a brown crayon day

I awoke this morning to the soothing sound of falling rain. I enjoy listening to it; perhaps because I grew up where rain was strictly a December-February sort of thing. Whatever the reason, it was a good morning for sitting on the couch in jammies, drinking a cup of Vanilla Coffeemate (with enough coffee in it to make it caramel colored), and reading/studying Philippians for next Weds. Bible study.

If only it lasted. For some reason I was just hazy and slightly depressed all day. Andy said it's the weather, but I've never been moody when the weather shifts before.

I attempted to get school done with the kids, but something I call "character issues" cropped up instead. Sample: "School ruins my life, it's boring, it wastes my time..." etc. (I gave up a career for *this,* I think to myself). So instead, I decided I was going to return good for evil, and help David in the cleaning of his room.

Good idea, but my good intentions quickly degenerated into a foul, fierce mood when I pulled his bed out from the wall and found an assortment of snack foods in varying stages of decay hoarded between the bed and the wall. Yogurt cups, dirty spoons, those orange-colored peanut butter crackers ground into the carpet, wrappers of packaged cookies... all intermingled with books, stuffed animals and dirty clothes.

I started flinging, arousing the indignation of my 7 year old preternaturally self-assured son: "It wasn't messy in here until YOU started working! **I** didn't make this mess, and I'm not going to clean it up!" (oh yeah, kid?) I (not-so-calmly) reassured him that just because it wasn't visible didn't mean it wasn't messy, and yes indeed he would be cleaning it up. I did grab my trusty Kirby with the hose attachments and did a good job underneath the bed and in the nooks and crannies, as well as vacumming those horrible mini blinds that must be designed to collect dust - then after that left him to it.

that didn't work. You would not believe the number of plastic dinosaurs, legos, odd shells, bones, etc. this kid has. So I went back in there, again intending to return good for evil, and we sat down to sort out all the toy bins and get things in their proper places.

By the time we finished it was going on dinner time and I was still emotionally and physically drained - even more so after tackling that room. We decided to go out to eat and do some shopping. So I grabbed a pad of paper and the closest writing utensil: a brown crayon. I thought it was very fitting. This was a brown crayon day; it only follows that I should write my shopping list in brown crayon.

Went to Happy Teriyaki for dinner where we ordered the usual: chicken and beef teriyaki for the kids; yakisoba for Andy. I ordered a bento box that had a little bit of everything tasty in it. By this time Andy and I were laughing at stupid things, so some mood relief was in sight. David bent over to look at the koi in the indoor pond and one of the big fish fluked him, soaking his face. I thought he'd actually dunked his face in the pond!

Since KMart is right next door to the teriyaki place, we went marauding over there. Taking inspiration from my friend Amy, and to prevent any more towel thefts at my house, I let Sammie and David pick out their own color towels for their exclusive use. But they had to pick the Martha Stewart ones, which were on sale. Egads, before I made that stipulation, David had chosen a dull army green towel, and Sammie had chosen flower-child pink. Can you see those side by side on the towel rack!? ugh. But MS didn't have those particular shades. David settled on a sage green; Sammie sighed and chose a plum-colored towel instead.

We finished the night with banana splits. So what was a brown crayon day turned into a rather nice wisteria evening.

Gas Relief

"You're getting FREE Gas for 1 YEAR!"

is what some spammer tells me.

........nooooo thanks! Don't think my family would put up with that.

My charming daughter! (Who borrowed my digital camera for some fun.) 

Chili Woman On Ice - April 22, 2005

Chili Woman On Ice - April 22, 2005

Busted!

I wonder if she took the finger from a cadaver somewhere? Not that cadavers are easily come by, but there are ways...
Woman in Wendy's Finger Case Arrested

"Bye!" - one small word, One Big Step

I have had Ashley as a piano student for going on two years. She has never spoken to me. She is a "selective mute," which, in my researchings on the Web, basically means "painfully shy."

Lately I've noticed a lot more non-verbal physical responses out of her: grins, eye-rolling when I say something deliberately stupid (yes, DELIBERATELY, don't be talking smack about me now) - which I've taken as encouraging signs that she's more comfortable w/me. Today was a typical lesson day - I've gotten good at simplifying questions so there's only a "yes" or "no" or a "choose one" - type.....but on the way out the door, as I said, "see ya later!" Ashley responded with a quick, quiet, "bye!" as she ran out the door.

That is the first voluntary word she has ever said to me. Just had to share it here- a momentous day, when someone bids me farewell.

Chili Finger Chick Won't Sue Wendy's

Heck, I've followed this story this far, I might as well keep blogging it when it comes up.

