just given birth in the car. I'm just glad I wasn't her. Even with that diversion, I was only at the hospital for one hour and forty-five minutes so I consider that a success.

Big hugs to Sprout. She took it upon herself to clean up the 'crime scene' when she got home from work. She scrubbed the carpet downstairs and it now looks very nice and no more bloody foot prints in the kitchen either. (hee hee) Love ya Sprout!

Below is a photo of my stitches. If you're queasy, don't scroll down.

Remembering Columbine

On Thursday, Darrell Scott, the father of Rachel Scott, a victim of the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colorado, was invited to address the House Judiciary Committee's subcommittee. What he said to our national leaders during this special session of Congress was painfully truthful.

They were not prepared for what he was to say, nor was it received well. It needs to be heard by every parent, every teacher, every politician, every sociologist, every psychologist, and every so-called expert! These courageous words spoken by Darrell Scott are powerful, penetrating, and deeply personal. There is no doubt that God sent this man as a voice crying in the wilderness. The following is a portion of the transcript:

"Since the dawn of creation there has been both good & evil in the hearts of men and women. We all contain the seeds of kindness or the seeds of violence. The death of my wonderful daughter, Rachel Joy Scott, and the deaths of that heroic teacher, and the other eleven children who died must not be in vain. Their blood cries out f or answers.

"The first recorded act of violence was when Cain slew his brother Abel out in the field. The villain was not the club he used.. Neither was it the NCA, the National Club Association. The true killer was Cain, and the reason for the murder could only be found in Cain's heart.

"In the days that followed the Columbine tragedy, I was amazed at how quickly fingers began to be pointed at groups such as the NRA. I am not a member of the NRA. I am not a hunter. I do not even own a gun. I am not here to represent or defend the NRA - because I don't believe that they are responsible for my daughter's death. Therefore I do not believe that they need to be defended. If I believed they had anything to do with Rachel's murder I would be their strongest opponent.

"I am here today to declare that Columbine was not just a tragedy -- it was a spiritual event that should be forcing us to look at where the real blame lies! Much of the blame lies here in this room. Much of the blame lies behind the pointing fingers of the accusers themselves. I wrote a poem just four nights ago that expresses my feelings best.

Your laws ignore our deepest needs,
Your words are empty air.
You've stripped away our heritage,
You've outlawed simple prayer.
Now gunshots fill our classrooms,
And precious children die.
You seek for answers everywhere,
And ask the question "Why?"
You regulate restrictive laws,
Through legislative creed.
And yet you fail to understand,
That God is what we need!

"Men and women are three-part beings. We all consist of body, mind, and spirit. When we refuse to acknowledge a third part of our make-up, we create a void that allows evil, prejudice, and hatred to rush in and wreak havoc. Spiritual presences were present within our educational systems for most of our nation's history. Many of our major colleges began as theological seminaries. This is a historical fact. What has happened to us as a nation? We have refused to honor God, and in so doing, we open the doors to hatred and violence. And when something as terrible as Columbine's tragedy occurs -- politicians immediately look for a scapegoat such as the NRA. They immediately seek to pass more restrictive laws that contribute to erode away our personal and private liberties. We do not need more restrictive laws. Eric and Dylan would not have been stopped by metal detectors. No amount of gun laws can stop someone who spends months planning this type of massacre. The real villain lies within our own hearts.

"As my son Craig lay under that table in the school library and saw his two friends murdered before his very eyes, he did not hesitate to pray in school. I defy any law or politician to deny him that right! I challenge every young person in America, and around the world, to realize that on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School prayer was brought back to our schools. Do not let the many prayers offered by those students be in vain. Dare to move into the new millennium with a sacred disregard for legislation that violates your God-given right to communicate with Him. To those of you who would point your finger at the NRA -- I give to you a sincere challenge. Dare to examine your own heart before casting the first stone!

My daughter's death will not be in vain! The young people of this country will not allow that to happen!"

Do what the media did not ~ let the nation hear this man's speech.

The Finished Cake

After the ceremony, Kathy and I and our kids hurried across the valley to retrieve the cake. We were able to get into the reception location 2 hours early. Since we've never done a cake before we had no idea we would need almost that entire time.

After we got the cake assembled, we then put ribbon around the bases of the top and bottom layers. Then, Kathy began the task of the scrollwork.



I think it took almost an hour to do all that scroll work. There were a couple of incidents where the black dripped or landed where it shouldn't have. So, the "accidents" were worked into the design. Hence the scrollwork coming down onto the base layer.



Kathy is quite talented with flowers, so she also made little "boutonniers" to go on the cake.


(You can click on these photos to make them larger if you'd like.)

True confession. A panel in the back of my car actually fell on the cake as we were driving to the reception location. One corner of the bottom layer got scrunched. Hence the roses on two corners of the bottom of the cake. Thankfully it ended up looking nice.



This is Nicole's favorite photo of Pedro.

I Have a Code in My Node and Other Whimpering

This is what I've been doing for the last 3 days. Ugh. I hate colds. I need to buy stock in Kleenex, Advil Cold & Sinus, Zicam and Cold-Eeze. I can't begin to imagine how miserable I would be without the assitance of drugs. Legal drugs, I might add, even if I had to show photo id to get the Advil.

Oh, and to throw in some more fun. My DVR died. Let me explain why this is so traumatic. I am a TV viewing addict. Junkie. Can't get enough. To make matters worse, there were about 9 episodes from last week that I hadn't watched yet. Waaaah! AND I had to haul my sick and tired fanny out of bed this afternoon to go to Comcast and give them my D.E.A.D. DVR and trade it for a new one. Granted it only took about 3 minutes at the counter. So, I exposed a very nice staffer to my germs. I told her to go and immediately wash her hands so that she wouldn't get my nastey cold.

Now I have to get the DVR all reprogrammed. Then, I need to get on the internet and search out all my missing shows and see if I can watch them on-line. It's kinda hard to surf while blowing, coughing and sneezing. Please feel sorry for me.