Dailey Rants & Ramblings

Etsy Shop!!!

2010-10-31T17:09:00.001-05:00

OK, so I have started a new endeavor. It might seem like a really bad idea considering we have no internet at the house right now, but R just got internet on his phone and we have a friend who allows us to come abuse him for internet use and I can kinda jump on and check things after hours at work. So... I'm giving it a try! I just finished adding everything to the site. The prices are what I used when I tried to sell the same stuff at the Art Auction (let's not go down memory lane here) and from what I've been reading, I may be selling myself short. SO, these are special, introductory prices until I evaluate and decide what things are really worth!

On a completely unrelated topic, my glasses have a scratch RIGHT WHERE I LOOK THROUGH. We have scratch guard stuff and a free one time replacement warranty, but it's still driving me nuts because I haven't been able to get to the eye doctor's office when it's actually open.

And that's all I have for today.

Catch Up?

2010-10-26T21:50:00.000-05:00

How bout I not try to remember everything that has happened in like the two months since we moved and just tell you what I've done this past week? K? Cuz I don't think even I can come up with enough words for the past two months. I have finally finished the last stages of unpacking.

I hope.

I spent last weekend organizing half our craft room/office/sink area plus closets and finished this weekend. Well maybe not finished because I only really organized my stuff and there's kinda a pile in the corner of Robert's ~~crap~~ stuff. So here is photographic evidence of my hard work. And that's all I got for ya. I'd like to tell you the entertaining tale of my Momma and I running through Hobby Lobby taking all the free craft idea flyer thingies and using up all my Daddy's patience for the day, but I just don't have the time because I'm off to start an Etsy store!

I don't know what happened, but I can't rotate pics anymore. So, hopefully, you're using your phone or laptop to read this and can just rotate your screen... Sorry...

This is my bookshelf finally organized. With books and crafty stuff and a shelf of just...well...crap that has no where else to go...

This is the sink area. With my jewelry and makeup and all that kinda stuff organized.

This is a blurry picture of the rest of the bathroom stuff and half my color organized fabric and my tackle box of thread, also organized by color and grouped with any matching bobbins.

Seriously I was an organizing MACHINE. The other half of the fabric and the basket of stuff like scissors and pins and stuff that didn't fit into the jars at the left. Which there is a close up and less blurry pic down lower.

Here's what it looked like before. This pics aren't really in any particular order, can you tell?

Here's my feat of engineering. I really wanted these boxes up there but it wasn't working. SO, I got SUPER smart (seriously, ya'll, I was so impressed with this) and turned the two boxes of sweaters upside down. And it so all fits now. It's seriously a feat of engineering.

And my pet project. It's not done yet and I promise more pics of this because I'm super excited about it! I got the idea from one of the craft idea thingies from Hobby Lobby. I'll put up a pic of the idea and the finished project soon. I really cannot tell you how excited I am about this. I'm going to "back" the shelves (visual, not functional) and hang some of the jars and paint some of the lids. It's all sewing stuff. And the whole project-$20. : )

Ummm...Just Kidding?

2010-07-27T17:20:00.000-05:00

I kind of lied to you.

Because I was going to be taking my no-internet induced bloggy hiatus but then this happened and I just had to tell you about it. So sorry.

I was moving the washer and dryer just to be able to sweep a sock out from behind that I saw. As I moved the dryer, I saw a lot more was back there. Things I know was never ours. Lovely, no? Anyways, I also found this.

And just so you aren't thinking it's no big deal, let me show you this.

Yes, it's still full of fluid.

Underneath the dryer.

Can anyone say "fire hazard?"

The End.

Well...It's Done...Almost...

2010-07-27T13:21:00.000-05:00

We are back at the apartment one last time to briefly enjoy the internet and clean. We've only got about an hour left here so I need to make this short and get to cleaning! Life is a crazy, messy thing right now but it is bound to slow down one of these days, right? : )

Moving

2010-07-23T20:46:00.000-05:00

So have I mentioned yet how much I hate moving? Cuz I do. I really, really, REALLY do. All my stuff lost in boxes. And while some people see a packed box as an accomplishment, I see it as something that has yet to be moved and unpacked. Everything else is almost done, but I have not even STARTED the kitchen. I plan to get pretty much everything done but the kitchen today and tomorrow when the guys are moving stuff into storage, I'll do the kitchen.

Today, I felt a little exiled while the guys were loading from the front of the house and I was packing the back. BUT it's cooler back here. Tomorrow, I'll be more in the thick of things but it will be hot. Very hot.

And the only thing I hate more than moving: heat. Humid heat.

I'm thinking we'll get done in time though. As I speak (er, type) the guys are roofing the storage shed so we can move all the storage stuff into it tomorrow. I'm supposed to be packing but I'm taking a break. But, as I said, I'm nothing if not repetitious, or wordy, I think I can get everything but the kitchen pretty much done tonight.

I really need to stop wasting time now. But I don't want to! I HATE MOVING!!!

End of the Day

2010-07-23T01:13:00.000-05:00

Can I just take a few seconds at the end of this day to let you in on a little personal insight I just gained? I've been feeling guilty about feeling tired. It's rather silly, but if I am tired before all the things on my to-do list are done, I feel guilty about being tired. I somehow got it into my head that it's only OK to be tired when everything has been done. And sometimes my body does not agree with that. I'm too tired to think this through any farther, say, to a solution, but the little light bulb just came on and I thought I'd share.

Also, I just found a mobile blogging option and have attempted to use it. We'll see if it works. (Not this post. A post with a picture of a rainbow I took in town.)

My Weekend

2010-07-19T19:29:00.000-05:00

So the TBCWEA's conference this weekend was AMAZING as usual! I got some really amazing information and then slept from about 1 or 2 yesterday afternoon till 8ish. And then slept last night. So, I am behind on packing (even more than before) and, though I really want to tell you about driving in Dallas and the conference, I am afraid I won't have time to post before the move and after we will be without internet for awhile...

The Results of My Research

2010-07-14T20:21:00.001-05:00

So I read these books by Bodie Theone. There were two series and basically one was about the events leading up to WWII and the other about Palestine after WWII. It's fiction but her husband does tons of research for her books and, while it's a narrow view, they are very informative and interesting. (And, when finding that link, I totally realized there's more books than I thought! Oh my WORD, now I have to find them!)

So, because I can never have too much information and apparently have a slight problem with OCD, I started watching a documentary about WWII. It's done in Britain, so it's different than what we learn about in school. We kinda skip over, uhhh, half of it. It's like this: "There was Hitler. He was bad. He tried to take over Europe. There was a lot of fighting in France. Bunch of French cowards ran away. Then there was some bombing in England. Then, PEARL HARBOR. JAPANESE. WE HELPED IN EUROPE. WE WON!" But there's kinda more to it than that, you know? I'm finding out cool things about what happened before the USA got involved and the parts the USA wasn't involved in and it's really a different and broader view.

(Also, because it was made in Britain, sometimes I need subtitles for the people speaking English! The Italians, French, Germans, and Russians who are speaking English as a second language, I can understand. The English guys? They need to visit Henry Higgins. Seriously. "In Hartford, Hsomething, and Hampshire, hardly anything ever happens!" "The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.")

Anyways, I'm sure it will surprise you all that I've become a little information obsessed and have been kinda doing research about WWII. It usually starts with me googling one thing, reading about it in Wikipedia, and then clicking on other things that catch my attention in that article. (It's the same reason Mrs. Hearbst would get mad at me in third grade when it took me a really long time to do the dictionary exercises. I would just get so distracted by the other interesting things on the page!) So I was reading something and came across "goosestepping." Now, I knew what goosestepping was, but I couldn't help myself. When I clicked it, I found out that there are some countries that still do it! Of course, this led me to YouTube.

I first found this video first.

Really, there's some major stretching that goes on before that. But extremely impressive. I especially am impressed with the stairs and the flawless transitions.

However, as we previously established, I couldn't stop there. Since that was the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Russia, I looked for a video of our guys doing the same at Arlington. Except they don't walk like that.

OK, remember how there was talking on that Russian video? And there didn't seem to be any reverence? Well, let me tell you, we don't do it that way in the good ol' US of A. No, sir.

Notice the quiet (well, except for the siren in the background).

Wanna know how we keep it that way? The guy asks for it in that last video. Wanna see how we enforce it?

This video won't embed. Watch it first and then the one below.

What cracks me up is that they say "it is requested that all visitors remain behind the chains and rails" and "it is requested that everyone maintain an atmosphere of silence and respect at all times." I'm sorry, requested? There is no arguing with that. None. Zero. I don't know if they would use deadly force to enforce those rules, but they sure sound like they could. With their bare hands.

So to sum up this post, I think this was better than the post I was going to write about the 4th of July. Because that post was gonna make fun of firefighters running away from fireworks that accidentally exploded too soon. Like, umm, on the ground too soon. (And they were complaining about wearing their full turnout gear on such a hot day! All they were doing is lighting a few fireworks, right? lol) But this? This is better. This country's reverence for it's fallen soldiers and the men protecting that reverence makes for a much more patriotic story!

Now, I'm off to make sugar cookies for my class tomorrow. Because I'm insane and don't have enough to do between packing for Dallas and packing to move and doing the laundry that will enable me to pack for Dallas. And water day. Oh, the insanity...

Guess What?

2010-07-12T01:19:00.001-05:00

It's been a year and a month and six days since I started a blog. And I didn't even realize it till I read Jessica's post today. Oops. Oh, well. It's rude to throw yourself a party, anyways, right? : )

But, as I was thinking about blogging about the 4th, (I haven't yet, though, because the 5th I went swimming with my little friend E and her Momma M and E and I both got pink eye! So I've been sick and semi-packing, though I really should be doing lots more!) I started reading over some of my past posts. Good Lord, my life is deja vu!

Remember how proud I was of my packing accomplishments? I wish I could say the same this year. I think I'm stalling because I don't want to move. But I want to be in the position moving will put us in. So I really need to pack! Yet here I sit.

Anyways, in lieu of a new, original, and what I think will turn out to be hilarious post, if I ever get to, it post about the 4th, and also, in lieu of a little packing time (people! I'm gonna regret this in the next two weeks!!!) here are some of my favorite posts.

Sometimes, the comments are the best part! Also, I find it interesting that they are mostly from last year (the first half of my blog year) and that last year I wrote many more posts than this year (the second half). I started out strong with this blog thing but I've just not been keeping it up lately. A big part of that is probably the same reason I was so much better prepared to move last year. I just flat-out had more time. And, I worked really, really super hard and didn't let myself "fix" any of the posts I went back to read. So, yes, there are grammatical errors and things I could clarify. And, yes, it drives me a little batty that they're there.

And now I'm going to take a shower and then pack until I fall down from exhaustion. I might get a whole 10 minutes in.

I'm only kidding.

I'll get at least 20. : )

I Suppose Now It Is Official...

2010-06-24T21:47:00.000-05:00

Hmmm....I guess I forgot to tell ya'll. It's cuz writing it down makes it official and I'm not really sure I want it to be...

It's the right decision. I know it is. But it makes me sad. And, I don't know if you remember this from about a year ago, but I HATE PACKING!

We have decided, reluctantly but whole-heartedly, to move in with my parents for a year. If we continue renting we are never going to be able to save enough money to buy a house. So, we decided to move in, pay them rent equal to half our rent now, and pay off all our debt (except our student loans) and be able to buy a house pretty soon after that. Even if we stay with them less time we will be in a better financial position than we are now. So we have begun the arduous task of packing. Not only packing but sorting things into get rid of, need at Momma's, and this can be stored for a year. And the need at Momma's furniture and stuff can't be more than can fit into two rooms. Not much more at least.

And, Robert is building a storage shed for us! For about $1500 instead of $4000 that it would cost to buy one.

And I, as always, am dragging my feet packing.

The last two places we left, we left on kinda bad terms. We had issues with management or the apartment, etc. This place we love. We love the apartment. We love the management. We love that they are fixing things THAT AREN'T YET BROKEN!!! Like replacing the siding. It needed to happen but it wasn't completely rotted off.

The point? I should be packing. But instead I'm complaining. So I'm leaving now...

Rachael, text me! We'll figure it out!

Free Delivery!

2010-06-23T23:12:00.001-05:00

So I wasn't planning on writing today. I was just starting to pack (one box down. Full of fake flowers.) when I saw this on the piano. I think it came in the mail or was stuck on the door. I've been walking by noticing it for days but only just really looked at it. It was very amusing and I felt the need to share.

In case you can't read it, it says the phone number then "Free Delivery." Then the hours of operation and then some lines highlighting the fact that there's a "10% discount on all carryout orders." But delivery is free. LOL

And, Rachael-friend, I tried to treat you to Chick-Fil-A cuz I had a gift card and you missed your chance! Now if you want to hang out, I think you'll have to help me pack! : )

EDITED TO ADD: Guess what else was in the mail? A FIVE DOLLAR GIFT CARD TO WALMART. For free. Just cuz they built a new store. Well...combined the old one with the Albertson's that was next door but went out of business. And took over all the space that was between them.

I've Been Told...

2010-06-23T00:23:00.000-05:00

That I'm missed.

I'm sorry.

However I'm tired and in a funk and feel like the post would be nothing but a jumble of complaining so I'm avoiding writing anything at all.

I hope to be back to my normal cheery ranting and raving self soon. : )

A Bunch of Nothing

2010-05-26T23:43:00.001-05:00

Just so you know, one challenge has been fulfilled! I don't like to do the memes or stuff like "Wordless Wednesdays." I don't mind when other people do them. I just don't usually like doing them. But Brenda's challenge came at just the right time. (Side note: She wrote an awesome post today. I want to write a post as a kinda response because it really spoke to me but two things changed that. 1) I don't think my post would measure up and 2) I'm not sure I'm ready to talk about what it is that spoke to me. Not that it's a bad or sad thing, just that I need to get things a little more decided before putting them out here for people who will ask me in real life about it. : ) Not that I mind being asked, I just don't have an answer yet. Was that vague enough for you?) A desire to post something combined with major writer's block (due to having absolutely nothing to write about) had me happy to take the challenge. Anyways, don't expect another post until after this weekend. My Rachael-friend is getting married and I am seriously more nervous about it than my own wedding! (Please do not interpret this as me being nervous about her marriage. I think she and Ashton will do great. It's the wedding I'm nervous about.) I think is because at my wedding I knew exactly what I was doing and when and had it all planned out. Plus, I had a marriage to be super excited about. And then, when it got down to it, I was just so in love and excited I just didn't care about the details as much as I had before. This isn't my wedding, so I have more time to dwell on details, I guess. But, Rachael has promised an e-mail detailing everything I need to know about the weekend and I'm sure that after the rehearsal I'll know exactly what I'm doing on the big day. And if I'm still nervous, I'll just suck it up. Because I love my Rachael-friend. And I know her wedding will be beautiful.