WFTV.com - News - Woman Who Claims She Found Finger In Chili Won't Sue Wendy's

Generation Y embraces choice, redefines religion

Since I'm supposedly a Gen X'er, it's interesting to see how the world perceives Gen Y.Generation Y embraces choice, redefines religion - The Washington Times: Nation/Politics - April 12, 2005

Update on Chili Fingers

Yum, yum! Apparently the self-styled victim is lawsuit-happy. But the question remains... who's missing digit IS that?!

It's about time

The alarm goes off at 7:30 this morning. Andy and I lay in bed, struggling toward consciousness. Newsbytes wash over me, some settling into my ears and making it to my brain, but mostly just spinning away again into oblivion. One bit that settled in was "KOMO news time, 8:46." I open my eyes wide. So does Andy.


DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME!

Hustle, bustle, in and out of shower, kids up, dressed, uncombed, unfed but clean - and off to church. Andy and kids were on time; I was 5 min late to Sunday school. Not bad.

Right after SS I meet the kids coming out of their class. David is flushed and hot. I make arrangements for someone to play the final hymn I was scheduled to play, and bundle him back home again to an afternoon of Pirates of the Carribbean while bundled in a blanket.

I baked a ham that's been in the freezer for over 2 years. Not too bad. Then Andy settled in for his long afternoon nap and I betook myself to the office computer to work on arranging a song for choir using some music software that is marginally useful and slightly quicker than hand-coding it. (One of these days I will have Finale). Making great time! I finished, finally, and looked at my Hello Kitty watch that Dad gave me for Christmas. 4:40. Choir begins in 55 min; great! I get up from the chair, enter the house and....Andy is fully dressed, briefcase in hand.
Aaaaaaaauuuuughhhh!
DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME **AND** I didn't reset any clocks this morning!!!!

So it's actually 5:40; my choir is waiting for me to arrive - it was a short practice to begin with, and my tardiness made it virtually pointless. I'm more than a little miffed I spent the entire afternoon working on music that we could only practice for 15 min.

Everyone enjoyed a laugh at my expense: not once, but twice in the same day. I'm so glad I could humor them.

And yes my watch, car, and home clocks all bear the correct time now.

I quit.

And this time I'm packing up the pencil sharpener.

I'm mean, I don't like my kids and never have, and I torture them.

This is what I have been told by a 7 year old.

bejabers.

The Emperor's New Robes

Go, Ann, Go.
Welcome to AnnCoulter.com

I don't have anything original to say today. I'm just blogging what others are saying (so much better than I).

The Wrong Trousers, Gromit!

Very cool story. Makes me wonder what could be done in cases where people are supposedly in a vegetative state/unable to respond "normally."

Guardian Unlimited | Life | Meet the mind readers

Just another manic Monday

It was a dark and stormy day. It was a bright and sunshiny day. It was a dark and stormy day. You get the picture.

Puddles abound, so kids stayed in today. While I was out they tried the combo of doing school while watching King Kong. Didn't work.

Piano lesson at Dr. J's - did well.

Library time - great.

Time to leave for karate - kids: "oh where is my (fill in the blank) ??!" Husband: "GET MOVING AND GET IN THE CAR!"

finally gave up on the karate idea. One couldn't find the uniform, the other couldn't find their kicks....I'll have to take them Tuesday AND Wednesday now. Joy.

I destressed by going to Delaina's cycling class. Met a soldier who's visiting from AZ, taking classes at Ft. Lewis. He's been in since Gulf I, retiring next year at 20. He "rode" next to me - very motivating, because he was pushing himself harder and faster than any other person in there except another man named Mike, who is like some Greek god or something. Teacher's pet, anyway. Me, I did my best and as usual found myself dizzy and nauseated about :40 into the ride, so had to quit pushing so hard so I wouldn't lose my cheese sandwich and utterly humiliate myself. Still, I'm doing pretty well compared to my humble beginnings. Motivating music this time: The soundtrack from the Trinity/Neo scene in The Matrix where they go into the Matrix to rescue Morpheus ("Guns. Lots of guns.") and proceed to waste the virtual building. Another motivating song played has the line "it's getting harder and harder to breathe" (yes, by that point it was).

I cooked a meal tonight rather than letting my kitchen slave Crock Pot do it for me and we had peachy chicken, steamed rice and asparagus with ham (since I didn't have any bacon). Leftovers for another day, yay!

Now it's almost 10 pm and I am procrastinating on this Philippians thing. Lori has given me her study notes; I have my own, now I need to synthesize the two and get it TOGETHER.

But since I haven't had the chance to change/shower from my workout I need to do that next. MORE PROCRASTINATION, augh!> so, first I will BEGIN the Philippians notes THEN I will bathe. OK ANDY!>?

Lost the posting fever

So here it is, gotta add some originality and/or content to this teensy corner of webdom.

In my ponderings about whether one "thinks" or "lives".....i've come to the conclusion that I've been so busy just getting through Life that Deep Thoughts must be done on the fly.....ergo, they are not deep. So, indeed, Thinking and living are mutually exclusive - for me, anyway.

