Sweet Tea

I spent the day touring THE best tea company in the world. I'm lucky enough to have the Celestial Seasonings plant just a scant 40 minute drive from my house. The glorious variety of tea never ceases to thrill my tongue.

Also, Regal Cinemas does a Free Family Movie Festival every summer near our house. Well, today's movie (the great Pippie Longstocking), suddenly started running backwards and upside down halfway through it. Now comes the reason why they'll get my patronage: they gave us all a free movie pass to ANY movie in their theater...this is for the mess up of a free movie people.

Ah, days don't get much better than this.

Cruel Words

Talk about a bittersweet way to end the day.

We spent the waning hours until bedtime playing with friends down the street. As my six year old was saying goodbye to her friend, her friend wanted to hug her. As us moms are standing there waiting for the hug to end I hear my daughter say:

"T and O don't really like you," in a flat matter of fact tone. Her friend ran out of the room and I stood there shocked. How do you react when your child has crushed another child with her tongue?

As we walked home I firmly told my daughter that she'd crushed her friend and was extremely cruel. I also took away all TV privileges for tomorrow and told her she couldn't play with friends until she had sincerely apologized and acknowledged her friend's pain.

As I was tucking them in my daughter burst into tears and said that she was stupid. She said she felt awful for saying it and for calling me unfair. She explained to me why her friend felt bad and I explained to her why she was feeling so awful.

So, we prayed for her heart, her friend's heart and for the day tomorrow. I was glad she grasped the gravity of her actions, but it sucks that bad stuff happens.

Lesson of The Day

Don't shove a whole hot dog in your mouth.

Why?

Because when shoving said dog in your mouth you will bite 2 of your fingers and it will REALLY hurt.

You'll start crying...with dog in your mouth.

This will cause you to suddenly inhale part of said hot dog and start choking.

Let this lesson stick with you son.

Recommendations

As many of you know, I'm an unusual female who passionately loves intimacy and sex. I've been this way since I married 7 seven years ago. I'm not sure I would've had the same excitement of the subject if I hadn't been a virgin, but I'm glad I do.
That excitement has caused me to do as much reading on the subject of sex (from both secular and God-centered sources). This week brought me two exceptional books, one from each category.
The secular book is called, "Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science & Sex" by Mary Roach. She comes at the subject determined to cover all the interesting bases and get the latest data. I loved it because of it's attention to the complicated female system and all that they know so far about it. How crazy that we're in 2008 and we still do not fully understand the female body.
http://www.amazon.com/Bonk-Curious-Coupling-Science-Sex/dp/0393064646/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I26UX9PLWMRXVT&colid=26Y034VDBA0RR

The Christian book is, "Naked And Not Ashamed" by Dan Scott. This book changed my week. He perfectly describes the deeply spiritual design of sex, intimacy and the marriage relationship. He shows how our culture has twisted this amazing blessing into something that the Church shies away from. This is a book that I bought and will be passing around to a lot of people.
http://www.amazon.com/Naked-Not-Ashamed-Redeems-Sexuality/dp/0736921907/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I23ET7IQO4B6LT&colid=26Y034VDBA0RR

Update on my neighbor: Thanks for praying, her and her hubby had a talk last Sunday and it was full of honesty and kindness. They don't know if they'll stay together, but it's an open and loving dialogue now.

The "D" Word

My heart's heavy today...my neighbor and her hubby will be discussing ending their decade long union within the next two days. She's like a sister to me and I hate to see her, her husband and their kids go through a marriage that is in trouble.
Please pray that the conversations they have surrounding the subject will be filled with loving honesty and good results.

Do You Ever Get Tired of Being Robbed??

The hubby left Wednesday to meet up with his bestest buddy Maks in Kiev, Ukraine. He's really reached the end of his traveling rope for the next month and swears he doesn't want to hop on another flight for a solid month. (Whatever, he's a flying addict...I give him 2 weeks) Anyhoo, no big deal to me and the kiddos cause we're used to our nutty lives and are going to hang out with our bestest neighbor friends AND my sister tonight.

Dear hubby calls me at noon today and I was so excited to hear his voice...then he had to ruin by asking me, "Did I happen to leave the camera at our house?" Turns out the seasoned traveler had PACKED the camera in his checked bag...checked bag got "lost" and showed up in Ukraine today, without the camera. Argh! This is the man who scoffs at the idiotic travelers who pack their keys, phones or any valuable in luggage when they check in at the airport. So, I was pissed.
And yes, I'm tired of being robbed. Granted, it's been about four years since the last time, but here's a short list of everything that's been taken from us in the last 7 years.

-our Olympus camera (that's the new one)
-a video camera
-all of our clothes and our daughter's clothes
-my journal
-all the money in our bank account (this done forcibly by big burly Turks in Istanbul)
-another camera
-another camera
-CD cases on 4 seperate occasions
-about $300 over 2 years by our hotel cleaning lady
A
nd other assorted things that I can't remember. I don't know, maybe we were just due to be robbed.

What's been stolen from you?

The New Layout

A couple of weeks ago I won an awesome new blog layout from Designs by Sheila. I think she did an amazing job and I'm so glad to not have my blah template anymore. If you'd like to check out her designs, her button is on my sidebar!

Contest of the Day

The Daily Grind of a WAHM is giving away the Slide by Go Gaga. This is an awesome diaper bag...check it out! http://workathomemom.typepad.com/the_daily_grind_of_a_work/2008/06/go-gaga-or-go-home.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What Lies Within the Mirror is giving away a candle in honor of the opening of her store. You can find out more here: http://rarereflection.com/2008/06/05/candle-contest.aspx

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a great contest hosted by The Secret is in the Sauce. They're giving away a Bounce House!! Eeee! Here's the link: http://thesecretisinthesauce.blogspot.com/2008/06/six-weeks-of-summer.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The fabulous blog Oh, hey What's up? is giving away 5 magazine subscriptions to one lucky person! Check it out:
http://corrinrenee.com/2008/06/24/giveaway-5-magazine-subscriptions-to-one-winner/

10 Days is My Limit

We've been able to Skype with our kids every 2 days since we got here (Skype is video and voice communication over the internet). I think it's really helped them not miss us to be able to see and hear us still. They're staying with their grandparents who proudly allow them to be slackers...a.k.a. TV and candy. I think it's great, that was always the best part of HAVING grandparents when I was a kid.

So, today I reached my limit...up until today I'd enjoyed the break from my kids, but now I'm relishing the thought of interacting with them again. Ten days is my point, as a mom, when I start missing their daily cuteness. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, but I also understand how good it can be (for me & them) for us to have time apart.