So the whole "Rachael-friend" thing is something I say in real life. About other people, too, but usually as a kinda term of endearment that I only really use with close friends. Well, my little friend, E, apparently picked it up. She refers to her friends at school as "my Ella-friend" or "my Bent-friend" (Brent). Or yesterday (and the person she's referring to here is like 13 and was playing with her and is nicknamed Savi) "my Sabi-friend." It just makes me laugh how she sound so grown up sometimes in her little tiny voice and funny little speech things she does. Like "Sabi" and "libin loom" (living room) and "bacloom" (vacuum). Today she told me "I wanna go to my cassroom while Miss Kistin use da bacloom because da bacloom sceery." Full on sentence, full on using those dependent clauses correctly, full on reasoning and expressing it, so grown up, but in that tiny little voice with all those little, for lack of better word, speech impediments (not that I truly think she is impeded. She is two and still working on it. And I don't think she has trouble making herself understood!) that are so not grown up.

And finally, (I know you secretly love my randomness and lack of any sort of transitionary device.) it's really funny and possibly says something a little sad about your life when someone says "Hey, Branalyn, I heard something the other day that made me think of you!" "Oh yeah, what was it?" "Well, Sheldon..." LOL (Sheldon is one of the main characters on the show The Big Bang Theory. He's got some major Asperger's symptoms going on.) To someone else it might've been a hint that perhaps I quote the show a little much, but I just thought it was funny. : )

Oh How I Love a Challenge!

2010-05-22T12:01:00.000-05:00

So I got a challenge from my bloggy follower that I don't know in real life, Brenda. She's very sweet! The challenge is for me to pick five photos I like and then say five things about me that I like and then challenge five bloggy friends to do it, too!

Photo 1) Me and my Daddy at my wedding reception. I love my Daddy. It's a really good pic of both of us smiling with our "Nixon eyes."

Photo 2) My husband, the preacher, and I. I just love this. It's funny. It's us. I got my husband to let the camera capture that he can be silly. : ) Plus, also, I look super skinny in this picture! ; )

Photo 3) I know...this is kinda weird. But this is why. That hutch was my MeeMaw's. She died when I was 18 months old and so I really never knew her. Then it was my Aunt Sandy's. She gave it to me when I got married. She died this last Thanksgiving. From that description it sounds like I should hate it or be sad when I see it, but it makes me happy. It makes me think of them and all the other wonderful women that have shaped me (and are still shaping me) into the woman I am today. My MeeMaw also made the angel on the top shelf. It says on the bottom "I love you. MeeMaw. Dec. 87." Above the hutch is a hydrangea wreath. I wanted one two Christmases ago. Momma had no idea I wanted one. Guess what I got for Christmas from Momma? The curtain to the right is from my dorm room the year I lived with one of my best friends and the yellow plate and the pictures are UMHB reminders, too. The glass on top, the roses, the book, and the crystal (whiskey decanter lol) of sand are from my wedding. The other things are wedding presents. It's just kinda...me...

Photo 4) This is a picture I took at my Mamaw's house. It's the old milk barn's doors. I just really like it. I like old things. I like rustic things. I like family and heritage. I guess that's it...

Photo 5) This is from the SNOW DAY we had!!! It's at the amazing pre-school I work at, the church I am a member of (and love it), IT SNOWED!!, and quite possibly my most favorite child ever. (I've referred to her as E on here before.)

OK...

1) I love my new haircut and glasses! They make me look a little more my actual age!

2) I have a lot of patience. With preschoolers.

3) I have determination. (I graduated college in three years. I really thought that was something (in a self-deprecating wow I'm such a dork kinda way lol) until a girl at my church graduated college at SEVENTEEN! She has more determination. Plus is a thousand times smarter than me lol)

4) I can laugh at myself when I need to.

5) I can sew/craft/redneck rig things. Often for pretty cheap!

That was hard. If there are any objections, I will paraphrase Sheldon. Blog mei, reguli mei. That's Latin for My blog, my rules. Except not really because they didn't have blogs in Ancient Rome.

Now...who is going to take my challenge?

1) Rachael

2) Bonnie

3) Melissa

4) Renee

5) Jessica

New Haircut

2010-05-21T21:00:00.000-05:00

It occurred to me that I showed you my new glasses but not my new haircut! This is with the web cam so it's backwards...Or maybe it's not because it's like a reflection... I can never quite figure it out... My friend Mindy did it! Didn't she do awesome?!

There may or may not be a real kinda post in the near future. I have an idea I've been stewing about and want to write about but I can't afford to make ya'll any more promises I could possibly break.

New Glasses!

2010-05-18T21:07:00.001-05:00

So my old glasses broke. Really broke. Like in two pieces.

And so I got new glasses.

I like them a lot. But my husband laughed at me because of the case. Here you go. You can all laugh, too.

To Sum Up...

2010-05-18T00:14:00.000-05:00

There were many posts about my house. I just couldn't figure out how to get that all into one post. And, honestly, it's changed again! The dining room has shelves now, the mantel is different, the libin loom is rearranged, the green table (that I'm not even sure if you saw) is moved to the bedroom so that theoretically I can have a craft area (though it hasn't been used yet), causing the bedroom to be rearranged, and also the office. So my bathrooms are the same, but that's about it. And soon I'm going to have a shelf to hang in my shower/toilet room so that will be different, too! After I get that shelf hung, my Momma finishes fixing one of my lamps, and I get my house clean again, I'll post some pics of the changes. Which hopefully will be easier. I'm sorry this took forever and was so complicated...

My next goal is to get the pics of my crafts up and maybe tell you about that curtain rod project!

Not Sure What's Up With This One...

2010-05-18T00:00:00.000-05:00

This Could be a Whole Post

2010-05-17T23:59:00.000-05:00

This is the end of my curtain rod. The finial. There's an awesome story about it but it's for another day...

More House

2010-05-17T23:57:00.000-05:00

The front door. Back to house. Dining room to the right, Living to the left. (Or as Em says "da libin loom" on the left.)

My bookshelf full of children's books.

Sheldon making a cutting remark and another libin loom shot.

My whole mantel.

House 3

2010-05-17T23:55:00.000-05:00

This is the mantel. The left side.

This is the living room. The front door is on the right there. I LOVE the fireplace!

This is my TV. And Big Bang Theory. Funniest show ever.

And this is with my back to the fireplace. The hall is there on the Left.

More House

2010-05-17T23:52:00.000-05:00

This is my front door. I'm showing it so show you that when my back is here, this is what my house looks like.

Technical Difficulties

2010-05-06T21:57:00.000-05:00

I tried using Picasa to upload pics of my house for the blog, but ran into some difficulties... Just enjoy the pictures as I figure it out... lol

House...IDK What Number...

2010-05-06T21:19:00.002-05:00

My Bathroom Sink. I have my own.

My jewelry. Earrings in the picture frame and necklaces, bracelets, and rings in the box.

These hang behind the door that leads to the toilet/shower bathroom. It sounds complicated but we technically have a bathroom and a half. From the hall you can walk into a room that has one sink, one toilet, and the washer/dryer. You can walk through another door in that room and get to the shower/toilet room. From that room you can walk into the bedroom that also has my sink. And from my room get back into the hall. My two-year-old friend really enjoys that you can make a circle there.

That door on the right is the area where my sink is and the door goes to the toilet/shower room.

2010-05-06T21:19:00.000-05:00

2010-05-06T21:18:00.000-05:00

I Know I'm a Slacker!!!

2010-04-30T21:42:00.000-05:00

I will fix the page! I will! I just have to get through like a million other things first!!!

I'm super excited to say I'm throwing (with a WHOLE lotta help) a 24-hour bachelorette extravaganza this weekend!!! And it has been a lot of work. In fact, as I sit here typing this I am making lists in my head of all the things I should be doing. Like (and seriously, ya'll, this just hit me) I actually have to pack for it. Not the stuff for food or decorations or gifts or all that other stuff I've been accumulating all week, but pack. Like my own clothes. Yeah, might be important.

Next week will be better. I will make the other page and do all the things I've been wanting to do and not had time for!!!

And, I've pretty much decided on doing an Etsy store...It's just one more of those things that just ain't happened yet...

Thank you for reading this strange, mundane post. I promise it's better than if I told you what the other half of my brain is doing. You really don't care how many pairs of underwear or socks I take this weekend...

The Art Auction. It's OVER!

2010-04-22T21:36:00.000-05:00

Happy birthday to me! (Tomorrow.) The Art Auction is over. Honestly, I was a little disappointed by what I made. I was going to be over-the-top thrilled with $100, excited about $50, and happy with $30. I didn't even make $15. So, I have created a new page on here where I will put pictures of everything that didn't sell. Leave a comment or e-mail if you're interested in any of them! I should have them up by Monday! I may do an Etsy.com store, but haven't decided yet...

I'm mostly disappointed because I was in charge of the store and we only made about $150 for W.E.E. in the store (the auction itself did much better) and maybe $300 overall. I put a LOT of work into the store and a TON of work into my things for the store and just feel I put WAY too much work into it just for that small amount of money. However, people didn't even bid on their own children's things, so obviously they weren't into spending money.

I really did enjoy making my things and doing the store, it's just I was hoping for a little bit more reward for all the stress and time crunch and cutting into my life...

Enough moaning.

I have to get ready for the bachelorette shower I'm in charge of next week and clean up after the tornado that came through my house...or, you know, the art auction that came through... so I may not get back to regular posting immediately, but I will soon!!!

Missing Posting But No Time...

2010-04-16T22:30:00.000-05:00

I miss writing. But I have NO time to write. I'm not even gonna post pics or anything. In one week I will be 23! In one week minus one day I have the Art Auction! Tomorrow I have a jewelry party and in a week from then I have a Bridal Shower to attend. And one week from that a Bachelorette Party to throw! Then I'll have about two weeks to breath and rest and then two more weeks of craziness and then I'm done. Forever. Or at least until something else big and fun comes along! : )

I Should Be Working on Projects...

2010-04-10T00:58:00.000-05:00

But instead I'm uploading pictures from Easter!

These are pictures from my great-grandmother's house.

The old tractor that "just needs a new battery."

Aloe vera. Crazy, isn't it?

The lone bluebonnet in Mamaw's yard.

Cabbage. No joke. Wild cabbage.

The old milking barn.

And my most favorite picture. I used it to customize a card.

And a random picture from a car dealership in town.

I have some from the ranch and some of pretty wildflowers around town, but I've decided to go shower now. I have to get up and drive tomorrow!

My Life Has Been Hijacked

2010-04-08T19:44:00.000-05:00

If you happen to see my life hiding in a corner somewhere huddled up and crying, please comfort it and let it know I'll be back to see it soon. April 23. Which also happens to be my birthday. I think the auction being over will be the best birthday present ever.

Honestly, I'm excited about the auction and the store, I'm just tired.

I have to finish getting my house clean because people are coming over to work on art auction stuff plus finish my third to last bag.

He Is Risen!

2010-04-04T22:30:00.000-05:00

He is risen, indeed!

I hope ya'll had a great Easter. We had a wonderful weekend and I will be uploading pictures and some details about the weekend soon! It was not as sad as I though it would be. For now, I need to work on a few things for the Store and get to bed. I have to be at work at 8 tomorrow and should be heading to bed soon, but I fell asleep at my Momma's house today and took way too long of a nap to go to bed right now.

Tomorrow I'm going to finish one wedding present for my friend! It was going to happen today, but, as I said, I fell asleep. After this weekend, I can show ya'll what I did. It was SUPER easy! And (sorry, Rae, but I really don't think you'll mind) SUPER cheap! A lot of effort and scavenging, but actual money spent is LESS THAN A DOLLAR. Yes. You read that right.

AND, my bridesmaid dress is IN MY POSSESSION! And Mrs. Kathy is going to pin it tomorrow so she can sew it whenever she gets a chance!

And one last thing, I finished distressing my new shelves. So all I have to do is decorate them. And then post pics for ya'll. : )

Rerouting you to another giveaway

2010-03-29T22:51:00.000-05:00

Seriously. Go. I could not make myself spend $70 on a suit, but I just might order myself new boyshorts this summer. I have some from Target or WalMart or something but they're old and getting snagged and don't fit like they used to.

Oh, Ya'll...

2010-03-27T22:35:00.002-05:00

I had a day! And I do mean a full day! I suppose I must start with yesterday. I called the unnamed bridal store because another bridesmaid who got her dress on the exact same day as I did got a call that her dress was in. The woman who answered did not speaka the English so well. Nor did she know how to use the computer. According to her, the other bridesmaid who, you know, got a call that her dress was in, never ordered a dress, the bride who already has her dress didn't order a dress, and I never ordered a dress. I suppose I imagined all those things. But eventually, and Lord knows not soon enough, I got to talk to a person who, get this, knew how to use the computer! And she said that yes the other bridesmaid's dress was in but mine was not. Sash, yes. Dress, no. I do not understand. And was very frustrated. However, the other bridesmaid's sister lives in town and the dresses were ordered in Houston and the other bridesmaid lives in another town but her sister, who lives in town, is going to see her over Easter.

SO, Momma, M (friend my age) and E (her 2 year old daughter) decided to go with me and we went ahead and went to Houston today with the goal of paying the other half of my dress balance (so the bride can pick it up next Saturday when she's visiting her grandmother) and picked up the dress that was in.

On the way, we stopped at an outlet mall. Momma got shoes and M got a couple Easter things for E. Then we went to the unnamed bridal store and accomplished our goal. We got to eat at TGIFridays because Daddy wasn't there and Daddy doesn't like TGIFridays. Then, we went to The Woodlands Mall because we wanted to go to Pottery Barn. We accomplished our goal there and then went to Pottery Barn Kids. I took a picture of the Star Wars sheets so I could make my Big Bang Theory reference, but I don't feel like getting it from my phone to my computer. So, here. "Don't treat me like a child. Now take me to Pottery Barn so I can return my Star Wars sheets!"