Here are my shallow thoughts then: Exercise music~! Since going to Bally's on a regular basis, I have rediscovered that music is extremely motivating as I exercise. The instructor of the cycling class I attend likes to use "real" music, not the canned cardio stuff put out by some exercising company. So as I'm pumping, Bono is howling and I'm like .....yeaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh................ U2 makes me feel like I need to hurry up and get where I'm going, just for the joy of it, all wistful and poignant and serious - The Edge playing that piano motif that carries the entire song New Year's Day.....and right-left-right-left I'm pushing faster through the pain and fatigue, giving more than I thought I could.
Other noteworthy songs: "Mama Told Me Not To Come" by Three Dog Night- very ironic as my cycle is at its highest resistance and I'm dripping sweat and mentally singing along; "American Pie" (what does that song mean anyway?); and of course, Mambo No. 5 by the one-hit wonder Lou Bega. There's more, but it's all I can come up with on such a short notice.

My son just came in and breathed chocolate bunny breath on me. Yum! I dont' know why I bothered to make dinner tonight for the kids - they lived on candy today! :( tomorrow back to good food.

Friday night I actually got a babysitter so Andy and I could go out for dinner at Harbor Lights. Got there early enough to see the sun set (though it was overcast mostly). Afterwards we drove through the Proctor district of Tacoma and went The Store Formerly Known As QueenAnne Thriftway. Now it's called Metropolitan Market. That's more in keeping with the exorbitant prices in there. There ain't no thrift about that joint! We got a couple things for our friend in Iraq, since they used to shop there on occasion, and there's great quality there. Get what you pay for sort of thing. Then we went to Borders where I read most of Prom by Laurie Halse Anderson (didn't like it at all. Supposedly about "normal" kids who all seem to be foul-mouthed, poor, and rude) and skimmed The Princess Present by Meg Cabot (by now a stale series; this episode is a retelling of The Gift of the Magi). Went home and discovered that my two kids and the babysitter polished off an entire pizza.

Yesterday was Saturday and for the life of me I can't remember what I did. Oh yea. Reworked the church bulletin format so all the pertinent information is on the front (which took me about 2 hrs), then did some quick shopping, forgetting that Sunday was a holiday! Costco was a madhouse, Top Foods wasn't much better, and the incompetence of the people at Lowe's never ceases to amaze me. The guy there, after scratching his head over what kind of lightbulb I need for my track lighting, finally told me to take it to McLendons. Yeeeep. Should've gone there in the first place, but traffic was horrible and I was trying to be efficient with my gasoline.

From there went to Jennifer's, who was hosting an open house for her new Sensaria Spa business. (oo, clicky here!) I had a facial, and my hands and feet all scrubbed and moisturized and pampered up. Very nice after the previous 2 horus out on S. Hill.

Easter breakfast and church services this morning went well. Andy left early with the kids (oo-rah!) and I showed up just in time with my potato casserole. For services this morning I sang the Mozart Alleluia as a duet, while fudging the keyboard part as I sang. The choir sang pretty well (our sound tech could balance out some louder singers by manipulating mics) and the message was good. I didn't bother cooking a lg. lunch since breakfast was huge (I've learned my lesson from previous Easters), and this afternoon I made a few fondant roses and watched Disc 2 of The Incredibles that has all the interesting (to me) "making of..." sections.

Right now I'm taking a break from our Sunday night ritual: Picnic in the living room while watching a movie. I did the picnic part, and part of the movie, but it's only interesting to 75% of the family: Walking With Prehistoric Beasts. So here I am. I'm incredibly thirsty right now; must be all that salami I ate. Think I'll get a drink and then begin my nightly "get ready for bed" ritual that usually involves a bubble bath and a book.

Ewwww! Never wanna eat out again.

MSNBC - Search continues for owner of missing digit

My Hometown *sigh*

My Way News
I keep thinking that if this had happened in 1983.....I would have skipped school to be outside the courthouse (which is about a mile from my alma mater as the crow flies).

I have to laugh at the comment about people wearing boots/western casual in Santa Maria. My experience is that few dress that way unless it's Elks Rodeo time, although it doesn't provoke comments or stares if someone does dress western regularly.

My dad knows Angel Bourbon. The other bartender at the Santa Maria Inn (who died in the late 80's I think) was named....Ira Gin. Yep. Gin and Bourbon.

As for the agriculture, the most important crop to me is the strawberries, because my childhood best friend's parents owned the Blosser Berry Stand. Every year on my birthday they would give me a flat of Chandler strawberries. Absolutely the best table strawberry ever.

They forgot to mention cabbage as one of the crops, hey mon!
And many's the time that mom brought home "road kill" broccoli for us..she followed a produce truck that lost part of its load.

OK enough randomizing for now. It must be horrible trying to drive Miller/Betteravia right now- two main roads.