One odd thing about this trip was the rash. The water here smells really minerally and something in it reacted with my skin. The bed would make me itch at night, luckily I'd brought my own blanket and that kept the rash at bay. BUT, daily shower was killer and it took me a couple of days to figure this one out. Cortisone cream and I have become really good friends.

Here's a couple more yummy meal pictures.

The Au Natural Cleanse

Do you want to know what I love the most about overseas travel? The great cleanse it gives my digestive system. Nothing is more magical than all that time on the porcelain. Ironically enough, this time my system started to malfunction on the days when we ate American-like food.

KFC is huge here and it's actually pretty tasty. Their iced coffee sundae is yummy. The best thing I've eaten so far today was mutton wrapped in pita that was very reminiscient of a french dip.

I'm hoping my system will hold it together enough for me to continue to enjoy my meals.

Me & Anthony Bourdain

Of all the places I've been (Nicaragua, Turkey, Thailand, China), China is the ONLY place I've been where the food has always agreed with me. I think the fact that our friends are always looking out for superb places for their own meals may be a part of that.

The title mentioning Bourdain is a funny concidence. I happened to see the end of an episode of "No Reservations" last week where he was in an Asian country, eating meats and veggies out of a boiling pot of spicy and mild liquids. He also mentioned this peppercorn type thing in the dish that would turn your mouth numb. Lo and behold, a place called Hot Pot here serves just such a thing. Me being the high junkie that I am tried said ill-advised peppercorn. It was...interesting...in a numbing way that I'll never try again.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the mushrooms here are so tasty and so varied. The mushroom in America is boring and looked down upon and here it's often a prominent ingredient.

The foods we dumped into the hot pot pictured above were mushrooms, broccoli, quail eggs and rolls of beef. I'm not sure greedily licking your chopsticks is kosher here, but it's nigh on impossible for me not to!

Of Beds and Muslim meals

We're here, in western China. We had a great 15 1/2 hour flight from Atlanta to Shangai...no first class, but it wasn't that full so we had an empty seat between us.

The Eastern China Air flight from Shangai to Yinchuan was interesting. At that point I was so tired that my olifactory senses were on Spidey sense and everything smelled disgusting. Totally reminded me of that first trimester. Riddle me this, why in the world do they serve a meal on there labled "Muslim"???

In Colorado there's a Matteress store called "Mattress Firm", I'd consider that false advertising. The mattress's here feel like they've taken a board and softened it slightly. Then they sell it as a mattress.

I have to remind myself (this has been a small theme for me this year) that we were never promised a good night sleep every night. It's not a need it's a want and since I'm really greedy with my sleep, this has been a good lesson for me to learn.

The fact that our friends here have the only Starbucks coffee in their house this side of China, that can make up for a whole host of comforts lost. Stay tuned for all the excitement and pushy natives that you can handle!

My Aching Tokhes (Yiddish for Butt)

Raise your hand if you think a 15 hour plane trip will help my lower back pain...you, in the back, put your hand down!

Not quite sure what I did to it: compressed vertebrae, weak back muscles, jumping on a trampoline, wrenched muscles...something.

Anyhoo, not really looking forward to all those hours on our way to China. If you pray, pray for my back. And (spoiled baby that I am) pray that we can go in first class so it's not so back on my back.

To all my readers, I'll be in China until the 18th of this month. Not sure if they'll let me blog from there, but if so you'll be hearing from me.

Ya Call THIS Glamorous?!

Occasionally one of our friends will comment on how great and fancy it must be to fly for free anytime we want. Now, I won't complain at all about flying for free, but it's anything but fancy or easy.
We have to fly standby, all the time, no matter what. That means that we only get on if there's not a seat taken, sometimes we don't know that until we're out there waiting for a flight. We usually try to find flights that have at least 8 seats not taken, just to be safe.
A case in point would be Monday. We flew from Denver to Alanta at midnight Sunday, so that we would be sure to be there for the first flight to Nashville Monday morning. The first FOUR flights to Nashville ended up full which was something we couldn't have know before we got there. That meant we spent 10 hours at the airport waiting for a flight without having much sleep. Not fun, let me tell you.
Good practice for the kids though for those overseas trips.
Interesting sidenote: Apparently when your body is severly lacking in sleep it gets really, really hungry.

I Pulled a Mommy Dearest

It'll be awhile before my kids will repress this one! We did something out of the ordinary yesterday and went to Casa Bonita http://www.casabonitadenver.com/ with my cousin and sister. I remarked to my sis as we stood in the cattle-like line that I don't understand why this place is so well known.

Then we sat down and I remembered how magical an underground restaurant with divers can be. Ruth barely touched her food and wanted to get up and go watch the show (which was pretty good).

We finished eating and started wandering around looking at different sections of the building. There was a cave the kids could walk through and I remembered how much Ruth enjoyed it a couple years ago. I insisted they go through it.

"But, I'm scared," Ruth said.

"There's nothing to be scared of," I scoffed.

They went in and I waited, then I started to get a little suspicious, so I went in after them. Sure enough, it was a cheesy haunted house. My son had his hands clapped over his ears and was crying. My daughter was whimpering. I walked them through it quickly, mentally kicking myself.

Of course they could talk about nothing else the rest of the time we were there. I totally ruined the night for them. I know it'll end up being one of those stories they'll pass onto their friends years from now.

Doh!

I,I,IKEA!!

The family I took a 2 day vacation to Minneapolis this week courtesy of being able to fly for free. The first day was spent swimming in the hotel pool and going to play at McDonalds (the kids are easy to please).
I missed the first day because I got the joy of flying on to pick up my passport in Chicago from the Chinese consulate. I was so ecstatic to see that visa in there. It took me awhile to realize that they'd issued the stamp in my MAIDEN name. What idiot doesn't look at the application when issuing the visa?! Hopefully it won't be a problem since my passport is in my maiden name with a little amendment on the back page.
The second day of vacation was spent at the infamous Mall of America. We couldn't do the amusement park because my poor son was too short to be able to participate. We did go to the aquarium...twice.
The surprise enjoyment of the day turned out to be a trip to IKEA. If you haven't heard of this glorious company or seen their furniture, you're missing out. We walked in and the first thing we saw was a great childcare area. You drop your kids off (FREE of charge) for an hour and you can look at their cheap and comfortable products. They had a restaurant (very kid friendly) that was very cheap and had lingonberry juice. Needless to say we both fell in love.