Then, we walked around. We were fixing to leave and I saw Anthropologie. Big Mama talks about it so much and I'd never been in one so we decided (well, I kinda insisted) that we go in. OH MY. We loved it! Momma even loved the tissue paper they wrapped her purchases in. And we really liked all their displays. Like the things that are permanently part of the store. If Big Mama ever gets her benefits from linking to them so much, I want in on the possibility of getting their displays!

We had too much fun for E and M so we dropped them off in their hometown near here. The Lion's Club was selling plants and my Momma is a sucker for plants. Then, we went to DQ so I could use my free ice cream coupon and get Cokes to last us the rest of the day. I ordered and said "I have a coupon for a free Dilly Bar and I also want two medium Cokes." The lady asked, "What kind?" Anywhere else, that would've been weird, but I knew what she meant so I said "Real Coke for both of them." We drive up to the window and another lady opens the window and tries to hand me an ice cream sandwich. I said, "I'm sorry but I'd like a Dilly Bar." Ooo, girlfriend got all kindsa attitude and said "She say she want a Dilly Bar," and rolled her eyes like I was crazy for insisting I get what I ordered. Excuse me. Good thing she doesn't work somewhere where she might expect tips!

I laughed it off though and we made a few more stops here in town. Including the Wal-Mart. The one they're remodeling. OH MY WORD! There's Q-Tips and Bandaides where the boy's underwear is supposed to be. Velveeta Shells and Cheese next to the girl's underwear. Toys where crafts are supposed to be. Crafts where house stuff used to be. And a random empty square in the middle of the store. I suppose for a square dance. And my Momma bought these things that M and I made fun of last time we were in a Wal-Mart together. They are dusting/floor sweeping slipper thingies. Needless to say, our exhausted minds created a lot of hilarity. Including a song that went "I got some slippers. I'm dusting the dashboard. You know you want them. But you can't have them."

I am now home and have everything I need for the Art Auction and the wedding.

Well, present-wise for the wedding.

Except for the one other thing I need for one of the presents.

But it should be less than a dollar, so...

Anyways, I'm broke now. But hope to recoup it at the Art Auction.

And to make cute, cute presents!

And the day was a BLAST!

I Know, You Really Don't Care

2010-03-26T20:39:00.001-05:00

But there's nothing else going on in my life. My world is revolving around the art auction. And last night my friend gave me another idea to do for the store and I thought of even another one. But I have to finish what I've already committed before I add to my list. Because I have lost my ever-lovin' mind.

Good news-Robert finished my shelves. I painted them. I need to sand some wear marks on them and then they'll be done! I plan to do that and decorate them before my jewelry party on the 17th. I really want to do them but I'm afraid to let myself get started on that because, in case you haven't heard, I have stuff I need to do for the art auction.

So, here. I already showed you the first red, quilted bag and the yellow cowboy-y burp rag. Here's the others I've finished.

This star one isn't really finished, but I LOVE it! I'm going to buy tan webbing for the straps and somehow make the corners of it more corner-y so the edge stars don't look so funny. Because they don't have corners to be edged up against like I intended. I'm thinking I'll turn in inside out and sew up the corners like I'd seamed them...Thoughts?

There's a pocket inside and just one star in the middle on the other side. I really love it!

And, ummm, for the rest of these, turn your head sideways. Sorry.

This one I was thinking to be a diaper bag, that's why it has all the pockets on the inside. But that will require me fixing the hole I just found in it!

And the rest...

Alrighty... I have 3 more burp rags and 5 more bags. And then I'll have to see if I can do anything else...

Free Pizza!!!

2010-03-22T20:31:00.003-05:00

My friend Melissa is doing a giveaway!!! Go see!!!

I Bet You're Tired of Hearing About the Store...

2010-03-21T22:18:00.001-05:00

But too bad! I just dropped a pretty penny (my own!) on things for the store. Trims for the bags, etc. And I still need to get a few more things but luckily I'm coming in under budget on some other things, so it should work out! And, as long as it all sells, I'll recoup it no problem. Please, Lord, let me sell!

I went by my friend's house today and now know exactly what I'm doing for wedding/shower presents for her! I'm looking forward to putting those plans in action, too! After she has all the presents, I'm going to have to tell you a story about one of them...

Also, we are having our annual family thing the day before Easter at the ranch and I have to say, I'm super excited! It's always a lot of fun. I don't know how this year will turn out, but I'm determined to be excited about it for now.

I took the time to write this while my spagetti noodles cooked and I'm thinking they're just about done, so I need to go eat and then work on some bags!

Ramblings and then, Bethlehem's Children

2010-03-16T22:18:00.000-05:00

Well, it has been an interesting day. I finally, after much frustration, got the number of the store where I paid half of my bridesmaid dress and need to pay the other half and pick up. We had originally planned to go on the 20th but once I finally got a hold of the store, they said it for sure won't be in by then and may or may not be in by the next Saturday, the 27th. I certainly hope they are in by then because the next Saturday I have free is May 8th unless I make a quick trip on the same day I'm having a jewelry party, April 17th. It's all just very frustrating.
Then, I got news that my husband's job is ending on May 15th. They are shutting the place down. 150 people looking for a job and he's one of them.

Now this has nothing to do with any of the other junk I just dropped, but I just finished a book that, though fictional, is based on Biblical and historical facts. It's the 6th book in a series about the life of Christ (it began with Him as a man and then went back to His birth) called Sixth Covenant by Brodie and Brock Thoene. Sixth Covenant is about the birth of Christ, the wise men from the East, and Herod's slaughter of the boys under 2 in Bethlehem. At the end of the book, a wise-man-character is writing and says

Though the story of Bethlehem is legendary, it is no myth.
It was, in that dark hour, as it has always been when light threatens the darkness. It is written that when the people of Israel were slaves in Egypt, Pharaoh, like Herod, killed the two-year-old sons of the Jews. Only Moses, the deliverer, escaped. The children die first when Satan is aroused. Always. Countless little ones have been lost every day since evil first began to prowl the earth and seek out those easily devoured. Some die a quick death by violence or illness. Others perish inch by inch of neglect and the absence of love. These too are Bethlehem's children.

It makes me want to do something for those children and name the organization "Bethlehem's Children." I'm sure that will never happen, but that's what the passage said to me.

Busy, Busy, Busy

2010-03-16T00:49:00.000-05:00

I am trying desperately to juggle making my items for the art auction store, organizing the store, making sure I am meeting deadlines (which are pretty much self-imposed) to get things done for Rachael's wedding, and getting/keeping my house clean for a party I'm having April 17th with pretty much every Saturday between now and April, well, whatever is a week after the 17th all filled up! Not to mention my job, Tuesday night Bible study, having a little time for my husband, my friends, and myself. And I have this nagging exhaustion that I refuse to jump to conclusions about because it could lead to crushing disappointment. Did that sentence even make sense to anyone else? Much less the craziness that inspired it? Anyways, I need to go now if I'm going to read a few blogs and get to bed at a somewhat decent hour...or what I consider a decent hour.

What I Wrote Today

2010-03-09T00:03:00.003-06:00

So I already had to write two really long things today: a note to all my coworkers about the store (yay!) and then I edited Robert's answers to a questionnaire a church sent him and added my little piece when they asked what he thought the pastor's wife's role is in the church. My note is saved at church so I can't share with you what I said about the store, but, if you feel the need to read something written by me, here, this is what I said about the pastor's wife question!

Hi! This is Branalyn. This part in italics is my answer to this question!

Past experience has led me to the conclusion that my role in the church is really no different than any other wife's role. I want to support my husband in his job, which just happens to be pastor. Most of the time, this will probably be "behind the scenes." I want to, when we have them, raise our children "in the way [they] should go" (Proverbs 22:6). I want to be held to the same standard as everyone else in the church; I do not want anyone to have a higher expectation of me or my future children simply because Robert is pastor.

Past experiences have led me to conclude that I do not want to exclusively be in a leadership position. I was very active in my youth group all through high school. I attended Sunday school and other Bible studies faithfully. When I started college, however, I began exclusively leading. Since we moved back to College Station, I have attended Sunday school and another Bible study, while using Sunday and Wednesday nights to serve with the preschoolers in our church. I want to be able to attend Bible studies, maybe even Sunday school, as any other member of the church and be ministered to, while also serving the church.

Past churches have abused the fact that I was available and often willing to serve. I will be happy to use my gifts as I feel comfortable but do not want the fact that my husband is the pastor to give the expectation that I can be forced into, or will always be willing to, serve. I have a heart for preschoolers and would love to serve the young children of the church. I took many years of piano lessons, but while I can play the piano, I am not comfortable playing in front of others. I may, at some point, want to use this gift in a limited capacity, but I do not want to be expected to serve as a "fill-in" or full-time church pianist.

Finally, past experiences as a church member have brought me to the conclusion that the church functions better when the congregation sees the pastor and his family as equals in the church. When the congregation is willing to serve the pastor and his family, treat them as equals, and judge them no differently than any other member, the church is better equipped to accept the shortcomings of the pastor and his family members and be served and treated as equals by them.

So say we all!

: )

Store Manager

2010-03-07T16:19:00.000-06:00

AW, my Rachael-friend! You changed your pic! Now we aren't tree buddies! lol

You should totally come buy the bag at the art auction, and there will be more bags, so the rest of you should come and buy the others! I just volunteered to be in charge of the "store" at the art auction. Ya'll are thinking, "Uh seriously, you can't even find the time to tell us your funny Thursday story, you just tease us about it and then you take on more?!" I know. I'm already behind on my bag goal (which sounds hilarious to me) so as I take on this new challenge, I'm gonna have to step it up on that, too. Really, it'll be OK. I'll keep ya'll in the loop. I'll just let the housework slide. : )

In all seriousness, I'm super excited about being in charge of the store. I know I talked about it already, but I'll just do it again. Cuz that's who I am. The store is a new thing to the art auction this year. I think we decided we're doing it in the foyer. That means it will be totally seperate from the auction, but it won't be hidden becaue people will have to walk through it to come and go from the building. That's as far as it's gotten, though, since I only volunteered Friday. Oh, and we'd thought it'd be like at a shop or garage sale where multiple sellers are involved and we'd have a certain color or number assinged to each seller so we could keep it all seperate and only have a couple people manning the store. Thoughts? Suggestions? Want to put something in the store and donate a portion of the proceeds to W.E.E.?

I Wanna Write Something...

2010-03-06T22:55:00.000-06:00

I really do... Thursday morning something kinda funny happened. I wanted to write about it. But I felt so icky when I got home, I went straight to sleep. Then, today, Robert and I got the shelves done as far as the base paint color. I did a test little peice and was gonna take a picture to put up...but didn't.

Really, I suppose the good new is, we haven't been wasting money on all that medication for all those years because my allergies are so icky right now...

Anyways, Melissa, I got the fabric from my mother-in-law, isn't it awsome?

And now I'm ending this ridiculous attempt at a post. Hopefully, you'll get a real one soon.

Bag Number 1

2010-03-03T23:59:00.001-06:00

OK, first, I just have to say it's funny when my Rachael friend and I have conversations in the comments because we're both leaning against a tree. It's so not on purpose, but a little funny and freaky.

Pretend there's, you know, a transition here.

The reason I often make bags from place mats is because 1. they are already either thick or double sided, 2. they are already cut into a fairly uniform size, 3. it's a good size to use one to make a pursey purse or two to make a bag the size I usually wear, and 4. most of the time you can buy a coordinating napkin to make pockets, accents, etc. But, it's also more expensive to do it that way, so, for the art auction, I'm using regular old fabric. On most of the bags, I'll just double the fabric, but with this bag it was already quilted, so obviously I didn't double it. And obviously I didn't quilt it. Because, you know, there's straight lines. Anyways, I LOVE the fabric and almost didn't use it for an art auction bag, but I have enough to make myself one at some point and I think the cuteness of the fabric will really help sell it! At least I hope so, because when I look at all I see is the imperfections...

All that to say, I finished a bag!!! And a burp rag before, so I'm gonna post a pic of that, too. But I'm lazy, so it's gonna be pictures taken with my webcam.

The side with the pocket.

The side without.

The inside. With a pocket.

Also, the straps. I LOVE that they are double sided. I'm not sure if I'm happy with them...Really, I just need to stop being a perfectionist. Or do a better job.

It makes me happy. Mostly that it's done, lol.

I feel about the same today, but no fever and definitely not the dread influenza. It was icky when I walked out the door and they were mowing the yard. Have I mentioned that when they allergy tested me I was allergic to 66 of the 68 things they tested me for? No kidding. That was the long way of saying I'm allergic to the grass they were cutting and made me feel ickier. Now I'm just complaining, so I'll say that I did get to do most of what needed to happen yesterday. But not today, lol. Oh well...

Sad Tuesday

2010-03-02T23:23:00.000-06:00

I think I'm getting sick, I was so out of it at Bible study tonight I didn't really get much from it, and I haven't done anything I wanted to accomplish today. Sorry, Texas, but your birthday just didn't go well for me this year. On the up side, by the time I was by myself at work today, I only had 5 kids and then one left really quick after that. And my roses are, if possible, even more beautiful.

Here's hoping the Girls cheer me up as I attempt to accomplish at least part of my Tuesday to-dos...

It's Late

2010-03-02T02:32:00.000-06:00

So even though I intended to sit down and write a post twice today, it's just not gonna happen apparently.
My flowers smell pretty and are opening very prettily. My new sewing machine rocks and I've already finished one burp rag and all but the straps of a bag. If I can keep this up, I'll be done ahead of time!
I'm not going to get enough sleep tonight as it is, so good night ya'll!

Everybody together now..."AWWW!!!"

2010-02-27T21:37:00.000-06:00

Look what I got.

Just because. : )

And doesn't the watering can look super cute with them? Roses are a little fancy for a watering can, but I totally think it works!

AND we almost finished one shelving unit. Robert did most of it with my Daddy's help but I helped some, too! AND I drove Robert's truck (it's a standard) and I did not kill it even once and was very smooth in my shifting!!! (Out in the country. The city has yet to be attempted...)

