Mmmm, Ribs

We join our heroine already in the throes of her life...
She is still carless, but is looking ahead to that ending in the near future (near meaning the next 7-10 days) *ZING!* Despite her snot being as yellow as a daisy she has crawled out of the depths of illness. *KAPOW!* Suddenly, in the middle of a soul soothing group study she coughs! *HACK!* *COUGH*
*AHHHHHGGHH!!!* This sound is the sound of her rib doing something other than it ought to. That's right my fearless leaders, my rib is either out of place, fractured, or I pulled the muscle over the top of it.
Ah, continued aggravation. It's truly the balm of Gilead.

As a cheery side note I happened to be flipping through the cable stations and stopped on Talk Sex. If you haven't seen this show on Oxygen, it's hosted by a grandmotherly woman (supposedly a former nurse) who takes on all sex related calls.
The call I caught actually seemed to have some good information to it. Apparently menthol-laced cough drops can't double your fun, ahem, orally speaking. The best thing she said to the caller was, "Make sure you don't leave the cough drop up there."
Thanks Grandma, I was worried I'd leave that where the sun doesn't shine. Ya never know what you could lose in there!
Hubby looked at me after I turned it off and said, "If that's gonna be you some day...wait until I'm dead!"

Help Wanted

Wanted:
Person who can pull me out of my current snot and broken car induced funk. This person much be the perfect combination of wise comforter, Pollyanna, cleaner extraordinaire, nurse and all around helper. Must be free and able to work magic with broken cars and ineffective government agencies. Bring your own car! If interested call 303-GRR-RRRR .

*Insert Expletive Here*

"Is this life or is this discipline???"

I don't know what it says about me if I pray about this scenario and then sit down to blog. Here's the deal. I've been dasterdly sick the last couple of days, we've been using one car since Thanksgiving...and tonight said one car bit the dust at the airport. So, my hubby is stuck on the other side of Denver (a good 40 mile drive) with our one vehicle that ain't moving. A friend is picking him up which will get him home in an hour.

What reason could there be for us to have no working vehicle right now??? Will we make it to church in the morning?? Will Ruth get to school on Monday??? Do I have bronchitis??? Will I lose my mind before I get these an other exciting answers?!

Stay tuned tomorrow folks! Same bat time! Same bat channel!

It's All About the Abs

The only plus to my current sick state is that I'm building up some wicked abs. I should bottle this cough and sell it. Warning: product may put neck and spine out of whack. Go me.

Blogless

Still fighting all kinds of fun illnesses around our house. The boy and I are still down and out. My chiropractor also explained that being sick does keep your spine misaligned. My neck keeps going out and I'm dealing with major headaches.
I miss my regular self!

I'm Livin In the Fridge

I feel like I'm quasi-stasis life wise right now. We dealt with fevers and other sundry illnesses last week and I'm still wiped out from my illness 2 weeks ago. I'm slight paranoid in thinking mono might by rearing its ugly head in my body again.
I got my haircut Saturday...it's my annual haircut. It's really hard for me to justify coughing up $15-$20 just to have scissors shorten my locks. My curls make my hair infinately diverse, so it usually doesn't need much work.
Hubby and I finally went out for our anniversary last night. I nervously took us to "Juno"...nervously because the hubby is a harsh judge of flicks. He loved it as did I! Such a great story, full of reality and a good story.
I also watched "Becoming Jane", mainly because I think Anne Hathaway is classically pretty. Good chick flick though.
I'm really looking forward to this year in movies: Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, The Happening, Where In the World Is Osama Bin Laden?, Bond flick, Batman, and Get Smart. What's not to like?!
BTW, can anyone name the man who sings the title of the post???