In other news, all the flying around did bupkis for my sinusesl

We were Kung Fu Fighting

I really expected that by the time I had reached 7 years of marriage that hubby and I would've learned how to discuss things well...this is apparently NOT the case.

Whether it's politics, passports, predestination or popsicles we lose are heads every time and completely forget the other's discussion needs.

Take me: I need time to process. Bring me the initial issue of discussion, debate for 20 minutes...then let me go do the dishes and process all the pertinent information and pray.

Hubby's style is discuss it, discuss it, discuss it until an answer is found. He's an outloud processor and likes my input.

I like to hear both sides and then mull it over while my emotions calm down.

It's irritating to both of us because we want to argue effectively so that the most God-honoring solution is reached. Darn our humanity and tempers. I can't tell if the kids can even tell that we're have a heated debate...they just seem annoyed that I can't answer their questions or tend to their needs in the middle of it.

What's your discussion style?
Have you and your spouse figured it out?

Quake

I know a lot of people dislike NPR because of its political leanings and some social agendas, BUT I listen to next to nothing else on a weekly basis. The reason being that I am a lover of random information. They talk about such a plethora of things that it meets that need.
I also find that they continue to talk about world affairs long after main stream news has set it aside.

I heard a piece yesterday about the search efforts after the quake in China. An NPR reporter was following this couple in their day long search for their son and parents. Even though you couldn't understand the words, the mother's emotions came through clearly as she went through anger, hope and finally despair and mourning. Throughout the story you could hear the noises as they dug through the rubble and dealt with each bit of news.

They didn't leave the noises out...that's what killed me. I can ignore large scale tragedy in the face of cold reporting, but this piece was meant to hit home...and it did.

So, as I sit here in safe old Colorado I think of the thousands of mothers and family's dealing with loss, I pray.

The Perks of the Job?

I flew to Chicago at 4am yesterday and was back to Denver by 11pm.

What was I doing????

I was going to the Chinese consulate silly to try and get a visa. Their office turned out to be a lot like a trip to the DMV. Take a number and spend time in a small room with a lot of grumpy and smelly people. Luckily they kept taking applications long after they were supposed to close or I would've been screwed.

I'm in love with their public transportation system. Super easy to manuever and very cheap. Darn Denver and it's spread out western ways.

In other (related) news, I get to fly back to Chicago next Tuesday to pick up my passport...hopefully with a visa in it. I really should be glad because if the hubby didn't work for the airline I wouldn't even have been able to apply at the consulate and would've been SOL.

What'd you do yesterday?

House

Best line from the episode Monday: "Confirmation is for wimps...and altar boys."

Contests of the Day

Kristin, from An Ordinary Life is having a fabulous giveaway. She is giving away an amazing purse from The Sak. Check it out!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Green & Clean Mom is teaming up with PUR filtrations systems to give away 5 water filtration systems. Check out Thirst for Change after you check out the contest. http://greenandcleanmom.blogspot.com/2008/05/help-cindy-crawford-and-be-winner-keep.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mom Reviews is giving away a great prize pack including Jig-A-Loo. Here's the link: http://momreviews.net/2008/05/04/jig-a-loo-funny-name-great-product-huge-giveaway/

Live it Up and Give It Up

I just got back from a Beth Moore conference in Colorado Springs. I'm wrung out in the best way!
If you haven't heard of this woman, you're missing out. I'm very hard on well-known leaders in Christianity and Moore passes with flying colors. There may have been 10,000 women there, but she keeps it centered on prayer and makes it personal.
Being there with the studly women from my church made it even better. I wish there was some way to hang out with them more. It ain't like it was in high school when you could see them at your locker, class or lunch.
Please pray for me Tuesday as I fly to Chicago in a last ditch effort for the Chinese consulate to accept my visa.

Now...the Short Version

It's snowing.
It's May 1st.
Said snow is killing my peas, spinach and radishes.

I'm supposed to be going to Beth Moore tomorrow.
Hubby's schedule changed.
Don't know if I'm going now. :0P

China denied my visa because they're uptight.
They are going to look disfunctional during the Olympics.
Grrrrrrrrrr.

In the "House"!!!

Ah, one of the good ones is finally back. "House, M.D." made its return tonight. I'm glad to see the two teams back and continue to be surprised at the amount of screen time given to Chase and Cameron. I feel a little disconnected to the plotline after the long break. Love that the bitch is dating Wilson...I hope they run that storyline for awhile. Does anyone else wish the tension between House and Cuddy would just end?

I'm in Montana picking up our new '91 Lincoln Town Car. We've dubbed it "Big Blue" and I'm hoping it runs for a couple of 100, 000 miles.

After flying so much I'm really looking forward to the drive through Wyoming with the kids. We'll see how much whining ensues.

Contest of the Day

5 Minutes for Mom is having a Mother's Day giveaway running until April 9th. They kicked it off with a $1,000 Mother’s Day Photo Contest. So, go check out the Mother’s Day Giveaway.

I've Been Duped

NOBODY TOLD ME IT WOULD END THIS WAY!!!

I JUST finished Veronica Mars and I'm so sad at the way it ends. Soooooooo disappointed.

Contests of the Day

The Clean Plate Club is giving away a $50 GC to Williams Sonoma. Check it out here: http://www.bubbleandsqueak.biz/cleanplateclub/2008/03/bloggy-giveaway-williams-sonoma-gift.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Crunchy Domestic Goddess is celebrating Earth Mother Day and is giving away some amazing prize packages. Enter it here: http://crunchydomesticgoddess.com/2008/04/22/the-earth-mothers-day-giveaway/

Bad Things Come in Threes...now Fours!

1. The Isuzu Rodeo that the Russians fixed for us, stopped working yesterday while I was going home. Luckily I could coast off the road. They put the stinking clutch in wrong!!!!

2. My visa application to China was denied today. We're going to try and get them more information so that they'll approve it.

3. The internet stopped working for most of today...

4. ...lastly, while I was telling my sister that bad things come in three I hear a mini glass explosion happen in my oven. My pie plate burst and ruined my yummy fish dinner.

It's been a fantastic day I tell ya!

Update!

All my blogging juices seemed to have been spat out this month. I've been on here a lot, I just haven't had much to say. Spent a lot of time coasting lately and vegging out in front of the TV, but I've done it without that nice balance of personal depth and passion that I need. The kids and I head to Montana this week to pick up the boat (aka Lincoln Continental) that my grandma gave me for my birthday. Both kids are completely confused about how we're going to DRIVE back from Montana.