Long tiring, productive day and tomorrow Robert's pulpit-supply preaching, so I have to go give him a hair cut and we'll have to head to bed pretty soon!

I Did It!!!

2010-02-27T01:11:00.000-06:00

Momma's Christmas present is done. Well, my part is done. I'm giving it back to the other instigator of the nuttiness to get her to do her part so we can really finish it! I changed from baby blanket to baby lovie, but it's as done as it can be until I get the rest of the material. And I did the valances and even hung them! See? I can keep a promise! Lol. Now it's off to bed so we can do the shelves tomorrow and be up in time for Robert to go preach Sunday!

Spider

2010-02-26T21:37:00.001-06:00

*********EDITED TO SAY: Grandby and my Daddy told me I had a blog when my stove caught fire at my previous house and I'd blogged about it. But I can't find that post to link to it and I'm pretty sure it happened before I had a blog (as if such a time existed lol). But I'm also pretty sure most of ya'll who read this know the story and the rest of you can just see the humor in the statements made on this post.**************

So my surprise two year old helper was with me again today. It made for a very fun day and this amazing compliment "I like your's hair. It's so much pretty." which totally made up for when I said "I love you!" and she said "I love Lena, Co-ban, and Robert." (aka my Momma, brother, and husband in 2-year-ese). My Grandby came to town and we did Christmas! It was lots of fun. (Also, she gave me a fire extinguisher. She insists it was in no part related to the fire-on-the-stove incident, but I just don't believe her. IT WAS NOT MY FUALT!!! THE STOVE WAS 40 YEARS OLD! APPLIANCES WERE NOT MADE TO LAST THAT LONG!!!)

Back to the point, if there ever was a point.. I took many pictures today to use for the rest of the house, but it's not gonna happen today. I also spent some time going through my fabric because the preschool I work at is having an art auction in April and I am super excited to say we are going to have a "store" this year where teachers can make things and sell them. A portion of the proceeds will benifit the school, but we are getting to make money off of it, too!!! Since most of my fabric was given to me or bought such a long time ago I don't even remember what I paid for it, I can donate a good bit and still make money! I will have to buy most of the accent type things though (beads, fringe, whatever) which really is what will add up, so I'll have to price accordingly. Also, I have 6 weeks and have decided to attempt 10 bags to sell, 1 to donate as raffle, and 8 cutesy burp rags. If I do 2 bags and a burp rag a week for 5 weeks and then 1 bag and 3 burp rags for a week I should get it done, so I will be busy, busy, busy like I was before Christmas! Speaking of Christmas, I am going to try to finish my Momma's Christmas present tonight...Let's hope I keep that intention more than the show off my house one...

AND, speaking of my house and intentions, we are going to try to finish the shelves for my dining room tomorrow!!! I'm super excited and hope it really happens!!!

So, now for the title of the post, spider. I was in my room sorting through the fabric, deciding what I really wanted to keep because I have intentions for it, what is adorable and I hate to part with, but really, won't that make a bag that will sell, so shouldn't I just use it?, what it really just not going to work with anything else, etc. and talking to my friend (the 2 year old's Momma) on the phone when I notice that there are tiny ants (I'm assuming they are ants...they are leveling our foundation right now so they probably came up because of that) on this little place I normally set my computer. Then I notice there's a (also very tiny) spider attacking one of them! She (because Charlotte is a girl, of course) caught the ant and was wrapping it up in her silky threads. IT WAS SO COOL!!!

Now that the would-be tiny post has had about a million and a half words more than intended, I'm hoping my intentions to make the valance curtains for the office, finish Momma's Christmas present, and make the baby blanket for a friend up to the point of needing to buy the rest of the supplies intentions are actually followed through. In like two hours or less. I dream big.

Yeah...well...

2010-02-26T00:21:00.001-06:00

Seriously, ya'll should've known better if you really expected me to do the entire week on my house. Because seriously, life always seems to derail me. I had quite a few things to do tonight to prepare for my Grandby coming to visit tomorrow and I had a surprise 2 year old helper! So, everything (well, most everything...some things were gonna have to wait till morning anyways) did get done, but took much longer.

The moral of this story is, I cannot seem to keep a blog promise! And I will do the all the house because I really want to, just be patient!!!

OH! And PS I got another snowman melting pic this morning and there was still a little left, but I'm sure it's gone now and I did not get a pic tonight. Maybe I'll remember to take one tomorrow!

House Break!

2010-02-24T21:15:00.000-06:00

Lol... Just a break from house pictures. I have too much to do today, as most Wednesdays, to write a full-on post. So, here are a few more pictures of the snow.

My snowman is going...going...

Gone... : (

Random snow family going...going...

Gone... : (

It's really awesome how you can see the line of the shadow in relation to the line of the melting/melted snow!

And remember that snow on the roof across the way from me? It's going too...

I didn't take a picture of it tonight because night photography takes my camera a super long time and it really drains the batteries, but it's pretty much gone. I find it all very sad, but I'm super happy we got it for a day!!!

My House Part 2

2010-02-23T22:05:00.002-06:00

So, there's still no floorplan, that can come at the end and tie it all together!
Here's the church and the snow from today!

Here's the outside of my house. It's what you see when you drive up, but my house isn't really in the picture. It's my neighbors'.

Do you see the snow falling?!?!?

This is the balcony at the side of our house. the sliding glass door leads into the living room and the windows on the right is the office window. Also, see the chimney? Yup, we have a fireplace!!!

Here's the whole length of the side of the house. There's a tree obscuring the balcony.

Here's the front door of our house!

Now here's some more snow pictures!!! This is on the balcony!

Now here's just a picture of random snowmen.

That's a yard stick. Seriously.

And here's the snowman I made!!!

Again, that's a yardstick!

Seriously, we had at two inches of snow in most places, and there were places where it was much deeper!!!

OK, so this wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be! And hopefully this is a more compatible design for the blog!

SNOW

2010-02-23T19:07:00.000-06:00

SERIOUSLY. REALSNOW!!! Not crappy pretend Texas snow. Real, true, like Colorodo snow!!! It's awesome that I didn't get to put outside pics up yesterday because now I can show you my house with SNOW!!!! And a few pics of the church! Just as soon as I figure out how... lol. I actually do know how, but you have to do it one at a time on blogger and I could do multiple on Word, but Word failed me because the pics didn't translate to blogger.

My House

2010-02-23T00:03:00.004-06:00

*************UPDATE!!!!!!! So I did my best, and it's still a little janky looking, but I promise to do better on the outside and the rest!!!********************

OK, so I have this great idea. I'm gonna show you around my house. You saw my cool trick in my baking drawer. I'm gonna show you some other cool tricks, and also the decorating I've done. I really like decorating and I like how my house is coming! I'd like it better if I could paint, and I could, I'd just have to paint it back and that's expensive and a lot of work! AND there will be proof that my house was clean, once, AND you'll see the difference my shelves make! I meant to start this "series" with a bang and show you the outside and floor plan today, but by the time I got around to it, it was too dark to take pictures and I can't find my old floor plans and don't feel like making a new one right now. SO, I will begin with the inside! I'm analytical anyways, lol. Here is my dining room and kitchen, with commentary! Please do not judge my lack of photographic abilities!

The front door is there on the left. This is the hutch that belonged to my Daddy's Momma and then to my Aunt Sandy, who gave it to me. The angel on the top my came from my Daddy's Momma, too. On top is candles and the cake topper from our wedding, and the book, sand, and flowers are from our wedding, also. The pictures are pictures of us from UMHB, the yellow plate I made at U-Paint-It when I graduated, the blue paint is my china, and there's the silver bread thingy, the Willow Trees, and the hydrangea wreath thingy my Momma got me. In the drawers are gift-wrapping items and piano books.

These are the drapes from my second dorm room in college. The rod is new, because the old one that looked almost exactly like it flew out of my brother's truck last time we moved. Hanging between them are folded white squares a family friend bought and painted cute little dolls doing chores.

Here's what the room looks like as a whole. Sorry about the terrible flash that hurts your eyes. The hutch is barely visible there on the left and you can see how we have the vaulted ceilings and where the dining room meets the kitchen. The table is the same as the hutch; they are a set. There are only 5 chairs, so sitting against the wall is the hope chest my Grandby gave me. It's sturdy enough to sit on and hanging above it is a sort of "back" made out of fabric wrapped fabric bolts. I made them in our last apartment to serve as a wall-hanging above the table, which was pushed up against the wall, but I like this much better. There are two more bolts that were blue and white plaid (I guess that's how to describe the pattern) but I decided it was too busy and Momma thought it was too wide. Robert is making me two twin shelving units to go against the wall to display some of my antique china and some other things. When those are finished, I'll have to move the two pictures closer together and I'm going to put up a long glass shelf above all of it. I might re-cover the other two bolts then and hang them beside the yellow and blue toile ones. The yellow and blue toile is the same on the chairs. These are close ups of the two pictures. They are a little blurry…sorry.

This is the table on the left looking over the bar into the kitchen. And above here is a close up of the bar stool seats. They used to be just ugly fake wood looking and had bad, bad fabric on the seats. I spray-painted them (with my brother's help) and Daddy and I tightened and put in new screws to hold them together better. And I used the fabric above to fix the seats! I really like the fabric, especially in my yellow and blue toile room! Plus, this shows you why I chose to do the kitchen and dining room together, so on to the kitchen.

Here is the bar looking at my Italian scene picture. Microwave on the counter and refrigerator in the background.

Here's the close up of my microwave. I love it!
It's RED!



        These are antique pots my Momma gave me and they look so cute hanging on the wall!

This is the top of the refrigerator. The green glass bowl came from Robert's grandmother.

The apple came from his mom, the chicken from my Daddy's Momma and the sifter fromNana, my Momma's Momma's Momma.

This is above my sink. It's a window! The curtains match what's hanging between the blue drapes on the opposite side of the room in the dining room!

Here is my amazing RED mixer my Grandby gave me and canisters full of baking things.

Can you believe how much counter space I have?

Above the stove (bad, bad picture, cute, cute ideas).

My husband cooking breakfast for supper and my cute utensil holder.

This thing used to be in my room when I was little. It makes a great place to put our toaster oven and it storage!

These are erving utensils and chopsticks that my friend brought back from a mission trip!!!

And the square below has a sad story…

It's just a glass plate, but my Momma covered it with broken china. We bought antique salt and pepper shakers.

They were red and pretty and we were shocked to find them, and fairly cheap. We triumphantly brought them home, but my brother's friend accidentally dropped them. I was so upset, Momma saved the pieces and used them for this and another project you have yet to see!

Really, I'm not Hiding

2010-02-16T18:42:00.000-06:00

I'm just having trouble getting back into the swing of things. Plus, I'm super busy trying to get my house clean. I hate the cycle I get into of super cleaning, tired of cleaning and do nothing or the bare minimum, house gets really messy, super cleaning, and you see how it goes...

Hiding

2010-02-09T23:38:00.000-06:00

I suddenly realized a couple days ago that I have been hiding from the world. I'd kinda thought about it, but I didn't seriously consider it till then. And things have happened that I thought, hmm, that'd make a good blog post, but I haven't done them. So here it is. My re-entry into the blog/facebook world. I've spent the last hour or so catching up on other people's blogs and am down to Big Mama (which will take a while, she's quite the consistent poster!) Two Shades of Pink and Bring the Rain (I'm not really sure how long the last two will take). It will probably take me awhile to get back into the swing of things, but here goes! (Are you happy now, Melissa? : ) )

Part 2

2009-12-05T01:52:00.005-06:00

And now, part 2. The second part. : )
  
    Katherine O'Hara watched as the hammocks were lowered into the sea.  Her ma was in one of them.  During that last storm, when seasickness had raged through the steerage, her mother, who had contracted pneumonia even before the ship had left the harbor, had taken her last breath.  Pneumonia and the sea was a fatal mix to be sure.  Not that her ma had shown much will to live anyways.  After Da died, Ma was just never the same.  She had no fight left in her.  Death was so cruel.  And to be orphaned, an only child, on the way to a new country, at 10 years old.  No mother, no father, no brothers, no sisters, no nothing except ocean, and a frightening new country.  Life was so cruel.  

    "Katie, dearie!  You must wake up!  You don't want to miss your train, now do you?"  Jerked out of her dream by the open curtains and kind, motherly voice, Katie sleepily wiped the tears off her face.     "Ah, dear.  When will the dreams stop?  It's been fifteen years!"

    "They donna come so often now.  Only when life gets ta scarin' me.  An' when I wake up, I remember that Jesus saved me soul, an' 'e's in charge of it all."  Both women's accent fit her background well.  While Katie's every fiber screamed 'Irish', her counterpart and fill-in mother since that dreadful day at sea, was a common Englishwoman to the core.  Fifteen years in America should have lessened Katie's brogue, even Mary had begun to speak like their American neighbors, but Katie purposely held on to her accent as her last link to her parents.

    Ach, how Aye'm agonna miss 'er when she's gone!  Not that Aye don't 'ave plenty others ta look after.  And Aye thank Thee, Lord, for every last one o' them, but, Lord, she's the 'ole reason Aye began this orphanage!  Aye don't guess that's true, is it?  You gave me this idea long before she ever came along.  An' it took me losin' me own babies, an' 'er losin' 'er Mother an' Father ta make me listen.

    "Miss Mary?"  Katie paused, then sniffled.  "Aye'm really gonna be missin' ya.  Aye'll write ever' day.  And pray fer ya and the babies ever' minute!"

    "Missy, Aye don't want ya thinkin' about your family here too much.  You're gonna go be a bride, and you'll need to think about your husband.  Startin' a life with someone is hard enough when you know him and know how much he loves ya; startin' a life with a stranger…it will take everything ye've got to make it work.  Thinkin' too much about us will only make you homesick and miserable."

    "I'm already homesick.  How can a girl like me be going across the country?  All I've seen of America in fifteen years was this city!  I don't even think I've seen all of New York!  What was I thinking signing up to go to Texas?!"