A Comment on the Contest

I've had this post rattling around in my brain for a long time now...it has to with contesting.
I started to take an active interest in online contests in September 2007. I found a couple of sites that made it easy to find and enter them. About 2 weeks after starting I won a gift card to Ebay and that hooked me. I started spending any spare moment I could entering everything I laid my eyes on. I lived to check my e-mail and blog in the morning to see if I'd won and even got up at 4am occasionally to up my odds (supposedly) in some instant wins. I got greedy, dreaming of all the things I could have/buy. It became something that cut into interactions with my kids, spouse, and friends.
So, I changed my habits. I learned when to get up and walk away. I've limited my time to 2 hours tops on my entering and I approach this as my job. I started to ask God to sit with me again. THAT was key for me. Waaay back in September I'd told God I was only going to do this if I could bless other people through it (giving as gifts baby things, books, gift cards, etc). He reminded me of this in many wins that were things I could only give away.
I HAVE to keep Him in the center because in this area of life every win is in His hands. If I win any of these "randomly" drawn contests, He's allowing me to. I've always been one to love it when He blessed in amazing and unexpected ways.

Here's some of the ways that blessing has flowed out of it:
-around Christmas, I won many things that I could give to our kids. This blessed their Christmas.
-I've given baby things to two wonderful mothers (1 boy, 1 girl) who don't have lavish amounts to spend on their kids.
-I've been able to buy household products even when the paycheck is tight
-Since my son's birthday is next month amazingly my child winnings are more boy oriented.
I have so many great stories of being able to give gifts to people around me because of this.

I want to thank www.ContestBlogger.com , Laura Williams Musings (www.laurawilliamsmusings.blogspot.com ) and www.Contestgirl.com for providing such great sites with which to access contests. God is using you to accomplish His purpose for some of us.

I thank God for all the crazy avenues He uses to show His providence.

Have any of you seen His hand in your winnings?
Have you struggled with the balance of it all?

The Draper Should Be Out

I can't believe they'd give fricking Rami a 2nd chance and give Sweet P the axe! She's been diverse and her looks have been good. Ugh! Of course now I'm rooting for Rami or Chris...I just can't stand the personalities of the other two. Jillian only because she does everything at the last minute.

In other news, Ruth has been out with an almost constant fever for the last 2 days. I'm off to scour the net and see when I should start worrying.

Contests of the Day

5 Minutes for Mom always has such great contests. Now they're giving away an Oreck XL Ultra . Find out how to win it here: http://www.5minutesformom.com/2943/oreck/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Beta News is giving away a plethora of prizes for their 2 year Blogoversary. The prizes include (but aren't limited to):
-Entrecard.com has kindly sponsored three Entrecard Featured Status - This means you get a golden border around your Entrecard for a week.
-One Amazon.com $100 gift card
-$25 in Paypal
Find out how to enter here: http://www.thebetanews.com/the-beta-news-2-year-anniversary-contest/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John Chow is giving a way an $80 Waterman pen!! I know this doesn't thrill everyone, but a good pen is a good friend. A company called http://www.1234pens.com/ donated the prize.
Check it out: http://www.johnchow.com/win-a-waterman-pen-from-1234penscom/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Last but not least, How to Make Money Online is giving away cash every Friday. Find out How To Make MoneyOnline by reading HowToMakeMoneyOnline.ca .
Contest is here: http://www.howtomakemoneyonline.ca/free-beer-money-contest/

Ding Dong the Contract's Done

The strike is over (tomorrow) and I'm so happy...then I hear this disturbing rumor that "House" might not be coming back. Say what?! I'm a little terrified to hear which shows of mine are now axed. I heard that Shonda Rimes ( Grey's Anatomy producer) is ready to start it up, but a lot of shows will be put off until the fall. Argh! I hope that some better shows come out of all this built up writers creativity. I'm also jumping up and down as some of these reality shows get pulled. The major networks NEED to get their shows back.

I have become a mall walker. Since it's been so frigid my neighbor and I bagged our morning jogging. I felt so desperate that I've been hitting the mall in the mornings 2-3 times a week. Here's the hard part...lots of old people are die hard mall walkers. They have a mall endorsed group and are their in force. I used to walk at the mall with my kid in the stroller and the old people thought it was cute. Now all they see is this speed walking twentysomething passing them whilel listening to her Ipod. I'm kind've afraid that they hate me.

Our short spat of warmth here in Colorado has ended. I also offically got off my ass and started the process of getting the kid's their shots for school next year. The aquisition of shot records was done today and hopefully I'll call the county health office and schedule an appointment tomorrow.

Ack!