Caedmon: How many days does that take?

Ruth: Where are we going to sleep??!

Spoiled kids think that flying is the only way to get anywhere now. What are they ever going to do when Jason doesn't work for an airline anymore?! *insert sarcasm*

In other news, my sister sadly found an apartment, so she'll be moving out at the beginning of May...four whole blocks away people! I'm going to die.

Better in the Bedroom

I've mentioned before how my sex drive is on the strong side. I saw a post on Parent Bloggers http://blog.parentbloggers.com asking women what they can do as well as any man.
Let me tell you ladies I can get turned on more easily than any man out there. If the hubby just looks at me or wiggles his eyebrows I'm a goner. If he says one phrase that I could take with a double meaning or if he kisses me, he better watch out. Even after 7 years of marriage I'm ready to go every night. I'm telling you that no two sex drives are ever created equal, and I was created with one in hyperdrive.

http://www.askpatty.com/mycarpage.php

The post I mentioned above at Parents Blogger is part of a contest to win one of thirteen fabulous CarMD handheld testers. With our old beaters this would be a help! Check it out here, but hurry because you have to enter by tomorrow: http://blog.parentbloggers.com/2008/04/11/blog-blast-anything-they-can-do-we-can-do-too/

Contest of the Day

The ladies over at 5 Minutes for Mom are once again hosting a very awesome contest. Check out their “Two Weeks of Toys” Giveaway post. Contest runs from April 9-23.

For You...Special Price!

I thought it was finally safe to move some of my plants outside since it's APRIL, but we've had a very cold March and it snowed today. What's a gardener supposed to do?

I'm getting the shakes over the last season of Veronica Mars. It's been 4 days since I finished the second season. For the love, whoever has it checked out right now, return it to the library already! Some of us NEED the angsty TV. Some people have no sense of urgency.

Our Isuzu Rodeo has been out of commission since Thanksgiving...we handed it over to the Russian mechanics today. This is always very interesting because Russians, in general, are very interesting. My hubby's friend is a Lithuanian who hooked him up with these guys. Everything's done because you know someone and there's always a good "deal." Stay tuned to see if it stays a good "deal".

*UPDATE*
It wasn't as good a deal as we thought. Apparently Isuzu made this part in TWO different sizes for the same make of car. Our car needs the bigger more expensive part. Go figure.

The Skeez Factor

How do you know when the 14 yr old neighbor boy likes you just a little too much? When he starts putting his arm around your shoulder. The thing is that I think this boy and his sister are nice. Both of their parents work a lot, so they hang with my kids just for something to do and to get some attention from an adult. How do I nicely tell him to knock it off? I'd hate to kick him outta my yard, but he seems to have boundary issues in general.

That leads me skeez male number two. There is a guy at church that has no idea how uncomfortable he makes the females around him. A lot of hugs and shoulder nudges...the thing that sucks is that I think he's oblivious to it. What happened in their upbringing/personality that makes them miss those normal social clues as to what is appropriate and what makes females avoid them. Sigh, unfortunately THAT'S my observation for the day.

Ugh!

Between staying up late because I missed my hubby and watching Veronica Mars, I am dragging on no cylinders today. Why is it that when hubby is here I feel so tired when I stay up late with him, YET, when he's gone, I can stay up late and not feel tired??? Does he give off some sleep pheramone or something? I know he wishes it were the other way around. I think I've sucked him into watching Veronica Mars with me. Cackle, cackle, cackle!

I finally got off my sorry butt and worked out this week. I decided to deny the number on the scale...it's at the top of my 10 lb range of comfortable. It niggles at me, but I really don't care too much. What's funny about me is no matter what weight I'm at (pregnancy included) I think I'm sexy and have no problem getting "in the mood." I'm telling ya, somehow my sex drive was swapped with a male!

The Sister Has Landed!

My sister made it here on Wednesday and moved into our back room!! People who don't like their siblings may not understand my glee, but I feel like a piece of me has fallen back into place. Along with the titles of Wife, Mother, Self, I get to wear Sister proudly and daily for awhile.

My sis and I fought and disliked each other until I got into junior high. Then we started taking long walks almost daily and REALLY talking. Somehow with all that talking we started to truly love each other's presence. It's a person who loves me on the girly level (like hubby can't) but is family. I've caught glimpses of my genetics in my sweet 6 yr old, but my sister still know my jokes and quirks in ways I hope my daughter does someday. Is it wrong to want a relationship like that with my daughter someday? I don't think so.

I also look at our relationship and hope that my two kids will have such a great relationship with each other as I do. Actually, hubby has a great repore with his brother, so maybe that being modeled will rub off.

Our folks moved her stuff down and of course my kids went for the shock factor of talking about butts, poop and, erm, other parts AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. Nothing like continuing to make your parenting look psycho, thanks kids.

Girls are From Veronica Mars

I kept hearing about the show "Veronica Mars" a couple years back and it just never made it onto my weekly schedule. WELL, my wonderful library is now lending out TV series!! Certainly one of the best decisions they've made during this here writer's strike. Let me tell you, this show is great! Some drama, teen angst and a great undercurrent of mystery. So, instead of being productive, I'm burning my way through the first season.
Also, a comment on "Curb Your Enthusiasm". I watched the 2nd season and got so annoyed by Larry David's whining, I wanted to kick him! By the end of the season, they'd either toned down the annoying or tuned it out.
I just don't know if "Grey's Anatomy" will be back on my radar once it has new episodes. I'm terrified that "Heroes" will lose its following since it won't be back until the fall. Ugh, thank goodness for TV on DVD and my local library.

In other news, the hubby is still in China. I guess someone snuck into their rooms last night and poked around on their laptops while they were sleeping. Nice huh! Wouldn't be the first country where they were overly concerned about our presence.

Hubby of the Decade

Go look at this ring:
http://www.metmuseum.org/store/st_beautyShop_Page.asp/familyID/%7B39022BFE-80DE-11D3-9367-00902786BF44%7D/FromPage/catjewelry/catID/%7BEF58F4B2-8B11-11D3-9367-00902786BF44%7D/familyNo//callFromRelViewer//SpecialPermFlag//FromSearch/

This ring is something that I've wanted for the last 5 years. This same ring is now on my finger. My sweet husband completely floored me yesterday by giving it to me for my birthday/anniversary/Valentine gift. It was such a loving gesture from him. Though now that think about it, he might be warming me up so he can buy a new gun for hunting season.
Either way, I'm feeling very loved this week and a little sad because he left to visit our friends in China.
Pray for his plane connections as he's flying standby.