    "You were thinking that you were wanting a husband, and God wasn't giving you one here.  You were thinking that, after much prayer, this is the answer that came.  You were thinking that this was the best way to break from us and marry a man who will be able to take care of you, and not some man that will work in a God-awful factory his whole life and never make a cent!  You were thinking good when you decided all this, and I don't want to hear another negative word out of you!  You can't change your mind now, love, so get up, get dressed, and finish your packing.  I think I can manage breakfast without you today; I suppose I'll need the practice!"

    Mary's harsh and loving words were what Katie needed to hear.  Katie knew Mary was hiding her own pain in anger and the words spurred Katie into action.  

To be continued... At some point in the hopefully not too distant future...

Part 1

2009-12-04T01:52:00.002-06:00

This is, as it is titled, Part 1. The first half of the prologue. I certainly don't want false encouragement, but if you do have something nice to say, please say it! It's really scary to me to have this out here, floating around cyber space! To separate the story from the rambling, I put it in the typewritery font. It's been a really long time since I actually used a typewriter. I used to use one all the time at Carmen's desk. (The Elementary principal, aka my grandmother, had a secretary named Carment Who had a typewriter. Which I enjoyed playing with.)

Daniel Abraham Brown. A good, strong name for a good, strong man, mother always said. It was true, too. Until the tragedy, at least. Honorable discharge from the Rangers. What could be worse? Why couldn't that Comanche arrow have just killed me? Instead, it destroyed my elbow. They took my arm! Daniel thought these thoughts as he lay in a bed in San Antonio, Texas, unable to leave. His lost arm troubled him, for reasons he couldn't explain. He didn't realize that his dreams, his every want had depended on him being a whole man. Not a cripple. Now he thought he was useless. But of course, none of this ever occurred to him. That preacher, who has two arms, said this's a blessing in disguise. Blessing!? Blessing was not the word Daniel would've used, disguised or not.

    "Captain, as soon as you can travel, we've arranged for your passage home."  

Dr. Houston began speaking as soon as he saw Daniel's open eyes.

    "How?  On a horse?"  Daniel snorted.

    "Well, nothing goes south of here.  San Antonio's the end of the line.  No one's even heard of Paloma Solitaria."

    "Of course no one's heard of it!  I ain't made it into a real place yet!  Gimme a horse and a pack horse, I can ride."  I got to be able to ride!  There's gotta be a way!

    "Your arm's not strong enough to ride, you can take a wagon.  'Sides, we're keeping you longer.  Infection could set in, then what would you do?"

    "A wagon wouldn't make it into Paloma Solitaria!  The brush is too thick; it'd take weeks longer to take the wagon trail!"

    "Alright, then you can wait until we've made arrangements for you to leave that way."  The doctor thought he'd won; he could keep this cranky patient at least a little longer.  He'd never let Daniel know, but he was extremely worried about infection.  Daniel had been near death when he arrived.

    "I'd make my own arrangements if you'd let me out of this God-forsaken bed!"  The bitterness was so apparent in Daniel's voice that Dr. Houston cringed.

    "Ah, yes, well, speakin' of God, that preacher's here to see you again."  The preacher's arrival gave the doctor a welcome excuse to leave the room.

    As the preacher entered, he could hear Daniel shouting his refusal to see the preacher.

    "Good luck Parson, he's really bitter today!" the doctor said as he left the room.

    "Doc, you oughta know I don't need luck!  I've got God on my side!"

    "Preacher, if I gotta hear that kinda stuff, ya might as well leave now!"  Dan said loudly.

    "Captain, I have something I really think you'll wanna hear."

    "Yeah, well, what is it?  Then you can leave."

    "Well, Captain, we've received word, and I was asked to share it with ya, and it's important.  Well, uh, we got word that your mother is extremely ill, and her doctor said she's…"

    "Doctor?  If they called the doctor, she's as good as dead!  Since you seem to be the messenger boy 'round here, you can go tell everyone that I'm leavin' tomorrow."

    "Tomorrow?"

    "Yeah, tomorrow!  Now leave me alone, I gotta think!"

    "You need more'n thinkin', you need to rely on God ta get ya through this.  You got nothin' ta go home to.  Do ya want your dyin' mother ta see ya like this?  She's better off rememb'rin' you as ya rode off ta join the Rangers!"  By the time the preacher was finished, Daniel was sobbing; he knew what the preacher meant.  He wasn't talking about his arm at all, but his attitude.

    "Preacher, I made Jesus my Savior a long, long time ago, but I never did make Him Lord.  I never got that peace my momma has.  If she saw me now…you're right.  I shouldn't go home…Not like this."

    "You can get that peace.  Boy, all ya gotta do is make Him Lord, too!"

    "I've made such a mess of things!  I just don't think I can just let go now!"

    "Yore right.  Ya can't.  Not in your own strength, ya cain't.  But you've already made him Savior; it's not hard to do the rest now!" 

To be continued... : )

Scary, Scary, Scary

2009-12-03T01:05:00.001-06:00

I want to do something kinda scary. Somewhere there about high school, I got an idea for a story. It's not an incredibly origional idea, but it's something I'd read (if it were well written). I've actually had quite a few ideas, but that's such a digression right now.

Senior year, we had to write a story story, not an essay I mean, and I chose to kinda revise/rewrite/begin a prolouge to this story floating around in my head. My teacher said she liked it and certainly wanted to read the rest of it, which was, you know, just floating in my head, and I'm fairly certain I got a 100 on it even though just now when I was editing it, I found a grammatical error. Just one, though.

Anyways, I was thinking about "publishing" it on here in two parts and then more as I write it. You know, because I have lots of time to write a story right now with a dirty, un-Christmas decorated (except the outside) house with less than half my Christmas presents actually made and throw some travel in, and, oh yeah, I have a job.

(Can you see what a miracle it is that there was only one grammatical error?)

So, I'm going to schedule the story in 2 parts across the next 2 days because hopefully I'll spend the next 2 days doing important Christmasy (and maybe some not Christmasy) things. Like clean house. And finish Christmas presents. Cuz, did you know, it's already December?! (BTW, sorry I forgot, but Happy Birthday, Rita! I actually knew, but didn't wanna mention it yesterday.) And like, almost Christmas already?! Time flies, ya'll, time flies.

My Healing Nose

2009-12-01T21:59:00.002-06:00

Rita, I know you are a faithful reader, but I just want to warn you, this post might be cathartic or you might just not want to read it. Fair warning. Love you.

So last Thursday, in my haste to get up and ready to go see my Aunt Sandy, I scratched my nose. Not the top part, either. Underneath, where my nostril is. With my engagement ring. (It sounds funny to say engagement ring now that I'm married, but I'm pretty sure you still call it that...) It hurt, but I kinda just ignored it. Until later when I was bawling uncontrollably and wiped my nose.

I was able to ignore it most of the time, unless I was crying and wiping my nose, which has been happening, but not constantly or anything.

And then today.

When I spent a good part of the day crying again. And my nose hurt all over again.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

It's a metaphor. I like metaphors.

I can be going through my day and be OK and then, suddenly, something will trigger the tears. And then I wipe my nose. And the pain in my nose reflects my heart.

My nose is already starting to heal and I'm sure will be pain-free soon. And I know that right now Sandy is healed and pain-free. So I'm waiting for my heart to heal, too. Today was a good step in that direction.

Thanks for your prayers. Please continue to pray.

Tomorrow

2009-11-30T22:07:00.001-06:00

It's about 10:00 pm as I begin this and I'm not really sure where to start. I guess what I really want to say is Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, my Aunt Sandy went to be with her parents and the Lord. The funeral is tomorrow at 10:00 am, which means the goal is for Momma, Daddy, and Corb to be here at 5:00 so we can all get in my car and go. I still need to pack for the car ride, decide what to wear (has to be something that goes with my red coat because it's supposed to be freezing) at the funeral, pack it and my makeup, decide what to wear for the ride and set it out (unless I decide to just wear what I'm wearing tonight as PJs, which is a serious possibility). Anyways, my family, especially Kip and Rita, could really use some prayer tomorrow.

And, I got this in an e-mail today and thought I'd share it because it looked cool.

Shocking, Isn’t It?

2009-11-17T20:02:00.000-06:00

I'm not really sure if you could understand this between all the freak out yesterday, but we went to see my Aunt Sandy yesterday. She and her husband live on a ranch in South Texas. Among other things, he breaks horses. At one point, I needed to take a walk and Robert went with me. We ended up down by the horse barn. Robert wanted to pet the corralled horse, so he tried to call it over. It was acting a little leery so Robert leaned up against the fence with his arms crossed on the top trying to coax it closer. All of a sudden, I noticed that the top wire wasn't like the other wires and there was a battery pack sitting on the ground. I said, "Hey, baby, be careful. I think that top wire is…" and right then, the five-second delay was up and he was electrocuted.

Luckily, he was wearing his (p)leather jacket and the wire was only touching his hand in one little spot. He really wasn't shocked that badly. And, thank goodness, it wasn't me because I have a heart murmur and am not supposed to get shocked. Not that anyone is really supposed to, but… Anyways, that is the one story from yesterday I am ready to share. The rest will probably come eventually.

Word

2009-11-17T01:05:00.000-06:00

It occurred to me a long time ago that it would be so much easier to type my blog posts, particularly the ones that because of length or topic I don't want to have to edit, in Word. And, also, because I never actually have to hit "shift" when I want to use the letter "I" in Word. It's just smart like that. I've tried to do a little copy and paste number, but it never quite works out and it ends up that instead of not having to really edit it so much I have to just go ahead and retype it all. Great fun. So, through a little trial and error and exploration, The Age-Old Metaphor and this post were both typed with Word's blog post program thingy. Official name, you know. We'll see how it works out!

The Age-Old Metaphor

2009-11-17T00:42:00.007-06:00

We went to see my Aunt Sandy today. (The link has not been updated in a long time.) She's not doing well at all. And it made me very sad. So sad, that I really can't talk (or type? I can never decide…) about it right now because I've just gotten some semblance of control over myself. Instead, I'm going to talk about something funny that lead to a rather deep (OK, deep might be an exaggeration) thought because that way I can actually sleep tonight. And not use our entire supply of toilet paper as tissues. (Is it just me or do I exaggerate more when I'm trying not to be upset?)

This morning we were leaving our house to go pick up my parents. (Which isn't really true considering my daddy drove after we got there but the point is we went from our house to their house in our car so we could all go to South Texas in our car.) (Which is a whole 'nother story about acquiring 2 new tires for my car. It has 17" rims. Apparently, that's an odd size. And they are the ones that came on the car! On a Sunday, no less, when most tire places are closed. But 5 miles a gallon better than Momma's, we all fit, and it really, REALLY needed new tires anyways so we got it done.) And, in my head, I just had this picture of what would happen if my life were a movie. The scene would suddenly shift from us riding in the car, go back to our house, and dramatically picture, well, something in particular, but it would be way too complicated to explain.

I was already working myself into an upset but desperately trying not to and the whole imagining my life as a movie thing made me laugh. On the inside at least. But later on, I started really thinking about the age-old metaphor of "what if life was really just like making a movie?" And not just because of how sad I am about my Aunt Sandy. That is part of it. But my use of the age-old metaphor wasn't just talking about that. And I suppose it isn't really the age-old metaphor because movies haven't been around that long, but it is a little overused. Trust me; I won't be offended if you stop here. In fact, I won't even know. Big Brother hasn't quite leaked that technology yet.

The main thing I was thinking was that it would be awesome if at certain points in life, you could just yell, "CUT! That was great in theory, but didn't work out in actual execution. REWRITE!" Or "CUT! People just didn't take that the way it was intended. Do it over." Or, my word, just "CUT! 5 minute recess!" (I've been watching JAG, can you tell?) Really, I'd be happy with just the last one. OK, not really, but do you ever feel like you'd like a little 5 minute break where you can step back and not just not think about issues/problems/etc. but for them to actually not exist for 5 minutes just to get your equilibrium back? Maybe it's just me.

And I know I should carry this metaphor all the way through and then God becomes the director and the screenwriter and then there is no "CUT! REWRITE!" because God doesn't make mistakes and really the problem is in free will when we actors start adlibbing and screw it all up without the possibility of a retake.

I'm being a little petulant now and I know it, so I'm going to stop. I don't have to worry about taking care of Aunt Sandy on a daily basis. Kip and Rita do that. I can come back home and get busy and push it away for a while and they can't. And my other little daily problems aren't nearly as taxing as theirs are right now so I know I need to stop and I promise I'm almost done now.

Maybe I'll make it my (non-existant) New Year's Resolution to work on concluding my posts better. I don't have anything profound or that really wraps it up, but I think this will suffice.

END SCENE!

Opinions?

2009-11-05T02:32:00.003-06:00

So I LOVE my blog's design. I spent many an hour fixing it up at first. It even involved downloading a free Photoshop like program to use that little dropper tool and match exact colors and get my name on the header just so and using an html color code to get the words the perfect colors. Serious stuff. And all that hard work makes me just love it. It makes me happy to post and see my words appear on such a lovely background.

BUT...

I saw a new backgroud today and really like it. And I could do something very similar but get a new color scheme going on. And maybe use one of these cute headers!

Or not.

Feel free to chime in.

By the way, I got pretty much all of my pre-party to do things done. I need to fix the office curtains and re-cover a recliner and then I will have done everything I can do without going to buy more stuff or getting my Daddy or husband involved. Consider yourselves warned, guys!

Stuff...

2009-10-27T23:15:00.001-05:00

So I lied. I did not in fact chronicle the making of the second stool. It's all screwed together and mostly painted, though. My momma had her gall bladder removed yesterday. She went home last night and is doing really good. Taking the painkillers consistently, but took a shower and made a few "laps" around the inside of the house and even is eating.

I'm very tired and considering I'm having a party this weekend, I should really go clean something.

I'll probably just go watch Bones.

Transformers 2

2009-10-26T00:41:00.001-05:00

Uh, yeah, AWESOME! Not sure it was as good as number 1, but didn't bomb miserably like many sequels, Pirates of the Caribbean's sequel for instance. Here's my "review" lol. I'm not giving anything away, so don't be afraid to read it!