Here I am, at the end of a VERY LONG week. Between my "aunt", my hacky cough that never ends, squeaking rent in by $1 and having my hubby flying to Thailand, I'm beat!

Let me just say, my hubby's a stud. Our friends have been going through the visa process for a whole year trying to get him into the States to marry her. Tickets are not cheap, so my hubby left on Thursday...flew from Detroit to Tokyo to Shang Hai to Bangkok (spent 3 hours on the ground) to Tokyo to Minneapolis to Denver and is right now working his shift out at the airport. I thank God that we get the perk of discounted and free fares...we've been able to make some people's lives easier because of it.

Don't even ask about the status of my house...I'm not sure how/why things have turned into the bowels of someone's gym sock over the week. Ugh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
enter Modmom's fabulous valentine's giveaways worth $3500+
roxio :: 10 mac digital burning software suites $1,000
tots-on-the-go :: 1 inline stroller with doubles kit $700+
kideko :: 1 mod luxury bedding set $260
blurb :: 10 publish-your-own professional books $300
global exchange :: 11 organic fair trade chocolates $250
itzbeen :: 6 digital baby care data trackers $150+
divvies :: 10 dozen vegan cupcakes $240
whole foods :: 3 heart healthy gift baskets $150
green works :: 12 green cleaners gift baskets $300
barefoot books :: 12 eco books/cd + 1 grand prize $240
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MiniMarie's Corner www.minimariescorner.blogspot.com is giving away $10 in celebration of pancakes (Feb. 12th is National Pancake Day). Check it out here: http://minimariescorner.blogspot.com/2008/02/free-pancakes.html

Sweet P...Step Up!

I didn't get around to watching "Project Runway" until the kids were in the tub. I was sad to see Ricky go...but he definately deserved it. Overall his stuff hasn't been that great. I wish SweetP would stop being in the bottom so often. It kills me to watch the elimination crossing my fingers and hoping she stays in.
Bringing Chris back turned out to be a great move! His work has been fun and he's such a cheery person. I wish Christian's work wasn't so good so the little snot would get the boot, but he does do some great things.

Who's your favorite designer?

Contests of the Day

Kristin over at An Ordinary Life is having a short but sweet Valentine's Giveaway. It starts on February 6th and ends February 9th, 2008 at noon PT. All you have to do to enter, is post about her giveaway on your blog and leave a comment on the giveaway post HERE. Please be sure to leave a valid email address with your comment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Momviews is hosting a giveaway of ThinkBlocks. These look like a lot of educational fun. Here's the link to the contest: http://momviews.blogspot.com/2008/01/thinkblocks-feature-and-contest.html . If you would like to learn more about ThinkBlocks and the company that makes them (Think Works), here's a link to their site: http://www.thinkandthrive.com/ .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I ran across the Business Blogger www.businessblogger.net while doing the whole contesting thang. He's hosting a large contest as part of his site launch. Business+Directory is working in conjunction with him and offering free reviews for the month of February. Occasionally I feel like these sites don't have much to say, but after poking around in his posts I'm impressed with the range of blog based information and advice he has on there. He looks like a fairly young guy (like I have room to talk!), but that's the face of internet intelligence these days. I like the simplicity of his site as well...not overwrought with too much stuff. He's on top of a lot of the new ways of getting traffic on your site.
I really enjoyed his post on Internal Linking Strategy's (not something I'm in need of, but good info) http://www.businessblogger.net/do-you-have-an-internal-linking-strategy/

"Although an internal linking strategy may never have crossed your mind it happens to be one of the most important strategies for bloggers and webmasters alike. Your internal linking strategy could be the strategy that makes or breaks you. The search engines can either look at your site as a valuable information source or as an unimportant information source. What it comes down to is; which do you prefer? You want to be seen as a valuable information source, right? Isn’t this why you put so much time and effort into your blog or website?"