Last night my 4 yr old son was wrapped up in his towel after his bath and asked me, "Mom, do I have tentacles?"
Me:"Um no, squid's have tentacles."
Caedmon: "Oh I thought I had some on my butt"
Me: "You mean testicles?!"
Caedmon: "Yeah, do I have those?"
Me: "Yes honey, you do"
I've always advocated correct terminology of body parts and explaining (age appropriately) their functions. This has helped at times, but there have been some embarrassing moments!

Do you use alternate words for body parts or are you explicit?

Quick Update

Sorry for the silence, we lost internet for awhile and now I've been busy with a bridal shower, getting ready for my sister's arrival, hubby leaving for China and general life busyness. Hopefully I'll be back soon!

Some Answers...

Praise Him, for He can open up my eyes AND THEN show me the next step.
I have had myself tied up in knots over cars for the last month (maybe longer) and that's made me deal with my emotional/spiritual response to my routine getting bumped. I've realized, once again, that He does what needs to be done. The thing that throws me is accepting His timing, which is always right in hindsight.
So, we had one car fixed last week and this week my sweet grandma chose to give me her Lincoln Continental for my birthday. I had called her to offer to buy it, but she is giving it to us and his having my dad get it driveworthy. It may be a couple of weeks until it's here in Colorado (it's in North Dakota right now), but He has given us an answer.
The benefit to my soul (for all this waiting) has been great, and that was the real gift.
Silly me.

The Reading Corner

Rarely do I find works of fiction that deeply affect and grow my view of God and reality. I've been blessed to have read two such books recently.

"Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana" by Anne Rice. The same Rice who wrote all the vampire books. She's become a believer and is writing a fiction trilogy on Christ growing up. Her first book was okay, but this second book shows a depth of theological and spiritual understanding that had me crying. Her portrayals of Christ's baptism and temptation in the desert are affecting. She gives a greatly detailed account of the Jewish history surrounding Christ at the time.

"The Shack" by William Young. I hate bandwagons and this is definately a book that Christians are jumping on. How could they not when it's so encouraging to the Spirit and has sound theology in it.

This has definately encouraged me the last week...I think His timing is good, even in my reading schedule.

The Ultimate Blog Party!

Alas, here I am getting in on the action late!

Here I am though. Now, on to the nitty gritty:



I live in dry old Golden, Colorado, it's a suburb (I guess) of Denver so we have all the big city fun with a small town feel.

I am currently 26 and have been married for 7 years. And if you can do the math, I was 18 when I eloped with my studly husband. We eloped because we knew we were to get married and family disagreed. Best decision ever!

We are missionaries, heart and soul. We were burned by our first missions organization and have since taken on the position of missions pastor at our church. Our heart yearns to move to Turkey, but until God gives us the green light we are all about encouraging those we know out in the field.

I've been to Thailand, China, Nicaragua and Turkey and am constantly itching to go to more places.

My daughter Ruth (age 6) is an old hand at travel since her first trip overseas was at 4 months. She's the spitting image of me as a child and I love it!

My son Caedmon (nearly 4) is a constant comedian and a light in the house. Did I mention that he's cute.

"What do you blog about?" you may ask. WELL, just about everything. TV, movies, mood swings, parenting, misplaced ribs, odd eating habits and my growth and learning of my spiritual walk. I'm honest and am also a cusser...which drives my spouse crazy! I strive to encourage those around me to be more of the people they were created to be.

There's an amazing list of prizes for this Blog Party. Here are my top picks:

#7-Bead Dangle Photo Tile Necklace by Elemental Memories

#21-Foot Revitalizer by ORNA

#72-Webcam given by Liz

Here are some of my other picks: 55, 59, 79, 87, 91, 95, 103, 107,

Rage Against The Machine

I feel like a walking talking stressed out ball 'o anger! All over a couple of dead cars! Granted, they're our only cars, but really I shouldn't be taking this on...it's not my deal, it's God's deal. I'm shocked at my own bad attitude.
We've been blessed by having amazing friends. Connor has been over here for 3 days working on one of our wrecks with his cousin. They do all of this knowing we can't pay them for their services. What's funny is they've replaced 4 parts that desperately needed to be replaced and the damn thing still isn't working. It's running, but running like a chain smoking marathoner.
So, I woke myself up with worry (and an aching rib) at 5am this morning. Loads 'o fun in this househod I tell ya!

Word To The Wise

Don't bowl with your rib still out of place...it doesn't help the healing process.

Project Runaway?!

I finally watched the finale of Project Runway. Here are my initial reactions to each of the designers/their collections:

Jillian-I liked her coats, fun sleeves. Neat pants. The helmets were awful!

Rami- 1980s meets draping. Ugh! I hated the blue part! The gowns were good though and left me wondering why the rest was crap.

Christian-His models were the best walkers. They worked the pieces which really did help. I really liked the feathered pieces and the hats.

Go Fug Yourself www.gofugyourself.com is a great website that pokes fun at hideous Hollywood fashion. They wrote a good piece for New York Fashion with their impressions. http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2008/03/fugs_on_the_project_runway_fin.html

Who didn't know Christian was going to win 5 episodes ago?! I knew it was coming and all I could say was, "Pfffff!" He was the most consistently good of them all and deserved to win. I can't stand his personality though and I have a feeling he will do well for a couple of years, then he'll fade away. He's too young to have staying power I think.

Now comes this awful dead zone until episodes of good shows start up again.
Thoughts?

Contests of the Day

5 Minutes For Mom is giving away this The SAK Dakota Hobo handbag. Check it out here: http://www.5minutesformom.com/3023/sak-dakota-hobo/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sleepy Wrap is teaming up with An Ordinary Life as told by Kristin to give away one of their great wraps and a cash prize! I went to the testimonials page and many of the women stated how comfortable and easy this sling is compared to other slings. Here's one woman's praise for it. "I just wanted to let you know how pleased I am with everything about your company...Your wraps, your customer service...Your EVERYTHING!! One of my little "twinfants" is in your chocolate brown wrap helping me type right now! :o)"
-Lindsey L., New Hampshire (Feb 14th, 2008 -Email)
Here's the link: http://kailasmommy.blogspot.com/2008/03/wraps-and-slings.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kidazy (http://www.kidazy.com/) is a great site that introduces its readers to many of the great toys that are out there. They have a contest going on right now where you could win a GC to Toys R Us !! http://www.kidazy.com/news/gift-certificate-giveaway/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Crunchy Domestic Goddess is giving away some fabulous Shaklee natural cleaning products!! Check it out: http://crunchydomesticgoddess.com/2008/03/04/clean-green-with-shaklee-review-and-giveaway/

Hallelujah I'm a Bum

Poor hubby (the man needs a vacation) is still getting grumped at me for no good reason. I'm trying to stop, I swear! My panties just get twisted so easily right now. I railed on the man for 25 minutes about ordering more checks. He had this bewildered look on his face that said, "Check blanks cause this kind of hysteria?!" Luckily he didn't say that.