How, how, did that girl keep those white pants so clean. SERIOUSLY. I can't even keep a white shirt clean for 5 minutes in surburban America. Much less a desert in Eygpt.
It's always a little confusing who is who during an Autobot/Decepticon battle, but at the very end it was really hard. I mean Autobots are good guys and have color. Decepticons are bad guys and are pointy and only metal colored. But the last battle of this movie: confusing.
What happened to the little guy after they got to Petra? Which is totally in The Last Crusade. I thought about the big door thing when I saw it in that movie.
I really like the implication that Bush was concerned enough with national and world wide safety to have the Autobots on our side and trust the military to handle them and Obama sent the bureaucracy that had no clue what was going on to deal with them and send them away. And what happened to him? TOO FUNNY. Take care of the VIP. LOL

Completely unrelated to the movie, I am writing this post sitting on my new bar stool! I took them from my Momma. And did a lot of work to this one and need to do a lot of work on the other one! However, I think I'm coming down with painter's finger. It's like (OK I couldn't think of anything. It's kinda like a blister or something that makes things feel really weird) only paintier. ("And I think I'm coming down with swipe wrist. It's like carpel tunnel only swipier.") I really want to to document the process on the next one but I already covered both seats so you won't get to see the creepy bunnies with the veggies or, what I found underneath it, a pink shiny fabric with stripes. Trust me, whatever you're imagining, it's worse.

I'm off to admire my new barstools some more. And watch the Girls.

"Pedro's friends talked in code?" "Well, Spanish, technically, but same difference."

"Yeah, well, live and learn. Like now I know not to drink the water in Mexico, which, by the way, somebody should really tell you. And I learned I'm not morally against murder, I just wish I had the guts to do it."

Bones

2009-10-22T00:18:00.002-05:00

OK so I just found out someone who doesn't know me is reading my blog. It puts a weird different pressure on this whole blog thing. Maybe not pressure. That's too strong of a word. But always before I've just written and known those who know me love me anyways if what I write stinks and makes no sense and, besides, if they know me, they can probably make sense of what I wrote. Now I have to stop myself from over-explaining. (I know. It's totally shocking that up till now I haven't felt I was over explaining.)

The point is, (sorta) thank you, Brenda.

(Pretend there's a segue here.) : )

I'm so into the show Bones right now. I'm almost done with season 3. I'm not really sure what about it reels me in, but I can't seem to get enough of it! I have begun quoting the show. That's when I know it's a good one. I really, really, REALLY enjoyed the whole Sith Lord thing. "There's always two. A master and an apprentice."(look, I figured out how to spell it! lol) And then "Dude, did you just Star Wars us?" SO FUNNY!!!

I think my favorite quote just might be when Bones said to Booth "Can't you just be satisfied that if I'm wrong about God I'll burn in hell?" If you're not a fan, here's where I make that make sense. Temperance Brennan is a forensic anthropologist which basically means she looks at people's bones (hence the nickname) and can figure out how they lived and died. She uses her skills as a liason to the FBI, helping them solve cases where a normal autopsy wouldn't answer questions. Bones is also an atheist. She believes only in what she can empiracally prove with science. Her FBI partner, Special Agent Sealy Booth, is a Catholic. He seems to be a practicing Catholic, he's shown praying and once said he goes to mass every Sunday, but he also is a little promiscious. Here's where I'm going. Bones and Booth constantly argue about the validity of Christianity (or any religion, but they mostly talk about Christianity because Booth is Catholic) and at one point Bones says, "Can't you just be satisfied that if I'm wrong about God I'll burn in hell?"

I laughed.

I thought, and still think, it's hilarious.

But it got me thinking, too.

Yes, it's important to tell others about Christ, to share His love. (And, you know, save them from burning in hell...) It just doesn't work, though, to badger someone into Christianity.

It doesn't totally translate from their situation, but I think the point works.

And, as I'm somewhere between tired and punchy right now, I'm leaving you to figure out your own conclusion. : )

Apparently...

2009-10-21T03:31:00.000-05:00

I'm not the only Branalyn out there. There's also someone named Branalyn Williams who's done a lot of scientific stuff with the CDC (and I don't think they mean Child Development Center) and a few other random Branalyns out there. One, on myspace, goes by Brandie. It might be easier, but it's weird to me someone would shorten Branalyn to Brandie. I'm kinda sad I'm not the only one out there... But at the same time it could be cool to know someone else named my name. I do, however, like knowing that when someone says my name (talking to me or about me lol) it pretty much means me. There's not confusion or need to use last names.OK, I've moved on into the rambling now...

Remember When I Said I Was the Village Idiot?

2009-10-17T00:25:00.000-05:00

I locked myself out on my balcony and no one was home.

Oh yeah.

I'm serious.

No phone, no keys.

Dressed in a pair of shorts and cami.

Armed with a coffee filter and Windex.

Can't McGyver much out of that.

So, it's the first cold night this fall. I decide to wash the inside and out of my sliding glass doors. I'm dressed like white trash on a stick in cleaning clothes-shorts from high school that are really short and barely fit and a cami. Not exactly fall clothing. On a night we actually have fall weather. I wash the sliding part of the door and close it to wash the other side. AND THE BAR SLAMS DOWN!!! Don't ask me how it happened. Don't ask me how any of the stupid stuff happens to me. I'm just the village idiot. There's no other explanation.

Let me tell you, those anti-burglary bar thingies really work. Now I'm stuck outside with no phone or keys, upstairs on a balcony where the only option of getting down is jumping or breaking the door. I figured breaking the door was stupid because it's really late Friday night and wouldn't be fixed all weekend, not to mention being really expensive. And jumping would be even more expensive because I would so just happen to land on a tree stump or something that would break my leg or impale me. I have a reputation, ya'll.

I'm now left with the final option of waiting. Several scenarios would've worked out: 1. My brother or friend, both of which have keys, happen to let themselves in and see me out there. 2. My husband comes home from work early and sees me out there (which just occurred to me now, he didn't have a key. He gave it to my brother this morning. I was supposed to make him a key on the way home from work but the traffic sucked because of Obama and I didn't.) 3. Some random person walks by and sees me out there and lets me use their phone.

What happened was a modified version of number 3. Some old man was walking outside and I got his attention. I figured maybe he was a nice old man that would be gentlemanly and help me. And if he wasn't nice and was a bad guy, he probably couldn't get to me and I could totally take him if he could. I told him I was locked out and needed to call someone. He said he wasn't sure who I could call. I said I had family who had a key I just needed to make the call. He can't understand me and won't come closer but he went and knocked on his neighbor's door. After what seemed like forever, the neighbor, a young guy, comes out. He comes up to me and asks what happened because the old man was apparently very confused. I tell him and he runs back to get his phone. He climbs halfway up and gives me his phone, yelling instructions on how to use it as I call what I think is my brother's number and get a very confused, old, Latino lady. Then I call my momma's number praying she's awake and answers.

She does and I tell her I'm locked out and my brother and friend have keys and ask her to please send one to the rescue. She sends my brother and I throw (yes, throw, he insisted it would be alright and he did actually catch it) the phone back to the guy. He asks if I need anything else and I consider asking him to help me get down because he had gotten halfway up and I thought maybe he could get me down. But then I decided he was obviously athletic and there was no way I could take him if he turned out to be some sort of rapist.

Now my parents live at least15 minutes away, so I continued my wait. Of course about this time I had to pee but could do nothing but wait. I contemplate that either 1. the guy really is a rapist because he has no friends or 2. the guy is a really nice guy because he didn't call his friends to come laugh at me. I also realize that my brother's gonna get here and not know where I am because I'm on the balcony and not waiting out front and I really wasn't sure if I'd communicated that. But, he decides to come in just in case I had gotten in, thank God. So, he walks in calling my name and I knock on the sliding glass door. From the outside. We both bust up laughing and he lets me in.

Finally inside, I peed, put on a hoodie, got a drink of water, and made my brother go with me to thank the I-hope-he's-not-a-rapist guy, who had periodically checked on me and I wanted to know it was all resolved and he wasn't devising a scheme to rape me, or, you know, was worried about me and calling the cops or something.

As I picked up my own phone, I had two missed calls and a text message, which proved I'd been out there for a little over an hour.

So, the village idiot's lessons for the day: 1. It's wonderful to live near family. And 2. Thank God. He orchastrated the events to let my brother have a key today of all days and to let me get access to a phone. And I did not freeze to death out there!

: )

By the way, getting locked out totally cut into my cleaning time. Plus, you know, blogging about it. But my deadline is approaching and my house is getting better and better!

Day Trip

2009-10-10T00:49:00.000-05:00

8 hours in the car is too much. Even when it's 4 and 4.

It was a short trip. We saw my aunt Sandy, who is doing better than she has been recently, but is not doing well. Please pray for her.

We saw some other family and then we headed back.

6 inches difference in the width of a vehicle matters.

I'm exausted and have to get up early again tomorrow. It's to go wedding dress shopping with my former roommate and wonderful friend. I know from prior experience that those days can be tiring. And, let's not forget, I seem to be havin a sleep deprivation problem this week. I'm a fan of at least 8 hours of sleep. I don't really want to admit this because I feel lazy admitting it, but I actually function much better with 9 hours.

I'm not even going to take the small amount of energy it takes to find my cute signature.

Good night.

It Is Finished

2009-10-08T19:24:00.000-05:00

It's been a long time. I know. Really it has. And really it's because all my free time has been spent unpacking. Or at least most of it. Which brings me to the title of this post.

I AM DONE UNPACKING!!!!!!!

Really, ya'll. Done. There's a little bit of rearranging I want to do with some stuff. There's a WHOLE lot of decorating that needs to happen. There's certainly a ton of cleaning that needs to happen. But I am DONE unpacking!!!

And, just in case you couldn't tell, I'm super excited about that!

Especially since I invited a whole buncha people over on the 31st for a Reformation Day party. It was to give myself a deadline, and people let me tell you that it worked! At least for the unpacking part. The cleaning, decorating and baking/cooking part not so much yet.

So, now I'm off to the store to get a few things, including windsheild wiper fluid cuz I'm all out and there is probably very little I hate more than little spots of sap on my windsheild and I have been out of wiper fluid for days, and hopefully a curtain rod for the dining room and tassels for the lamp. After said tassels and curtain rod are bought, I am done with my "need" list. I know that tassels and curtain rods aren't truely needs, but what I mean is I'll have all my basic wants taken care of. The other things (mainly shelves for the dining room, like upright almost bookshelves, and shelves for the bedroom, like screw them to the wall shelves) I want will be expensive and require building and will have to wait. Oh and something to go on the wall above the toilet in the bathroom that is only a potty and shower to put things like extra toilet paper on. And a baby rose and 3 or 4 other plants. And possibly another roll or 2 of shelf liner. Oh, and... just kidding... because I can't think of any more...

Day 10

2009-09-11T00:18:00.000-05:00

So, September 10, 2009.
Day 10.
Job 24-28.
The Message.

I just realized that I obligated myself to post EVERY SINGLE DAY for a YEAR when I really don't have something to say everyday.

In light of this realization, I'll do my best to read everyday and post about it once a week. In the meantime, if I have a good thing to post about, I'll do it!!!

Day 9

2009-09-09T23:20:00.002-05:00

So, September 9, 2009.
Day 9.
Job 20-24.
The Message.

A lot like yesterday. Wish I could say more...

Day 8

2009-09-09T00:38:00.000-05:00

So, September 8, 2009.
Day 8.
Job 17-20.
The Message.

A lot like yesterday.

I'm so exaughsted I forgot the password to my computer. The one I type every single day. Multiple times a day.

Days 5-7

2009-09-07T20:33:00.001-05:00

I can't believe I didn't factor how much I HATE when the Aggies come back into my decision to move....
Little man in the jacked up white Chevy, my Ford is obviously superior at stopping. Your ploy to get me to rear end you was foiled. Because there was no real reason for you to slam on your brakes at the bypass on ramp. Therefore, I am lead to believe you were trying to get me to rear end you.
However, because of the amazing stopping power and great seatbeltage, while keeping me safe and from greater harm, my car inflicted an injury on me.
And I wish it would bruise because my husband doesn't believe it really hurts.
Milk was $2 a gallon and I bought 4 gallons. You people have no idea how fast Robert drinks milk and, you know, milk is expensive. Plus, you can freeze milk and it keeps longer.
I was hoping to post, with pictorial evidence, my brilliant idea of a less than $10 curtain rod my husband and I spend the weekend crafting. But I have yet to put the final curtain on and there's stuff piled on the floor near there and it just wouldn't have the same effect.
Plus, getting a picture onto my computer is complicated. We don't have a camera. So,either I use the web cam on my computer, which is difficult to get a good shot with, or I use one of our phones. And I'm just not gonna do that right now.
I'm not so good with making sure I read when it's the weekend... Here's today and the last 2, also.

So, September 5, 2009.
Day 5.
Job 6-9.
The Message.

Oh, wait, I did read that when I was supposed to. Just never posted.

So, September 6, 2009.
Day 6.
Job 10-13.
The Message.

Job is really whiny. I mean, the man's got a reason to be, but it's getting old quick. Maybe God would've answered him if he'd just shut up for a minute. Wait. Ouch...now my toes hurt...

Also, his friends are highly insensitive. I really like when he tells them "Do you think the elderly have a corner on wisdom, that you have to grow old before you understand life?" Next time someone is spouting nonsense and claiming they should know because they've lived longer than me, I'm sending them to Job 12:12. Except only in the Message. Because the other translations say the opposite... Maybe I should stick to my Timothy reference...

And I like this just because it's funny "Your wise saying are knickknack wisdom, good for nothing but gathering dust."

So, September 7, 2009.
Day 7.
Job 14-16.
The Message.

More whining and insensitivity. Lord, when my friends are going through troubles, please let me be careful what I say! Amen.

Day 4

2009-09-05T00:12:00.000-05:00

So, September 4, 2009.
Day 4.
Job 1-5.
The Message.

Food for thought...

"His wife said, 'Still holding on to your precious integrity, are you? Curse God and be done with it!'
He told her, 'You're talking like an empty-headed fool. We take the good days from God--why not also the bad days?'"

Wow... Just wow...

Day 3

2009-09-03T22:58:00.000-05:00

So, September 3, 2009.
Day 3.
Gen. 8-11.
The Message.

I really have nothing to say. But apparently I started this and feel compelled to keep posting it.

The little girl, E, remembered the turtle says "dude." My life is now complete.

Had a girl's night. It was fun.