I've toyed with the idea of adding all the extra bells and whistles to my blog to turn a buck...if I do choose to start I'll be headed to this site to see what's working and what's not. Here's the link to the contest: http://www.businessblogger.net/blog-contest/

Quick Rant

I knew that the government offices were slow, but come on! They're consistently understaffed in the public assistance office...I haven't actually talked to a caseworker (3 have quit in the last year) in over a year. I turned in my paperwork for food stamps ahead of the deadline only to get a letter Tuesday saying they're dropping me because I didn't turn in my paperwork.
What?!
So, I call and leave my caseworker a message (they rarely answer their phone) not expecting a call back. I DO get a call back, but they're behind...so they did get my paperwork, but it may take a couple of months for them to process it. In the meantime, I get no money for food. GRRRRR!!!!!
In the middle of all this, I know God is sovereign and He doesn't need the government to provide for us. I'm okay with getting dropped and just trusting Him to provide in a different way.
All THAT to say, I'm just irritated with government programs and want to kick anyone who thinks the world would be better if more people were taken care of by our slow, underpaid, overworked government assistance offices.
*stepping off the box*

Movie of the Week

Hubby and I watched "The Kingdom" last night. It was a great movie...much better than I expected. They gave a good history of the royal family, the complexities of the culture, the sensitivity of the US/Saudi relationship and the hardship for those living in much of the Middle East. I feel like so much of that region is misunderstood...that was always my frustration in being in Turkey. They literally look at life through a different set of lenses. Not bad lenses, just different.
So often, as westerners, we think that everyone has the same view of democracy and justice. There it's very much about honor and doing good for the whole. Like I said, not bad, just different.
Hubby and I talked yesterday about when we'll move to Turkey. Because of the kids it would be best if we either waited until they were in high school OR moved there in 2009 and came back stateside in 5 years. It kills me both ways:
-we leave next year and I leave a great church family AND I have to come back in 5 years even if I love it there.
-my heart has ached to be in Turkey for the last 7 years and to have to wait for 12 more sounds like torture.
His ways our not our ways, nor His thoughts our thoughts. His Word will not return empty or undone.

****I realize I need to explain the 5 years. Our daughter wouldn't have many opportunities to thrive after a certain age and we would like for her to be able to be herself. We would move back stateside when she entered jr. high.***

Of Trash, Noses and Newtons

My son is a very focused eater...there are a handful of foods that he could eat for weeks on end. One of these happens to be fig bars(aka Newtons). I know their cookies, but they're cookies with fiber!! This also consitutes the only bit of fruit he allows to pass his lips. The boy has an aversion to every kind of fruit. He's also freakishly sensitive to smells...you can't eat a banana or casserole within 5 feet of the boy.

Adding to that normal slice of weirdness, he's been fascinated with garbage lately. I've found many things (things that would gag a maggot!) stashed in his bed and mingled with his toys. This is just grossing me out and making me extra sanitary. Boys are weird!

Contest of the Day

Blogetition is holding a contest where you can win $50! Check it out. http://blogetition.com/blogetition-holds-its-second-contest-win-50-via-paypal/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Neil Duckett is holding the Canon IXY Digital L4 Camera Competition . This is in celebration of the launch of Japan Singles .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Domprofesor is a site to help you make money . In light of that goal he's giving away either $200 or an Arcos 504 Media Player. Check it out here: http://domprofesor.com/win-a-40gb-media-player-or-200-contest/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Teresa is holding a new contest over at her personal blog. Those entering have a chance at winning a beautiful floral necklace created by Lori Jaclyn. She’s willing to ship the prize anywhere, so anyone is eligible to participate!

My Aunt is Here After 3 Months.

So, apparently it's Super Bowl Sunday...that sentence tells you how much I want to watch it. Luckily, Discovery Channel is having a "Mythbusters" marathon today. Oh joy, oh rapture! I'm really enjoying "Smash Lab" too.
Today is definately going to be a lay around day for me. I have this lovely female system that graces me with my "Aunt" (why did they ever call it that?!) every other month. Though it's nice in some respects, it makes the actual days of pain twice as bad. THIS time it gave me three months, which leaves me flat on my back today.

I'm Totally Geeking Right Now

Just watched a trailer for the NEW (Eeee!) Star Trek movie set to come out this Christmas!!! People, they can't make enough of these movies. I grew up bonding with my dad over The Next Generation and found a lot of theology in my love of sci-fi. Okay, I'm done.