We finally have the junk heap that is our white car in front of our house instead of at the airport and we are starting the hunt for used mid-90s cars on Craigslist. We have been blessed with another loaner car which means the kids and I can actually leave the house this weekend.

Have I mentioned that my 24 year old sister is moving in with us at the end of March? I haven't?! I'm super excited to have her living in our office and can't wait to have her around to cackle about brilliant flicks like "Mystery Men" and have inside jokes all the time. Hee, hee! I'm one of those lucky people who really has a great friendship with my sis...hopefully a couple of months of living together won't change that.

Ya Ever Have One of Those Days...

...where you can't talk to your friends because you're so pissed at your husband for no good reason. I know if I talk to anyone today I'll gripe and complain and then regret doing it later. He's doing the best he can, but since I'm mad at the road God's taking us down I want to take it out on my hubby.
Poor guy, hopefully I'll be in a better mood when I pick him up at the airport at midnight tonight.

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.

Yeah Baby, Yeah!

Ah "Chuck"...and episodes streamed online! Man, if you haven't seen this Spy vs. Spy show, it's fun! "Get Smart" with a twist it is! Between this and never having time to watch "The Office", I've got some stuff to watch. Between that, my contesting, AND poker on my PSP I'm in front of a glowing screen a lot lately.

I Don't Have a Problem, Right?

I entered 600 or so separate giveaways today, but I don't have a problem right? Okay, maybe a little.
Part of the deal was that I was trying to ignore the hubby. That's the downer to him being gone. He gets back and we always have a minor readjustment period. Grrr!!

Who Knew...

...that Hot Wheels and Littlest Pet Shop animals could throw a carnival in my living room together. I caught my sweet girl giving her brother plenty of hugs when he won at Mario Party on the Gamecube. Some days I love them ;0)

Drunk On Tea

Hubby will finally be back home tomorrow, Turkey was really good apparently (the hoser!). I was able to get a babysitter for 5 glorious hours on Saturday. What did I do you ask? Well...

My friend Cindy and I are obsessed with tea...I have over 60 different kinds in my tiny kitchen from places such as Thailand, China and the Celestial Seasonings plant. We drove to Boulder and had brunch at the Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse www.boulderteahouse.com . The building itself is amazing and the food is glorious. I had an Indian Curry Omlette and some amazing Ceylon tea. This is the only place I've seen tea based martini's and cocktails. It's overwhelming to a tea lover like myself. We hit the shopping street and I got (what else) tea.

Then we headed back to Golden and I went to the mall. There's one store in the mall that I cannot enter with my kids...Spencer's. Known for their gag/gross gifts and bachlorette fodder, they actually have a good selection of goodies for the married person who isn't willing to go into a sex shop for a board game or costume. It's the shy person's sex shop. Anyhoo, I'll just say the hubby will be happy on our anniversary (Feb. 6th) and Valentine's Day.

The Stars of Reality Shows

Since the strike has caused everyone to drag out a deluge of reality shows, let me tell you the stations that do it well:

Bravo
I stumbled onto this station gem watching Kathi Griffin's "Life on the D-List". I've gotten sucked into Project Runway countless times too! All of their reality shows seem much more crazily refined than the other channels.

This is my top station pick these days:

Discovery

This station is the king of fun factual shows:
-Mythbusters: so fun, my kids love it!
-How It's Made: who knew factories were so fascinating
-Survivorman: He does it so we don't have to.

I'm also really excited for "Smash Lab", I have yet to see it.

What about you, what reality shows/stations have you hooked?

Contests of the Day

Tops 2 Bottoms is giving away a T-shirt from PlanetMomTshirts.com! My favorite shirt says, "Star of My Own Reality Show".
Check it out: http://www.tops2bottoms.com/2008/01/win-a-planet-mom-tee-of-your-choice/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jackie's Biz is giving away two movie tickets for Valentine's Day, who couldn't use movie tickets?!
http://www.jackiesbizblog.com/2008/01/21/valentines-contest-win-two-movie-tickets/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Den of Iniquity is celebrating 10 years of internetedness by giving away a $20 Amazon GC. Head here to find out more:
http://wildrose.rpgraphics.net/?p=2687

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh! Baby Buy Products is hosting the "Great Northwest Giveaway". Many vendors have donated prizes, so go check it out! http://ohbabybuyproducts.blogspot.com/2008/01/great-northwest-giveaway.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Rating Blog is holding a massive contest where you have the opportunity to win $500. There are a couple of different ways to enter: http://www.theratingblog.com/contest/

There Were 3 In The Bed & The Mom Said, "Get Out!"

My husband loves to let the kids sleep in bed with us occasionally...I always move to the couch. So, I thought it would be nice for me to let them do it while he's gone...aaand I remembered quickly why I hate it:

-Caedmon kicks and pushes everyone off the bed
-our bed is queen-sized, not much room
-Ruth gets really mad in the middle of the night when her brother is shoving her

To top it off, Ruth got a bad case of swimmer's ear in the middle of the night. I was awake every hour even after I moved to the couch.

Thankfully I've stayed uber busy while the hubby's been away, thought I really wish I were there.

Honk If You Saw Me Waving

Over the last couple of months some of my friends have pointed out how unfriendly I look when I'm driving.
I keep telling them, "I'm not trying to be rude, I'm focused!!"
I've usually got too much going on in my car (listening to supposedly satanic NPR & telling my kids, "Is it really worth fighting about?") for me to be scanning the other cars for friends to wave at.
Also, I don't have a nameless van or SUV like so many of my friends. I have an embarrassingly recognizable Buick Regal whose headlights are literally glued in place. Between that and the "Bush/Cheney 2004" sticker ya can't miss me. At least back when I used to drive the Rodeo it was less noticable.

I get tailgated semi-frequently which I am assuming is because of the aformentioned bumper sticker. I HATE bumper stickers. If you want to make a permanent statement, do it in a tattoo instead of a sticker that may hurt your chances of selling the car or will get you flipped off for you opinion.