Goodnight, all!

Day 2

2009-09-02T23:33:00.000-05:00

I'm teaching a little girl in my class who's obsessed with Nemo this: Me: "What does a turtle say?" E: "Duuuude."

It's hilarious. I know.

My momma and I have already corrupted her enough that she says a puppy says "Woof" and then pants. She knows a kitty cat says "Meow" and hisses. A lizard sticks it's tongue out. A horse makes that sound they/we make with blowing air through our lips.

Also, for really no reason at all, today was the longest day in the world and I'm ridiculously tired.

And Even Now, by the amazing Karen Kingsbury, is such a wonderful book. But then, everything she does is awesome.

So, September 2, 2009.
Day 2.
Gen. 4-7.
The Message.

Genealogies that didn't make me want to already give up my commitment to read all the way through the Bible.

Noah's story. With ark measurements in units I ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND and can kinda picture in my head except it's huger than my mind really thinks about.

Day 1

2009-09-01T20:56:00.001-05:00

So BigMama decided on her blog that she was gonna read the Bible, chronologically, in a year with the Message translation. It's a new, fresh approach because reading the same old verses you can quote by heart doesn't always get you to think about what you are reading. She had gone out to buy a Message Bible and linked us to a website that she was following to know what to read each day. I was intrigued by the idea because I once read the Bible in a year but Leviticus boggs you down and the geneologies get tedious and so many of the verses you just know by heart you don't really stop to think about, so reading chornologically was something I've always wanted to do and using the Message just sounded like a good idea.
I knew Robert had a Message/NIV parallel so I didn't go buy anything. I just went in to get it and saw we also have a just plain Message so I decided to read that one. In fact, I decided to count and, if you include just New Testaments and a Children'ts Bible, we have 19 Bibles. I think. I mighta missed one or two. Ridiculous, isn't it? I guess that's what happens when your husband is a Christian Ministry major...

So, September 1, 2009.
Day 1.
Gen. 1-3.
The Message
Yeah, I totally laughed out loud and then felt a little blasphemy when it said “God spoke: Earth! Green up!”
Made me think of like Cowboy Up or something. I'm not exactly sure why, but it hit my funny bone.

On a completely unrelated note, I totally have a flip-flop tan from the playground. It makes me laugh big time.

Mas de George Lopez

2009-08-28T20:36:00.003-05:00

And really, this is a better version of the Jack in the Box, but it doesn't have the "cars in front and behind" line. Plus it's way longer.

Link

Just Call Me the Village Idiot...

2009-08-28T19:07:00.010-05:00

****EDITED TO SAY: WOW! I totally am an idiot. I forgot the "call" and misspelled "village."
Or Cilena. Or Billie.

So, once, my grandmother backed into a house. She wasn't even in the car. And, also there's this story about her somehow parallel parking a tractor in a gate gap. It wasn't on purpose.

My mother is known for her backing ineptness. There's even a song "She goes backing and smashing and crashing cars." And trucks, and garage doors, and poles...

And these ladies have lovely qualities that I am happy to share with them. The backing issue is not one of them. And I didn't think I shared it till today. I can parallel park (on purpose). I can back into parking spaces with one try. I've never hit anything backing (except once I forgot I had my hitch in and kinda tapped a tree, but neither truck nor tree was injured so I'm not so sure that counts) and really like to make fun of those ladies for their backing issues.

I can't so much do that anymore.

So, I don't know how to explain this to someone who hasn't seen it, but, I guess so the driveway could be level, one side of the driveway is built up with a little curb around the edges. I've been parking in the same spot since we moved here, cuz it's in the shade.

There was this combination of events (kid in my car yesterday so the review mirror was turned funny, somebody parked next to me and parked extra close to the curb, and there's something wrong with the seat where it keeps moving till you push the button and I was trying to fix it) that led me to back up a little far so that when I let off the brake, my car rocked back and fell off the driveway. Yup. Fell right off.

I got out and looked. The rear passenger wheel was off the driveway and just hangin' there in mid air. It was resting on the arm for the independent rear suspension. Which holds the weight for the car anyways, so it wasn't like it was terribly bad for the car, but I couldn't get it to move.

I kinda thought, man, this must be a really bad dream.

There's no way this actually just happened.

But oh no.

It certainly had.

So, I, in my normal calm, cool, collected manner, began calling. I called Robert. I called my Momma. I called my brother. I called Robert again. I called Momma again. I called my brother again. None of them had to work today. Robert had gone to pick up his check from work, but wasn't actually working.

Called them all again. None picked up. So, I called my Daddy. Was he, by any chance, near CS? No, no he wasn't.

Called the round again. Tried my friend that I knew wouldn't be able to help other than to calm my panic. Didn't answer.

Called work to say I'd be late. Racked my brain to think of people in CS that could help and weren't at work ( : ) or asleep) and came up with no one.

Called the round again. My brother answered!!! He'd talked to my Daddy and was on his way over. Talked to my Momma. Calmed down. FINALLY got a hold of my husband. He was at the bank. With cars in front and behind (like George Lopez's "Jack in the Box" there's some language). But was on his way as soon as possible.

Robert beat my brother by a few minutes. We started with his jack and jacked it up as far as it would go. Brother showed up and we used a big, fat rope to tie his truck to my truck. He took the slack out of the rope and then we used his jack to try to get that wheel close to level with the rest of the Explorer.

As we are jacking it up, I kid you not, it began raining. SERIOUSLY. Which did cool it off. But, really. REALLY?! Yup.

Then my brother pulled with his truck and at the same time I floored it and we got me back on solid land. In the rain.

Robert didn't want me to drive it till my Daddy looked it over. So, Brother takes me to work and hangs out around town (buys a tow cable lol) and then takes me home. Daddy checks Explorer out. I drive around the neighborhood. Seems fine.

I need to go pick up antibiotics for my ear infection. I stay on the feeder to be safe, but it seemed completely fine!

On my way home, I saw an Escape Limited blocking traffic on the feeder at my exit. There was a guy walking across the street with a gas can. I'm pretty sure that they, like I, have a miles-to-empty meter. So, at least I'm not that stupid...

But I do feel like a humongous idiot. Really.

I can finally laugh about it, but please, supportive comments about your backing issues, only, please. : )

Bloggy Activities

2009-08-26T21:09:00.003-05:00

Just feel like I should add an update.

Still love my job.
The morning lead is from Denmark. She's fluent in English. Sometimes I forget she's not a native. Like when she didn't know what a Dixie cup was. She also speaks Norwegian, Swedish, German, French, and 2 more languages I forget right now. So these books I'm reading are about Norwegian immigrants and, though it's in English, there are Norwegian names and phrases. So I totally took it up to her and she taught me how to say the words. I knew what all of them meant from context clues, etc. but it was fun to know exact meanings and how to say them. Like this name "Hjelmer Bjorklund" is said "Yelma Biyorklund" and the phrase "mange takk" means thank you very much and is said "mang (short ending) ta(like a schwa, almost an o sound)k" so so so much fun!!!
I have already gotten back to driving like a College-Station-ian. So not to get smashed by stupid Aggies. Who are coming back.

Now I am going to unpack/decorate/cook something.

Lists

2009-08-21T22:24:00.005-05:00

7 Things I miss about Belton:

Being 2 seconds and walking distance of HEB
The traffic....or lack there of
The allergy nurses
Rachael, the girls, their house
The fact that there's lots of trees everywhere and it's pretty to drive around most places
KKM and all my friends there
Dr. Skaggs : (

7 Things I missed about CS and can now enjoy:

Being close to my Momma and Daddy and able just to go on over when I want
Having a place I can go out (Momma and Daddy's) where it's out of the city and relaxing
The fellowship of wonderful, Christian friends at a wonderful church
A worship service where people actually worship
No smoking in any restaurant anywhere, all the time and quite a few other public places
More people than just me going at least the speed limit on roads
Having a "full time" job I really enjoy

And something else-we've never paid for TV since we were married. In Belton, we could actually pick up CBS (and CW), ABC (and Telemundo and the weather), Fox, PBS (and the Pentagon Channel), and sometimes NBC (and weather). Now all we get is PBS (a weird weather channel and something stupid that I think is called the Research channel), Fox, and CBS (and CW). However, we can probably get TV you pay for if we get it through Dish because Robert gets a discount through work. Though there's other things we have to take care of first. I just wasn't sure how to put that in my list. Plus a list of 7 is better than 8.

Also, please pray for my friend OTT. It's a funny nickname and I'd say more about why she needs prayer if I thought I should, but really just please pray for her and her husband.

There's a lot I should be doing but I am exhausted today. Taking the children outside in the heat today, for only 15 minutes-FIFTEEN MINUTES-sucked the life right out of me. It's crazy hot.

And now I have moved right into the complete rambling stage where I am only avoiding the work I know I need to do...

New Town, New Job, New House!

2009-08-20T21:22:00.006-05:00

Alright ya'll. I finally feel like posting. Nothing too blog-worthy has actually happened but I feel I've neglected ya'll long enough. (I love that I actually believe that people are waiting on pins and needles for me to post : ) ) We have internet! Yea! It's the good stuff, too, cuz it's a promotional offer. So I'm writing this post with 7 YouTube videos downloading. And it's not even all laggy. Amazing.

I love, love, l-o-v-e, my job!!! My class is SUCH a fun age! I work with amazing grown-ups, too. I really need this to get my feet back under me. I've had the bad experiences that I just need to have this great job to help me remember what it's really like! My kids are 14-19 months. One of them is obsessed with "a pish" known to the rest of the world as Nemo. Yesterday she started saying "a hoo wa hoo wa ho ho ho." Well, not exactly, but that's the part she was trying to quote. You know, the part where they make Nemo "Sharkbait" (ooo ha ha). : ) She is too funny. We have a new girl who just started and she is too cute. Speaks very clear, potty training, and cute, cute, cute! We have one boy with curly, curly cute blond hair. A little blonde haired girl who is so preciously sweet. And another little girl that we finally coaxed a laugh out of yesterday. I love working with these babies!

Our new house is pretty cute. It's another 2 bedroom but it has a bathroom and a half. It's actually a pretty crazy set up but it totally works. From the hallway, you walk into a half bath-sink and potty, which also has the washer/dryer. From there you can go through another door, which leads to the shower room that also has a potty. This room also has 2 doors. One leads back to the half bath and the other leads to the bedroom via a little vanity sink type area. Then from the bedroom, you can get back to the hallway! Maybe I'll post a picture of a floor plan soon. Anyways, it's overall slightly bigger and not so much run-down like our last place. And brighter. We like it. It's still a maze to get through with all the boxes not yet unpacked and half decorated, but it'll get there! All my stuff is in my kitchen and I actually have space left over. No joke. Which means I can get some of the stuff that mom's been storing for me in my own house! And, when I find the perfect shelves, I can display some of my antique dishes. Or maybe get my husband or Daddy to build for me... Christmas present? : ) Seriously, when I get everything all pretty, I'll post some pics. Which might be next year. You know, right before we move again. Oh, well. I enjoy decorating. Just not packing/unpacking.

Robert started his job this Monday. He's in training which means he works 4-midnight. He thinks he'll like the job, and we'll get a major discount for Dish network, which we might take advantage of at some point. After 4 weeks, he'll actually start and then I guess we'll know what he really thinks!

I am so happy about all the friends I've come back to and those I've quickly become friends with. We have an awesome Sunday School class and I didn't realize how much I missed Bob leading worship music until we came back. It's less him or his style and more that he actually loves what he's doing and is worshiping, too. It's difficult to explain. But I like it and have missed it.

Well, I've got about 2 hours before Robert will be home. I have some food to put away, dishes to do, laundry to fold, and should probably unpack at least 1 box.

Oooo, a tip from me to you? One I'm so excited I came up with? I had one of those drawer organizers that's supposed to be for an office desk drawer that can no longer serve it's intended purpose. I used it to organize my "baking stuff" drawer. I'm so impressed with my ingenuity! And the dishwasher didn't even warp it or anything!
I had to take 2 pictures to really show it. Because I took them with my computer's web cam. It was handy. And didn't have to search for any cords or anything!

And now, I must go accomplish something...

Hello Internet!

2009-08-18T18:39:00.003-05:00

We just got internet yesterday! I'm excited that it's possible for me to blog again, but not quite ready to be as posty as I was before the move! I'm still in unpacking mode and have started working. Robert's first day working was yesterday. So it's gonna be awhile before we are totally settled and I get back to my postyness!

Stil Alive!

2009-08-04T17:25:00.000-05:00

Still alive. My toe still hurts. Story to come later when I have internet which will be pretty soon!

Branalyn

I know he does, but people like marijana too, and that doesn't mean it's good for them!

2009-07-21T23:59:00.008-05:00

No, I will not tell you what that means, but suffice it to say it was a fun quote from a night of fun and laughter and tears that I will miss dearly.

I don't know if you've caught on yet, but we're moving. Soon. Like really soon. This Saturday soon. And while packing wise I'm pretty close to ready, I only realized tonight how much emotionally I'd been kinda ignoring and therefore not ready for moving.

I have friends. Good friends. That live here. And only one of them really has an excuse to come to CS. Beyond that, we're getting to the point of everyone graduating and moving on, so does it really matter that I can come back here and see them? Will they even be here very long?

I'm going to miss them. This was probably my last girl's night like this. I know I have friends in CS and I know I will have girl's nights with them. Most of them are married and will understand this phase in my life a little better than my friends here.

But that doesn't mean I won't miss these girls. So much.

I'm sorry for my melancholy post. I'm sure ya'll didn't wanna hear this (though the beauty of blogging is that I can get it out but if people don't want to hear they don't have to read!) but I needed to vent a little. Tears are good for the soul, but venting is quite necessary also.

Robert and I went to the lake today. We realized we'd only been once and that was before he even lived here. It was sad to know we'd never be able to just decide to go to the lake and do it the next day with no more planning than that. There are things we will miss about living here. Awesome parks where you can just go and hike and then come straight home. And, most of you will think this is silly, but I love the nurses at my allergist's office. I will miss their smiling faces. We are gonna miss this place.

Don't get me wrong, we are excited about this new phase in our lives. Living in CS will open up so many more possibilities for us. It is what we need to do at this point in our lives. But moving sucks. And change sucks. And I'm not good with dealing with either of those.

I am a person who is able to be flexible in one area of my life as long as the other parts are constant. I don't deal well without having some normalcy to fall back on. And the normalcy is being taken away.

As I write that, I feel so insensitive and wrong. I just watched a movie about a girl dying of cancer (My Sister's Keeper the book was better, but made me angrier.) and while I don't know anybody going through that same situation, my Aunt Sandy is doing chemo because she had a brain tumor. My chiropractor, her house was struck by lightening two nights ago and burned to the ground. All the people and animals are OK but all their stuff is gone. And I'm complaining about my stuff being in boxes. Which, beyond that, is just stuff. And I could be living in some third world country where, if I wasn't blessed enough to receive help from someone like Compassion, I wouldn't be able to have the medicine that helps me breathe. And I complain about it costing so much.

I don't know where I'm going with this beyond I'm sad. And I feel disoriented because all my stuff is boxed up and my house feels chaotic. And after putting it down on figurative paper, I feel guilty for feeling that way because it could be so much worse.

I need to be excited that, even though the boat is sinking, at least I get to swim! (Thank you, Rachael for that quote of a quote!) And there is so much to be excited about. And I am excited. I just needed to feel sad for a little while. And that's OK too. (I learned that at the Texas Baptist Church Weekday Education Association's annual statewide training. Well, OK, I knew that before, but I just like to say Texas Baptist Church Weekday Education Association. : ) )

But I think I am done being sad for now. I only have tomorrow and Thursday's morning and afternoon to finish getting ready to move, so don't expect much of a post anytime soon. I even am in a classroom at work Wednesday, so you won't get one of those posts. It could be a while before ya'll get a real post out of me again, which is why I don't want this one to end on a sad note. Because I can be sad for a little while, but joy comes in the morning. : )

Haven't Fallen off the Face of the Earth...

2009-07-21T12:45:00.002-05:00

Just been resting and doing pretty much a lot of nothing.

Have a whole lot of nothing plus a little packing/laundry on today's agenda.

However, after today, I have to really get down to work!

Slave Labor Day 5

2009-07-18T18:43:00.003-05:00

Well, ya'll, I am done! I actually didn't do much today either. And I have to say I slept better in this hotel than I can ever remember sleeping in a hotel, but there wasn't just enough hours in it! The conference was wonderful. It really was. I love Stephanie Chase, Ann Parnell, Willa Ruth Garlow, Karen Fowler, and all the women on Karen's team. Karen and her team made this weekend happen. Momma is one of those ladies. Stephanie Chase, Ann Parnell, and Willa Ruth Garlow are fairly famous ladies in our circuit. I met them I think about 3 years ago. They remembered me. That I was Cilena's daughter and my name was Branalyn. Ann even asked about didn't I just get married last year? (No, it was 2 years, but still!) Dr. Jean was also there. I did not get to meet her and I really had wanted to use my "in" to get to do that but I'll get over it and her presentation was amazing. She was really excited that she could say "Jesus" on the stage!

So I am writing this on the drive home on my Daddy's computer. To complete our crazy trip, he's gonna drop me at my car in Waco so I can drive it home and he's gonna drive him and Momma home.

Other awesome ladies that made this weekend happen: the ladies on preschool staff and the custodial staff at the awesome church that let us be there! THANK YOU First Baptist Richardson! (Because they will actually read this, you know, LOL.)

I know this is another rambly one and I know I am going to be in and out for awhile and I apologize. I want to try to write consistently and often, and I want to get this down before it's not fresh anymore, but I apologize that it's not so much coherent.

Tomorrow I have church and rest and work; Monday I have TONS of laundry, dishes and resting; Tuesday I have all day to pack; Wednesday I will pack and go to work that evening; Thursday I will get as close to finished packing as possible and then drive to CS; Friday I will attend orientation for my new job, drive with the trailer back to Belton, work my last evening at my current job (I will MISS Kingdom Kids!!!), try again to make sure everything that can possibly be done is done; Saturday we will get up, make sure everything is in a box or a bag, people will show up to help, we will load everything, Momma and I will clean rooms as they are cleared, the boys with the loaded trailers will leave, we will finish all the cleaning and anything else last minute like that, we will leave, the boys will be putting things into the storage and then at Momma and Daddy's house, we will arrive and help, and then we will sleep, I hope.

The next week, I have training. It's gonna be INSANE. That Saturday, Robert graduates. The next week, school starts. I don't know when we are gonna find a place to really live and move again. I dread unpacking. I dread it more because I will be doing it after school has already started. Oh, well.

PS I just want you to know, I did not edit this after I was done. Sorry. : )

Slave Labor Day 4

2009-07-17T22:36:00.003-05:00

Well, it really wasn't much of slave labor today as she will be in trouble with the state if I don't get all my hours. But it was long and fun!

Thank you, Melissa and everyone else who is praying for us!!! I feel funny asking for prayer on here, not because I'm afraid to ask or that I would offend somebody, but that I know that no one who doesn't know me reads this and it's silly to ask. But if you are not already praying for us and you would like to, tomorrow is our last day. We need to get all we can get out of the sessions and we need to get home safe! Momma and Daddy and I also need to undo all that we did to get ready so the church cannot even tell we were here when they get to Sunday service. I think the "slave labor" term will fit again tomorrow!!!

I am exhausted (Robert asked, "Why are you talking like such a redneck?" and I said, "Cuz I'm too tired to make myself not!") and have to be up early enough to pack (I'm mostly done), load the car, and get there with the early (in charge) crowd.

My leg still hurts ya'll. I'll have to get a pic up so you can commiserate. It doesn't sound like it would be so bad, but I kept forgetting and crossing my legs and nearly crying right there in front of God and everybody!

Well, I'm going to shower and go to bed now. I'm so so sure I will not post tomorrow!

Slave Labor Day 3

2009-07-17T00:15:00.004-05:00

So I was too tired last night to even post, but let me say this. All that stuff we got at Sams? It had to be moved again. Not kidding.

Plus the signs. Oh the signs. The signage was stressful. It was like putting together a puzzle but there were pieces that belonged to a different puzzle, missing pieces, and no picture on top of the box. We finally resorted to tearing the arrows off and turning them to point in the correct direction and writing the missing words and creatively folding things. Did I mention it was stressful? Cuz it was. It really, really was.

Then, the two speakers I actually got to hear talked about change. Accepting it. Liking it. Doing it. And they used the book James. Maybe God is telling me I should read James and be okay with the whole moving thing and the fact that it's a temporary thing and we have this year to plan for the real change. Did that even make sense? It's so so late. And I'm so so tired but felt the need to get this up so maybe I'll remember to make it make sense on another post. And ya'll can ask me to. And then I can process.

So I am here for two more days. And they will begin VERY VERY early in the mornings. VERY.

So I am going to bed now. Because I don't do early even if I've had enough sleep.

Slave Labor Day 1

2009-07-14T23:16:00.005-05:00

Well, I drove to CS yesterday. Today, Momma and I drove to Waco and got in the car with a lady Momma knows and is on the Texas Baptist Church Weekday Education Association committee of something. (You saw the Baptist part, right? : ) ) And then we drove to Dallas. And went to Sams. And then the torture began. 2 flat carty thingys that are the flat bed trucks of the cart world of cases of water (close to 1,000 bottles), 1 flat bed cart of Coke products (32 Cokes to a case-6 Cokes, 4 Sprites, 4 Diet Cokes, 4 Coke Zeros, what is the difference? Why is there a need for a difference?), 1 flat bed cart of Dr. Pepper and Diet Dr. Pepper (24 to a case-16 each), and 2 Sams size carts of snack items. It took 2 trips in her minivan. So then we had to unload it all. My back hurts. And so does my leg.

Here is where I would insert the picture proof of my leg injury, but I just don't feel like taking the effort to connect my phone to the computer, download it to the computer, then upload it here. Suffice it to say, my car's 5 star crash rating (I'm making that up. I'm not sure of the actual crash test rating of a 2003 Ford Explorer but I remember my husband making a point of it being good...) isn't true if you climb from the front seat to the very back and do this kinda trippy type fall with a hung foot and all of your weight landing on your leg on the place where you plug in the seat belt. I am absolutely sure that my klutziness has NOTHING to do with it. At all.

And I better not get any Little Boy that Cried Wolf stories because if you could see the picture, you would see how bad it really is. Or about getting to go to Waco twice in one week. Because, well, I did go to Waco once this week and will be going again Saturday.

BUT I got free food all day. Shipley's, the trashiest Schlotzsky's (totally spelled that first try. There's not even a cup that I'm looking at!) I've ever been to (we were glad we didn't pick the Wendy's because you know that would've been worse!), and Texas Land and Cattle Company for supper. They have really good fries.

So this started out with the intention of being funny, but I'm just too tired... The slave labor continues tomorrow, so I should get some sleep...

Sick of Packing

2009-07-12T18:42:00.004-05:00

Quite literally. I do believe I became physically ill from packing too much. Or at least, trying to do too much. Wednesday I was supposed to nanny and then work, and I woke up with eyes so swollen I didn't feel it'd be safe for me to drive. Friday, I did this weird thing at work and was really thinking I was going to be sick, but it passed. I slept really bad that night, went to work Saturday, got to leave and take about an hour and half long nap, went back, then went home and didn't do much of anything. Slept better that night, slept off and on most of the day today and finally feel better. Though I haven't had much to eat. I hope it won't be a problem at this point.

So, now that my body has made me rest, I pack tonight, nanny and drive to CS tomorrow, Tuesday drive to Waco and then Dallas, and spend until Saturday at the Texas Baptist Church Weekday Education Association's annual training that used to be in Waco but isn't anymore. It's in Dallas now. : ) Anyways, this training is fun and exciting and I'm happy to be going. I'm sure I will be slave labor for part of the time, but the training part will be fun! Then I'm sure to have marathon laundry, dishes, and packing. Then we move!

My Aunt Sandy got a clean bill of health, praise God!

MY COMPUTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-07-10T12:37:00.004-05:00

If you cannot tell, I GOT MY COMPUTER BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so SUPER EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm listening to my Girls, doing stuff online. It's the best EVER. And in a minute, I can listen to them while I pack. And cook. And anything else I have to do. : ) : ) : ) : ) Did I mention, I'm SUPER EXCITED!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

And, yesterday, I drove Robert's truck. It's a standard. It was hard. But fun. I'm super excited I did that, too!

I feel the need to post...

2009-07-06T22:51:00.003-05:00

I had a great weekend! Made it home safe! Babysat the kids today. Only gonna do that 3 more times. : (

The time just keeps getting smaller and smaller and the things to get done doesn't seem to get smaller at all! My lovely friend is coming to help me pack on Thursday. I pretty much have to get the bulk of packing done Thursday and Friday. I work Friday evening and all day Saturday. Sunday I have church, company, and work. Monday I have the kids for the last time : ( and am driving to CS. Tuesday through Saturday I'll be at the TBCWEA training. Sunday I'll be exhausted. Monday, I'll catch up on sleep and do tons of laundry. Tuesday through Thursday I can pack amid other small obligations. Thursday I have to go back to CS for another training on Friday. Then I get back to B in time to work my last night at my job here. Then Saturday we move. My word. I think I must be crazy!!! Rachael, those talks we wanna have will have to be at my house done while packing!!!

Seriously, all of it is necessary and most of it I'm looking forward to, but I keep erasing tasks and days on my calendar. And moving the tasks that didn't get done. And it's beginning to look a little scary...

Keep my Aunt Sandy in your prayers! She's went in for an MRI tonight and is getting results on Tuesday...

Happy 4th of July!!!

2009-07-04T17:34:00.006-05:00

First, I still hope I can vote Palin in 2012! I like her a lot.

Second, I would like to show my version of part of Lee Greenwood's "Proud to Be an American."

And I'm proud to be an American
Where at least [for now] I'm free
And I won't forget the men who died
Who gave that right to me
And I gladly stand up
next to you and defend her still today
Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land
God bless the U.S.A!
It's sad, but that's how I feel.

Third, the fireworks tonight better be good!!! I love fireworks... We are going at 9 tonight.

Fourth, I drove Robert's old truck today. It's a standard. I'm super excited that I could still do it!!! I hope he can get it back so I can get good! I do have to sit super super close to be able to push the clutch all the way it...

Happy 4th, ya'll!!!

PS At best, they were mediocre. I had to pee really bad. We left early. We are going to Washington-on-the-Brazos next year.

Fourth Weekend

2009-07-03T22:17:00.003-05:00

Well, we are at my in-laws to celebrate the 4th. We've seen one set of grandparents, one sister-in-law and family, and of course parents-in-law. We're hoping to see the other sister-in-law and family and set of grandparents tomorrow. Then taking the trailer to my parent's for safe keeping until moving day.

I got an e-mail today from the Geed Squad and was SUPER excited till I opened it and all it said was they had it and were working on it and I shouldn't worry. How rude! Get my hopes up and then just reassure me that it's all ok?! Um save the e-mail effort till it's actually fixed!

In other news, my allergy shots itched so bad today, I wanted to take my skin off to make it stop. I opted for two Benadryl and a nap.

I hope to report about fireworks soon! I'm more excited than most little kids about fireworks!!!

Another Wednesday at work...

2009-07-01T18:49:00.004-05:00

The good news-I still don't have lice.

Not so good news-I also still don't have my computer. And still haven't finished the mountain of laundry or packed the big closet.

I however have done about 7 loads for other people and have folded one of those. Why can't that count towards my own quota?!?!

And you should totally, when you have loads of time to waste and aren't trying to move, read Pioneer Woman's blog.

I'm home now and the mounds of laundry have not magically disappeared... So I guess I should go work on that...

Hijacked!

2009-06-30T14:20:00.002-05:00

So, I mentioned the sharing of the computer, right? I didn't sign out of Blogger and my blog was hijacked! That's where the last post came from. Though most of it is true, I'm not sure I would have worded it quite that way...

I have the greatest husband in the world

2009-06-30T13:43:00.002-05:00

He is so great, and awesome, and sexy. He puts up with all my wierdness, like my obsession with quoting GG in conversation, and my paronia concerning lice. He is such an amazing preacher, and his ESV Study Bible is indeed awesome, the strength he has aquired from carrying it, makes me all the more in love with him.