I also get many horrified looks in the Buick (especially by pedestrians) who must assume that I caused the 2 accidents that permanently mangled my car's front. Which I didn't, my hubby had 2 accidents that were really no fault accidents.

Anyone else have a recognizable car?

The Quickie

Hubby left for Turkey today, so I'm soloing it for the next week. Between grumpy munchkins, ear infections, swimming lessons and our fricking cars I haven't been on here much.

It snowed today which was awesome, but I wish it wasn't quite this bitterly cold.

Contests of the Day

I wish I could win something from 5 Minutes For Mom...they continue to have amazing giveaways. Best Buy gave the ladies an Insignia® - Pilot 4GB Video MP3 Player with Bluetooth Technology to give away! Hubby is in need of a player and this would fit the bill. Check it out at: http://www.5minutesformom.com/2848/win-an-insignia-bluetooth-mp3-player/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Raven's Range is giving away some fabulous books for the month of January! Head over there to enter: http://www.ravensrange.com/january-book-giveaway/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Teresa is running her first contest of the year over at her personal blog. You have a chance to win a beautiful turquoise bracelet created by Lori Jaclyn. She’s willing to ship anywhere and that means anyone is eligible to participate and win.

The Effect Continues

So, my kids have been blessed with good health so far in their short years. Never an illness that required any intervention like antibiotics. WELL, because of the glorious Turkey Effect, my son was up half the night with an ear infection. So, we hit the chiropractor and bought some herbal drops for his ear.

I'm hoping this is the last incident, but I ain't holding my breath.

So positive, right?

Contests of the Day

5 Minutes For Mom had a contest for one of these pedal cars from their store Pedal Cars and Retro Collectibles. Check it out: http://www.5minutesformom.com/2831/mustang-pedal-car//

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BoSox Mommy is hosting her first contest....head on over there for your chance to win $10!!
http://bosoxmommy.com/?p=25

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Contest Blogger is hosting a giveaway for a $100 GC to Good Clean Love. I would love to win this!! All you have to do is link back to their homepage using the anchor text free samples and to Good Clean Love using the anchor text increase libido.

Weirdness Is As Weirdness Does

I got tagged by my friend Tara http://tarasviewoftheworld.blogspot.com/ to give you all a peek into my weirdness.

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person’s blog who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. List seven random and/or weird facts about yourself.
4. Tag random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by posting a comment on their blog.



Here we go:

7 Weird Things About Me



1. I was a synchronized swimmer...for 4 years. Let it be known I sucked at it, but loved it and harbor a secret desire that my daughter would pick up the sport.



2. I'm addicted to poker, video games, Austin Powers and have a high sex drive. I swear I'm not a male :0)



3. I think fairies, mermaids and almost all mythological creatures are really sexy and wish I could be one.



4. I LOVE peanut butter and Miracle Whip sandwiches.



5. I'm a Trekkie and love sci-fi movies



6. I refuse to jump on any bandwagon...even if I agree with them. I can't stand following the crowd.

7. I wish I could wiggle and pull my teeth out like I did as a kid...for some reason I found the pulling of my teeth really satisfying.

AND, since I am #6 I'm refusing to tag anyone.

The Turkey Effect

It's been 3 years since hubby and I have stepped foot in the country of Turkey. Our daughter is a seasoned traveler and would do it full-time instead of kindergarten if she could. Our son was 1 when we went and was terrible; granted it was probably his age, but it's made me leery of taking him on any plane ride over 4 hours.

All that to say, Jason is leaving Monday to go see some friends in Turkey and fall in love with the country all over again. Since it's been 3 years I'd forgotten about "The Turkey Effect". Every time God has told us to go visit that country Satan tries his hardest to hinder us. We have been down to one car and a friend lent us one of theirs. In the last couple of days, the borrowed car has died on us three times and we woke up yesterday to a flat tire. The boy is sick and the kids (they never do this) got in a fist fight yesterday at the neighbor's house. Something that's also part of the Turkey Effect is usually getting robbed at least once while actually in the country. We've been robbed 5 different times while in the country. Trust me, that says nothing about the country and everything about our being there.

Those of you who are prayers, please lift us up as we prepare for next week. He will leave Monday and probably return on Saturday. Please pray that nothing physical, emotional or spiritual is taken from us in the coming weeks. Hey, you could even pray that $1,000 would materialize so that we could fix our car.

I know this kind've stuff just happens on overseas trips, anyone else have a good story???

Life In 3-D

I love my life right now. All of my parts (wife, mom, group leader, friend, mentor, Sara) are embraced by me and I'm happy with them. A lot of that happiness stems from what I've chosen to do (or not do). There is NOTHING in my weekly schedule that I don't want to do. I haven't agreed to anything over the last year that I didn't truly desire to do. Amazing how freeing that is!
I feel like I haven't been in such a whole place since my senior year of high school. I used to look back on that time with jealousy. I had all the time in the world to spend finding myself and chasing God. Now I see that who/where I am now is better. Better because I have the added roles (wife, mom, etc). As a single girl I saw life in what I thought was 3-D, but now I see more clearly the dimensions of reality, and my single self pales in comparison to what I know now.
I hope added years add dimensions and wisdom!

I Want to Be Related to the Car Talk Guys

I don't know why it should surprise me that cars continue to be a pain in the butt! We have one car down, which leaves me carless much of the time. We've been borrowing a friend's car that we were told was having issues as well. Sure enough, it died while I was running errands...thankfully it was off to the side and it wasn't that big of a deal because it started up after the engine had cooled off.

I envy those people that have money set aside for car repairs...granted, they're a loathsome expense for anyone, but when we have to choose to fix the car or pay the rent, the rent wins.

PS: My Entrecard thing is funkadelic, I'm trying to get it up, so stay tuned!

I Have A Dream...

...of a job that pays the bills. I would love to get off food stamps and government medical care. I would love to have the money to pay a bill when it comes. I would love to actually have more than $5 in our savings account (it's never had more than that in the last 7 years).
BUT, are these things that God needs for us to have?
I don't know and some days I wish I had those answers.

Contests of the Day

Workout Mommy is hosting a Biggest Loser contest where you can win a Brita faucet mount filter! Check it out: http://workoutmommy.com/index.php/2008/01/09/reduce-your-waist-while-reducing-waste-brita-filterforgood-and-the-biggest-loser/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emoms At Home is holding a contest to help you get organized!
http://emomsathome.com/momsational/win-a-complete-organizational-system-from-day-runner-to-help-you-get-your-new-year-started-on-the-right-foot/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In honor of the Vicks Caring Tribute Campaign , Mommy Mandy is giving away the Vitamin E Skin Care Starter Kit from the body shop. Here's the link to her contest: http://www.mommymandy.com/2008/01/vicks-caring-tributes-giveaway.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Roni's Weight Watchen http://weightwatchen.com/ is giving away Netflix and some of Orville's tasty popcorn!!! http://orville.com/ Here's the link: http://weightwatchen.com/2008/01/popcorn-and-movie-anyone-contest.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Big Bald Blog is holding a contest that may make you $100!!! Check it out here: http://blog.impactmt.com/2008/01/100-per-month-for-new-year.html

Contest Deadline:12:00 AM February 1, 2008.
Who wants to pay you?
1. Mixed Market Arts
2. JoeTech.com
3. Link Bait
4. Gorilla Sushi
5. CK Marketing
6. The Big Bald Blog
7. How 2 Blogger

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vote for Tyler!

An overall nice guy, Tyler Cruz, is holding a contest with another blogger where you can win $100. They're trying to up traffic on their site and generate overall buzz for their blogs. Cruz is a little behind in the votes, but is hopeful that he pull off a win! BTW, I'm voting for Tyler!

Here's some of Tyler's convincing arguement for a vote for him:

"Sure, Gyutae may seem like the smart, friendly, and overall lovable guy you’ve learned to love, but he has a darker side to him as well.
I can almost guarantee you that when he announces this contest on his blog that he will be giving away additional prizes as incentives to vote for him! In fact, I bet you he will try to give away some free advertising on his blog…
Now, this is all part of the game, and he’s allowed to do this if he so chooses. Therefore, I bet a lot of you are wondering to yourselves right now why you should vote for me when you can vote for Gyutae and receive additional prizes? Well, there’s a very good reason why you should vote for me instead of Gyutae.

Remember: only the participants who end up voting for the winner will be inserted into the drawing and eligible for the prizes. So if you vote for Gyutae and he ends up having less votes than me, you won’t be eligible for any of the $300 prizes.

So the real question is: who do you think stands the better chance of winning: me or Gyutae?
Sure, Gyutae is crafty. A bit too crafty for my liking. But I have numbers on my side. At the time of this writing, my RSS stands at 1,077 compared to Gyutae’s 262. My Alexa is 29,029 while Gyutae’s is 83,196, and my Technorati is 7,667 while poor Gyutae’s is 43,764.
So voting for me would be a wise decision… yes… a very wise decision If you’ve already reviewed my site before, perhaps for a TylerReview, you’re more than welcome to enter this contest.

Here's a link to the contest:

Tyler: http://www.tylercruz.com/vote-for-me-win-100/
or
Gyutae: http://www.winningtheweb.com/tyler-contest-vote.php

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's another site that's giving away cold, paper cash! Someone will get $100 from Mr. Opportunist!
http://mropportunist.com/2008/01/03/the-january-blogtests%e2%84%a2-100-giveaway/

I Lost $20,000 dollars on a Bad Beat

I know, I know, I've been MIA...nothing spectacular has happened lately. I've been addicted to my poker career on my PSP. Yes, I'm a 25 yr old mother of two who is carrying around a PSP. I was sitting at my daughter's gymnastics practice today COMPLETELY absorbed in my poker game. I spent the entirety of our plane flight home playing it.

I am an addictive personality!

I Love Lutfisk!

I HIGHLY recommend all women watch "Drop Dead Gorgeous"...so stinkin funny! You have to love a good (or bad) Minnesota accent. My exciting day included:
-white knuckled the rent down to the rent office...I love the old truck we're borrowing, but getting used to the clutch is making me a little jumpy.
-spent an hour at the laundromat.
-watched Project Runway...I'm becoming a little addicted.

I'm so excited, I got Carmen Electra's workout DVD off Ebay. I got tired of the odd looks I was getting from the elderly library ladies every time I checked them out. I endorse any workout that makes you feel damn sexy at the end!

Contests of the Day

Flip Flop Mama is giving away Land's End Diaper Bags...check it out! http://flipflopmamma.blogspot.com/2008/01/lands-end-give-away-for-you-but-first.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kids B-Day Fun Review is giving away GC's to Oriental Trading Co. and Amazon.com http://kidsfunreviewed.com/january-party-into-the-new-year-giveaway/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mother Earth's Garden is giving away GC's to Seeds of Change and Amazon.com http://www.motherearthsgarden.com/january-get-this-garden-started-giveaway

The Cowboy Contest of the Day

A Cowboy’s Wife is having a contest on her food blog! You can win a Hamilton Beach® Stand Mixer and she’ll ship anywhere so everyone is eligible!

The Biggest Loser is my Waist!

I know some people can handle it, but I cannot own a scale. There are times when I wish I could check just out of curiousity, but I know it would quickly spiral into a bad area.

I'm an anorexic...it's just like being a recovered alcoholic, the siren call is still there occasionally.

Granted, I haven't fallen off the wagon really badly in 10 years, but 2 years ago when we were nomadic I had 2 months of selfish anorexic indulgence. I've found my trigger for it, it's lack of control over any aspect of my life. Two years ago that meant we were nomadic and moving every two weeks. Talk about having no control over your life. Before that I'd selfishly starved myself after my son was born. The doctor finally told me to give him formula because he wasn't getting the nutrients he needed from me...talk about feeling guilty!

The reason all this ran through my brain is because I know I gained weight over the holidays. Putting my pants on is evidence of this...I don't need a scale. I entertained the idea of anorexia for all of 5 minutes, but I was able to move on to better thoughts of healthy eating and exercise. I feel like my emotional and spiritual health are starting off strong this year, I just need to have my physical health catch up!

A Traveling Contest of the Day

Colleen at a Simple Kind of Life http://www.simplekindoflife.com/2008/01/02/where-in-the-world-is-colleen/ is holding a contest where we have to guess where she's traveling. Check back daily for clues :0)

All The Time in the World?

I'm crossing my fingers right now...hubby just took the in-laws and our 2 kids to the airport. They're all flying standby and are planning on taking my kids for 5 days. I'm REALLY hoping they get on that plane because as much as I love them I need a day or two of sleep. I'm battling a cold and they're being snarly, so I hope they're able to bask in the love of their grandparents and aunt & uncle.

In other news, I'm doing a thorough sweep of my house today...the tree is coming down people!